DO WE HAVE ANY 'RANCH SITTERS' OUT HERE IN RV BLOG LAND:))

FULL MOON RISING OVER THE SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS AT THE RANCH IN DEC. 09 (700mm telescope lens)

Anyone following our blog knows that we have spent the last 4 winters traveling around the American Southwest.  You will also know that we have spent some time 'ranch sitting' the past couple years as well.  When we leave Bayfield in late October we will once again head straight for the ranch which is located in Arizona's southeast corner near McNeal, Douglas & Bisbee.  Unlike last winter, we have decided to spend less time at the ranch this year & more time traveling.  We will be there from the beginning of November until mid December.

STORM CLOUDS OVER THE RANCH HOUSE

The owners of the ranch, J & R are also RV folks & again this year would like to spend the winter months doing some traveling of their own .  Another RV couple is going to take over the ranch sitting job from us from mid December to mid January.  A third RV couple & friends of ours will take over sometime in January & will stay for awhile but not sure how long yet.  That will leave part of February & all of March available.

OUR FULL HOOK-UP SITE AT THE RANCH

Workampers will probably not be interested in this because it is not a paying job. You do have full hook-ups & the security of a locked gate & a very large area with coyote proof fencing so it's a great safety factor if you have pets.  The ranch is an excellent home base for day trips in this historical southeast corner of Arizona.  Thousands of Sand Hill Cranes fly directly over the ranch every single day.  Their roosting area is only one mile south of the ranch at the, WHITEWATER DRAW WILDLIFE AREA

SUNSET ON THE PORCH

It is imperative that you understand, care for & love animals.  The ranch has about a dozen frisky chickens, 3 clever donkeys, 2 new cows, two lovable dogs (Pearce & Gleason) & Charlie the cat to look after.  The gang has to be fed twice a day & the 3 or 4 chicken eggs have to be gathered daily.  And, you will be required to milk the chickens every Saturday morning before breakfast:))

DRAGOON MOUNTAINS NORTHWEST OF THE RANCH

Douglas & Bisbee are only about a 20-25 minute drive away.  Tombstone is about a 40 minute drive & Sierra Vista is just another 15 minutes on the other side of Tombstone.  The ranch is located in the Sulphur Springs Valley & surrounded by the Dragoon, Chiricahua, Swiss Helm & Mule mountains.  And, if you haven't been to Bisbee Arizona yet, you are in for an alpine treat in an old mountain mining town.  For many photos of the ranch & surrounding area attractions just check our archives for Feb-March 2009 & again from November 09 to just about the end of January 2010.  Or, check our PICASA PHOTO ALBUMS for those same dates.

3 OF THE RANCH'S DESPERADOS'....SARAH, NELLIE & PONCHO

So, if anyone is interested in 'ranch sitting' for a spell in February & March, just let us know & we'll forward your interest to the folks at the ranch.  Preference will probably be given to anyone on our blog list that we know or have been in email contact with for awhile.  Just a little something for you Buckaroo RV'ers to think about:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED...................
1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats..
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food..
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair..
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandma's lap.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an Animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/

It is not the concept of God I have a problem with.....it's his fan club that causes me grievous concern:((

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

A VALLEY OF LEGENDS

It was the pitter patter on the roof that roused me out of sound sleep this morning followed by a few flashes of light & the low roll of thunder. Rain!! Not unexpected because the spectacular cloud formations of the past couple of days signaled another weather change moving through the area. It has been these clouds that have been making for some very beautiful sunrises & sunsets, not to mention the awesome cloud formations during the day.

Where we live in Bayfield Ontario the sky is seldom visible to us because of the heavy pine tree cover in our area so the open desert skies of Arizona are a huge attraction. Here in the Sulphur Springs valley we are surrounded by mountains on all horizons. On our walk this morning skies were dark & foreboding to the northwest over near Tombstone. We could here thunder rumbling somewhere between the Mule & Dragoon Mountains some 40 miles or more away. We were in sunshine down on the valley floor as another storm came thundering across the Swiss Helm mountains to our east. South of us about 20 miles near Douglas the skies were so black even Castle Dome mountain was hardly visible. Great sheets of rain could be seen to the north, while Bisbee, hidden away in the Mule mountains, huddled under a heavy cover of clouds squatting on the mountain tops. All this was visible in a complete 360 degree panoramic view all around us as we walked in early morning desert sunshine.

This is a valley of legends where we are. Cochise & Geronimo fought battles in nearby canyon passes. Indian raids into Mexico came through here. Pancho Villa & his men rode these ranges. Cattle rustling was carried on by men like the McLaury brothers who had a ranch near here & later died in a shoot out over in Tombstone with the Erp brothers & Doc Holiday. This is a valley of prospectors, miners, & ghost towns. This is a valley of ghosts. This is a valley of restless spirits. And, this is a valley where we walk in the footsteps of history each day.

The American southwest is a land of ever changing beauty & enchantment & we feel very much at home here. There is a magic in the mountains that deepens the mysteries of the desert valleys below. When the clouds sit on the mountain tops & the lumbering cloud shadows slowly make their way through the canyons & valleys it gives one a sense of awe to be in this land of magic shadows. We will keep returning here to the southwest for it's fiery sunrises & sunsets as long as we can. Until the desert winds erase our tracks, until the brooding mountains wrap themselves around us no longer. Until the magic shadows drift through our memories no more.

To-day we visited with Jeanie & Ray for awhile & then headed down to Douglas for some groceries. A very special & dedicated lady living & working in the area had invited us for supper & I will be blogging about that shortly & adding photos of our visit.  It was late when we arrived back at the rig & with another camera full of photos I decided to work on that little project Monday morning. I think we might be in for some rain to-night & to-morrow so that would work out perfectly for me.

It’s after 10 o’clock & Live Writer has just failed me again!! I had thought the problem before was with the web albums but I do not have any web albums in to-night’s post. Checked the connection & it was fine so now I have to start over by moving all this to Blogger's Dashboard……..:((

GROANER'S CORNER:)) . A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: "A beer please, and one for the road."

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

MY SMUG MUG (I am finally working on updating this site)
http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/

WE WILL SOON BE HEADING BACK TO THE ARIZONA RANCH FOR AWHILE:))

SUNSET AT THE RANCH HOUSE....March 09

(All of to-day's photos were taken last winter)

In last night's blog I paired up a wrong link with a correct photo.  I have since changed that & the correct link for our rig with the wheels in the ditch can be found HERE .  Thanks for spotting that Jerry:))

KELLY HEADS OUT FOR A BIKE RIDE AT THE RANCH

In less than a week we will heading back to the ranch in Arizona where we spent 7 weeks last winter looking after a few critters for some friends.    We had never met Jeanie & Ray, owners of the ranch until they stopped into our boondocking site near Tombstone Az one day.  But, the actually story of how that meeting came about begins a couple of months before that & is a good example of......... you never know who's reading your blog:))

WHISKER RUB FOR BANSHI

We were boondocking for awhile in the California desert on Ogilbe Road about 10 miles west of Yuma in December of 08.  One day an email came in from another RV couple who said they had been following our blog, were presently camped east of Yuma, & would we like to get to-gether for a visit.  Those people turned out to be Doug, Joanne, & their standard poodle  Fillmore from LIVING OUR DREAM.    We met on a Saturday morning at McDonald's in one of Yuma's Wal-Marts.  About half way through our conversation Joanne asked if we might be interested in a ranch sitting job for some friends of theirs.  Well, that immediately conjured up herds of charging cattle, cowboys on wild bucking broncos, buffalo from horizon to horizon, blazing saddles, city slickers, & legends of Curly's gold.  Very scary stuff to say the least so over a Big Mac & fries we said we would definitely think it over.JOANNE, DOUG, KELLY, & AL , OUTSIDE McDONALDS IN THE WAL-MART STORE...YUMA

HORSES IN THE CORRAL & SNOW COVERED MULE MOUNTAINS

BANSHI & SPORTY GALLOPING IN FOR SUPPER

PONCHO, NELLY, & SARAH....(but maybe not in that same order:))  THE HEE HAW GANG

Took us a couple days to weigh the possibilities of roller skating in a buffalo herd, being attacked by roving band of wild chickens, & spending the cold desert nights out on the lone prairie under the endless stars with rattlesnakes in our sleeping bags & coyotes snapping at our heels.  Well, afterall, we were northern folk & not being from these parts we weren't sure just what to expect.  Guess we had just seen too many totally rootin tootin dust em up cowboy movies.  Luckily, common sense prevailed & quickly dispelled most of the fears.  Yes, the nights were cold with endless stars but it was hibernation time for all the snakes anyway & besides, we didn't have any sleeping bags or blazing saddles anyway.   Yep, we said........."we'll do it."

THE RANCH HOUSE

SAND HILL CRANES HEADING INTO THE SUNRISE

Joanne had given us Jeanie & Ray's email address so we first met Jeannie on-line.  Emails went back forth, questions were asked & answered from both sides as we all got to know each other.  We agreed on a time to head on down to the ranch in southeastern Arizona & the rest as they say is history. 

THESE GUYS SURE LIKE TO EAT

And what about those endless buffalo herds, bucking broncos, wild chicken attacks, charging cattle, & blazing saddles??  Well, we never did see a buffalo so never had a chance to strap on the roller skates .(Roger Miller song;))  The bucking broncos turned out to be a couple very friendly expectant mares named, Banshi & Sporty & the closest we got to a charging herd of cattle were 3 schmoozy burrows, Pancho, Nelly, & Sarah.  The attacking chicken gang turned out to be 9 lovely ladies residing in a coop near our motorhome complete with their very own in house rooster named Rodney.  We have since heard that Rodney & one of the ladies have moved on to poultry heaven:((  And those heel snapping coyotes turned out to be a couple of big slurpy doggy guys named, Pearce & Gleeson who quickly became our most  bestest pals.  We did feed a cat or two every night but never did really see them.   Probably those big fierce mountain lion types from the movies I'm sure.

WOKE UP TO SNOW ON THE SWISS HELM MOUNTAINS ONE MORNING

FRIENDS INGRID & TOM DROP IN SO IT'S SNACK TIME FOR THE DOGGY GUYS

It is this same ranch we are heading back to next week while Jeanie & Ray take another long extended vacation this winter.  For many years they worked that ranch & couldn't go anywhere because of the cattle they raised & fed.  We're just happy to fill in for them again plus it gives us a nice place to stay for awhile in an area rich with old west history.  If anyone is interested they can slip over to our archives & check the dates from February 6th to March 23rd of 2009 for our antics on the ranch plus many day trips.  Same dates for our photo albums.  Lots of photos from the ranch including sunrises over the Swiss Helm mountains to the east & sunsets over the Mule Mountains to the west.  And lots of frolicking critter pics, and........snow!!

SAND HILL CRANES IN FLIGHT PAST A CRESCENT MOON

SUNSET OVER THE MULE MOUNTAINS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Did you know a toothache is the pain that drives you to extraction!!

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

STORM CLOUDS & SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS

THE SWISSHELM MOUNTAINS EAST OF THE RANCH


The rooster started up about 4 & the rain started about 5. The wind never got started because it never got stopped from the night before & yes, I know it's not proper English to use the word got but I'm tired so I gets to say what I wants:)) SAND HILL CRANES FLYING BY THE MULE MOUNTAINS WEST OF THE RANCH


By the time the doggy guys rumbled in & out for their morning constitutional we had about half an acre of yukky mud in the rig........everywhere.

We donned our seldom used raincoats & headed for the chicken pen about 8:15. Jeanie met us half way & walked around with us as we fed the chickens & dogs. She checked the rain gauge & noticed we had a quarter inch of rain this morning. Ray came out & we all walked down to the corral being careful to steer clear of the muddy patches. Luckily the rain quit & we were able to shed the cumbersome raincoats. Because the donkeys & horses stayed in the corral & pen areas overnight they had to be fed this morning. Normally they are out on the range feeding but because of the inclement weather they are staying under cover for a few days.

PORCH CORNER WITH MULE MOUNTAINS IN THE DISTANCE

The dark rain clouds had dropped snow in the mountains & as they slowly lifted off the mountain tops I made a bee-line for the rig to grab my camera. It's not every day we get to see scenes like this. Flocks of Sand Hill Cranes were making their way north to their feeding grounds & the snowy Mule mountains to the west gave them a picturesque backdrop. My hands were freezing because of the wind-chill factor but I did manage to get a couple of nice photos. The cloud shrouded Dragoon & Gleeson mountains to the northwest caught my attention next & as I turned to the east, the snow covered Swisshelm mountains presented another photo opportunity. What a splendid morning it turned out to be despite the cold temperatures. The rest of the day evolved into a mixture of sun & clouds so we decided to take a drive down to Douglas this morning around 10. The cloud shadows playing across the Swisshelm, Perilla, & Pedregosa mountains on the way to Douglas made for a beautifully scenic drive. In the mixture of sky & earth it is the clouds that add character & to-day what a moody & mysterious character the clouds presented themselves to be. Downtown Douglas was very quiet as we drove along the main street admiring the old buildings. We reached the south end of town & had to swing round to the west because we were right at the Mexican border. Found a spacious mall with a good selection of stores including a Wal-Mart. We weren't long in getting a grocery cart rolling & spent half an hour picking up a few groceries. CLOUD SHROUDED DRAGOON MOUNTAINS TO THE NORTHWEST

We were back to the ranch by noon & spent the rest of the afternoon shoveling all of the morning's mud out of the rig. Mats to be shakin out, steps to be swept, doggy paws & shoes to be cleaned, etc. The winds outside made for a cold day so we stayed inside & watched a DVD about the San Pedro River. Very informative & we learned more about the plants & animals in the area. To-night's DVD movie was called, Run The Wild Fields. I liked this quiet heartwarming tale which takes place during the mid 1940's in rural & small town America. Just kind of a feeling good kind of movie with the producing, directing, & acting, all done well.

We've got another storm front rolling in to-night so we'll see what to-morrow brings.

TACK HOUSE, PENS, & CORRAL

Afternoon chores went off without a hitch so all the critters will go to bed to-night with full tummies. I've always known that animals are a heck of a lot smarter than us people folks & now I'm seeing it in the actions of the horses & donkeys here. Just little things so far but it's nice to know I've been right about my theory all along....................:)) THE FARMYARD

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/