OUR DAY WAS SO SLOW WE ALMOST WENT BACKWARDS!!

 

“HEY SANTA”….HIGH 5 FOR ME & GABE’S FIRST CHRISTMAS EVER:))  (Kelly’s new twin Grandkids from Vancouver B.C.)

If our day would have been any slower I'm sure we would have traveled backwards in time.  Kelly had a momentary lapse of reason this morning when she contemplated driving over to Sierra Vista.  I was quick to point out it was only 4 days before Christmas & that place would be totally nuts with chaotic traffic & stressed out frenzied holiday shoppers.  Fortunately she came to her senses & relaxed with her book for the day with the exception of her exercise class this morning.

 

<< KELLY’S PHOTO OF A  BUNNY DRINKING FROM A PLASTIC KID’S POOL LAST NIGHT

Ray, from our Monday afternoon photo group sent an email saying he had to go see the Vet this afternoon for his semi-annul dis-temper shot so I figured that meant our photo group was canceled.  Said he figured I needed a rabies shot too but didn't figure the Vet would have enough serum to settle me down!!  Told him I didn't have my list done anyway.  What list!!  The list of people I carry in my wallet so that if I get rabies I'll have a list of people who I'm gonna go out & bite first!!

SAND HILL CRANES TAKING FLIGHT FROM A CORNFIELD

Not to worry about me putting music on the site folks.  Mentioned yesterday I thought music on sites was a bad idea & only suggested I might put an optional button on sometime if I happened to have a special photo album I wanted some music to go with it.  Not likely I'll even do that though.  Whewwww, close call there!!

 

Only another 4 or 5 days & all this Christmas schmozzle will thankfully be over for another year.  If I have to sit through one more morning Christmas cooking show on television I'm going to up & snort!!  Christmas was a lot different when I was a kid growing up in the late 40's & early to mid 50's.  I remember what Christmas used to be like & it was nowhere near the commercial hype, stress, & mess, it is nowadays.  Why anyone with a lick of good sense would be thrashing & bashing around in a store this week is beyond me.  I began backing away from the whole Christmas thing in the mid 80's somewhere & that included the thrashing & bashing.  Just got bashed by a maddened shopaholics grossly over loaded grocery cart one too many times I guess.  Fortunately when I met Kelly she was traveling down the same track in her life & since then we have stopped all the gift giving & Christmas card sending.  No more credit card mania & no more helter skelter running all over the place trying to please everybody.  And best of all, no more of those horribly boring company Christmas parties.  Yaaaaaaaay!!  Bah Humblebug:)) 

AND ,THIS FOLKS……….IS McNEAL, ARIZONA:))

Want to welcome our newest follower, Renee.  Hmmmmm, wonder if she is from off the coast of British Columbia somewhere.  Welcome aboard Renee & despite my above blusterings I hope you have a fine Christmas:))

Now, without further ado I'm going to back myself out of here & go hum myself a Christmas Carol...........backwards!!

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GROANER'S CORNER:((  The only time the world beats a path to your door is if you're in the bathroom.

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.

QUIET DAY & A NOTE FROM BELLE:))

 

DOS CABEZAS PIONEER CEMETERY…..DOS CABEZAS MOUNTAIN TOP RIGHT

Quiet day around the ranch.  No donkey shenanigans & all is well.  Corky boy was here for the day so we had 6 dogs flying around upside down & a couple 'a' good grass scrambles.  Yes Jerry, we have about two thirds grass here but we just happen to be parked on gravel & that makes for really some neat-o mud pies outside the rig on rainy days.  Not many rainy days in Arizona though:))

QUIET SATURDAY MORNING DRIVE IN THE SULPHUR SPRINGS VALLEY, ARIZONA

Clicked on 2 blogsites yesterday that started with a video & music playing.  Had to click them off right away again.  For air card users like ourselves we really can't afford to lose precious megabytes.  Those darn bites are like bits of gold.   You Tube videos, music, animated & audio advertising, animated jokes, greeting cards, etc are all taboo for us.  The 2 blogs I clicked on may have had some very interesting content put to-gether by some very interesting people but I'll never know.  I have read that music on blogs/websites is one of the number one reasons for people not returning to the site.  I think if a person wants their favorite song or Christmas Carol on their site then make it optional like Joe does on, SOMEWHERE IN TIME.  He has a 'music optional' button on the top left side of his blog.  I also think videos should have an 'options button' as well.  Recent comments have suggested music on our blogsite & I may consider the ‘music optional’ feature.  Of course I could be taken to task for making my photos too big on our site as well but I really don't think that's as bad as forced music or videos.  Geeezzz, seems like I've always got something to grumble about huh.  Well, gotta keep my Cursmudgeon status intact.  Can't relax for a second or someone will snatch that away on me!!

Ever wonder how your computer lets you know when it's hard drive decides to totally crash forever.  Check out RAY'S QCC blog & he'll tell ya first hand!! 

FORT BOWIE IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF BOWIE PEAK IN THE BACKGROUND

We've made a bit of a start on Belle Starr's blogsite so I'll include the address here.  Kelly will make some phone calls to-morrow & try to find out if it will be possible for Belle to retrieve her actual website from the server who dropped it a couple of months ago, but there are some complications.  In the meantime we'll try to get Belle up & running with her own blog.  BELLE STARR'S SILVERADO RANCH  Coincidentally, as I was typing this paragraph an email came in from Belle.  I am going to include that email here.  She is such a great lady & has such a caring heart of gold.  This is from Belle:

"COME ON OVER ANYTIME IF IT IS CONVENIENT." 
Hey---what do you think about having a New Years Eve Party here on the ranch?------You can get on your Blog and I will fill in on mine-----inviting all these Boondockers and others to come out and enjoy a get together around a camp fire-----listening to all those old western tunes and cowboy music of Yesterday.  I have lots and lots of music,
Even Square dance music and the calls.  They were my mothers.  She used to call square dances  when all the neighbors would
get together at each others house.  Everyone would bring sandwiches,cake and pie .  The hostess would serve the drinks.  What fun it was.  Bring Kelly----she is so cute.
Belle-----Thanks for all you are doing for me.  The Boondockers can stay a night or two if they want.

Belle Starr
Silverado RancH

ABANDOED OLD RANCH HOUSE IN THE VALLEY

Saturday's day trip took us north from Johnny Ringo's gravesite along highway 181 to-ward the double peaked Dos Cabezas mountain.  We gained some altitude through rolling hills & drove into the east end of what first appeared a ghost town.  This was Dos Cabezas.  Not too much left here & the few old tumbledown buildings matched the number of places that looked livable.  Once again, we have to look at things with our southwest eyes & not our southern Ontario eyes.  Rolling out the west end town we came upon the Dos Cabezas Pioneer Cemetery on a hillside to the left of the highway.

 

WHITE BUILDING CENTER LEFT IS THE OLD DOS CABEZAS U.S. POST OFFICE ACCORDING TO FADED SIGN ABOVE THE DOOR

(click on photos to enlarge)

 We find old cemeteries interesting & generally stop & spend time looking around in them.  The markers tell many sad tales....if there are any markers.  Some cemeteries we see are not much more than a few piles of scattered stones & a few pieces of weathered wood lying about.  Sometimes an old iron gate hanging on rusted hinges from a once proud hand crafted iron fence encircles a family plot.  In this old Pioneer cemetery we saw one stone with the inscription. 'Unknown.'  Another one says 'Just Restin' while another newly laid cement foundation in the newer part of the cemetery has a plastic sign on it saying. 'Reserved Parking for D.K.'  A cement block with the name Dot painted on it marks the spot of another lifetime of lost memories.  Some of the crosses are made of iron & have stood the test of time while others of wood have been parched black by a century of Arizona sun.  So many stories left untold.  So many memories gently picked up & whispered away in the wind.

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We slipped around Dos Cabezas mountain & began our decent back into the Sulphur Springs Valley & the not too distant little historical town of Wilcox.  Interstate 10 runs across the north end of Wilcox & we have probably travelled through here half a dozen times over the last 3 years but never into the town.  Saturday's drive brought us into the south end of what is commonly called, old Wilcox. Crossed a double set of main line railroad tracks & immediately spotted a long red dining car called, The Dining Car - Big Tex Bar-B-Que.  About a dozen schnazzy looking Harley-Davidson's parked outside so inside we went.  We hadn't eaten since early morning so it was time to strap on the feedbag.  Got my usual burg & fries & thoroughly enjoyed it.  Nice old lighting & ambience inside the diner & it wasn't tooooooo fancy schmancy so I felt comfortable there:))

 

Had us a little walk down the street afterwards past both the Rex Allen & Marty Robbins museums.  Kelly popped into a few gift shops but I have a natural aversion to those places so had to cross the street & give them a wide birth in case a big wooden hook came out the door & snagged me by the arm.  Had that happened I would not have been surprised to see Kelly on the other end of that long hooked stick!!  The street was totally deserted & we couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the merchants.  We did agree that we may return there again sometime but it was getting a bit late & we figured it was time to head back to the ranch.  Hopped I-10 west to 191 & headed south for McNeal.  Another fine Saturday into the record books of, The Bayfield Bunch:))

WINDMILL SHADOW IS CAST UPON THE WEST WALL OF THE REX ALLEN MUSEUM

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Did you know that attitude of life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it!!

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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TO-DAY WE FOUND THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF TOMBSTONE’S INFAMOUS……JOHNNY RINGO

 

I knew the 3 donkey guys were up to something again this morning when I saw them clustered around the gate with what appeared to be a couple long green tubular things.  I slipped down the north fence line, around behind some clumps of tall 12 foot grass, crossed over behind a couple tractors & slipped past the end of the hay bale barn.  They were so engrossed in their little project they never saw me coming.  Yep, they were up to something alright.  Somehow they had gotten into Ray's driving shed & were able to drag back a set of welding tanks along with the lines & a welding nozzle.  Nellie had the oxygen & acetylene tanks propped up against the fence & Sarah had the rubber lines stretched up over her back & sure enough, there was Poncho, welding goggles & all, trying to burn a hole through the chain securing the gate.  

Well, I let out a holler & Poncho dropped the welding nozzle & Sarah turned & quickly looked the other way as if she didn't know what was going on.  They were 3 pretty sheepish looking donkeys as I climbed the pen fence & walked across the corral towards them.  It was me & 3 donkeys in a stare down over the top of the gate.  Well, I assume Poncho was staring at me but it was hard to tell with those goofy looking welding goggles he had on.  I wasn't mad at the guys & I don't think they were mad at me for catching them but there were a few moments of indecision between all of us.  Who was going to make the first move & what was that move going to be!!  The thought occurred to me then that I had better get myself smartened up right quick & with that thought fresh in my mind I undid the chain & pushed the gate open making way for the rascally donkey gang to come into the corral.  And come in they did!!  The gang headed straightaway for the piles of hay.  Well, Sarah & Nellie did that is.  Poncho couldn't see where he was going with those whacky welding goggles still on his head so I had to run over to him & pull them off.  He shook himself, got his bearings, turned around twice & headed for the hay.  I closed the gate to the pasture & resigned myself to the fact those donkeys were just one heck of a whole lot smarter than me & they deserved to be in the corral with all that hay.  Donkeys-3....Al-0!!

We had heard that Tombstone's infamous Johnny Ringo from the old Wyatt Erp & OK Corral days was buried somewhere over near the base of the Chiricahua mountains east of Sunizona.  Somewhere along Turkey Creek road they said.  Charlene at the Elfrida library had told Kelly this morning that it was a few miles down that road, over a creek, & around a couple of curves.  We knew there was a stone cairn marking the spot because we had seen a picture of it.  So, that was our objective to-day.......find Johnny Ringo!!

It was another beautiful Saturday morning in the Sulphur Springs Valley as we headed north on highway 191 out of Elfrida. At Sunizona we turned right onto highway 181 & headed east.  As usual, very little traffic on these great Arizona roads as we passed by the Paws & Hooves ranch where Carol & Rosanna live.  We had just had supper with them last night in Bisbee.  The highway heads straight east for a few miles before making a sharp swing to the north.  We did not follow that curve.  We went straight through on a washboardy & dusty Turkey Creek Road heading directly for the mighty Chiricahua mountains.  Around the first mile marker we slowed down & began scanning for anything looking like a stone marker.  Passed over the dry creek, around a couple curves but still didn't see anything.  This is a beautiful part of the valley with gently rolling hills leading to the mountains.  Fields of soft yellow grass, large prickly pear cactus, agave, yucca, Mesquite, & other large spreading trees.  Just the kind of setting we would love to have house in.  Passed the Sunglo ranch & came upon another very old looking ranch on the left.  We felt we had gone to far so turned around & immediately spotted a white sign on the north side of the road.  Pulled off to the side into a small dirt track along a fence & stopped.  Couldn't make out what the sign said so while Kelly slipped through a gate to have a closer look I pulled on my photo vest & grabbed the cameras.  Kelly called back, "this is it." 

      

(click pics to enlarge & hover mouse for captions)

A narrow path led through some scrub trees & yellow grass.  We were able to make out the marker a couple hundred yards ahead.  We had found the final resting place of Johnny Ringo alright.   It is not known for sure if he took his own life at this spot or was murdered here but while looking at the pile of stones I couldn't help but think, well if ya gotta die this is probably as good a place to die as any.  It was peaceful here in the shadow of the Chiricahuas.  Only the wind in the trees rustling along a quiet & dry creek bed nearby the grave.  Gently sloping grass covered hills with rocks & boulders surrounded the spot. Yep, I thought, a mighty fine place for a feller to be buried alright.

 JOHNNY RINGO’S HISTORY

JOHNNY RINGO……Wikipedia

AN OLD RANCH SITS NEAR THE JOHNNY RINGO BURIAL SITE

It was exactly 7.8 kilometers back to the pavement of highway 181.  We turned right & headed the car for the town of Wilcox somewhere on the other side of the looming Dos Cabezas Mountains which we can see all the way from the ranch.  I will continue that journey in to-morrow's blog.  The little tumbledown town of Dos Cabezas, their Pioneer Cemetery, & on to the town of Wilcox, home of the last silver screen singer & cowboy, Rex Allen.  Also a familiar town in the growing up life of country western singer, Marty Robbins.

BOWIE PEAK IN THE BACKGROUND WITH FORT BOWIE JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THOSE MOUNTAINS

I couldn't help but think again as we were heading north on the beautiful winding highway between the surrounding mountain ranges how I wished we could be doing this all the time.  The thought of returning home & sitting in one boring spot again for 6 months until we can travel again is almost too much for me to even think about.  Last summer was bad enough so I'm sure not looking forward to this coming summer.  There is just too much in this land to see & do & the time for seeing & doing it is getting shorter all the time.  Traveling & RVing is something that gets into a person's blood & once you have it there is no getting rid of it.  I just couldn't help but feel sadness this Saturday morning as those thoughts came rumbling through my head .  Oh dear, oh dear, whatever am I going to do..............:((

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Ever notice that what people call congestion on a train is atmosphere in a nightclub!!

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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