IT WAS A GREAT DAY FOR JUST PUTTERING

MORNING WALK IN THE TOMBSTONE HILLS. THE TOWN OF TOMBSTONE IS JUST OVER THAT HILL ON THE LEFT

Our morning walk took us about a half mile up a dusty road & back. That was as far as we got for the whole rest of the day. It was a warm, sunny, Saturday morning & it just seemed too nice out to even bother going anywhere. We had some twittering little birds in the desert broom shrubs nearby, a slight breeze, & a western view that stretched forever between the Huachuca, Whetstone, & Mule mountains. Yep, just a nice stay at home puttering kinda day.

Kelly busied herself with a clean up inside the rig & I worked away outside with my rake & broom cleaning up a lot of dirt & sand that had been washed onto the concrete from the local rainy season. Have been pleasantly surprised at the lack of litter & broken glass here. Many times we find boondocking areas like this have been trashed by the local young people if there is a town nearby. Drinking & party hang-outs. But, so far I've only found one unbroken empty beer bottle, one pop can, & a plastic bag. I think it has to do with the fact that there is a gate out at the road with an official looking sign on it. We open & close that gate anytime we leave here. Also, the older couple (Gwen & Jack) who lease this land & graze their cattle here see to it that there are no shenanigans going on. Jack, in his big wide brimmed white cowboy hat complete with jeans & jacket looks like he just stepped out of an old Hollywood western. He may be slowed down a bit by some arthritis in his older age but he wouldn't be afraid to put the run on any desperados that showed up here. Gwen & Jack live in Sierra Vista & come out here twice a day to water & feed their cattle. They trundle along the bumpy old trails in their aging Ford pick-up truck as they check out the cattle's watering spots in three different locations. Yesterday morning they were headed up into the hills to have a look for a few cows that hadn't showed up for a couple of days. They are truly a down home nice couple. It's been a treat to have met them.

THE SAN PEDRO VALLEY

The rest of the day was just spent puttering around & totally enjoying our environment. This is one of the best boondocking sites we've ever had. However, we also know that anybody could come rolling in here at any time & set up right next to us, crank up their radio, haul out the beer, & fire up their ATV's & dirt bikes, so we're trying to savor every preciously quiet moment we are here.

Our DVD documentary for to-night was, The Heart Of The Cowboy." A journey into California's final frontier. The life & times of the remaining Corazon Vaquero's in the Baja. A people living in harmony with their environment. Something we should all take a lesson from. Thanks to the two guys we met on our Mountain Palm Canyon hike awhile back for recommending it:))

KELLY'S RELAXING WITH A BOOK

Also would like to once again thank all you people out there for taking the time & expressing an interest in our blog. The emails, comments, messages, & shouts are very much appreciated. I read them aloud to Max, Checkers, & the Motormouse at bedtime & it always sets their tails to wagging..........................:))

No photos for the web album to-day.

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LISTENING TO ROY ROGERS & THE SON'S OF THE PIONEERS

LOOKING OUT OVER THE SAN PEDRO VALLEY TO THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS

Being parked on a large slab of concrete is sure helpful in keeping the motorhome a bit cleaner. Four dusty boots & 12 dusty paws can sure haul a lot of the old west into the rig in a hurry. There was some kind of mining operation on this hill years ago with a bunch of concrete pads poured for buildings. The buildings are long gone but the slabs are still here making for a great boondocking spot. Even though we have a mat & doggy bed outside for Checkers on the concrete, she always manages to find a pile of dirt to flop in & laze the sunny days away. I call her the old dust bucket dog. AFTERNOON SIESTA FOR THE BIG DUST BUCKET DOG

It was nice to look out our window this morning & see 5 cows standing outside the rig looking back at us. Across the valley the sun was lighting up the Huachuca mountain range just west of Sierra Vista. Heard a couple of ravens somewhere nearby & the sounds of the cows moooooing down by the water tank sure made for a nice morning. The warming rays of the morning sun soon pushed the night's cold air off down the valley & we had the start of another beautiful day here in southeastern Arizona.

Broke my garden rake on some tough ground while making a new firepit but with a little duct tape & a band-it clamp I had it back in operation good as new. Kelly headed into Sierra Vista around 9:30 & I was sooooooo glad she let me stay here at the camp. Groceries, laundry, & of course, the shopping thing was just not up my alley. Plus, when your traveling like this in an RV it's good for each other to have their own space at times. So, it didn't me long to get a campfire going & haul out my favorite old western CD. Slipped it into the rigs CD player, cranked up the volume & stretched out on the lounge chair outside as "The Sons of the Pioneers" took me back to days long ago in the old wild west. Blue Shadows On The Trail, Ghost Riders In The Sky, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Along The Santa Fe Trail, Red River Valley, Wagon Wheels, Moonlight On The Prairies, Peace In The Valley, Rainbow's End, Along The Navajo Trail, Empty Saddles In The Old Corral, Cool Water, I'm An Old Cow Hand From The Rio Grande just to name a few. And of course my favorite, Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie. The Sons of the Pioneers have a beautiful harmony & their rendition of this song is superb.
LISTENING TO MY OLD WILD WEST TUNES

We are camped in the Tombstone Hills & the old west town of Tombstone is only about 3 miles over the hills to the northeast. While listening to these songs one wonders about the characters who lived & died there back in the 1800's. Charleston is just down the road with it's own wild west history as is other small ghost towns nearby. As I look out over the hills nearby I can almost see the riders on horseback making their way through the sage & mesquite along dusty trails between the ranches & towns. They may have passed over this very spot where I'm sitting here typing this. Cochise & Geronimo roamed these hills & the U.S. Cavalry was based about 9 miles from here at Fort Huachuca. This area is rich in American history, legends, ghost towns, & wandering spirits. Over the next month or so we hope to visit many of these places & with a bit of luck, maybe feel the legendary spirits of the old west .

Kelly made it back from Sierra Vista around 3:30 with lots of groceries, a new doggy toy for the gang, & a couple of new T-shirts for me. The T-shirts had been marked down 75% at Marshalls. Most of my T-shirts look like they've taken a heavy load of buckshot:(( They haven't:))

HOISTED UP OUR COLORS TO-DAY

The temperatures started falling around 5 so we retreated indoors & that was about it for another day. No idea where we're headed to-morrow yet, but I hope it's another canyon hike somewhere.................. THE WHETSTONE MOUNTAIN RANGE

No, this is not a vacation.....this is a lifestyle:))

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TO-DAY WE MET JEANIE & RAY.....THE RANCH PEOPLE

WE MOVED AGAIN TO-DAY


Not as cold last night so our windows weren't all fogged up this morning with condensation. We met the farm couple on our walk near the cattle watering tank & they showed us how to turn the water pump on in case we should need water while we're here. Right friendly folks in these here parts.

Decided to take the rig into Tombstone late this morning & top up the tanks. Nothing wrong with the spot where we're camped but the older couple suggested we park on the big cement slabs left by the mining company so with that thought in mind we packed things up & drove our stuff in the car over to the cement slab about 300 yards away. We then took the rig to Tombstone. Only place in town that sells propane is the Tombstone Territories RV Park just north of Town on highway 80. The fellow let us dump our tanks & take on water as well. Next stop was the gas station where we filled up the rig for $101.00. Gas there was $1.87 a gallon. I don't keep track of how many miles we get to the gallon but I think we're doing really good with our 8.1 Chevy engine.

WE ARE ON A CEMENT SLAB WITH A LITTLE DIRT GARDEN & SOME COW PADDYS OUTSIDE

We were back to our "new" site by 1:15 & set to work making things homey. We had been in touch with our ranch sitting folks this past month by email & to-day we finally got to meet Jeanie & Ray. They had to go to Sierra Vista for some things & that journey took them right by our location here on the Charleston Road so they popped in to meet us. Really nice folks & we all hit it off right away. Jeanie was an electrician & Ray is a retired Sheriff from up around Apache Junction.....and a rodeo rider when he was a younger fella:)) They are RV people as well so we had a lot in common & a lot to talk about. They are in the process of replacing a broken water heater at home so our arrival at their place will be around mid week, some time next week. In the meantime we've got lots to see & do over in this neck of the woods for the next week or so. I did ask Ray about milking the chickens & with his thumb & forefinger he kinda showed me how it's done:)) THE THIN LINE OF LIGHTS IS SIERRA VISTA.... WITH 3 VEHICLES APPROACHING US ON THE CHARLESTON ROAD

Jeanie & Ray left around 4 & we resumed cleaning up our new campsite a bit. We still have the same beautiful night view of Sierra Vista as before too. We're a little lower than our other spot so may be out of the wind a tad more. We have a couple of nice green desert broom plants just outside the door plus some large concrete abutments which are nice for setting things on. Noticed a herd of cows fairly close just before supper so we'll have to watch our step in the morning. But, that's OK because we sure prefer a big herd of cows to a big herd of people anyday..................... Oh no, have I got myself in a big herd of trouble again:(( THE PLANET VENUS IS VISIBLE UPPER LEFT & CRESCENT MOON AT LOWER RIGHT

NO PHOTOS FOR THE WEB ALBUM TO-NIGHT

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