New Wheels / A View on The Reverse Discrimination Thing / Over Educated

I took the plunge yesterday and went with my mechanic friend Buddy to Douglas and closed the deal on my new canyon runner . It became increasingly obvious I was going to get into some serious trouble with the van if I kept going deeper into these wild places with it .These little mini-vans do a great job for what they were designed for , however they don't have a lot of ground clearance and generally speaking aren't made for the rough use and what passes for roads and trails out here . So , I bought a 91 Isuzu Trooper , bigger tires , lock-out hubs for the 4 wheel drive , a basic m1 a1 little vehicle with hardly any options , the less technology involved the less there is to break theory always works for me . While it's not the prettiest vehicle on the road , it should get me to the places I want to go , if not in total comfort at least in relative safety and most importantly get me the hell out again ! The Sulphur canyon trip pushed me over the edge , after nearly getting stuck a couple of times and then backing up for almost a mile , I had enough of that particular exercise ! I wasn't crazy about spending the money on another vehicle , and had big plans for the cash to pursue other projects , common sense told me I couldn't do anything if I was stuck in some canyon or mountain trail dessicated like a long dead coyote and I'm not about to give up my exploring !
A quick view on this reverse discrimination deal . What is wrong with the old system of the most qualified being promoted ? Firefighters in general are a tough bunch , having had to fight a few fires on board ship and the experience of teaching firefighting and damage control in the Navy gives me an insight on their lives . There are a good many women firefighters and EMT's and they go through the same training and qualifications as the rest of the personnel , seems they are doing fine ! The tests I have had to take in different aspects of my life [ including firefighting in the Navy ] have no little box on them to define the color of your skin or what your ancestor's origins were . You can either do the job or not ! Promoting someone on the basis of their ethnicity makes as much sense as going down to the temporary help place to get someone to fine tune the space shuttle ! Get the busybody government fools out of this mess before they have the opportunity to kill someone . As far as the woman who is being nominated for the supreme court , her record speaks for itself . I always admired Sandra Day O'connor , she had class and common sense , Ginsberg is a whack job liberal who bends with the popular notions at every turn . Now this woman who at every opportunity has shown bias and lack of empathy for the common worker . I have some serious doubts about her .
My take on some of these ding-dongs in the seat of our government , they are over educated and under qualified in the experience department . Perhaps get them out in the real world for a minimum of ten years before they are allowed to take office or a stint in the military , let's just say get a few callouses prior to making decisions about everday life . The dumbest street cop has a better understanding of human nature than these so called judges . Just by the fact they deal with the dregs of humanity everday get some of the real people who have had to deal with low lifes and treacherous SOB's for a few years and the justice system would see a dramatic change ! Get some ER doctors to be the surgeon general , find some of the folks who did all the little jobs in the military like cooking , cleaning , taking care of the equipment , to get into the department of labor . You know , the people who know how to work and do a thankless job and still do it well , perhaps they can show the way to rebuild our work force , have a good work ethic , take pride in what you do , take care of yourself and don't expect the people you work for to do it for you . In other words take responsibility for your self . Yeah Right !
Congratulations to the folks in Fl you now have another tax hike on tobacco products ! While all the non-users are singing and dancing , guess what ! The legislature also raised the fees [tax] on drivers licence and tags too , the tax on tobacco has already driven one business out [500 plus employees ] next on the block is petroleum products , just a little more tax on gas and nobody will notice . It's only a few cents right ? If you know somone who is in the aviation industry ask them about some of the little presents this last session has passed on to them . If your ears are getting warm , it's all that sand where you have your head buried , Those fat cats in Tallahassee aren't going to stop till they have a tax on the air you breathe !
Anyway , all is calm and Rodeo is ready for another day .
Stay tuned ...

Company Departs / Canyon Running / What It must Have Been Like

All good things must end . My sister departed to go back to Fl , my other friends have went to Deming to deal with the challenge of getting their house built . Back to the daily routine of discovery and exploration of the high desert . I did get the chance to show my sis the incredible beauty and different plant and life forms on the high desert . Bob , Sis and I loaded up one day for the trip to Sierra Vista AZ. by way of Douglas and Bisbee , the trip narrated by Bob , with his volumes of knowledge of the area was nice for me too . It was a good ride , particularly as I didn't have to drive , the local fauna cooperated with antelope coming within a few yards of the highway to show off their summer colors , through the pass to Douglas some white tail deer leaping through the thickets made for a pleasant surprise  . Traffic , thankfully was light and with no one to pressure us we had a leisurely trip over and back  . Bisbee is all that you would expect from an old mining town built onto the side of a mountain , with the great open pit mines with their gaping maw there to remind you of what mining is all about . It ain't pretty but it is an awesome sight , especially if you think about the technology that was available when these monsters were in full swing .

Sierra Vista is not all that old and bears a striking resemblance to every other bedroom community in America , lots of big box stores , lots of franchise eateries , lots of traffic , I was a wreck by the time came to return home . I realize these places are necessary for people to exist , but I don't have to like it ! At any rate a safe return to Rusty's was accomplished and after an application of Shiner Bock , my jangled nerves were settled and we spent a pleasant evening sitting on the deck and let the desert whisper it's secrets to us .

Yesterday I undertook a little canyon running . I started up at the far end of cave creek and slowly worked my way back to Portal , a quick stop for a coffee , and I went down State Line Road , I wanted to get some more photos of the old Pullman car that sits abandoned out in the desert just south of Rodeo
as I was cruising the stretch of road leading to the old car , I spied the Sulphur Canyon Road and having met a couple of folks who lived back in there , I went to explore . There are a good many trails back up in the canyon but I decided not to beat the van up anymore and parked and with the aid of my walking stick made it in quite a ways to get a few shots ;

 

  

  

While I didn't set out to be gone the entire day I found that canyon running on my messed up legs makes for some slow going . What would have been a short trip some years ago , turned into a two and a half hour journey and just about beat me up . It was worth it ! 

My next stop was down on Stateline Road . This old Pullman car really intrigues me , no telling how long it has been sitting out in this field . No one seems to know , it is quite a distance from where the tracks were and still has it's trucks underneath it . What kind of stories this old car could tell , cattle barons ? Perhaps some native Americans riding it to their imprisonment to Fl ? Families coming west to settle ? Tired cowboys , making the trek back to the ranch after a hooraw in El Paso ? Miners going to Douglas or Bisbee ? I may have to write a story on this one .

 

And of course the end of a great day .
Stay tuned ....

Badmen / A trip around the block

While one part of my company made the trek to Tombstone for a dose of bright lights and some tourist attractions , and possibly a chance to ride their bikes , my sis and I undertook a trip out onto the back roads of the area . part of my favorite rides is over to Animas through Antelope pass , A gentle ascent up over the Peloncillos leading into Antelope valley vwith it's wide plains and rolling fields of browse grass and planted fields of alfalfa . Occasionally I stop where there is nothing in sight and ponder ,what would make a person stop here? Nothing visible that jumps out and says this is it ! Stop here ! Build a ranch , form a small community , build  a few places to do business . Sometime in the next hundred years or so there will be roads leading in and out and a rail road to take your cattle to market . No one has that much fore sight . There is water if you know where to look , Cottonwood trees are a sure sign , just how far down it is , is another question . One major reason for Animas existence is this ...

 

Tht's right this little spot in the trail was part of the owlhoot trail , or smugglers trail . Starting down in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico and following an ancient Native American path up through Arizona and New Mexico , part of which is now known as Geronimo's trail , the bad guys and outlaws/ smugglers found refuge and water in the area while waiting for their next victim , or for their next raid on other bad guys [ there is no honor among thieves !] . The most well known of these latter day gang bangers were the Clantons of Tombstone / OK corral / Wyatt Earp fame . The old man of the gang met his end near Skeleton canyon not far from Rodeo . Later known as one of Geronimo's hide outs and supposed surrender site , it's still a wild place with smugglers still using it's far reaches , only now it's drugs or human contraband  

My sis and I continued our journey after a pit stop at the Bootheel Grocery , better known as my phone booth in the sky and armed with a cold drink and a full gas tank we motored up rt 338 towards Cotton City rt 338 is a nice road with light traffic and long sweeping vista of hay fields , chili fields and still some cotton being grown . Working ranches tucked back off the road with some stock grazing out in the fields give evidence of civilization , derelict buildings , abandoned or just plain old , along the road give sign of hard times , just used up or changing times .

We got on I-10 west to Steins , a ghost town on the Arizona border but it was closed , while not a great attraction hopefully they will still try and preserve whats left for historical sake . Back to Road Forks and a stop at Phantom Fireworks to satisfy the little kid in me , and back down rt 80 to Granite gap for some photos . A nice trip around the block ! Less than 200 miles and a beautiful day without too much commercialism jacked into it .  

Stay tuned .....

Granite Gap and the valley ;

 

 

 

Company / Trip up Cave Creek Canyon / Food

At last the company has shown up , Friends from back in Fl. and then my sister also from the same area . After catching up on all the news and getting everyone settled , we undertook a trip yesterday to do some sightseeing and get some lunch . Earlier I had taken my sis on the grand tour of Rodeo and a ride up State Line Rd. to get a feel for the area . While not exactly vintage old west , the views of the valley floor and various artifacts from bygone eras combine to bring images of vast cattle herds , stock pens , rail sidings and cowboys on horse back watching the steam powered trains creaking and crashing their way across the high desert to load their cargo of beef for the ride to processing centers to be prepared to  feed the world . Old buildings begging to tell their stories of ranchers , cowboys and ladies of the night . Blacksmiths toiling in the evening air after it cools off repairing and manufacturing tools and equipment , trips out to the stables bringing in one horse after another to be shod , bending rims onto wagon wheels making ready for the return trip to the ranch house , loaded with supplies from the mercantile and general store . Perhaps a chance to sit and savor food someone else has cooked and have a drink or two . Seeing folks you haven't talked to in a while , getting some news about the rest of the world . In the cool of the evening locomotives getting steam up , whistles sounding , the chains and couplers banging out a song as they tighten and groan with the pressure of massive wheels starting to turn getting the momentum for the trip up over Antelope Pass to head for Playas then El Paso . Early in the morning the loading of the wagons , saddling the horses , maybe holding their heads from the celebrartion of the night before , cowboys and ranch hands start another day . For some folks it's something from a movie , livng here I can still feel it and hear it , go back up in some of these canyons and the prescence of the Apache is still just around the next turn . Spirits abound throughout the South West , all you have to do is stop and listen and feel .
The trip up to Cave Creek Canyon was a short one , but my sis an my friend Marti did make the trek up to Vista point while the old cripples stayed with the van , I think they were suitably impressed and brought back some great photos , on the trip back out did see a couple of mule deer and then back down in the valley we rolled . A stop was made at the Chiricahua art gallery andas always the works presented were wonderful , a couple pair of ear rings were found and purchased . Back towards the Ranch and a stop at the Natural Foods Store , buy a few items and home we went .
I prepared some teriyaki country ribs , rice and beans to feed everyone supper and after we all sat on the front porch and told traveling stories . The lights went out pretty early as the guys from back east are still fighting the time zone change . Here are some Cave Creek photos ,

 

  

  

Stay tuned..... 

Friends / Aliens / Regards to the Real World

Here I sit hammer down thinking of the great friends I have , taking Marti and Leo down through the desert to Douglas Arizona . Sitting with Bob telling stories of our travels and military service . Planning the various trips for my guests around this area that is so rich in history . A stop at Geronimo's surrender monument today , a stop tomorrow or the next day at Johnny Ringo's grave site . Up to Masai point , over to the Rex Allen museum , go to Texas John Slaughter's ranch and home , ride up Geronimo's trail to feel the power of the mountains and the feeling of spirits long gone . Push the ride to include a couple of ghost towns . A phone call from a friend back in Florida letting me know all is well with my friends back in the Keys , things are as normal as they ever get there . A call to my sister  this morning , she's going to be here Thursday ! More plans, a gift / blessing get me to get up and do something ! Read the mail my friends in Texas / Kentucky are all doing well , Robert Earl is singing "wish you were here " , music , playing , heart rate , slowing , crack another Shiner Bock , the right place at the right time , stars shining , desert is alive with sights sounds , and the scent of sage . Values , teach your children well , there ain't no such thing as a free lunch ! Ignore the talking heads on TV they only piss you off .. Bottle of Black Velvet , take a bite , smooth as a touch of a large breasted , round bellied bed thrasher ! Waylon singing , telling me stories , all the bars and flatbed trailers I've played on , doing  benefits , "Billiy Lee" hovering in the background , my little brother kicking bass pedals , , cueing me on changes , playing till dawn in the Driftwood . No money , but free beer as long as you played , musicians getting off work coming in jamming , good music , Friends , cutting heads playing  , as hard as you can , might be two or there might be a hundred people listening , doesn't matter . Desert is the only one listening , play on !
Why the solar powered  lights out there in among the sage brush ? A landing for aliens if they decide to come here !   Sometimes I think a trip back to Terlingua is in order , go and see Kathy , Roger ,and the rest . Have a drink at the cave , dinner at the Starlight , sit a t Kathy's Kowgirl Kafe , howl at the moon with the gang at the Boathouse . Hell ! Go to flour Bluff , get the Cowboy , do some show off cooking , hang out at the Black Hawk , give Jen a hug , drag the guitar out , Bend the strings and play some blues . Or may be not !
Meanwhile as the craziness surrounds me , give my regards to the real world While the Feds slowly eat your freedom watch out for the guy in the big hat having way too much fun , and ignoring the rules .

Stay tuned ......
Friends ..there's more , just a taste of the rare good fortune I have .....

 

 

 

The Sign Sums It Up Nicely

I've looked at this signpost every week since last October , today after a conversation with some of the guys down at Buddy's garage , I thought it appropriate to write this .
If you move here or anywhere else for that matter to escape the everyday stress and get away from your old life then welcome and please be advised that you left that existence for a reason . If you want a super Walmart at the corner and twenty different fast food chains , go back there ! If you just can't live without cable tv , bars , traffic , crime and all the other trappings of civilization , go back there ! For some unfathomable reason people move to the country or in our case the desert and immediatly want what they loosly call progress , or civilization . They want more rules and regulations about how everyone else should live . It's been said the worst tyranny that can be practiced is to keep making laws and regulations that always for someone else's own good ! The people who are living here are doing fine , they are self reliant , accept responsibility for their actions and generally take care of themselves and each other ! Do you just have to have that 3800 square foot adobe house with the Mexican tile courtyard with the half a million dollar price tag ?  Fine , don't expect everyone else to fall down and worship mammon with you though ! I can tell you the mountains certainly don't care and if you need all those services to keep that monstrosity up and running ? I'm not going to pay the freight for you ! I watched the Florida Keys go down the tubes because of the pinheads that couldn't live without that golden calf to do their ego trip with . The end result was the really good people and the really fun people moved out ! Thnks to the fat cats and their overpriced edifices the taxes sky rocketed , the basic services became a burden for all but the very well to do and the guy that just wanted to get by and live a good life was history !  The real estate brokers and agents that perpatrated this are now suffering greatly , GOOD . Some went down with the average guy , some got caught with all that high priced real estate when the bottom fell out . Sorry about that !
For all the politicians , carpet baggers , real estate agents and various other nefarious characters this signs for you .....

Lurking Around Rodeo / Luck of the Draw

 

This is Rodeo . Taken , looking to the North east . Credit for this can be seen on Google Earth , there are quite a few really good photos to be viewed of the surrounding area . Many are way back up in the Chiricahuas where my beat up old legs won't take me , thanks to the folks who took the photos and posted them to the Google Earth site .

I expect to some folks Rodeo doesn't look like much . On the other hand it reminds me of Terlingua . It may not have everything you want , but it sure has everything you need . I brag to folks that Rodeo has all the stuff you require to exist , we have a gas station/general store / an art gallery / a post office / a church / a good mechanic / a tavern / a cafe , a couple of rental cottages an art gallery and a good road running through it to take you where ever you may need to go .

U.S. 80 runs from Douglas AZ. up to Road Forks now and intermittently all the way to Savanah GA. . Originally it was a main thoroughfare for the country , Interstates have since taken over that job and like many other highways has fell into disuse or disappeared altogether . 

Some of the history of Rodeo remains as is evidenced by this historical marker , at times a train station , stage coach stop , hub for local ranches and mining interests and one of the many little places in the American Southwest that served as a rest stop for travelers . Most small towns were situated a days ride apart by horse back or wagon and offered at least a place to replenish water or some food . Some offered overnight places to stay , and depending on the distance left to travel services to help you on your way . At one time Rodeo had a blacksmith , stables , two motels , more than four dining establishments , A motel and even a house of ill repute !

 

  

Much of the original structures remain but obviously serving other purposes now . They still serve as living and working space for that iconoclastic soul that likes to go their own way . The residents may not move  as fast as folks in other places , but the job still gets done .While they   move through life leaving a much smaller footprint on the landscape and hearing the beat of a different drummer , most are content and at peace with life . To say this is a low stress lack of conflict existence is a vast understatement . Somehow the sixty mile drive down to Douglas doesn't seem like such a big deal when you get to travel through some of the most beautiful country in the southwest .                                                                                                               
 

Then again accommodations run from  this to adobe houses and haciendas running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars . A strange mix of functionality and new age high tech , with solar , water cachement , green living that should be a blue print for other communities . Fans of Tony Hillerman's novels would find "Jim Chee's " Airstream with it's cat door on some isolated ranch road and around the next rise in the road a fully furnished spectacle from Architects Digest .

Lately we've been treated to some early thunder storms and a bit of rain , the sight of lightning crashing from peak to peak in the mountains defies description , gusts of wind coming off the mountains bring 20 degree drops in temperatures , awakening to a full moon breaking through the cloud cover lighting the desert like a beam from the ancient indian gods while those lightning flashes dance around at the higher elevations are something people would pay big money to see ! The night air has it's own texture , like a soft blanket with the scent of sage and cactus blossoms drifting through the open windows . Sounds of the night are different from the staccato bark of a coyote looking for it's pups , to the clatter of jack rabbitts across the open areas between the sage to the sound of the owls in their screaming dive to descend on their prey . Some nights there may be the growl of a stock truck's diesel out on highway 80 , the drivers moving cattle through the night to take advantage of the evenings cool air . All in all a nice place to be , right now .

How am I doing ? 

I'm doing just fine . 

Stay tuned ....

Coffee Pot Plot / Van Repair

A serious matter has come to my attention . There is a plot among the manufactureres of coffee pots ! It could be Communist , Muslim , Union organized , or perhaps just a case of those evil bastards who don't like left handed people ! I came to this realization after numerous small spillage from a perfectly good coffe pot , the little coffee pot I use now is a well known brand , it is relatively new having been purchased just before this trip . However , those insidious criminals at the coffee pot factories of the world have obviously united and are intent on making life hell for left handed people ! I REALLY like my coffee . I take care to buy good quality coffee , I keep my coffe making equipment clean and well maintained . So whats the deal with when I pour a cup of coffee with my left hand I get dribbles on the counter , down the side of the cup or on the floor ? There are a bunch of things that are engineered to make life hard for left handers , like twist ties , the machinery that puts them on stuff was engineered for a right hander to take them off , while it's not fair I can deal with that , the redesign would add $2 to a loaf of bread ! But the damn coffee pot ? It's a spout , virtually a small opening to allow fluid to run out of . How much time and effort was expended to figure out the exact proportions of drift , area of opening , angle of attack , height to distance from the cup and the fact it's impossible to correct ? Believe me , since discovering this anomaly , I have spent quite a while disecting the various factors and see no resolution , short of major surgery . Even then , I don't think the problem will be corrected , it's an intentional design flaw . But be aware manufacturers , I KNOW what you're doing and I will spread the word !
On a different page , I had to have the van worked on . Two days of poking , prodding and praying by our local mechanic "Buddy" resulted in replacing a couple of sensors , oil change , a new distributor and a few other parts . It was fun writing the check to pay for it , and of course the coffee pot thing was heavy on my mind , so it wasn't that painful . The thought did cross my mind there was an awful lot of superflous parts on this little six cylinder motor , maybe GM will straighten this out now that they are bankrupt from building this silly crap . I'm sure that now the Government has it's hands on the wheel everything will be just fine . They will probably introduce a line of coffe pots!

Stay tuned  ......