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.....
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