Another trip to Springerville (Tues.)

As we got dressed this morning, Joe suggested we go to town and do laundry since we were running out of jeans and long socks.  Today was the day for the smoked brisket, and Jeff was out early with the smoker going.  In fact, when I first went outside, he was about to smoke us out.

Sherry had volunteered to fix breakfast burritos this morning, so after our delicious breakfast, we headed to town.  Brenda had wanted to go shopping while we were here, so she and Sherry picked me up at the laundramat, and Joe brought our laundry back to the RV AND PUT IT AWAY.  Shocking!  Jeff had to stay close to the smoker so he and Danny stayed at camp.

We didn't find any shopping treasures, so after lunch in town we women headed back to camp.  On the way, Sherry spotted a deer, then a small herd of 10-12 elk pretty close to the road.  When we arrived at camp, Jeff had the brisket just about done, so we had an early dinner.  Jeff's brisket was wonderful!

We called the Brundiges for an update and to sing Happy Birthday to Collins, who turned 71 today.  He had been to the doctor, and has some tests, including a colonoscopy, facing him, and they took him off some of his medications thinking that may be the cause of his problems.  Hopefully, they will get something figured out.

After dinner was cleared away, we all made a run up to the top of Green's Peak (approx. 10,120 ft.), and the view from the top was worth the ride.

and I finally got some pictures of our campsite, minus the Brundige units (motorhome and quad trailer).  Joe rode in the Arctic Cat with Jeff, and Brenda finally got to ride her quad.

And I figured out why the cows invade our campsite.  Apparently they like to check out the fire ring to see if there is anything left in there to their liking (or licking).

When we got back from our run up to the Peak, they were just about to enter our campground, led by Danny's red bull. 

Camping at Green's Peak (Sun.-Mon.)

Sunday morning we were all up and ready to go by 10:00 a.m.  Marilyn was a little sore from riding in Danny and Sherry's Razr, so she opted to stay at camp.  Jeff was the leader and found the only rough road around, I think.  We made several quick stops, some at crossroads, before finally finding a good spot to dismount and walk around.  However, a crime was committed here, and a criminal now resides among us.

When we pull off the trail, there was a lovely mushroom welcoming us.  We all drove past, except one person, and I got a picture.  So here's the saga.

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                                                        Lovely Mushroom, Before Collins,  It was probably 4-5 inches tall.

 Lovely Mushroom, After Collins ran over it

 The criminal being accused.

 Evidence of the flattened mushroom on the tire of the accused.

The criminal.  Expect to see wanted posters at all post offices nationwide.











There were lots and lots of mushrooms in this clearing, many different varieties.  But none as lovely as the one Collins annihilated.

 

So us ladies walked around checking out the mushrooms, and the men discussed the crime, and whatever else men discuss.

Right behind us was a tree stand used for bleeding out an animal, and there was discussion of a lynching right here.

We decided to have a trial later, but Joe and Danny did spot a perfect hanging tree just on down the road.

This forest is full of beautiful pine trees and blue spruce.  One huge tree had been felled here at our clearing.

Sherry really enjoys traipsing around in the forest, and she found several of the mushrooms.  She went back over to the scene of the crime to investigate the damages, and she dug out the mushroom next to the one Collins ran over.

Finally, we were on our way again, riding through this beautiful forest with a carpet of green grass.  We really expected to see lots of deer grazing on this grass, but we didn't see any wildlife.

We arrived back at camp, where a chipmunk or gopher entertained us for a while, digging a hole right under the canopy that Jeff and Brenda had erected.  He stuck his head out a few times, but he was mostly concerned with eating the little flowers.  (He's the brown spot to the left of the dirt pile).

Sunday night's menu was pizza pockets and pies over the fire, which Brenda made and Jeff cooked.  There was some worked involved here from the two of them, but the food was delicious.

The pizza, right out of the fire. 












Monday morning brought a change in plans.  Collins has not been feeling very well, so the Brundiges decided to pack up and go home, and get him to the doctor.  (We are a bit suspicious that the criminal was just trying to escape the jurisdiction of this trial court.)  Marilyn fixed her famous sausage gravy and biscuits before she left, and they got on the road shortly after 9:00 a.m.  That put a damper on the mood and none of us felt like going riding right then.  Jeff wasn't feeling so great either after our rocky ride on Sunday.  So Joe decided he and I needed to go into Springerville.  Brenda had seen on the GPS yesterday that a Circle K was only 18 miles away (Springerville), and he was obsessed with having his fountain diet soda, so off we went.  Danny and Sherry rode along, and we had a nice meal at Booga Reds.  We did a little shopping, picked up some ice, and filled up the gas tanks for the quads.

When we got back to camp, we decided to take a late afternoon quad ride, and we ended up going to Vernon, which is out on Hwy. 60.  On the way, the afternoon thunderstorm hit, and a flash of lighting and the following clap of thunder had me just about diving off my quad.  But we drove out of the rain pretty quickly, although we came upon a pile of hail shortly thereafter, so we knew we had been lucky.  We stopped at the convenience store in Vernon and had refreshments, then headed back to camp, figuring we were for sure going to get rained on.  But we lucked out, missed the rain, and saw two elk.  We decided on an easy dinner since it was about dark, so I heated up the chili and got out the fixins' for hot dogs again.  Joe did a great job roasting our hot dogs. 

Jeff had a little mishap when he was roasting his and ended up with a wet butt.  He sort of tripped getting out of his chair, and landed in Joe's chair where he had left his beer.  So the beer turned over, Jeff sat down in it, and a verbal battle ensued over the spilled beer.  So Jeff had beer-butt the rest of the evening.

We sat by the campfire until bedtime (which is different for everyone, and Jeff keeps complaining that we go to bed too early).  During the nights, the cows invade our campsite -- I'm thinking maybe this is their favorite bedding spot.  And did I mention they all seem to have diarrhea!  Danny and Sherry have out a set of solar panels, and the cows seem to think maybe that is a cow-lick, because it had tongue prints on it.   Danny wiped it off before I got a photo of the incriminating tongue prints, so I'll have to get up early tomorrow and check it out.

Collins and Marilyn reported that they got home about 3:30, and are driving down to the Valley on Tuesday to see the doctor.  We will await word from them.

Getting situated at Green's Peak (Tues.-Sat.)

Contrary to my opinion that we wouldn't have a phone signal where we camped, among the many towers on Green's Peak (which is right beside our campground) there apparently is a cell phone tower, because we have a strong signal here.  And this cast of characters we are camping with has prompted me to continue blogging so I don't forget some of our memorable moments.

Backtracking a bit, Tuesday we got an early start from Springerville and were in the Valley about 10:00 a.m.  Everything at home seemed in order, the kitchen table was full of 4 months of mail (mostly junk mail), and there were a few weeds in the yard but not too many.  We began our list of chores -- Joe changed the oil in the truck, checked the tires on 2 quads, the truck and the box trailer,  and did a little maintenance on the quads. I went through the mail, went to Costco, washed the clothes we had brought down, and started gathering stuff to take back up to the mountains.  Eric stopped by in the afternoon, and then we went over to their house to see the back yard they have been working on all summer, and to visit with Tiffany and Kaylee.  Cody was at football practice so we never caught up with him.  Then we met Jeff and Brenda for dinner.  We slept in our own beds for one night (Tuesday), finished up our packing,  loaded up the quads, tracked down the trailer hitch (which was on the back of Cody's truck at school) and headed back to Springerville where we had left the RV.  We got there about 7:00 p.m., after stopping in Show Low for dinner, and settled in for the night. 

Thursday morning we were up early again, Joe stopped in town for fuel ($3.539) and propane for the RV ($2.29/gal.), while I went to the grocery store.  The plan was that Joe would lead, and he has the GPS in the RV, and I would follow, but when we met up, I was in front, so I led us into the forest and to our campsite.  The one we had in mind (that we had seen last year) had one small camper in it (nobody around, so apparently someone just dropped it and left), but the area right beside it was open, and it was much bigger so we chose that.  We turned off the highway about 9:30, and it took us about 10 minutes to drive back the 5 miles to this campsite.  This forest is very green, and there are lots and lots of cattle grazing.  This campsite apparently is one of their regular grazing areas, and they had left us lots of cow pies so we had to watch our step.  We got set up, checked on our friends' progress, and took a short nap while we waited for Collins and Marilyn and Danny and Sherry to get here from the Williams area where they had been camping.  We drove out to meet them about 4:00 and led them to our campsite (see how beautifully green it is up here).

Collins picked a spot next to the trees, and Danny set up his fifth-wheel on the open side of the campsite.  The cows, though, took exception to Danny's spot, and he had 3 bulls challenging him for the space as he was trying to get his camper leveled and unhooked from his brand new pick-up.

They kept coming in closer, and were bellowing and making all kinds of racket.  One mean-looking red bull was ready to take him on.  It got within 10 feet of him before he stopped (Danny had the pick-up door open and was ready to bolt).

 We finally chased them off, but it was an opportunity for on-going harassment by Joe and Collins of Danny.  We are not sure whether the bull liked the looks of Danny from the rear, or it was letting Danny know that all those cows were taken care of by him alone, but that bull was sure trying to make some kind of statement to poor Danny.  Joe told Danny that the bull had a gleam of love in his eye for Danny.

We had a little rain shower, so we settled in early for the night.  Friday morning we unloaded our quads, and after breakfast we took a ride while we waited for Jeff and Brenda to drive up.  The cows were all over the road this morning, and I found out the hard way that I needed to watch where I'm driving.  Apparently I drove through some fresh cow droppings, and when we stopped I got a jacket out of the box on the back of my quad, I leaned against the fender and got cow manure all over one leg of my jeans.  That wasn't a pleasant situation for the rest of the day.

Collins spotted a badger, but that was the only wildlife seen other than squirrels and chipmunks, and none of the rest of us saw the badger.  We scouted out the area, got rained on, and came back to camp to wait on Jeff's phone call.  Collins and Danny went out gathering firewood on the quads, and Sherry walked around the campsite gathering some limbs.  Then Danny got the chain saw out to chop up some of the limbs they had brought in. Joe and Collins offered instructions and words of encouragement from the sidelines.

  About 3:30 Jeff called from Show Low, so we headed out on the quads to meet up with them and lead them in.  Then we sat in our chairs and watched them set up.  Jeff always has to move two or three (or 8) times before he gets his RV in the right spot, so it's cheap entertainment.  When he finally quit, he knew the left side was a little low, which put their heads downhill when they went to bed.  So Brenda re-made the bed, and they slept with their heads at the foot.  That was fine until the middle of the night when the wind blew up and their awning started rattling.  Jeff, who has not been sleeping well, started saying "windy, windy," and trying to get out of bed, but he was lost.  He asked Brenda what she was doing on his side of the bed.  When he finally managed to get out of the bed, he ran smack into the cabinets in the wall.  I think he finally turned the light on so he could find his way to the front to bring in the awning. 


So by Saturday morning, we are all together and settled in.  We've circled the wagons and taken up residence for the next 6 days.

 We are strung out sort of at the top of our circle.

 Danny and Sherry are on the front side, with Green's Peak behind them.

 Jeff and Brenda closed off the bottom of the circle with their string of vehicles -- Brenda's truck and the "Billy" boat; their RV,

  their box trailer and sun shade over the Arctic Cat.

 And Collins and Marilyn on the back side, next to the trees.  When I go up to the top of Green's Peak
(everyone except Marilyn, Sherry and I have made the trip already), I will try to get an overview from the top.








It rained off and on during the night on Friday, and was cloudy all day Saturday, with an occasional sprinkle.  Jeff and Brenda finished their setting up process, and Collins, Marilyn, Joe and I played cards for a little while.  Sherry had a migraine so she was down for the day, and Danny stayed pretty close to their trailer to check on her.  Jeff and Brenda spent a little time getting the cover put up over the Arctic Cat, and Jeff  harassed the cows as they got closer for their afternoon grazing in our campsite.  Finally, even though it still looked like rain, it was time to go for a ride, so Jeff, Brenda, Joe and Collins took off.  When Jeff and Brenda got back (about an hour ahead of Joe and Collins who made some extra turns), Jeff started our first campfire, and we all felt like we were really camping now.

 

After dinner (chili and hot dogs roasted over the fire), we sent for our first EWVD (evening wildlife viewing drive). Jeff and Brenda took off, but it took a while for the rest of us to get in gear, so I was in the lead, trying to catch up with Jeff.  But we weren't done with the bulls yet.  When we got to the cattle guard back on the main road, two big black bulls had positioned themselves butt-to-butt on the cattle guard, blocking the entire thing.  We could see where they had been pawing in the dirt around the cattle guard, so maybe they were in a standoff (I always thought those were head-to-head though).  Anyway, when I saw them blocking my path like statutes, I just started laughing.  I motioned for Joe to catch up with me, and I asked him if he knew the secret password.  We moved a little closer, and Joe started honking his horn, and finally they gave in and moved aside, very slowly, and with a mean eye on us.  

It got dark on us before we got back.  Jeff and Brenda spotted one cow elk with calf that crossed the road right in front of their Arctic Cat in the dark, but the rest of us didn't see anything.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow.  

The people who dropped the little trailer haven't been back yet.  Although, I guess it's possible they might have driven by and saw our menagerie and just decided to keep on going.

It's been in the 50s at night, and the 70s during the day when it is sunny.  The air is fresh and its absolutely beautiful up here.  A nice break for us before we head back to the heat of the Valley.