J-Six Ranch & Freedom RV

Yesterday was an eventful day. It began with a trip to J-Six Ranch at 10:00 for the monthly Equestrian Gymkhana- youngsters with horses competing against each other demonstrating proficiency in dealing with a defined obstacle course. We have been to 2 and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

As you can see, it is interesting. Not to mention that some of these kids are really good! But the fun part, especially for the parents, are the young ones. The really young ones.....

This one's sister helped her compete the entire circuit. Couldn't help but notice that her little legs weren't long enough to reach the stirrups.

And then there is everything else that is going on around and during the event:

Dick and Sarah, our neighbors at Butterfield are regulars here. Sarah boards her horse Zeke here and on these special days, they are prime movers of Hawg Wild, the Ranch Food Court.

That is Dick getting ready to do some cooking. They have an excellent menu that is priced reasonably.

Mary met a woman who asked her if she was taking pics of Grandchild, No was the answer, just taking pics. The woman proceeded to tell her that she was originally from Minnesota but that now was living in Sierra Vista and that her granddaughter was competing. Here are some pics of her:

Oh, by the way, she won her division.

All in all, it was an enjoyable time spent. Good to watch the kids interact with their horses. You can tell that some have obviously spent a lot of time at it. Or as one of the girls shirts said loud and clear:

EAT, SLEEP, RIDE.


And then it was off to the Freedom RV dealership on Irvington Ave in Tucson for their Open House / Barbecue. We were going not only to enjoy some good food, but to also check out floor plans and layouts for both Class A and 5 th Wheel units. We have pretty much decided that we would like to do this RV thing on a full time basis and that if we do, a 25' Airstream just isn't going to cut it. Vacations and weekend trips, fine, but actually living in it, presents some challenges. We did get some ideas and enjoyed our visit. The barbeque competition was something else. These guys are really serious.....as these pics will attest to:

And a good time was had by all.

Off - Roading in Arizona

Off roading is a big part of the Arizona adventure - as I have been finding out. While at Cochise Terrace, I was fortunate enough to have a neighbor, Sparky, who was right in to the Jeepin' thing and invited me along for a couple of their trips.

This was their group. Pretty ingenious!

Our first trip was to China Peak in the Dragoon Mountains and was a small group, just 3 of us. The numbers didn't mean anything as this was really quite an experience. Sparky's jeep was his pride and joy and I soon found out why. As you can see from some of these photos, he has invested quite a bit of $ in off-road improvements......

Set up for maximum ground clearance and torque.

The China Peak trip was quite a ride as some of these pics and views will attest to:

Pic of the other 2 jeeps 

A view back down towards Benson....

Lunch break......

Lunch break....

And finally some of the awesome views from way up, on the way back.....

It was a full day and my first real experience at Jeepin' and it was awesome. Special thanks to Sparky and Greg for having me along.

A few weeks later, I got to go again. This time it was to Las Cienegas National Conservation Area and a full group and a full day.

The group this time was 8 Jeeps......

The line up was in front of the Cochise Terrace Office

The first and last vehicles in the group are equipped with cb radios, although most all of the jeeps had them, for communication and to keep the group together

That's me and Sparky next to last with Greg in the rear.

Some pics of our "trip"......

The first rest stop

A rest and stretch break

Some of the "road" could hardly be called road

Roads were subject to washouts.......

Some of the roads could hardly be called roads

After a couple hours of creeping along, we came to an abandoned camp where we stopped for lunch..............

the afternoon part of the trip was interesting as we traveled along a ridge. The views were awesome! We saw solar powered water pumps( to provide water for all the grazing cattle). Interesting that solar had replaced Wind power for this task.

Jeeps strung out as we travel the ridge

Looking at all the cattle, interesting to note a lot of the trails we were on had fences that the first jeep  had to open to access, with the last Jeep in the line closing.

All in all, it was an interesting and exciting day. Some of the views were breath-taking. I can see why there are Jeep enthusiasts.

Off - roading at Butterfield takes on a different flavor. Every Thursday, a group gets together for "Get Lost with Doc".  ATV's are the preferred mode of transportation as opposed to Jeeps. I haven't been out with them yet........but some day????? Here is a sampling of the ATV's residing in the park....

Our neighbor Steve's ATV....

And that covers the Off- Road adventures.........at least my part of it. For something really interesting, check out Black Bear Road in Telluride, Colorado.