Hogan and I up again early to enjoy the sunrise. Although it is a bit chilly in the mornings, it soon warms up once the sun has shown it's beautiful face!!
Today, we are headed to Stanton and it should be a fun time. What a sight we are going to present, with all four of us packed into the little Tracker!! Hogan will have to stay home today and I am sure he will not be impressed with that!!
John has to quickly finish the battery holder thing-a-ma-jiggy on the jeep before we leave and is out there now. There is some rumor that perhaps the new inverter will arrive today as well. Oh isn't life great!!
Well, we had a change of plan. John wanted to see if the jeep was in any shape to take on the trails so we opted to just do some of the easy trails in the backcountry out past Trueman's mine. With the trucks loaded with cameras, water and some extra antifreeze (just in case), down the dusty trail we went. Our first stop was the old house that had been standing for many many years. It is in a sad state of disrepair this year - even worse that last year. I can see that the party goers that use this site are continuing down their destructive paths. I will be surprised if the once lovely porch which surrounds three sides of the house is even standing next year. If one looks past the destruction, you can see the beauty that remains and imagine how utterly peaceful it would be to have the priveledge to sit on the porch and witness the sunrises and sunsets that this area has to offer. The century old saguaro cactus remain standing as silent sentinels to what once was.
So far, the jeep is running well although very noisy. The muffler system will definitely have to be changed. With this much noise, John will never hear me bitching or bellyaching and I will NOT have that!!
As we continued down the trail the jeep started acting up - surprise, surprise, surprise. The engine kept coughing and the motor kept stalling. I knew I hated this Jeep!! Once again, I felt it was my duty to remind John that I have never known him to take a vehicle out on the trails that was in such unreliable shape. He gave me one of "those" looks but, I was not to be silenced!!
As the day progressed and we stopped, stalled and re-started along the trails (thank heavens we have a new starter and a good battery), we eventually made it back to Trueman's mine. We may have been on a tow rope (only for the inclines) but we made it back. The radiator had spewed "green" stuff several times throughout the day and it was a good thing John had thought to bring a gallon of it along!!. Trueman had heard us coming and once he recognized the voices, him and cowboy joined us on the trail and the boys each had different ideas as to what the Jeep's issues were. I asked if Trueman had 5 gallons of gas because that would solve all the jeep's issues!!
Eventually, we did limp the old girl back to the campsite and called it a day but, the jeep is officially in my "bad books" and will remain there until such time as it can prove to be reliable.
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