Monday, April 18/2011

Backing through the gate

Getting turned around

The Desert starting to bloom

A little soft!

In the Coconino Forest, AZ

Plenty of Elk tracks

It is a bit windy this morning but the sun is shining.  We are starting our journey home today and it is with mixed feeling that we do.  I will be thrilled to see our boys again and  see the rest of the family, but I so enjoy this desert.
With goodbyes said to Keith and Charlotte, they headed into town to do laundry and various other chores.  Ben arrived shortly there after with a bag of dog food I had asked him to pick up for me.  We talked only briefly and then it was time to say goodbye to him.  With that being done, it was time to leave our little chunk of the Sonoran Desert and start the trek home.
We climbed into the bus and started towards the gate - our first obstacle in our travels.  Being so long,  we were not able to simply drive forward through the gate.  Lord forbid that things should be that simple!!  Instead,  John had to back through the gate which normally would be a bit difficult being we are so long.  It took him about 2 minutes to back through and get turned around!!  He really is quite good at wheeling this rig around like it is a small car!!
We are on our way!!!  Homeward bound.
John had done his research on boondocking sites and decided that we would camp near Flagstaff.  The trip was uneventful and we climbed from an elevation of 2000 feet to 6700 feet.  We would be camping in the Coconino Forest.
We found our Exit and started looking for a campsite.  We were right in the tall pine trees.  We eventually found a huge open meadow and thought that it would be perfect - there was even a trail through it.  Now, had we stayed on the trail we would have been just fine BUT, we needed to turn around and this is when the trouble started!!  I did mention to John that the meadow itself might be pretty soft so I would go outside and watch the tires to make sure we would not be sinking up to our axles.  I no sooner got this thought out of my mouth and we were already stuck!!  Well Jesus, Mary and Joseph!!
Already the Gong Show begins - and it had been such a good day up until now!!!  John gets out to survey the situation and asks me "Why do we always get ourselves into trouble like this?"  Well, maybe because we are a couple of adventure loving fools (as opposed to dumb asses) and our day would not be complete if we didn't get ourselves into a bit of a pickle once in a while!!
John unloaded Frankenjeep and hooked up the winch to the axle of the trailer hoping to be able to pull the whole thing back onto the road.  He double lined the winch giving it twice the pulling power and with him in the bus and me in the jeep working the winch, we were out of the evil clutches of the mud in no time.  We then backed up out of the meadow onto the "good" road and looked for a spot to turn around.  Finding a spot hard enough to make the turn around proved a bit challenging but John managed to do it and then headed back to the meadow to park on the trail (no turning required!!).
Once we set up camp, the satellite dish went up and could not get a signal so,  we ended up moving the bus further down the trail (maybe all these evergreens are interfering with the signal).  It is a good thing I don't mind crawling around on my hands and knees getting the blocks under the jacks!!  YEA RIGHT!!
Eventually we did make the connection but John had to re-calibrate the dish - don't ask me what the heck that means cause I don't know!!  Perhaps because we gained more than 4000 feet in elevation, it threw the dish off kilter and now it needed a little tweaking.
The meadow is full of all kinds of animal tracks and hopefully we will get to see some wildlife - other than rattlesnakes and tarantula wasps!!  Hogan can run for miles and not have to worry about cactus thorns sticking in his paws.  There is only grass and wild flowers here - a far cry from the sharp little rocks he was running on in the desert.  John and him played with the ball and tennis racket for at least half an hour tonight.
It is definitely cooler up here in the higher elevations and it wasn't long before I had my sweats and bunny hug on. Once the sun went down, it was quite a bit cooler and time for me to head inside.  I had better get used to the chilliness as it continues to be below zero during the night at home.
After a quick supper, it was time for me to curl up in bed and read.  With the dish now functioning properly, John had the internet so was able to download some pics for this blog.
All in all, a good day today with a little adventure added for excitement.