Saturday, February 11/2012

                                                               Trying out Ray's 357 mag

It is a bit cloudy this morning but once again, the sun is managing to break through the cloud and shed its warming rays upon us.
I just received a text from Ray confirming today's ride so it looks like we are off for more fun and adventure!!
As I was packing the quad Tim stopped by for a quick visit riding his RZR with Rosco his dog sitting in the passenger seat like he owned it.  John had met Tim and Rosco a few weeks ago when Tim was out riding the trails so he decided to stop to see what John was up to today.  Luckily, we too were heading out on the trails so I invited Tim to join us.
We met Ray, Kay, Tom and Jeremy up on Wickenburg Mountain and started our ride.  We travelled over varied terrain which included the same narrow canyons and washes we took with Keith and Charlotte in the jeep.  It was a beautiful day for a ride with the breeze helping to keep some of the dust off the trail.  We stopped for a hot dog roast and several beverages along the way and eventually made it back to the split in the trail where,  John and I headed back to the bus and Vulture Peak Road with Tim and Rosco and the  rest of the quads headed back to Wickenburg and home.  It was getting late and time for all of us to be getting off the trail and avoiding the cool temperatures when the sun went down.  It was a good ride and we managed to show Tim a few more trails so that he will eventually get more familiar with them and of course John and I got to meet another one of Ray and Kay's friends in Jeremy.  We have riden with Tom before and he is always interesting to listen to.
Back at the bus, we quickly showered and then headed over to Ray's and Kay's house as we had been invited for supper. Maybe tonight, I will get to see the Javalina that make a daily trip up to their fence line scrounging for food.  Since they did not make an appearance the last time we were there, I did not hold out much hope of this however I did bring my camera - just in case!!  As you can see, they did indeed show up and I got several pics of these elusive little creatures.  Hogan was not impressed by them and let out a few of his "girly" barks to warn them he was in the area!!  He is pretty brave from the other side of the fence!!
Beer Can Chicken was on the menu for tonight and Ray is a master chef when it comes to this.  John and Kay were busy partying while Ray and I cut the vegetables up and got the chicken on the BBQ.  It had been marinating for a few days and looked and smelled divine.  Of course Ray would not reveal his marinade secret as he told me he would have to kill me if he did - He has several big guns so of course I did not pursue this with him!!!  He did a rather unique thing with the roasted vegetables by adding a bit of Jimmy Dean "hot" sausage to the mix and it truly did add a wonderful flavour to them.  I will have to try that the next time we BBQ vegetables.  And, I also found out that there is NON STICK aluminum foil - something I had never seen before!!  Gosh, this was certainly a very productive and informative evening!!

Up on Wickenburg Mountain - Ocotillo starting to green up and leaf out

Spring is on its way - a Mexican Poppy

Wickenburg Mountain

Tim's RZR with ours behind it

Wickenburg Mountain Raven - there were several of them soaring around
I managed to only get one in the pic!!

The rest of the gang shows up

Heading out

Ray and Kay in the lead

Lunch stop

Shooting Ray's 357

One of the many horse acreages

Rosco is pooped

Flying down the Hassayampa River bed

Tim's RZR 

"young" saguaro using a "helper" tree eventually outliving the tree
to stand alone.

Only in America!!   No, it is NOT hunting season.

Peccary - also known as javelina.  They make regular stops at  Ray and Kay's
fence to scrounge for food

Hand feeding - Kids, do not try this at home!!

Nosy little creatures - have poor eye sight but incredible sense of smell

Eventually, it was time for us to head back to the bus - bet you can't guess who the designated driver was!!!!  All in all, another good day - good ride - good friends - good food -  Great Memories.