I can't say that my stop in Farmington was all bad. My semi operating fridge in the Living Quarters finally decided to work on the propane, after I bought a large wheeled cooler at Walmart!
I had a great time with Judy and Cristy Cumberworth. I really enjoyed the trail that was laid out for the ride, Buddy did great both days with the observations and handling the terrain, and everyone was so kind and good to me.
The evening Buddy coliced one of my neighbors asked me if I wanted to come over and share their grill and basically share some dinner. They knew how tired I was and how worried I was. That was so kind.
Monday, Buddy was better, so I moved him back into a pen and decided to go back into town for diesel and to buy a few more bales of hay. I met Cristy for lunch and we talked about horse massage techniques that she was learning. When we went back to the stables, she demonstrated on her sister's horse, then did some work with Buddy. After that, Buddy and I were models for a Ad that will be placed in the Appaloosa Journal promoting NATRC. That was fun.
Cristy is such a good photographer.. Hopefully she didn't have to Photoshop the photos too much.
By the way.. I think Cristy "traded out" this Ad with the Editor of the Appaloosa Journal. Meaning it didn't cost NATRC anything, and was a donation from Cristy.. Thank you Cristy!
Monday night I got ready to pull out in the morning..
Tuesday, I left Farmington, headed to Interstate 40 to begin the turn toward California. I had heard from Jonni Jewell about a KOA in Williams that was very nice and had horse pens, so I decided to stop there, even tho' it was just a bit over 300 miles. I decided I would stay on the better of the two choices for highways, this one took me to Ship Rock, New Mexico.. It's a huge Rock that just juts right out of the valley floor. I saw it when we were on the trail and it had to be over 20 miles away. I couldn't get a good picture since Iwas driving, but I sure remember the magnificence of the structure. There was some construction on the road but it was straight and had good shoulders, all I ask for.
The KOA was every bit as nice as Jonni said it was, it even had a covered pool area with a HOT TUB. I did my wash and sat in the HOT TUB until they closed the pool. It was delightful and a great way to end a day.
I do have to admit to a small sewer dump problem.. or the" horrible embarrassing incident" as I call it. I had to buy an additional hose and hook up thingy and let's just say that when I first started the dumping process, the hook up thingy sprang apart and it wasn't a pretty sight.. or smell.
Wednesday, I was on my way to California.. Techapi to be exact. Techapi is pronounced "to hatch a pea".. took me forever to learn how to pronounce it. The drive from Williams to Techapi was pretty unremarkable, except to say I skirted the Mohave desert.. Not very many towns out in that area. Cristy gave me a heads up about where to buy fuel so I wouldn't get gouged by the places closer to the desert. Her tip.. buy fuel in Kingman Arizona, which I did.
I did get close to Edwards Airforce base, the space shuttle uses this as an alternative landing site. I can see why.. Lot's of land to put several shuttles down on.
I found a "bed and barn" outside of Techapi California, Lynn Wolfe who runs it, invited me to dinner and fixed great steaks she also had bagels, juice and coffee for breakfast. She just asks for a donation for the meals. The place is nice and clean, and she gives you a feeding of hay for free. It's a bit off the road, but worth it.
Thursday was the last leg to Sue's house. What a long drive. Not a hard one, just long and tiring. I did my first bit of Mountain pass driving and the Exhaust brake worked great. 45 mph going down hill and I hardly had to use my brakes. I got to Sue's around 5 in the evening, got the horse settled in and we went to a Mexican place for dinner.. We chatted for quite awhile at her house,then I was suddenly exhausted and went to bed. I was so happy to be at Sue's place. I finally made it.. horse, dog and the big huge horse trailer.
More adventures to come.. there's a new fish in town.. he's mighty hungry....
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