Paso Robles

Our last stop before we returned home was visiting our friends, Bob and Midge, in Paso Robles.  Bob and Midge live in a cohousing community.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohousing

It kind of reminded me of a kibbutz.  Each family lives in a nice townhouse, but every adult member of the community must volunteer three hours per month to support the community.  There is a community garden, a playground, a small library, and a community kitchen and dining room.  There is a workshop where residents can access a library of shared tools.  There is a small playroom for children with shared toys.  There is a collection of bikes and other riding toys for kids.

There are a couple of small guest rooms where visitors can spend the night, so Ari and I slept in one of the guest rooms.  We spent most of our time with Bob and Midge playing bridge.

The night before we left went to see the Munro art installation called Sensorio.
https://www.sensoriopaso.com/

Overall, it was a successful trip.  Both horses were extremely happy to return to their regular stalls.

Ten months before we hit the road for our bigger trip around the country!

Staying at a Dude Ranch - The Circle Bar B

Our last horse stay was at the Circle Bar B Guest Ranch in Goleta, CA near Santa Barbara,
http://www.circlebarb.com/

The stalls for the horses were roomy and clean with automatic water and off the ground feeders.

Horse board was full service.  Horses were fed and stalls mucked by staff.

The staff here are extremely friendly and hospitable.

We stayed in a small cabin with a private bath.  It was a lovely room.

The cabin had a small sitting area in the front.

The view from the front porch was lovely of the Santa Barbara Mountains.

All meals are included during your stay and we had a nice place setting at the table so we knew where to sit.

The trails were primarily sand and clay, not too rocky.  We rode up to the top of the ridge where we could see the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

There were two or three small waterfalls to admire from the trail.

We rode by this sign which said that it was the Joqain Murrieta hanging tree 1853.  Murrieta was an outlaw who lived in the area.  He died in a shoot-out with the US Army.

At the top of the mountain, we rode through a swarm of miner bees.  This was the first time I had experienced this type of bee swarm.  They didn't sting us or the horses.  The swarm covered the ground of the trail.  The bees just parted to let the horses through.

After our ride in the morning, we spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool.
Ari found a book in the ranches' library to read.  He liked it so much we took it with us.

We spent two days relaxing here and it was a great choice. 

Wild Horse Equestrian Campground - Angeles Forest California

Crossing the border back into California, we had to go through the border stop.  The agent checked our horses' travel papers and wrote down the license numbers for our truck and our trailer.

 We spent one night at the Wild Horse Equestrian Campground.

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233685

This was a really nice campground and I would have been happy to spend more than one night.

The corrals were in good condition and not too dirty.  The horses seemed happy in their spaces.

Mercutio relaxed in his corral.

It took us about an hour to set up camp and then we went on a short ride.

Sunrise was beautiful at the campsite.
The campsite has showers, toilets, water, picnic benches, and fire rings.

The trails were mostly sand.  They were overall well maintained.  There weren't many trail signs and the trail map at the campground was hard to read, but we were able to get two nice rides in before we broke camp and moved on.

Last Stop in Arizona

We needed one more stop in Arizona before we crossed into California, so we stopped in Bouse, Arizona.  We spent the night at the Ocotillo Lodge.

The room was semi-clean and featured an antique CRT television with FOUR channels. 

The horses got to spend the night at the BS Stables.

https://www.bsranchaz.com/

They got excellent care there.  The stalls were clean and they had shade in the Arizona heat.

There are RV hook-ups available at the ranch for people with LQ trailers.

We stopped at this gas station en route.  Next to the gas station was this display.  Apparently during the gold rush, the townspeople were too busy panning for gold to build a jail, so they would chain prisoners to this tree to serve out their time.

Off the Road in Arizona

There"s nothing like getting time to spend with family.  Ari and I got to spend three extremely relaxing days with Ari's niece, Dayna, at her home.  Dayna is the hostess with the most.  She took amazing care of us. 

 Before we headed back on the road, Dayna, Nicole, and her kids, David James and Athea, came to the barn where we were boarding the horses to get a chance to ride.  Everyone got a turn riding Mercutio.  I didn't let anybody ride Lennox because he is too "hot".

Mercutio was on his best behavior.  He was nice and pokey, so everybody felt safe.

Dayna looked really wonderful in the saddle.

Summer Sage Stables in Flagstaff

Our next stop in Flagstop

Summer Stage Stables

http://www.summersagestables.com/

The horses got a large paddock with a shared water tank.  The paddock was pretty full of manure.  We pulled two wheel barrows of manure out of it before we put the horses in.

There was no shade for them either, but it was just for one night.

The stables boasts local trail rides.  We tried both local trails and didn't like either of them.  Both trails take you parallel to a freeway.  Riding yards from semi-trucks going at high speeds does not make for a relaxing ride.  There were several sections of the trail where you were riding with barbed wire on one side and an overgrown tree on the other.  I got pretty scratched up because I would rather get scratched by a tree than have my horse caught in barbed wire.

We were a day ahead of schedule, so we had to decide - do we stay an extra day in Flagstaff or stay an extra day with family in Phoenix?

Summer Sage staff doesn't muck or feed, so we opted to move on.  Before we left, we took another wheel barrow of manure out of the paddock.

On our way to Phoenix, we enjoyed the scenery.

We stopped to ride in the Coconino Nat Forest.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coconino/recreation/horseriding-camping/recarea/?recid=55254&actid=104

There is a large parking lot at the trail head for the Bruce Brockett trail with plenty of parking for horse trailers.  There is a single pit toilet.  No water or picnic tables.

There were several families hoping to hike to the creek and play in the water.  It is roughly 3.5 miles from the parking lot to the water and they were carrying coolers, water floats, and chairs.  I felt a little sorry for them.

Starting the ride

The temperature was in the low 80's.

There is no shade on the trail.  The trails are well marked and easy to follow.  There was cactus growing on the sides of the trail.  After our ride, we had to check the horses for cactus needles.  I pulled 3-4 needles off of each pastern area of my horse.

The horses and us get the next three days off.  We are visiting Ari's sister as well as his nieces.  The horses get to rest up from trailering at Clover Equine horse motel.

The horses are each in a nice shaded paddock with a run out.  They are next to each other so they can keep each other company.

And into New Mexico...and then onto Arizona

Trailer parking at Sugarite Canyon State Park

http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/spd/sugaritecanyonstatepark.html

Horse corrals in the trailer parking area

After leaving Arrowhead Ranch in Santa Fe, NM, we decided to make a quick stop of Sugarite Canyon State Park before we hit the road.  The park is only about 15 minutes from Arrowhead Ranch which makes it worth the detour.

There is trailer parking close to the entrance which even had a couple of nice corrals.  If we were locals, we would come here often, put the horses in the corrals and have a nice lunch or snack before or after the ride.

We rode around the lake and had several water crossings.  One thing that is cool is the park is in both Colorado and New Mexico, so we got to ride in both states by simply riding through the park.  The trails are pretty easy and we ended up riding about an hour and a half around the lake and back.

Our next stop was Blue Water Lake State Park.  

http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/bluewaterlakestatepark.html

There is a horse motel across the street from the park entrance.

https://www.bluewaterlake-lodge.com/

We were the only guests at the horse motel and the owner seemed lonely and hungry for conversation.  She has a small general store where you can buy supplies.  We did buy a bag of ice from her.  She has RV hook-ups set up for LQs and there is a dump station for RVs across the street in the state park.

We rented a tiny cabin that had a queen size bed, a toilet and a kitchenette with a small sink, fridge, and microwave.

There is a loft above the bed where we put our suitcase because there was no room for it otherwise.

There is a small front porch with two chairs and a table.  It was a cozy place to sit and eat our meals.

By Blue Water Lake - Ari and Lennox

We were expecting lots of trails inside the park, but the majority of trails don't allow horses.  You have to ride past some of the campsites and then you can ride near the lake and a little past the lake.  Overall, it wasn't a great ride.

I am glad we spent the night here though because otherwise the drive to Flagstaff would have been way too long.

Our next stop was Red Rock Park near Gallup, NM.

https://www.gallupnm.gov/207/Red-Rock-Park-and-Museum

You have your pick of corrals for your horse at Red Rock Park, but apparently nobody cleans up after their horse as every single corral was filled with manure.  There was also litter from cowboys, like empty wrappers and cans.

The water wasn't working either and when Ari asked, he was told that people were carrying the water from the campgrounds - which were not that close by.

While the scenery was pretty, it looked like once again most of the trails were designated for hikers only.  Ari walked around and was not impressed with the campground.  It was only noon, so we decided to keep going to our next stop - Flagstaff - rather than spend the night.

Once again, we are almost out of hay and after the soap opera performance from the horses when we tried to feed them alfalfa cubes, we stopped by a Flagstaff feed store to pick up another bale.

Olsen's get their hay from California, so the bales are all "three stringers" instead of "two stringers" which means the bales are 1/3 bigger than the bales we were getting in Utah and Colorado.  They don't fit in our bale bags so we had to put some of the flakes in our half empty bale bag to make i work.

Now, we have to decide - do we spend an extra day in Flagstaff or show up in Phoenix a day early to visit Ari's family?  We decided to ride this afternoon in the Coconino National Forest where our horses are being boarded at Summer Sage stables and decide whether the riding was worth spending an extra day or not.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/coconino/

Finally, arrived at South T Bar in Canon City

Our best meal so far this trip was at the Lost Cajun in Salida, CO.

http://thelostcajun.com/

I was super impressed that they have this little sample board where guests can try samples of the gumbo, the etoufee, etc. prior to ordering.  Ari gobbled up the samples.

They also serve beignets!  We ordered hush puppies on the side.  They were different from the hush puppies we've had in Virginia and the Carolinas, but still very good.

The chef was extremely interested in how we liked the food and came to check on us more than once.

This place is worthy of a detour if you are ever in the area.

Upon arriving at Rob & Robin's place at the South T-Bar ranch, we promptly discovered we were down a SECOND tire on the trailer.  Rob helped Ari put on our spare tire which is a real tire, not one of those half-ass tires, and even taught him a couple of tricks on how to tighten lug nuts and mount a tire.

So, we have now replaced 50% of the tires on the trailer.  Keep in mind that we took the trailer in in April to be checked and the guy said at the time that the tires were fine.

So, I am going to have to add tire replacements to our traveling budget for future long trips.

The tire had a nail in it, but didn't have enough tread left to make it worth patching.  We ended up replacing it at a Walmart tire center in Pueblo after we left Canon City.

Rob & Robin have a beautiful mountain home at South T Bar ranch.  They have a view of Pike's Peak right from their living room.  Robin has done an amazing job of decorating the guest rooms.  We had the entire basement to ourselves which included a lovely guest room, a kitchenette, and a full bath.

Robin and Rob are both open to hosting horses and their owners.  They are just lovely people.

Here's Robin holding on to the horses while they graze on her grass.

Here's Rob filling up the stock tank with water so we can put up our portable corral.

The horses were in heaven with all the grass to eat and feeling extremely happy.

You can see Pike's Peak in the distance from Rob & Robin's property.

We have owned property at South T Bar for almost 20 years, but this is the first time we have been able to attend a POA (property owner association) meeting.  It was interesting to me.  There were about 60 property owners in attendance.  They started the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance.  I can't recall the last time I recited the pledge and was surprised I actually recalled the words.

But, when I recited "with liberty and justice for all" I almost teared up, because right now, we do not live in a country with liberty and justice for all.  We live in a country where people of color are incarcerated at a rate of more than double that of whites.

https://www.openinvest.co/blog/statistics-prison-america/

We live in a country that is imprisoning babies and children who have committed no crime other than the crime of not being white.  Seeking asylum is not a crime.

We live in a country where white supremacists are empowered to enact mass shootings against Muslims, gays, Jews, and African Americans and not be treated as what they are - domestic terrorists.

It could be argued that America has never been a country "with liberty and justice for all".  After all, we have a history of slavery, the genocide of Native Americans, Irish and Catholics need not apply, Japanese internment camps, Jim Crow, etc.  But, at least we aspired to be better.  

Following the POA meeting, we were served fresh pizza from a portable pizza oven.  That was pretty cool.  We basically got pizza to order.

I enjoyed talking to the other property owners and hearing why they purchased on South T-Bar, whether they were full-time residents or part-time, what their plans were, etc. When Ari & I purchased our land, we envisioned a horse community.  We thought most of the property owners would be equestrians.  Turns out we are pretty much the only equestrians on the ranch.  Most of the property owners are interested in hunting.

Riding in South T Bar

After the meeting, Ari and I did a ride around the ranch - something we had dreamed about ever since we bought our property there.  We rode an ATV trail.  The horses struggled a bit due to the high altitude, but both horses put out their best effort.  

I am so impressed with Mercutio.  He has come into his own as a solid trail horse.

After the trail ride, we drove into Canon City.  I wanted to see how much it had changed since our last visit about 12 years ago.

The downtown has added some cool public art.  I had hoped that the downtown would have improved some, but it actually is more run-down.

We had hoped to join some neighbors for a party Saturday night, but by the time we got back to the ranch and located the party people were packing up to return to their homes.

Sunday morning we reluctantly said our good-byes to Rob and Robin.  Before we left the ranch, we stopped at our parcel.  Twelve years ago, we had brought Isaiah to the ranch and we planted a bunch of trees and shrubs.  We wanted to see if any of the plants had survived.  Imagine our surprise to see an entire grove of trees we had planted looking healthy and beautiful.

Tonight the horses are at Bruton Stables in Raton, New Mexico.

https://www.horsemotel.com/A1MobilePages/A3MobileNewMexicoJacksonStables.html

They have traded in the cushy grass on the South T Bar Ranch for dust and dirt, but they are in a nice large enclosure with their food and fresh water.

This fellow checked us in.  I got a real kick out of him.  He is a chatty Texan, wearing boots, spurs, and cowboy hat.  

Tomorrow we hope to ride in Sugarite State Park before heading to our next stop...Santa Fe.

We are heading home.