First thing this morning I went into town and filled up with diesel fuel at $4.20 a gallon which is considerably cheaper than I've been paying, and an excellent sign that diesel is not in short supply, and probably won't be in the near future. I stopped at Walmart and picked up a few canned goods, because if my plans work out I won't be staying near a Walmart for a while. And naturally I stopped at Popeyes in the Walmart parking lot for red beans and rice, which may be the last time I get to eat my favorite dish until I get back to Denver.

I think I have figured out where I want to go when I leave here. Since I want to stick around southern Arizona to see what's going to happen with the Superbloom, and since the Sandhill cranes will be leaving sometime in March, I think I will go to Whitewater draw to watch the cranes for one last time this winter. Then I will head for Ajo Arizona, with a brief stop at Picacho Peak state Park where some neighbors have just told me that there's some wild flowers starting to bloom there, before I head on down to Ajo, which also has some wild flowers starting to bloom.

I'm still worried about the drug smugglers and the cartels around that part of the border, but since Ajo has always been a drug smuggling hotspot there's a really big border patrol office in Ajo. So maybe that's enough to keep the smugglers out of that area. I was also told by a neighbor that was in Ajo a month or so ago, that the border patrol is using drones, and if your boondocking out in the desert, kind of by yourself, the drones are homing in on any lights in the desert so cover your windows or you may find a drone peeking in.

So I'll go down there and sniff around and if I get any feelings reminiscent of living in Miami Florida during the infamous drug smuggling days I'll just turn around and leave.

Theboondork

Saddles for sale.
Specifically Antares saddles. These saddles are some of the best in the business and made in France. As far as I know they only make Hunter Jumper saddles, no cowboy saddles so there's not a saddle horn in sight... How you stay on a horse without holding onto the saddle horn is a mystery to me.

Five-year-old used Antares saddles sell for $3000 or more, new ones are over $5000, and custom ones made to fit your butt and no one else's, are over $6000.

Did you see my horse? Is that him over there with all the tattoos and piercings

It looks like this young lady accidentally got downwind from the old boondork... Never a wise move for those with a sensitive sense of smell.

As the rider explained to her coach what actually happened.

And on that number four jump, I went that way, and the horse went the other way and I ended up jumping over the five and six jump without the horse.

Ahhhh Yes, this reminds me of my high school days working in the Hunter jumper boarding stable after school as an equine sanitation engineer.

But I didn't have a fancy cart like that, I had to use an old wheelbarrow, that the horses loved to tip over when I filled it up... Horses are mean, cruel, vindictive critters.

Anytime there's a slight adjustment made to the course all the riders and their coaches come out and walk around it. You would think the horses would walk around it to, but I guess there not important.

You'll notice there is only one girl wearing spurs in this picture. So take a word of advice from an old equine sanitation engineer and never marry a girl that likes wearing spurs for no apparent reason.

My last picture of a Hunter Jumper until next winter..... Hold the applause.

Proof that on rare occasions I eventually get around to doing something useful.

Like I mentioned the last time I did laundry, it's really great having the Lance with me while I'm waiting for the laundry to finish. Instead of looking at my watch every five minutes, I can set in the Lance, play on the computer, make some lunch, do whatever I want without being bored for the hour and a half it takes to wash my clothes.

The day dawned chilly, cloudless, calm, and with humidity in the teens, so there was no excuse for me not to get out and get stuff done in preparation for my leaving the day after tomorrow.

I still don't know where I'm going to go, so I need to prepare to go anywhere. The two places I'm considering are, but are not limited to, back to visit the Sandhill cranes at Whitewater draw or head down to Ajo, Arizona, to see if any wildflowers are popping up down there yet.

I want to visit the Sandhill cranes again, and they start migrating back north around March, so I need to get back to the Whitewater draw before most of them have left, so I can't wait too long to make a trip there. The downside is I'm only allowed to boondock there for three days, which for me is never enough.

I would also enjoy being back in Ajo again because it's a little warmer down there; I enjoy seeing areas of wildflowers, and it's one of my favorite places to boondock. The downside is that even though the boondocking is free, the cost of groceries and diesel fuel is high because it's a small town in the middle of nowhere. And it's close to the border and well-known as an area where smugglers cross the border, as witnessed by all government warning signs in the desert.

So I still haven't decided where to go and won't until Wednesday morning. So all I can do is make sure the Lance is ready to support me in comfort wherever I eventually end up.

Theboondork

Somebody's happy. Maybe it's that fancy phone that makes her so happy.

The last ride of the day.
 Which happens to be the name of a rock song I really like. But if you don't like loud rock music, you definitely won't like this song.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAFxLXqP8UM

TWICE I GET SNOWED ON IN TUCSON? I can't believe it. In all the years I've been coming to Tucson I've never been snowed on even once. This must be nature's payback for giving me perfect weather  yesterday

I woke up this morning to clouds, rain, and a little snow; nothing new there. And I heard them announce on the loudspeaker over at the Hunter Jumper arenas that there  delaying the start of the day's competition until it stops raining, even though that might be next June.

Today will be the end of all the current events at the fairgrounds, and since I'm leaving here Wednesday morning, I've got a couple of days with no activities to look forward to. Another five-day Hunter Jumper competition starts Wednesday morning, and it's the biggest one of the year. But I've seen enough hunting and jumping for one winter, so I will bid sayonara, adios, and au revoir to the fairgrounds Wednesday morning, no matter what else may be going on.

Hopefully, in those two days of nothing going on, I will be motivated to get some laundry done, even though I'm not above buying a couple more pairs of blue jeans so that I can put off washing the old ones. But what I really need is a few more long sleeve flannel shirts. I threw away almost all of my long sleeve shirts when I left Colorado, and I've never actually needed them since becoming a full-timer.  Normally, when it's chilly in Arizona, I wear a T-shirt with a light jacket so I can take off the jacket by 10 o'clock, and I'm fine. But this winter, there have been very few times when I could wear a T-shirt, but a long sleeve flannel shirt would have been perfect.

And for some strange reason, southern Arizona is not a good place to buy warm clothing. It's like these people have never experienced temperatures below 60° before, and come to think of it, other than at night, in the past, I don't think I have either.

Theboondork

Two things I've never seen; one is a reason to buy an off-road RV like this, and the second thing I've never seen is one of these vehicles off-road.

It's just another one of these three quarters of a million dollar off-road RVs I used to never see, but they're getting more and more common so somebody out there must have some money.... Or at least they did before they bought this thing.

 I don't care how much money they spent on it, it still looks like the truck that picks up the garbage in my daughter's neighborhood.

Did you know that a horse has no fat on their legs? Which is why their legs look so thin compared to the rest of the animal.

See, you're smarter now than you were before reading my blog.