When Alan and I tried to figure out where we wanted to spend the winter, Arizona was high on the list. Nevertheless, we weren’t totally sure the desert would be our cup of tea. However, the vast numbers of horse folks who flock to Arizona every winter must know something we didn’t know?
We arrived at Lazy Horse Ranch on Election Day. We had covered over 12,000 miles and 13 states over a 6-week period. This facility has room for 4 LQ trailers with full hookups (30 amp), and one RV with a 50 amp hookup. We had already delivered our new-to-us RV to this facility in May. It was set up and ready for occupancy.
There was only one camper there when we arrived. A month later, a second camper joined us. Jim, the second camper, has been coming here for 5 years. He is an absolute wealth of information on where to ride around here. Although the facility owner took us to the Dragoon Mountains a couple of times, we hadn’t been to too many places by the time Jim arrived.
Jim wasn’t here by Thanksgiving. The other camper and Alan and I joined our hosts for Thanksgiving in their home. Jim arrived shortly after that, and we enjoyed another meal together. Jim provided an elk roast! It was very lean, but a bit “gamier” than I am used to. I found a small-footprint bread machine on Facebook Marketplace, and I have been supplying homemade bread at our get-togethers.
Our hosts were gone for Christmas, so I hosted Christmas dinner for the other two guys and us. There was no room for a Christmas tree in our trailer, but no problem! We put one right outside the door! It stayed up just fine until this week’s gale-force winds. It is now on its side, unfortunately.
Alan and I have ridden from the facility a few times. We can ride for miles, although it is mainly typical desert terrain. There aren’t a lot of saguaro cacti here, which is totally fine with me. I have heard horror stories about those things!
One of our most interesting rides from camp was to the abandoned hippie commune a few miles from us. It was inhabited around 2007- 2009. It appears that they simply walked away, or perhaps they were run off because they were “squatting”. According to abandoned papers, there was a young gal who was in nursing school. A quick Google search showed a mid-30’s gal in this same area still working as an RN. I guess I’m nosy…
The commune in the distance
Abandoned vehicles
Papers & packrats
Piles of shoes!
It was truly hard to wrap my mind around a half-dozen folks living in this “camp”. It appears they had a chicken coup, with a pond across the way. The packrats have totally taken over everything. I don’t know who owns the property, but what a mess to clean up!
The next time we head that way, we have miles more of the road to ride. More exploring to do!
Arizona weather
We are located about 80 miles from Tucson. It is about 8 degrees warmer in Tucson than here, as we are at about 4300 feet elevation. The nights can get very cold, into the 20’s. However, it warms up so fast, you can practically watch the thermometer climb. By early to mid-afternoon, the temp is in the 50’s or 60’s. The sun is out nearly every day, and it is very warm. Cloudly days are almost as rare as rainy ones. We have had maybe 2-3 days of rain since our arrival in early November!
I have defined a walking route that I try and cover every day that we don’t ride. Three of our four dogs go with me whenever I walk and on most of the rides. (Our German Shepherd is lame, unfortunately.) If I walk to the end of the powerlines and back, it is 4.5 miles. If I do a total loop, it is 5.6 miles! The weather is so balmy, I am usually comfortable in a long-sleeved tee, or maybe a sweatshirt occasionally.
I rode that loop once before I attempted to walk it. It is much easier to see over mesquite when one is on the back of a horse! I missed the trail at one point, and had to call my hostess to rescue me! I walked about 7 miles that day. Of course, I was quite glad to hear the ATV coming towards me, and to lay eyes on my rescuer. It was nearing dusk. I did catch some grief from my awesome hubby who was unhappy that I hadn’t called him first. He didn’t know his way around any better than I did, so why not call the lady who lives here?
Stay tuned for lots of information about where to ride around southeastern Arizona.
