Arizona is warmer.

Jan 27, 2012 No Comments by Scott

It was about a year ago that I was sitting at the kitchen table at a farm I was horse/house sitting at. I was near a window but there was no point in looking out of it because the visibility was near zero. White horses were invisible in the blizzard. The outline of black horses were barely distinguishable. I wrote about it. At the time I was contemplating loading up a couple of horses and driving to one of the southern states. Unfortunately they were experiencing well below seasonable temperatures as well, with snow in areas in where the white fluffy stuff is typically unknown.

Well a year has gone by. A good friend of mine, Stacie-Rae, just spent the month in Arizona, barrel racing at Buckeye. My plans were to join her for New Year’s Eve, hopefully do some riding, and come back to winter. Well that went slightly awry. The horses were bound for Buckeye, and I was planning on flying to Phoenix and meeting up with my friends there. However, the truck hauling the horses broke down in Tremonton, UT. The dealership didn’t expect to be able to fix it until the following week; after all, it was a long weekend.

So instead of flying to Phoenix, my friends opted to fly to Las Vegas, rent a car, drive to Tremonton, meet up with the truck crew, and celebrate New Year’s there. Well, Vegas to Tremonton is about a 7 hour drive. So here’s how it would have looked for me: Drive to airport (1 hour). Wait at airport (2 hours). Fly to Vegas (2 hours). Get rental car (1 hour). Drive to Tremonton (7 hours). Celebrate New Year’s (2 hours since everyone would be so tired from travelling!). Drive to Vegas (7 hours). Wait at airport (2 hours). Fly home (2 hours). Drive home (1 hour). So that means 25 hours of travel for 2 hours of partying? No, that didn’t make sense! And as it turned out, party spots were rare in Utah and they were in bed by 10PM.

Instead, I decided to fly to Phoenix the following weekend. Since the initial objective was to get to Arizona, I’d just put it off for a week. Then I got that flu/cold that was going around. I had to drag myself out to feed horses. Getting tired of laying on the couch, I decided to take a shower. I was house-sitting, and upon stepping out of the tub I walked right into a shelf and required stitches in my head. After I got back from the doc, I went straight to the couch. It’s a safer place.

About a week into the flu, I got sick of being sick and decided to go riding. I didn’t care how sick I felt or how little energy I had. I caught my mare, took her into the barn, and brushed her off. That was it. I was so lightheaded, dizzy and crappy feeling, that I couldn’t even throw a saddle on her. So I got on her bareback and let her wander around the arena. It was like lying on a heated blanket. Nice, but unproductive.

I made it a point to head to Phoenix the following weekend. Only two weeks after my original planned departure. I arranged for horse care, pet care, booked a car and a flight. And I looked at the local forecast: -30’s and snow. I was picking a great time to leave!

The day prior to my departure was the first day in about two weeks that I felt relatively normal. I can’t remember ever being sick for that long. But I figured even if I wasn’t 100%, +20 was better than -30 to convalesce. So I left the country.

Upon my arrival in Phoenix, I hastily picked up my rental car. They tried unsuccessfully for several minutes to up-size my car for a hefty sum. When I walked out into the garage, the staff there told me that today, “you can upgrade to mid-sized for free!”. So basically the counter staff were crooks. Whatever. I really didn’t care what the car was; I wasn’t planning on living in it, and was trying to keep costs down. I don’t even recall the make model of it, but it sure was NOT my F350. It’s been a long time since I sat close to the ground…but it was cheaper at the pumps!

Well, following in the apparent tradition of January breaks, injuries and plans gone wrong, Stacie-Rae put her back out in the lounge at Buckeye. She was, innocently enough, trying to rescue her cell phone that had dropped between the huge chairs. So there was no barrel racing for her for a few days. But that was to my advantage! We hopped in the rental car and drove to Tucson, where she used to work several years ago. We explored the local area and were treated to a steak dinner by friends of hers.

The following day, we motored down the interstate to Tombstone. There is a lot of history in that town. A lot of bloody history. We started off at the famed Boothill Cemetery and moved to the OK Corral, where we watched a re-enactment of the gunfight between the Earp brothers with Doc Holliday, and the unlucky Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury.

We ended the day with a cheesy albeit informative Tombstone Ghost Tour. When she wasn’t checking her text messages, our tour guide was a wealth of information. I reckon that 80% of what she said might even be factual. I didn’t think it was possible for a person to use the phrase, “auras and apparitions” that many times in an hour. I’ll have to add some ghouls to my pictures and submit them to their website. After that we needed a snack and a drink. Our hats off to the owners of the Cafe Margarita. It’s a little Mexican restaurant just off the main ‘touristy’ street. They opened their doors to us even though they were just closing. We enjoyed a couple fantastic margaritas, and an incredible chocolate chimi dessert.

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The following day was spent at Old Tucson, which was and still is the film site for many western movies. We arrived just as they were opening the doors. It was nice to wander around and grab a few pictures before the streets filled with tourists. We took the tour there as well, but this tour guide was amazing. It was obvious he enjoyed his job. He answered every question with enthusiasm, and was one of the most entertaining tour guides I’ve met. Filming in this location started in the 1930’s. Even though it was constructed for Hollywood, it was almost a frontier town in its own right. The actors and actresses would not have enjoyed the modern filmset luxuries that those of today do! If you’ve ever been a fan of the classic westerns, the is the place to visit.

It was at this point in our trip where Stacie-Rae figured she should be getting back to her horse. A massage therapist friend in Tucson had done some work on her back and it was feeling much better. So we pointed the car northwest and drove. But the fun wasn’t over yet!

I have some friends, Chuck, Terri and Taylor McKinney, that are spending a couple of months in Arizona. Coincidentally, they were staying (via deserted backroads) on our way back to Buckeye. We had to stop in for a visit. In my typical fashion the two hour planned visit turned into an extra day. All it took was for someone to mention riding! I got on the phone and rescheduled my flight and informed the rental car company that I’d be keeping the car for another day.

The next day, saddle bags full of necessary beverages – it is a desert after all – Terri and I headed down the dusty trail. Literally! The odd lonely cactus stands up in the sparse red landscape in contrast to the dark blue sky above. Perfect conditions for pictures! In the distance we spotted what looked like a trail heading up a mountain. We thought that heading up that trail would provide us with a great view, and it probably would have. As we got closer to the base of the mountain, we noticed an empty RV parked literally in the middle of nowhere. Kind of odd, we thought. We kept going. Off to our right was a large property, with a high fence around it. Guard dogs barked restlessly on the other side. On one corner of the property was a tall lookout tower. Terri figured that it might be the prison that we’d been talking about the previous night. We didn’t give it further thought, and paused to take pictures beside a huge saguaro cactus. Incidentally, these cacti can be ancient. Just for perspective, they get their first ‘appendage’ when they are 50-60 years old. Wow.

We arrived at what, from a distance, looked like the trailhead. However it turned out to be a wash, and it was very rocky. Too rocky for the unshod horse I was riding. So we turned around, and took another look at this fenced in property.

The previous evening, we were chatting about a place called “Cartel Mountain.” A place that obviously, we wouldn’t want to be anywhere near. So we sat on our horses, halfway up this mountain, and looked at a huge house, surrounded by fence, guard dogs and lookout towers. Around the perimeter were RV’s. Hmmm….makes you think… So we thought. And our thoughts went like this: “Let’s get the hell out of here!” With only one big cactus in the vicinity, we were pretty easy targets!

Arriving home without getting shot, we brushed off the desert dust, grabbed a couple of fresh horses and rode to the local pub. I rode a horse that we nicknamed, “Moo”. We didn’t know his real name. But we had to call him something. Moo has a really bony backbone, and I was bareback. Trotting was quite a painful experience. A couple of tequilas at the pub made the ride home much easier. “Been through the desert on a horse named Moo… Yeah, not funny, I know. But I think I was singing that on the ride home…

And the next day sucked because I had to come home. At least it had warmed up to -20 for my arrival. Left my jacket in Arizona. Oops.

Footnote: You’ll notice that throughout the text above, I deliberately did NOT mention the fact that the weather in Arizona was fantastic! It was not too hot, and perfect for a good day’s riding. I didn’t mention that because I know how cold it was back in Alberta! I didn’t want to rub it in that I was enjoying myself under the warm Arizona sun while everyone in Alberta were suffering through the coldest weather of the year. So you can thank me for that.

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