~*~*~*~*~

Well.
Here we were,
stuck.
In the ditch.
On a mountain.
With no cell phone reception.

At least I had something to occupy my time!

Visibility at this point was not bad at all…

Paul got out,
with some difficulty, as his door was wedged shut.
When he jumped out he was knee deep
in snow.
He climbed up the mountain beside us,

and was able to get a signal up top,

and call for a tow truck.

Then he slid back down.

Here we all are!

Stuck.
Now winter coats,
no gloves or boots,
no shovel.
Decidedly unprepared for winter driving.

A highway patrol officer stopped by to check on us,
then since we were already awaiting a tow truck,
left to go check on a collision elsewhere.

Then commenced the waiting.

Paul was in and out,
making sure the tail pipe was clear.
He got rather cold.
I was the mean mom and wouldn’t let the kids out to play on the mountain side.
Who knew how long the wait would be for the tow truck, right?

Well, we were surprised when he pulled up
about one hour after our call!
Not bad at all, considering we were 40 miles from Globe!

The first thing he tried was pulling us backward,
downhill and out the way we came into the snowbank.

That got us further downhill,
but he couldn’t get us out of the ditch.
So he drove around front
and hooked us up
to try to pull us out frontways.

Unfortunately,
he only had 2wd, and couldn’t get enough traction.

We were woeful as he departed,
promising to send the 4wd truck our way as soon as possible.

Then commenced the second wait.

About 3 hours after we slid ditchward,
tow truck #2 arrived.

It was big and beefy,
and had a two man team.

Things were looking up.

Tightening up the winch…

Slowwwwwwly….

And….

We’re out!

Now we just needed to follow them to the nearest pull off

Where we parked,

Let the kids and dogs stretch their legs,

and Paul climbed in the truck to take care of payment.
It was more than double the price the first tow guy quoted,
but then,
it was more than double the truck.
And they got us out.
Totally worth $225.

Though we were out of the ditch,
we were not out of the storm,
and drove very circumspectly the rest of the way to Globe.
On the way into town
we finally saw some light…

And thanked the Lord repeatedly for caring for us
along the treacherous journey.

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

Our stop in Show Low was as fast as humanly possible.
Blizzard conditions were imminent,
and Paul was determined not to be stuck in a hotel overnight.

Besides, he said,
these conditions would never stop Minnesota drivers.

So onward we went.

Taking the downhills very, very slowly.

In between taking pictures,

I mostly kept my eyes on my crochet project,

especially on the curves.

Entering the Salt River Canyon,

the view was a little less idyllic than on the previous trip.

We made it down, and up the other side with no mishaps,
and saw no accidents along the way.

We were thankful.

However, as we were coming up out of the canyon,
climbing a long slow incline,
we had nearly reached the mountain’s summit,
when we hit
that magical patch of ice
with just the right touch of gas,
and began to slide.

Almost gently,
we slid off the right side of the road,

into the ditch, up against the mountain side.

We were good

and

stuck!

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

Although we had originally planned to stay at the ranch
until Friday,
plans evolved during the week and we decided to head back Thursday evening
(which would give us a full day of fun, plus the added
bonus of a night drive).

However.

Thursday morning the winds were high.

Snowfall increased steadily.

The dogs gamboled happily,

and so did the kids,

as the novelty of snow is a rare joy
for desert dwellers.

Paul got to wear his Minnesota hat,

And after The Boy (here sleeping upside down in his sleeping bag)
woke up,

he had to try the hat too.

There was an early morning snow fight…

But as the snow increased,
Paul went up to our neighbor’s place
and checked the weather forecast.

This
brought the enlightening news
that the whole area was covered by a winter storm warning
until 5pm,
with 5-6 inches of snow predicted on the ranch,
and 10-20″ in both Show Low and Payson,
our two options for driving home.
By 8am Hwy 40 was closed,
and we
decided to pack and bug out,
and were on the road by 8:30a.m.

The ranch road, here partially clear…

there, not so clear…

Heading down the winding 60/40 at a very slow speed…

Out on the highway, a snow-plough on the opposite side…

Heading into Show Low…

The drive should take about 40 minutes,
and took more like a couple of hours.

We left so fast,
Paul did not have a chance to grab his sunglasses,
so he had to wear mine.

Happy carefree kids!

At the gas station in Show Low,
we pulled in behind a local
who had not yet brushed off his truck.

~*~*~*~*~

~*~*~*~*~

Our sojourn on the north end of Carrizo
was an occasion for a little further
exploration,

though I was mostly interested in the sky…

and the cows…

Back at the cabin,

Jacob spent some quality time with
his Mandalorians,
bounty hunters,
and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

The fire roared.

Nettie worked on her
new Orchid
afghan.

And after a wee bit,

took Megan for driving practice
(with Geneva riding along).

We saw cows.

We saw dramatic rays of sun peeking through dark clouds.

We saw more cows.

Home sweet home.

And the evening included a rousing game of
Blitz.

And these two finished off the day
playing “Go Fish”
with Uno cards.

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

By Wednesday morning,
the storm clouds that we knew had been predicted
had rolled in,

and all the children were
in their ecstasies
over white stuff falling from the sky!

Our first order of business was to head into town
and do our grocery shopping
at Wilbur’s IGA.
That was a very brief affair,
as I was in a save-money mode,
and we were soon back on the road.

We decided to do an explore
(don’t we always?)
and visit the Lower Carrizo Well
(which curiously enough is actually north of
another of our favorite
locales,
Upper Carrizo Well).

By the time we arrived,
the wind had picked up and we were fighting some
bitter cold.

Frozen drinking water…

What we did not expect to find here at this
supposedly abandoned site
was that someone had fixed up the fences
and was keeping horses!

Lovely creatures.
I did not envy them having to stay out in the weather though.

Dramatic stormy skies across the range.

And then we raced back to the van
and bundled inside to
thaw out our aching fingers, noses, and toes.

Look at those rosy cheeks.
Don’t you just want to pinch them?

Oh wait,
that’s just me.

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

Tucked away inside for the night,
protected from the below-freezing temps
by our wonderful insulation and

blazing wood stove,

Laurent and Jacob prepared a
strange, yet tasty
concoction for supper

that included
chopped hot dogs,
boxed mashed potatoes,
and
sauerkraut.
Don’t knock it till you try it!

Later, Megan wrote in her journal by lamp light, and
drew illustrations for her short story,
“The Yodeling Yodeler of Yoelli”
(which is, so far, hilariously inventive).

Meanwhile,
Geneva and Jacob
were roughhousing on the cots,

and raising such a spectacular ruckus that I could not believe
THIS:

Apparently,
a parent
can sleep through
almost anything
if
tired enough.

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

Remember back in the summer months when I was
raving about all the green?
Well,
we are in the brown months now.
Here are my nature pics
from day one,
wherein I extol the glories of the many
and varying shades of
gold and tan.

 

And a little color to finish off the day:

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

Arriving at Rancho del Heidmann Tuesday afternoon,
we found the weather to be
crisp, clear, windless, and
“exceedingly clement”
(to quote Jeeves).

Laurent did not require one iota of coaxing
to get out her new rifle
and prepare for
her
inaugural shoot!

Here is the can, upon the stump,
at which she chose to
shoot.

It was about a 50 yard shot.
She grazed it with the first bullet,
missed twice,
and then decided to go to the shooting range and use real targets.

A bullet hole
in the burn barrel.

The exterior of the burn barrel.

Here is the young miss,
lining up her sights.

She spent a lot of time out at the range that afternoon.
Too cold for me, but she was
committed.

~*~*~*~*~

 

~*~*~*~*~

For the last couple of years,
ever since we were able to put a wood stove in the cabin,
we have been spending a few days at the ranch
in December
between Christmas and New Years Day.

We decided to go up in the middle of the week
to avoid the traffic,
and left on Tuesday morning
after Geneva’s orthodontist checkup.

The most remarkable thing about our drive north was
when my husband,
out of the blue
and the goodness of his heart,
the man who invariably shouts
“NO!!”
when asked,
because he is on a mission
to get to the ranch,
actually
STOPPED
at one of the scenic overlooks in the
Salt River Canyon,
so that his pack of female photogs
could get a little
snap happy.

Ok, that was really fun.
But we’re not getting used to it…
I’m pretty sure it was a one-off.

~*~*~*~*~

~*~*~*~*~

As we turned round to head back from whence we came,
Mother began lamenting the difficulties of pushing her up the hill,
to which I replied that Paul could easily
run her up this hill.

Well, then of course he had to prove me right.

And so he did.

And here they are resting at the top while I trudge up behind!

Laurent picked a bouquet of wildflowers along the way for mother…

Desert beauty!

Jacob inexplicably ran ahead when we got to this tunnel.

Just so he could – not leap - but
crab walk out from around the corner when we came through.
Silly boy.

Some pretty landscaping.

I liked the way the sun shone through the cloud and this tree right then…

Some greenery across the canal…

Mile marker on the trail.

This was a portal to another world.
Laurent walked through,
and when she came out the other side,
she’d been there for 16 hours.
It’s true!

Fall colors,
rare to see here.

Not much color here…
Laurent wanted this picture,
something about foresty something or other…

Another pretty!

More landscaping.

More tiny flowers!

Two wing-like pods sticking out from a branch on
this plant with the red feathery flowers.
I thought, “How curious!”

I do like those flowers though.

~*~*~*~*~

And that was that for our Sunday walk.

Love those Sunday walks!