A very personal post....

Our Location: Empire Ranch, Vail, Arizona

This post is a very personal post for me. As a widow I've had to learn to do a great many things on my own, and have no partner to rely on for those things that couples take for granted. Things other women and men don't actually think about. Most men are much more mechanically inclined than women, they have been around motors, electrical, building stuff for most of their lives, older men will not often talk to a single woman, but will talk to men while taking a whizz at a urinal. Women are often taken advantage of when dealing with any kind of mechanical problem, or trades people, some see it as a license to steal by changing parts that don't need to changed or just saying they changed them, charging more than they normally would and simply being thieves and pricks.  As the mother of a daughter that while doing very well is still very much in need of positive experiences in her life to keep her building the confidence and self esteem she’s gained in the last few years of our travels I find today be a difficult day.

Some dark skies out there in the distance. 

Bullies. We’ve all met some, known some and experienced some. I’m always amazed at how they feel so superior and yet are really very small people, not necessarily in stature and physical presences but in ‘class’ and ‘moral’ being. Friendly folks are out there too of course and they make a lasting impression as well but in a very different way.

 Snow on that mountain peak is a bit more than it was a few days ago.

 A closer view.
 
A very nice young ranger came by today and was very apologetic of the treatment we’ve received while in our designated parking area. He offered to help us find a new spot and to even lead us to a new spot (since we were already hooked up). He explained to all present that we had every right to be in the spot, to stay the limit of 14 days and that no one could make us move, not even him. He also explained to everyone present that he wasn’t here to move us. He was very shocked when he learned not a single person, or ranger had knocked on our door to explain the international hunt soon taking place. Except for an old man that told us we had leave a week ago, not soul has spoken with us regarding the upcoming hunt. Not the hunt of last Saturday, this is a different hunt. Last Saturday was a practice run. When the ranger asked me “No one came by to talk to you?” I explained about the old man of a week ago and told him, no one else, not a single soul had stopped to chat. I could see him eyeing up the bird hunter that had called him and the Ranger didn’t appear to be even a little impressed. He was also shocked that the ranger who had come by yesterday didn’t stop to talk to us. It was the purpose of his visit, to move the folks out of the designated camping area because a permit has been issued some time ago for use of that site by the up coming event. At this point I left them all with a few words that I doubt will make any impression on them except maybe the ranger. I told them if they had come and knocked on the door and nicely explained the situation of international hunt, permits in hand, and asked us to consider moving for many reasons that we would have happily moved. Organizers or rangers would have been a far more legitimate representative than some old man what jumps out of his car and the first words out of his mouth is that we HAVE TO MOVE or some old fella in a truck that hollers out the window each time he drives past. After all you get more bees with honey than you do with sh*t. At this point I just walked away.  Truly if Riley wasn't travelling with me I would have stayed in the spot based on principle and because I dislike being bullied. I believe the movie would be called Grumpy Old Men meets Canadian Bitch.  The Ranger was not impressed with the entire handling of this issue, he apologized again as I was walking away. 

Our new view out the door.

Our new view out the window.

While we are still on the ranch we are closer to Sierra Vista and the spot we are in while not our first choice is a good one. A bit rough in places to get to but nothing too bad. 




 Tom, Deb and & Riley. 
Deb, Tom, my selfies all had a shadow of my arm right across my face. Hahaha

Yesterday we had our last visit with Tom & Deb for a while and we look forward to seeing them in the future when our paths cross again. It was a wonderful visit, sitting outside in the sun and enjoying the company. We wish these special folks well on their future travels and adventures and we’ll see you on down the road.

The photo is not crooked, it's the hills that slant.  

A call to my dad this morning to tell him of our once again spotty cell service and not to worry if he can't reach us but so far it seems to be doing well. Hopefully it continues. We have 3 bars, drops to 1, climbs to 4, drops to 1. Haha…you know how it goes. 

 Still windy but not flapping the toppers for some reason. Maybe the angle we're at, I'm not sure.
 
So as I said this post is a personal post, I’m NOT looking for sympathy, OR agreement or any such thing. I'm sure there are many different reactions out there and we each have an opinion and we are all entitled to our opinions. I welcome your comments on each and every blog post but on this post I will not be answering any comments. My temper is short and my tongue is sharp and it's just better for me to be silent no matter how kind your words may be. This is a post  for my own future reference. It is to remind me of how far we have both come and how much we both enjoy the wide open spaces that we seek and yet the joy we have sharing those same spaces with the folks that touch us in such a positive way, folks we call friends. You see it is not that we don’t like neighbours, because we do enjoy folks around us, but NOT the type that makes my daughter feel too nervous to be comfortable in our home or our yard, or too intimidated to even remain in our home while I’m away. Those neighbours we can do without and those neighbours we don’t want. The bullies, I feel sorry for them because they too narrow minded, self centered, egotistical and arrogant  to know they are truly missing out on a great deal of life’s wonder and I guess if scaring the hell out of someone that is easily intimidated makes them big people they must be giants in their own minds. In my world they are simply sad, pathetic people living sad, pathetic lives. I’m happy we moved. 

Until next time.. take care, be safe,

Deb