Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014 – Third Ride Day at Bumblebee Ranch

Got up a bit earlier today to make sure we got back from our ride before it gets too late, as Friday the sun was just about down by the time we got, which is cutting it a bit close to not getting back before dark, so we were out before 11:00 this morning. We took about a 7.5 mile loop that was roughly northeast of the ranch, which started along the wash. We heard gunshots of apparent target practice, so before we went around a turn I called out, and the shooting stopped. As we came around the corner, a couple of shooters waved at us to let us know they had heard me and stopped until we passed. Being Sunday, it was quite busy out in this area of BLM land, with numerous ATVers and picnickers, but the horses paid not attention. They were pretty sluggish this morning, not used to being ridden three rides in a week, particularly since the one on Friday was so long, but eventually they became engaged with the trail. The wash alternated between sand and sharp rocks, and many times we followed the ATV trail, as it avoided most of the worst sections, but weren't that great either, very rocky. About halfway around, the turnback on the loop, was very steep, with an almost 40% grade according to my GPS, but at least it got us to the top of the hill quickly! We stopped at the top for an apple break before continuing. Beautiful views up here, though it was pretty rocky, and the road was quite challenging, with lots of hills and dales along the top. Another nice ride, though! During the course of our ride, Hubby and I debated the pros and cons of staying here or moving on, and by the time we got back, I checked the weather, and there's a polar vortex moving down in the next week, so the place we were planning on going in Payson would have lows in the upper 20's by the end of the week, compared to upper 40's, low 50's here at Bumblebee, so we decided that if it was okay with Kelly, we'd stay here for a few more weeks. With a great cell phone signal, this is a good place for the audio conferences I need to facilitate in a couple of weeks, and it's pretty quiet here, and very reasonably priced, so our focus is now on just staying where it's warm for the winter, and at the moment, this is the place! Spoke to Kelly when they came up to feed the horses, and she smiled and said, "I knew you'd want to stay longer." Other than having to accommodate a very large saddle club group this weekend, we should pretty much have the place to ourselves, except maybe a few folks occasionally. Having made that decision, we settled in for the night, satisfied that the next few weeks will be comfortable, and living will be easy with water and electric!

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