After the rather stressful day yesterday, I'm sure both Simon and Elaine were glad to be having a day off of sorts. Of course for them, it meant Simon driving back to Tucson to see about Sandys' bike , a particular brace and pain medication for Paul, the injured biker and a replacement camera for the tour vehicle. Elaine stayed back on the dude ranch doing paperwork including insurance for the bike damage, and fitting Sandy with a replacement bike for the rest of the the tour.
The rest of us enjoyed a typical day at the dude ranch.
The day started with Ron, the head wrangler , appearing at the breakfast table in full cowboy regalia including jangling spurs, leather chaps, vest, six gun, magnificent handlebar moustache and cowboy hat demanding to know "how many of you greenhorns are riding with us today?"
According to Elaine, Ron is "the real deal" having been a cowboy on the bronc circuit and then retiring to wrangle horses when he was "all stove in." He lives in a trailer on the ranch,runs a small herd of cattle on the ranch and does all the horse work, including training guests and wranglers, teaching line dancing and any other work that needs to be done around the place.
Cowboy Ron, moustache and all "goofin" at the cantina
the border fence from the ranch
A side note here about the border, the fence, the border patrol and Rancho de la Osa. The border fence, consisting of a tall metal grid, runs the entire 10 mile width of the ranchs' common border. About 500 feet within the ranch boundary has been cleared of all brush and undergrowth and represents a sort of DMZ that the border patrol cruises and keeps under camera surveillance as well.
Mind you, once you get past the ranch boundary, the experimental tall metal fence extends only another couple of miles before reverting back to a barbed wire fence with concertina wires on top, which begs the question of why, knowing that there is both a limit to the length of the metal barrier, and area covered by cameras, people attempting to sneak across the border wouldn't just simply move east or west a couple of miles.
As we rode by about 1/2 mile away, we noticed that the border patrol had stopped a couple of people. Wrangler Ron took off to see what was going on. He came back and announced that the guests out for a nature walk had been spotted and stopped by the border patrol and that they were waiting for the ranch owner to come out and vouch for them. After they had been fully identified and vouched for, they would be escorted back to the ranch house by the border patrol. The guests were two older, white, obviously anglo saxon women, the younger red headed naturalist and an also obviously anglo saxon retired Navy man, wearing his navy cap. hmm......
The rest of the ride was uneventful but pleasant. Our leg muscles were twitching a bit when we got off the horses. For about half an hour it was painfully apparent that we had been using muscles that we don't normally use in biking.
Phil and I doing a different sort of riding
Lunch was grilled flank steak,grilled veggies, tortillas, rice, and a delicious spinach and bean salad. Some of theother bikers went out for an afternoon ride, but Phil and I had each opted for an hour of deep tissue message, each, followed by a snooze out by the pool.
After another excellent dinner, we all exited to the "Cantina" the oldest building on the ranch for drinks and line dancing lessons from Ron and his wife. We were joined by the other guests, several couples from Germany and the other orthopedic surgeon/wrangler, along with all of three of the "wranglers", the chef and kitchen help and the ranch hosts. Among other dances we learned the cowboy two step and the sleazy slide with Ron and his wife demonstrating, helping and generally adding to the hilarity.
Marni "sleazy slidin"
Elaine and Simon having taken care of bike repairs, camera replacements, hospital first aid runs and piles of insurance paperwork were finally free to relax and enjoy themselves as well.
Simon and Elaine "cutting the rug"
Another walk under the incredible stars. I had forgotten how bright they could be with no ground lights or light spill from towns, roads, streetlamps or cars. Of course the dry air and higher elevation also help, along with a cloudless sky. And so to bed.
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