My Trek mountain bike is a hardy survivor; I bought it way back in 1994, in the days before "shock absorbers" on the front forks. The photo was taken on the dirt track to the north entrance of the Overton Wildlife Management Area; the reddish hills in the distance make up part of the Valley of Fire. Before this, I was bouncing along the dirt surface of Lewis Road, across from the RV park where I'm staying, Robbins Nest, and saw a guy on an ATV tootling along behind me. Just before the turnoff to this road in the photo I stop and we have a chat. His name is Peterson (guess that's his last name; he must be in is late 70s-early 80s and the laconic, quiet type), he too is spending the winter at Robbins Nest, and he has a 400-acre ranch up in Wyoming, though he's retired and just goes up to help his son now and then who runs it. His dog named "Digger" -- "he's always digging" -- is with them, jumping up and down, a ball of energy, and "Peterson" is out to exercise Digger. He says "I was clocking your speed as you biked down Lewis Road -- 11 miles an hour!" A nice guy, another in a series of nice people I've met during my stay here in Overton...I head down the road to the Overton Wildlife Management Area and take the long access road down to Pintail Pond in the southern section. When I arrive at a parking area, I check turn on my Pantech WiFi device to check my iPad Mini for any e-mail -- and find that Helen Snyder, my friend and real-estate agent down in SE Arizona's tiny village (population about 62) of Portal, informed me that the price I could place on a manufactured house I've been watching on her Portal real estate website could probably be laughably low as the owners want to sell ASAP; the house has been on the market for at least 1 & 1/2 years now. (Many houses in that area of Arizona are "second homes" used primarily for vacations, and the Portal area is so far off the beaten track that the only people who are actively looking to buy a home are either retired or self-employed.) I dash back to Discovery and give Helen a call, saying I'll drive down there on Thursday (600-plus miles and 9-plus hours from Overton, according to the Web) to visually inspect the house. For those interested, here's the link to the description and photos of the house (click on the highlighted words). It looks and sounds clean (I'm a "neatness" guy, who cleans his truck and trailer weekly -- hey, I LIVE in them!) with terrific views, a garage -- somewhat rare out in that area -- and bird feeders and water, so it all sounds VERY intriguing. Though the Portal area IS out "in the boonies"; the closet Wal-Mart is 55 miles away, in Douglas to the south, and gas is either in Animas, across the state line in New Mexico, on up on Interstate 10 at San Simon -- both at least 20 miles away. So why would I want to live there? Simple answer -- BIRDS. And wildlife. Portal is the, well, "portal" to the Chiricahua Mountains, probably THE premier bird area in the United States if not all of North America. The Chiricahuas are part of a mountain "bridge" that extends down across the border in Mexico, so many "Mexican" birds come across here that you will see nowhere else in the States. If I DO buy a house down there, it will certainly be an adventure -- but if I'm to do it, the time is now, while I still have my health -- and the initiative to make the move...The UPS guy comes by Discovery at the RV park, dropping off a music stand and footstool I'd ordered from Amazon; I'm re-taking up the classical guitar, which I've been playing off-and-on (mostly off) since I was 10 when I was taking lessons. I talk to some folks here at the RV park about the Veteran's Day parade that I missed, and I wish would have been there to take photos -- Native Americans in traditional dress, some old classic cars -- and a guy on a lawn mower! Perhaps NEXT year's parade..For the rest of the day I start preparing for my trip to Portal, the around sunset check the hummingbird feeder that I put up on a tree branch a few days ago -- and see 2 hummingbirds! I believe they're Anna's, but I'll have to check my National Geographic Guide to North American Birds to see which hummers are in this area. So November 11, Veteran's Day, has been a day of rest and accomplishment. As for today the 12th, I think I'll do another local ride with my mountain bike...
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