November 18 -- A Drive Up Foothills Road On The East Side Of The Chiricahuas

I've mentioned in an earlier blog post -- probably more than one -- that Foothills Road is the fastest way to reach Interstate 10 to the north. But it's mostly unpaved, and crosses low-lying washes, so you really have to be aware of the weather, otherwise... well, you get the idea. But it's what you'd imagine drive through a "Western" landscape would be -- miles of high desert, flat except for mountain ranges on both sides of the valley (the San Simon), and sparsely populated. And you can see for miles; you can spot a car (usually a truck out here) 20 miles away from the dust it leaves in its wake. Luckily for me and my truck, the recent storm had dampened down the dirt, and I always take the precaution of closing up the vents on the dashboard and turning the circulation to inside air, as I've gone on dirt roads before and seemingly end up with more dirt on the inside than the outside. Like this --

From this -- 

No worries on that score today... Foothills Road, during the week, can be High, Wide, and Lonesome -- 

I passed only 2 other vehicles during the drive today -- and one was Bea, the mail carrier, making the daily mail run ,in a truck, from the San Simon post office to the one in Portal, a 29-mile drive one way. Some people would look at this and say there's nothing here, to which I'd reply au contraire, there's a whole lot of something here -- 

Often the "something" is in the small details -- 

And then there are those intriguing sights that make you wonder "how?" and "why?" -- 

This observatory is at the top of a hill along Foothills. The San Simon Valley is renowned among astronomers for the clarity of the sky; it's the reason why Sky Village, where you can buy a house with observatory, is here. The story goes that there was some rich guy who had some money to spend, and had a yen for stargazing, so he bulldozed a road winding up to the top of the hill -- and built this. However, his money either ran out, of he had some sort of financial setback, as it was never finished/used. But it's still there, on top of its hill..At about 9 miles from the Portal Road, there's a road forking left off Foothills that goes to the"community" of Paradise, 5 miles away, that has a year-round population of -- 2. (And you thought Portal was small.) There's also another dirt road that goes through Whitetail Canyon, known mainly to the outside world as the home of Rick Taylor,  bird guide, writer of many books on SE Arizona birds, and an expert on Trogons. While heading in the direction of Paradise, I come across a team -- the name for a group; I just Googled it -- Hhof horses that I believe I'd seen before, when I did a bike ride with Diamondback here about a month ago. I'm pretty sure I recognize this fellow, whom some, when I first put his photo up on the Internet, called Spirit Horse -- 

He's a beauty... But I get the impression that these horses have seen better days; they may just living out the rest of their lives here in the high desert. I don't believe they're wild horses, as there's a ranch nearby. But no matter what their status, they're still a joy to see -- 

I wanted to get out  for a closer look, but there were 2 dogs that, once I'd stopped, were lazily hanging around the truck but looked like they meant business. So I shot these from inside, waved goodby to the dogs, and kept on down the road. I passed a steer with long horns -- but not long enough to make it a longhorn -- 

Still, I wouldn't want to tangle with him, and kept my distance (and stayed in the truck). The route to Paradise was getting an increasingly autumnal look to it -- 

Most of the snow from Monday's storm has disappeared, but there's still the odd white spot here and there. Here's looking back down the road, to the northeast --

Back on Foothills Road -- I left exploring Paradise for another time, as I had a small grocery run to do in Lordsburg, New Mexico -- the Chiricahuas were still dusted with snow -- 

The drive was being done in a loop -- up Foothills, then east on Interstate 10 to Lordsburg for gas ($1.99 for 86 octane at Love's)  and groceries, then on the 338 south to Animas, where I wanted to check out one of only 4 places to eat within 25 miles of Portal, PW's -- 

As you can tell by the trucks, it caters to the ranching community... On the menu are hamburgers, chicken wings, daily specials -- I had the fish and chips -- and pizzas that my friend Helen gave a thumbs-up to. The whole loop drive was around 100 miles, and is a good look at the rural life here. Then I top off the gas at the mercantile exchange, the closest gas to Portal, and head for Rodeo, where I check out the sign advertising canopies for cars and RVs starting at $795, including installation. I later find out that the one who does the canopies -- is Rob, of Rob and Deb who run the Rodeo Tavern! In other words, just about 10 miles from Faranuf. I'll be bringing Discovery II, my Lance 1685 travel trailer, from Overton, Nevada down to Faranuf in February and park "her" on my property, but I wanted a canopy to protect her from the Arizona sun, wind, rain, etc. I thought I would have to go to Sierra Vista to find some sort of permanent cover, so it is once again serendipitous that I'm able to find someone who can do the work here -- and that I know. So with another full and satisfying day behind me, how else could it end except with a fantastic sunset?