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Stampede Tour - On the Road Click HERE to search through a list of past subjects. Click HERE to find a specific month and year.
We quite often have people comment on Jake being with us at events. They wonder what he does to pass his time.
We had a great Christmas in Prescott, AZ with our friends Dick and Donna Cross. We came back to Benson on the 26th with snow coming down the last hour of the trip. When we got up the next morning the temperature was 18 degrees and our water lines were frozen. Our idea was to spend the winter in Benson where it’s warm. Where did our plans go haywire?
Where we’re staying in Benson, Arizona is considered the high desert. And anyone who has spent time in areas like this knows the skies are beautiful. The first picture is the typical sky. The second is in preparation for a storm. And the last is a normal sunset. Incidentally, these are the views we see from our RV spot.
The RV park where we’re staying has a group of people who go on hikes each Monday. We’ve joined them on a couple of their excursions. The hikes aren’t long ones…around five miles in total, but they aren’t casual “smell the roses” either. We hike in, have a snack and then hike back out. It is fun. Nice companionship and great exercise.
Jake goes along. Of course he’s the star of the group.
Saturday evening we went to a Christmas play put on by some friends here at Cochise Terrace. It was called If Dickens Came West. It was about a frontier sheriff who made it illegal to celebrate Christmas. He would arrest and put in jail anyone who promoted Christmas.
And wouldn’t you know it; Sunny had to come to the play dressed for the holiday. And wouldn’t you know it; the sheriff’s deputies spotted her in the audience and placed her under arrest. The first picture is Sunny being read her rights. The second is Sunny and some other town’s people in jail. Although Dakota was able to get Sunny out on bail, she still has to go to trial. Incidentally, we are soliciting contributions for her defense fund. On Sunday we took a trip down to Sierra Vista, AZ and Ft. Huachuca’s Annual Holiday Tour of Historic Homes. About a dozen of the historic officer’s homes were decorated for Christmas and open to civilians. These are two story homes built back in 1882. The homes house colonels and generals. They range in size from three to five thousand square feet. Each housed one family…one housed just one person. For houses built some 125 years ago they were beautifully maintained. The Christmas decorations were pretty too. Incidentally, this is one of the bases that housed the buffalo soldiers following the Civil War. Cameras weren’t allowed on the base, so we have no pictures.
While at the Western Music Association’s Convention in Albuquerque, NM we had the chance to have conversations with a number of the entertainers that are regularly heard on our weekly radio show. The pictures are of those conversations in progress.
We’re now back in Benson, AZ where we’ll be spending the holidays. This year’s Western History Symposium was a lot of fun. As it has been the last few years, it was held at Tombstone. We got a chance to see a lot of old friends and meet a few new ones. Unfortunately the host, Michael Hickey, wasn’t able to be there because of a business emergency. It has become traditional that Dakota says a few words about our travels at the Grand Banquet. As usual, he got a few laughs and a few groans.
It’s also traditional that the women receive a rose. Because she was the rose of the evening, Sunny got two. She put them on Monte’s end table. They make our place even more pleasant.
We’re presently in Tombstone, AZ attending the Western History Symposium. It has been a lot of fun getting to see old friends and meeting new ones. Incidentally, this was our first event to attend two years ago when we started on our Stampede Tour. This first picture is of Dakota, Bob Alexander and Steve Gotto at the opening night social.
Terry “Ike” Clanton has an “on line” show called The Haunted Saloon. Dakota was one of the featured guests on this week’s show. The set was the location of the original O.K. Corral shootout.
During the event they dedicated an eight foot tall bronze of Wyatt Earp. Dakota and Jake stopped by after the crowd left to take a closer look…Incidentally, Dakota thinks Wyatt looks like a young Ben Traywidk.
We recently returned from Phoenix. We went there to attend a Spirit of the West award for friend Marshall Trimble. Among other things Marshall serves with Dakota on the Wild West History Association board. He’s also the official historian of Arizona.
The first picture is of Dakota and Sunny with Mary Brown. Mary is the ramrod of Festival of the West. The second picture is of Lee Ann Sharp talking to Marshall.
Last night we celebrated Halloween by attending a pizza party here at the Cochise Terrace RV Park in Benson, AZ. Some of the people dressed up, like our friend Leroy Rice. The first two pictures are of Leroy and his wife Carol. One is with him in mask, and the other is without one…We’re not sure which is which.
We also had a special guest stop by the party. Of course Dakota had to get in a picture with her.
Last weekend we went to Tombstone and helped them celebrate Heldorado Days. It was our first visit to the event. Got to spend some time with our friend Ben Traywick and his wife Mary. Also got to visit with and do conversations with a couple of other friends…author Chris Enss and Old West historian Lee Anderson. Incidentally, Lee’s horse’s name is Dusty.
Don’t know if we’ll be going back next year. There were as many bikers there as cowboys. It’s interesting how problems with the economy create ripples everywhere. We’re staying at an RV park that hosts snow birds during the winter months. By now the park would normally be packed. As you can see by the picture, it’s almost deserted.
As we walk around the park everyone speaks to everyone…Not because we’re friendly. It’s because we’re lonely. We went to Willcox, AZ for their annual Rex Allen Days. The National Day of the Cowboy headquarters is located in Willcox, and we met with the director Bethany Braley and U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords to talk to them about the Day of the Cowboy flag that was taken to our space station. Incidentally, that flag will be auctioned off in the near future.
Really, Dakota didn't do anything to deserve being shot. Also at the event were our friends Denney and Pat Willis with Arbuckles Coffee.
We’ve just receive some disturbing information.... It seems that one of our United Kingdom subscribers, Bob Bradley and
It seems that we’ve been getting so busy lately that we’re having a difficult time making it to some of our appointments and events. Let me say up front, we’re not abandoning Hoss, but we’ve had to get another form of transportation to augment Hoss. Because of financial difficulties that Lear is experiencing we’ve been able to get a good deal on a Learjet. The picture is of the official Chronicle of the Old West jet. Incidentally, we’re presently looking for a fulltime pilot and flight attendant.
This past weekend we were a part of the Wild Western Festival in Phoenix. And boy was it hot. During the event Dakota had conversations with early TV stars. The first picture shows him talking to stuntman Whitey Hughes and western TV star John Locke.
The second is Dakota clowning with Gabby Hayes look-alike Rob Doudell and his wife Jo. Rob not only looks exactly like Gabby, he also talks like him.
Over the last weekend we attended the Big Bear Cowboy Gathering in Big Bear Lake, CA. Dakota interviewed the entertainers following their performance, in front of their audience. The weekend’s headliner was Red Steagall. Although Red arrived just before his evening performance and left early the next morning, Dakota was able to set up a conversation with him before his performance. It will be aired on a future weekly show.
We’re presently in Southern California visiting our children and grandchildren, as well as getting ready to go to the Big Bear Cowboy Poetry Festival. We got to see our five year old granddaughter in her first soccer game. She scored five goals…Got here athletic ability from her grandfather.
But, she’s still all girl. The second picture of Quinn shows her after the game. She’s checking to make sure her manicure hasn’t been ruined.
We recently spent a couple of days in Williams, Arizona visiting Wild West Junction to see their new John Wayne memorabilia display.
That’s Bill Brooks with Dakota. Bill was responsible for bringing the display to Wild West Junction.
Learned something interesting. John Wayne, who was 6’ 4” tall wore a size nine shoe. Because John would look funny in a movie with such small feet, they put size twelve boots on him, and stuffed them with tissue paper.
We’ve run into some problems with Monte. In our last skirmish with Indians (see picture below), one of the front jack legs broke. This was while we were in Show Low. Dakota tried to repair it, but, what at first seemed to be success, failed.
Although our plans were to head to Anaheim, California, we had to limp over to Prescott, Arizona where there is a great RV repair person…Larry Williams. Even though it was Saturday, Larry came over. Unfortunately, he has to order parts. Fortunately, we’re not under a tight schedule. We can think of a lot worse places to be stuck than Prescott. We’re spending some time at our home base, Show Low, AZ…For anyone who doesn’t know where Show Low is located; it’s about three hours north of Phoenix at 6,500 feet. We’re staying at our favorite RV park, Fool Hollow Lake. To show you what we’re experiencing, I’ve recycled a couple of pictures from an earlier stay.
Yesterday we drove from El Paso, TX to Show Low, AZ. It was about a 400 mile trip. Because Dakota didn’t feel that he could drive the whole trip, and since Sunny chooses not to drive while pulling Monte, Jake volunteered. And he did a great job too. We were a little concerned, because Jake’s driver’s license has been revoked…Too many speeding tickets.
While there we looked for arrowheads. Although Dakota looked diligently, he found none. The second picture is of Scott and Allie, along with Dakota and Sunny. Click HERE to search through a list of past subjects. Or you can click on a particular month:
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While in Ft. Stockton, Brad Newton, our guide during our stay there, took us to the Upsidedown T Ranch. It comprises of 53 sections and is owned by Scott and Allie Ferman. 
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