195 Scary ride!

While our recent guests returned to Apache Junction and Minnesota we spent a couple of afternoons working on our little caravan.  We understand that sometimes our friends shake their head at some of our little projects however most of the time we feel they turn out well.  Purchasing some 1/4 inch flat iron to modify our goodwill

office chair arm rests to fit the Valkyrie trike.  Ruthie and I cut the metal pieces and set them up in a jig as Sterling volunteered to preform the welding for us and also weld a receiver tube to the bottom of our little trailer that would serve as a hitch for our little carrier.  With everything we had brought with us on our trip and a few purchases to supplement our tiny home living we figured we would need all the room we could for our move to Arizona.   One of Wes's comments on our little pull behind trailer prompted us to do a paint upgrade.   A trip to home depot provided sand paper, body filler and red spray paint close enough match to our trike.

    Under "Bobbies" supervision Ruthie prepared the trailer and applied the paint.  We have been careful not to mention our exit date from the ranch in front of her however I think she knows.  She seems to be staying closer to us these days probably fearful that with our work on our trike and trailer we might be leaving in the dead of night.  I'm having trouble looking her in the eye lately and I find myself avoiding being alone with her to avoid prying questions.  With the exertion today I started to feel some more unwelcome discomfort in my left side it seems that somehow the surgery last summer had not reached the source of this nagging pain   I hope it doesn't lead to something serious. 
     A little bad news as we received a note from Michelle that we weren't going to be able to share her rental in Arizona.  Her friends were going to concentrate their efforts on selling the residence and wanted to have it empty.  With that in mind I put a horse training\work ad on Craigslist trying to find replacement lodging. 
     February 20th did not turn out well. It started as a fun get together with some of our Hemet friends for breakfast at Farmer boys restaurant. Afterwards it was a little overcast and I was ready to call it a day and go back to the ranch. Unfortunately Ruthie was ready for a ride. Trying to think of a route to ride and not knowing if the weather was going to clear I headed out Sage road past the ranch a few miles, a few miles down the road I cut east up a windy (okay is that a curvy road or is it breezy road? A message to my thesaurus friend Deanna schooled me that us "farm" folks had said a windy road when we should have said winding. Now you have it. ) okay fine, it was a winding road, actually a very winding road that I had explored a few days earlier while searching for a welder advertised at the bottom of the hill. Never did locate him, however asking directions from a huge man living off the grid with only a solar panel to charge his phone reminded me that one can survive with almost nothing if you have a mind to. Sometimes we don't realize how fortunate we are. We weaved back and forth up the hill admiring the view of the valley and Diamond lake in the distance. Reaching the peak we followed the ridge road in a Southwesterly direction. We were surprised at the number of residences tucked in among the huge boulders and rocky ground on this crazy mountain road.

Pretty happy with our "goodwill store"
custom arm rests. 


     Every once in a while there was a hint of sunshine and I thought I could make a enjoyable ride for my co-rider.  I remembered our friend Nick at the winery mentioning the view and winding road up to Palomar mountain.   With that in mind I put it into the digital map and headed out.   A short pleasant ride later we went around the edge of a lake and started up the East side, we were getting a little hungry and some fog was rolling in.  As we gained altitude the temperature started dropping and it started to mist.   The cold was getting uncomfortable, my hands were wet and I wished I had changed to heavier gloves.  At some point I should have realized that the journey was useless as we could not longer see far enough to enjoy any sights that may have been available to us on a clear day.  As we neared the summit it was no longer comfortable or enjoyable.  It was now to foggy to see the scenery and due to the fog and traffic we didn't feel safe pulling off the narrow mountain road to rest or change to more comfortable gear.  Near the peak we found a road that headed down the South side, the rain and fog coupled with traffic coming up the mountain made for a dangerous situation.  At times I found gravity was allowing us to pick up speed to fast and more than a few times the trike started to skid as we were forced to brake on a curve, some of

Master Painter?

the corners were inclined away from the rock wall to our right side and it caused the weight of the trike to shift to the outside and resulted in a loss of traction.  This was not going well at all.  Anxious to get down and warm I pushed the speed a little to much for conditions.  The hairpin curves seemed to come up fast, braking for the curves the inside tire started to slide.  Suddenly Ruthie shouted "rocks", I couldn't see them at first my face shield was wet and blurry.  The rain and rushing water had washed them down from the hillside to our right, I seen some dark spots on the roadway and swerved,  I missed most but hit one rather large one with the right tire, the right side of the trike lurched up in the air, almost immediately it settled back to earth on three wheels and I proceeded a little more cautiously down the mountain.  Ruthie said she was almost thrown off, was she being dramatic???   I don't think so.  We had been put in a bad situation, we had survived however neither of us wish to repeat it.  We found a place to rest, warm our chilled bodies and calm our nerves.  Note to self;  I need to be more aware when conditions change and not allow gravity and inertia to put us in dangerous situations.   At some point I should have listened to that nagging instinct when your subconscious tries to save you.  I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day.