Clark in one of his signature poses at the kitchen table in the morning.

We spent a few days at the ranch about a week ago. We went up there as we finalized preparations to acquire a cargo van to convert into a mini-motorhome with the help of a conversion shop in Denver. Actually bought the thing over the ranch phone from a dealer in Boulder. The next morning I experienced some pretty strong 'buyer's remorse', as I reconsidered the wisdom of even pursuing the project. Much stress and discussion with Pat followed. We found that both of us were doing the van thing partly out of desperation to do...SOMETHING, anything to move us forward from our seemingly chronically stuck situation since we left California. Not a good reason to raid the savings.

A call to the dealer pulled the plug on the transaction Saturday, although later in the week after we returned home to Fort Collins, I did drive to Boulder to test drive the damn thing and look it over again as we reconsidered the entire effort one more time. We were uneasy that we were wrong to abandon our vision of a fun project resulting in comfortable conveyance through Mexico as we explored for a retirement place.

Hey, you do remember what this blog is supposed to be about? Mexico? Life after work?


Finally, we did put the van conversion project on indefinite hold. We're now planning to drive through several Mexican states during the last three weeks of the year in the trusty (we hope) old Xterra, leaving the Mdog at the ranch in the care of Mona and Clark. I don't know if tht will be harder on me or her, but hopefuly we'll both mangage somehow. Pat and I MUST experience a trip down there together, to see how we feel about further efforts to make the move eventually. Until now, all our Mexican travel has been solo as someone stays behind working and minding the house and Her Royal Dogness.

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After we settled down a bit from the van debacle, we enjoyed a day of working around the ranch, helping with loading of a big flatbed with about 250 square bales of hay for some Mexican horse people from Denver, and doing a firewood run from where Clark splits and cuts it to the traditional cold-season woodpile along the fence East of the house. The warmth from the woodstove this winter will be all the more enjoyable knowing we helped fuel it.


Pat and Mona unload firewood from the bucket on one of the tractors.


Kind of sums up the last day at the ranch. One of these days we are going to spend a few days at the ranch with no drama, and no crazy plans to think about...

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