We just did a small bit of Jeeping this morning. There's a nice area in Tonto Basin that we've been to on several occasions. It used to be an orchard owned by Charles Bouquet, one of the early settlers in Tonto Basin. Unfortunately, speculators bought the land and thought they would open it for development...HA...wrong decision, first, to get to the property, you have to ford a creek which at times is flowing too heavily to get vehicles across, second, the land sits way back in an unimproved area of Tonto Basin on a really rutted dirt road, so there didn't turn out to be much interest in buying lots and building homes. We're glad it didn't get developed, it's a natural, unspoiled desert spot and we'd hate to see it lose the natural beauty by clearing it off and building a load of new homes. We were surprised to see one new home there, it looks like someone's very expensive weekend getaway, sitting high on a hill overlooking the Tonto Basin below, nice place, sure can't blame anyone for wanting to live in such a beautiful isolated spot, but we hope there won't be any more building out there.
Fortunately, we're protected from development where we live. We're surrounded by the Tonto National Forest, so it's not likely that development will ever become an issue in our area. (Thankfully)
Giving the Jeep a workout on Bouquet Ranch Road
It would be a shame to see this bulldozed and replaced by new homes
This new home sits high on a hill, very isolated
but very nice. Probably someone's weekend getaway.
We came across this large grave, we're speculating it was
someone's horse, or cow...hmm... judging by the cross, maybe a holy cow?
This is our rancher neighbor chatting at our back fence,
he's truly the salt of the earth,
a REAL cowboy, one of the last of his kind.
We're so lucky to have him for our neighbor.
