I’m now in Taos New Mexico with a couple of free days to explore and make my way up to Denver Colorado.
My visit with Bud and Eunice Williams in Bowie Texas was one of those landmarks in my life I guess. I went with them to the Waurika cattle sales in Oklahoma (tick another state off) where they bought about 60 head of cattle that were sent onto Kansas for either calving out or feeding. Bud is 78 this year and as he says, “we got no bisiness doing this, but it gets us outta’ the house.” Got to love them. I visited with them to learn more about keeping our goats in a mob to help with moving paddocks, and when I left, Bud said to remember one thing, “it is possible.” I know he was talking about a whole lot more than working livestock and it was just what I needed to hear at the moment.

From Bowie I drove over to New Mexico and visited the Corona Range and Livestock Research Centre with Andres Ciblis and Dean Anderson. Dean has been working on Directional Virtual Fencing and multi species bonding. He has spent a bit of time in Australia working on virtual fencing and I think would come back at the drop of a hat. Rather than relying on shocks for a virtual fence, Dean has gone towards voice cues that after some training enable calling the livestock home when needed, I could use that at home! Andres is an associate professor in animal and range sciences with New Mexico State University and a native of Argentina. He has been working on targeted grazing of small ruminants to control juniper encroachment in rangelands and has some really interesting results, the main thing that stood out to me though was the compounding production increase achieved through high intensity small ruminant grazing combined with rest and large ruminant grazing as compared to herbicide application to eradicate juniper. They were terrific hosts and I’m grateful for their  willingness to share their time and knowledge with me.
     
My next stop was due to be Colorado but that meeting has fallen through so I have a few days to explore the area before I fly out to LA on Monday.
I drove up to Santa Fe and stayed at the Silver Saddle Motel, it was a great little place and a welcome break from the soul less motel chains I’ve been staying in. Santa Fe is really beautiful, all adobe Mexican style buildings set down in an arid valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains. I drove up to the ski area this morning and walked for miles through the snow which helped to clear my head a bit.
       
I drove up to Taos this arvo via the backroads which my GPS didn’t even recognize, but it was a great trip through snowy pine forests and cold little villages of crumbling mud brick buildings. It’s snowing now here in Taos and I’m hoping the road will be OK for me to get out tomorrow. I’m enjoying this going where the wind blows after weeks of scheduled meetings and booked accommodation.