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05-31-2016, 09:24 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: ..., New Mexico
Trailer: 2013 Esc19/'14 Silvrado
Posts: 4,193
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Trip to Ganado
In the northeastern corner of Arizona there is a town called Ganado, 45 miles west of Window Rock, in Navajo country. Ganado has the Hubbell Trading Post, a dusty, century-plus old historical site with a gift shop and old corrals. The Ganado rodeo grounds are east of where routes 191 and 264 (Code Talkers Road) go round a traffic circle. There, once a year, the Ralph Johnson Memorial Indian Rodeo is held. It is an all Navajo event.
I towed there Memorial Day weekend. Pulled in just after lunch Saturday towing ET-19. Events get started at 7 PM. I was early, hoping to see preparations, cowboy grit, and all the other stuff a genuine rural rodeo event produces. A stranger unsure of what to expect, I was primed to be extra charming.
Parked the rig near the arena fence. The events coordinator saw me and came over to investigate. When I called the Indians cowboys I gulped mentally and hoped this wasn’t being insensitive. He said I couldn’t leave the trailer there but it would be ok parked across the lot by the Porta-pottys. He also said if I wanted I could camp overnight, free.
My plan though, was to take the trailer another 35 miles up to Chinle for the night, leaving it at Cottonwood Campground. That’s next to Canyon De Chelly. From there I would drive to Lukaschukai, to scout another Indian rodeo venue scheduled the following month. In the four corners region numerous small rodeos are held throughout summer. At these rodeos you get to roam around, you tailgate the event, you’re not funneled into the stands. Folks around here love the horse stuff. They start ‘em early. Where I grew up you just played baseball in the park; here they practice calf roping and compete in rodeos.
Cottonwood Campground is also Navajo run, costs $14 per night, has paved, level sites, dump station, clean heated rest rooms, but no hookups. Quite nice, especially if you get a spot under the cottonwood trees. No cell phone service. Drove to Lukaschukai, to check for paved roads, etc., and then made it back to Ganado by 6 PM. It was early enough to park my truck right up at the arena fence near to the participants’ entrance gate. That was convenient but turned out to be a mistake. There’s no disciplined parking here. The yard then filled up with spectators’ cars and trucks and I was surrounded and blocked. I was going nowhere until ten thirty when the show was over. It was an interesting rodeo, saw some mean bucking broncos and bulls, the place was packed, lots of families, kids running around. Think I was the only Anglo there. Everyone seemed fine with that.
When I got back to my trailer at the Cottonwood campground it was nearly midnight. Backing in, something in the trucks’ dashboard rear view camera monitor seemed wrong. Where was the chrome hitch ball? My class IV hitch receiver, 2-inch ball, and locking pin were all gone. Easy pickings at the rodeo, no doubt. Damn!
After a fitful night’s sleep there was no choice; I wasn’t towing out of Cottonwood until I got a new hitch receiver. It was Sunday morning on a holiday weekend. What to do? A WalMart Super Center would be open regardless of the day, or the hour. Drove 90 miles Sunday morning back to Gallup, the nearest big city. 2-inch ball, 2-inch drop, receiver reversed. So glad I brought my Escape vital stats folder along so I could confirm that. It cost $34.81 for replacements. Lesson learned.
Total trip miles 781, towing miles 591.
__________________
Myron
"A billion here, a billion there...add it all up and before you know it you're talking real money." Everett Dirkson
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05-31-2016, 09:36 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Ponoka, Alberta
Trailer: 2016 19 classic "outta sight", jeep rubicon unlimited
Posts: 1,645
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Crazy! What world do we live in?
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05-31-2016, 11:58 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Longview, WA, Washington
Trailer: 2013 Escape 15B - 2014 Nissan Frontier SL
Posts: 854
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To clarify, you still lost the receiver with a locking pin? Did they cut it off? I thought my locking retaining pin would discourage almost anyone!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyronL
In the northeastern corner of Arizona there is a town called Ganado, 45 miles west of Window Rock, in Navajo country. Ganado has the Hubbell Trading Post, a dusty, century-plus old historical site with a gift shop and old corrals. The Ganado rodeo grounds are east of where routes 191 and 264 (Code Talkers Road) go round a traffic circle. There, once a year, the Ralph Johnson Memorial Indian Rodeo is held. It is an all Navajo event.
I towed there Memorial Day weekend. Pulled in just after lunch Saturday towing ET-19. Events get started at 7 PM. I was early, hoping to see preparations, cowboy grit, and all the other stuff a genuine rural rodeo event produces. A stranger unsure of what to expect, I was primed to be extra charming.
Parked the rig near the arena fence. The events coordinator saw me and came over to investigate. When I called the Indians cowboys I gulped mentally and hoped this wasn’t being insensitive. He said I couldn’t leave the trailer there but it would be ok parked across the lot by the Porta-pottys. He also said if I wanted I could camp overnight, free.
My plan though, was to take the trailer another 35 miles up to Chinle for the night, leaving it at Cottonwood Campground. That’s next to Canyon De Chelly. From there I would drive to Lukaschukai, to scout another Indian rodeo venue scheduled the following month. In the four corners region numerous small rodeos are held throughout summer. At these rodeos you get to roam around, you tailgate the event, you’re not funneled into the stands. Folks around here love the horse stuff. They start ‘em early. Where I grew up you just played baseball in the park; here they practice calf roping and compete in rodeos.
Cottonwood Campground is also Navajo run, costs $14 per night, has paved, level sites, dump station, clean heated rest rooms, but no hookups. Quite nice, especially if you get a spot under the cottonwood trees. No cell phone service. Drove to Lukaschukai, to check for paved roads, etc., and then made it back to Ganado by 6 PM. It was early enough to park my truck right up at the arena fence near to the participants’ entrance gate. That was convenient but turned out to be a mistake. There’s no disciplined parking here. The yard then filled up with spectators’ cars and trucks and I was surrounded and blocked. I was going nowhere until ten thirty when the show was over. It was an interesting rodeo, saw some mean bucking broncos and bulls, the place was packed, lots of families, kids running around. Think I was the only Anglo there. Everyone seemed fine with that.
When I got back to my trailer at the Cottonwood campground it was nearly midnight. Backing in, something in the trucks’ dashboard rear view camera monitor seemed wrong. Where was the chrome hitch ball? My class IV hitch receiver, 2-inch ball, and locking pin were all gone. Easy pickings at the rodeo, no doubt. Damn!
After a fitful night’s sleep there was no choice; I wasn’t towing out of Cottonwood until I got a new hitch receiver. It was Sunday morning on a holiday weekend. What to do? A WalMart Super Center would be open regardless of the day, or the hour. Drove 90 miles Sunday morning back to Gallup, the nearest big city. 2-inch ball, 2-inch drop, receiver reversed. So glad I brought my Escape vital stats folder along so I could confirm that. It cost $34.81 for replacements. Lesson learned.
Total trip miles 781, towing miles 591.
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__________________
Tim and Julie
2013 Escape 15B
2014 Nissan Frontier, Previous 2012 Santa Fe
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05-31-2016, 12:15 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Central, Pennsylvania
Trailer: Escape#5 2022 E19
Posts: 26,268
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Yes, my thoughts, not too much room to get a hacksaw in, maybe Myron meant locking pin/non keyed??
__________________
Jim
Sometime life gets in the way of living.......
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05-31-2016, 12:16 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: ..., New Mexico
Trailer: 2013 Esc19/'14 Silvrado
Posts: 4,193
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No, I mis-spoke. The hitch pin wasn't the locking type. My bad, I guess. Never thought about it until now but think any lock would deter only the random thief in search of an easy target. From now on I'll never leave that stinger on unless under tow.
__________________
Myron
"A billion here, a billion there...add it all up and before you know it you're talking real money." Everett Dirkson
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05-31-2016, 01:36 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: North Van., British Columbia
Trailer: 2014 Escape 19, sold; 2019 Escape 21, Sept. 2019
Posts: 8,744
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Geez Myron, I thought that I'd seen a lot of the that part of the country but you keep finding great places that I've never seen.
Sometimes I've muttered a bit about looking for the key for my locking receiver pin, the key for the coupler lock and the key for the padlock that goes on the coupler latch but I do keep them locked. A couple of times, in sort of sketchy places I've even locked my WDH bars to my safety chains.
I think the locking receiver pin is fairly robust. Cutting it would be difficult because of the location. Maybe a determined thief with a crowbar might be able to lever on it and force it open but it wouldn't be easy.
So, sorry for the loss but it is a nasty world sometimes.
Keep those travel stories coming.
Ron
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05-31-2016, 02:24 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Trailer: 2015 Escape 19 "Seventy Degrees"
Posts: 3,495
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Not fun to get burgled anywhere.
We have our cabin in Show Low, AZ and attend the rural rodeos in that region quite a bit over the summer. Love em.
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05-31-2016, 02:28 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: ..., New Mexico
Trailer: 2013 Esc19/'14 Silvrado
Posts: 4,193
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Yep, It's a big country, Ron, Greg.
__________________
Myron
"A billion here, a billion there...add it all up and before you know it you're talking real money." Everett Dirkson
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05-31-2016, 02:39 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Trailer: 2015 Escape 19 "Seventy Degrees"
Posts: 3,495
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Gorgeous. I've always thought many of the ranges from there over to Gallup resemble some of the Red Rock vistas of Sedona.
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05-31-2016, 02:47 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Trailer: 1979 Boler B1700
Posts: 14,935
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Obviously it was the ball mount (a.k.a. "stinger") which was gone, not the receiver. For a moment I had a mental image of some guy under the vehicle with wrenches... seemed pretty extreme!
It's a good think that was hundreds of dollars worth of weight-distributing hitch hardware... or a fancy stainless or aluminum adjustable-height ball mount.
Great story, Myron.
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05-31-2016, 03:12 PM
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#11
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Site Team
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Canyon Lake, Texas
Trailer: 2015 19 "Past Tents", 2021 F150 Lariat 2.7L EB
Posts: 10,222
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We have found two types of people among the Navajo. Some are just wonderful. The kind of folks who would give you the shirt off their back if you asked them. Then, there are the ones who would steal your shirt, your truck, your trailer, your gear, or anything else that isn't locked down and guarded. Theft is rampant in the reservation areas.
I suppose it's not unlike any other culture, but since you're in the great wide open, perhaps it's less expected.
Good plan on locking up the stinger unless towing Myron. Lesson learned indeed.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
__________________
"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy an RV. And that is pretty close."
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