Saturday, my birthday, we somehow didn’t have any rides going out at all. The break was welcome to everybody on staff however, and gave us an opportunity to catch up on some things and take it easy all day. We did some trailer repair fixing a broken leaf spring, which consisted of us blasting country music out of the ranch truck while the rest of us watched one person work. I cracked my first beer sometime around 11am. We played a game of Skip-Bo and I shellacked ‘em. After the work was done, Alisha (correction: ah-LISH-ah), Mike, and myself headed to A Painted View for some big cutting competion.

The job of a cutting horse is to cut cows from a herd and keep them away. Cows have a strong herd instinct, so when you separate one form the herd they work hard to get back to it. The rider gets 2:30 to work, rides into the herd, cuts one out, and then keeps out as long as possible. The harder the cow works the horse the more opportunity the horse has to perform and thus higher scores are possible. It was impressive watching these big dollar horses work. Very strong, quick, and agile. After a bit we headed back to the ranch to clean up.

After some showers we headed to town. Mike bought me dinner at this restaurant owned by a Uruguayan family called Cel Dor Asado. It was the size of a standard old town downtown bar, but behind the bar was the grill, and it was a wood grill. Two side by side grills fed by a stack of buring wood above it. The wood would turn into coal, then be spread under the grills, and the food was amazing. I ordered a 12oz ribeye and whatever they seasoned it was uniquely delicious and the meat was incredibly tender. Gotta love Colorado beef prepared and cooked awesomely.

Then to next door, Poag Mahone’s, the Irish (nice) bar in town. They let us play poker for money in the back, and after I punted my $1 SNG stack I hopped on the karaoke list. The party fizzled shortly after 10pm. Ranch time is way different than Vegas time. Makes sense though when round-up is at 6am the next day. That didn’t keep Mike and I from continuing though, and with Alicia driving we were free to booze it up. A little while longer we went up to The Dome, the not nice cowboy bar up the road that you’ll never catch a tourist in. I like it there. I finally talked them into leaving shortly after midnight, and we hit the sack hard.

Ugh that morning sucked. Mike hollered at me that it was round-up time, and I refused to exit my tent. I needed another 45 minutes. I came out just as they started saddling horses, helped them finish, and then Dave and I hit the road early to pack out the group that we packed into the Horn Basin last Sunday. Six horses; 3 riders and 3 packers. Therefore on the way up Dave and I ponied two each, shortly before the top we found the group headed down, said hello, and then rode to their camp where the fourth guy with knee problems was waiting. We packed the packers, gave Tom a riding lesson, and then headed back down the hill. We had a couple of almost hairy situations. Dave’s string tried to take different paths around a tree, but Little Bit, a young but very intelligent and talented horse stopped just in time and waited. Good girl for her first week doing pack trips. Banjo who I was ponying was a pain in the ass, kept stopping to eat sometimes and trying to pass me on others. I told him that I was going to pull his rope so short that his nose gets pooped on (by my horse), he tried to eat again, which rips the rope out of my hand and is a general bad horse habit, and he got put on the short rope, and his nose got pooped on. Then when we stopped by some hikers, he squeezed himself next to my horse between two trees, and being a loaded packer he was a double wide. It was almost quite a wreck. Could have been yard sale, but after some ass kicking he finally backed up out of the gnarly situation. We made it down the hill, received a $50 tip each for our two days of work, and went back to the ranch.

When we got there, the girl scouts from Iowa had arrived. 9 of them and one leader here to do a modified version of Cowboy Camp. Cowgirl Camp I guess. I was going to be involved with this trip rather than the 5 day ultimate trip going out in the morning. It’s Alicia’s last week on the ranch and she hasn’t been on one of the long trips yet, so I gave up my spot for her figuring that I’ll catch one later in August.

Monday morning we did round-up, saddled 13 horses for the 5 day, and I went with them to the trailhead to help with logistics and drive a vehicle back. I returned and headed to the arena to work with the girls on team swording. That’s where you have two riders and a herd of cows and/or calves. The object is to cut the cows from the herd in a specific order, get them to the other half of the pen without the others coming, and do this for all the cows as fast as possible. One rider goes in to cut then drive to the other side while the other rider keeps the herd from coming with or escaping across. Then they switch. It was a blast. Cooked em dinner, had a short campfire, and then I hit the sack around 9:30 and read The Fountainhead for about an hour. I’ve been reading that thing for a couple of months, love it, and am barely half way through.

Tuesday morning Barb and I did round-up and I kicked all kinds of ass. Before we put them to pasture the night before I put the bell of shame on Ashley, the horse that likes to play hide and go seek. OMG that thing is awesome. It’s a halter with a cowbell instead of a lead rope. Apparently this pattern has been going on for years, she hides a bunch, they get sick of it and strap on the cowbell, and eventually she gets sick of that so comes in for round-up nice and easy like most of the rest of them. It seems to have worked today as I found the entire herd in South, and although Ashley was the last one to come in, she didn’t dart off into the trees once we hit West like she usually does. She thought about it, but I was on her ass and she had a bell cowbellin’ loudly with every step she took dangling under her chin. As I headed into South, Barb cut through the trees to check that side, and by the time she came out of the trees I had every single horse in the back corral and was tying up my pony. It was fun to teasingly ask if she enjoyed her trail ride.

We then headed to Cowgirl Camp for breakfast, drove them back to the ranch, and they saddled up preparing for a day ride up to Grouse Peak, several miles and a few thousand feet above the ranch. It was a very cool ride.

Barb is awesome, a very sweet woman, and we led the ride together to the summit. Where we stopped the horses and had lunch wasn’t quite the summit, so we led a hike the rest of the way with the girls that wanted to, and the views were incredibly panoramic.

Before we called it a day we taught the girls how to barrel race in the arena. Little Bit is turning into a helluva horse quickly and put in the best time hands down, and it was amazing watching her learn quickly in the several runs she did. I had a great time today and since I won’t be playing Legends, who knows how long I’ll be here.

Peace and good luck,

Devo

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I’m sitting here on a Friday afternoon at the ranch trying to come up with what I did on Tuesday and can’t for the life of me.  It feels like aeons ago.  Every day here is so exciting, and the excitement comes not from artifical things that we generally consider entertainment, but it comes from the everyday mundane that is life on a ranch.  That’s just it, this is living life to the ranchers out here.

Tuesday afternoon Mike and I headed into town for dinner.  I wanted to buy as an apology for the day before and to get to know the guy a bit.  He’s quite an amazing dude, having lived much life in his 49 years.  He’s been a cowboy all his life, rode bulls in rodeos all over the western US from 15 to 23, and I feel like I’ve just started to scratch the surface on the stories he holds.  We ate at this place in town called Sangria or Sangrita or something like that and it was delicious.  Walked across the street to the nice bar in town, had a couple of beers, and then stopped by the Mining Company on the way out.  It was music night there.  The place is gas station, restaurant, bar, and that night it felt like the AARP open mic music night.  Mike was the 2nd youngest person in the place.  Hung out there for a bit, headed back to the ranch, sat around a campfire, and then hit the hay early.

My body’s adjusted quickly to this sleep schedule, but not so much to the lifestyle.  I’m out of shape.  And since I’m learning a lot of things quickly, I’m not very good at what I’m doing and making mistakes, and mistakes on the ranch usually involve injuries.  Wednesday morning we headed out to do round-up and missed some horses.  We had to go back out and Mariah wasn’t too happy about this.  I think she woke up on the wrong side of the pasture that morning.  Mike found them and hollered at me on radio to head back.  I was in the trees and turned around, breaking into a gallop.  She started running really fast and I was cool with this since it was fun and we were on a trail.  Then she decided to leave the trail and run under some Ponderosas.  The branches were tall enough to let a horse under just fine, but not so much with a rider on top.  I took a thick one off the top of my head that damn near knocked me out of my saddle.  The world was spinning as I fought to keep my balance and slow a fast moving horse down in trees.  I dismounted, recovered my hat with a sweet bash where I blocked the tree with the top of my head, and made it back to the ranch with a splitting headache.

We did two hour long rides in the morning.  They came from a new Christian conference center across the valley called Hermit Basin.  They showed up insanely late, both groups, and neither tipped.  I don’t get it.  They were like that in my experience on the river too.  So frustrating.  After lunch Dave and I headed over to Cowboy Camp to get it ready for our surf and turf group that was coming out of the high country and into camp that afternoon.  Mike went to pick em up at Gibson trailhead while Dave and I got the kitchen in the yurt ready, tightened ropes on the canvas tents, and put bottom sheets and pillows on the foam mattresses.

They returned with their two trucks and trailers loaded with 13 horses, we put everything away and the horses to pasture, and it took no time because the group was intensely helpful.  They were two groups of three, one couple with their college aged son, and one couple in thier twenties with her mother.  We headed to Cowboy Camp, cooked up some dinner, and enjoyed life for the afternoon.  I enjoyed some Bud Light and Cornhole.  Started a fire, I jammed the guitar a bit, and I was in bed by 10:30.

Thursday I received a much needed day off from kicking my body’s ass.  I drove the van taking the group down to the river.  Being at a rafting base camp made me a bit nostalgic, and definitely sad that my knee wasn’t better.  I love paddling.  After they started floating down the Arkansas river, I headed into Canon City for breakfast and an electrical outlet.  I sat in this cafe for a couple of hours, played a dozen sit-n-go’s on Ultimate Bet, and then headed across the street to a Western Wear place, buying 4 long sleeved shirts and a hat to replace the one I left at home.  I then went back into Bighorn Canyon to sit by the river and wait for them to float by, eventually picking them up at Parkdale just above the mouth of the Royal Gorge.  Since our shower was broken at Cowboy Camp we stopped by a campground to shower on the way back, and I got clean for the first time since Saturday.  It felt great.

Back in Cowboy camp we did some more hanging out, ate more of Alicia’s awesome food, and then started a fire.  Barb brought two guitars, her freind Roy brought a guitar and a fiddle, I had my guitar, mandolin, and djembe, and we used them all.  It was the awesomest campfire jam session I’ve ever been a part of.  We emptied a couple bottles of whiskey and boxed wine, drank the rest of the beer, and realized we should probably get to bed when it was after 11pm.  Most excellent time.

Friday morning on round-up I discovered Ashley’s hide and go seek tendencies.  She’s a horse who thinks it’s a game.  She knows that it’s round-up time, and she goes when you get to her, but she makes that a challenge.  Dave used to hang a bell around her neck she was so notorious about hiding in the woods but she hasn’t been doing it lately.  She did today.  I saw her with a few others in the woods, cut up hill to drive them to the corral, and she darted off the other direction into the thickest woods in the West pen.  Took me a while to get to her, and when I did she jogged off to the corral like this was standard.  Mike told me a story about a time she layed down to hide behind a log in the woods once.  Dang horse.

We did two trail rides today, one young married couple from Texas in the morning and a group of six in the afternoon.  Two kids, one with Terret’s Syndrome, and four adults.  Both groups were great and both rides were enjoyable.  Barb took a group on a pack-in on the high country.  We’re all back and the horses are out to pasture and we’re headed to town for dinner.

Birthday tomorrow.  My first 29th birthday.  Nothing planned, probably will end up at the Dome or something.  I don’t want to go anywhere else besides here anyways.

Peace and good luck,

Devo

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My first morning started out early, 7am, and I felt great.  Woke up to a dude hackin in the outhouse.  I was out of my tent by the time he finished and he looks like he belongs here, kinda resembling the jibberish dude in Blazing Saddles just without the beard.  Who are you?  I tell him how I know Dave.  Oh you’re the gamblin’ man!  Yeah that’s me.  Nice to meet you Mike.  I brew some coffee and watch him walk into a smaller pen than the main pasture where the herd is.  He’s carrying two bridles, and I can’t figure out for the life of me where he’s goin, cause I can’t see a single horse in the hundred yard square field.  Check out my video blog touring where I’m staying and you’ll know where I’m sitting, drinking my coffee wondering what’s going to happen next.

Mike goes behind an old land dam retaining wall make a pond thing and comes out two minutes later with two horses.  He walks them to the (pen where we get the horses ready) by the barn and saddles both of them.  By then Alicia (ah-LEE-shuh) was up and at the barn.  They mounted and walked out into the West pen, the big field where the herd was out to pasture for the night.  About 15 minutes later the herd is galloping over the hill followed by Mike and Alicia, and they lead them all to the holding pen on the other side of the barn.  Turns out this is called a round-up and was cool as hell to watch.

The energy of the place just kept building.  I picked the weekend of the annual rodeo to show up on, so they were sending a couple horses and riders for the parade as well as a horse-drawn buggy, plus we had to get horses ready for a 10am trail ride.  We did all these things and then Dave and I took a father/daughter pair on a 2 hour ride on the ranch.  This place is 3500 acres so there’s plenty of room to explore, and the views are just amazing.

Came back, greeted another group at 12:45, one family of three and one grandpa/grandson pair.  Barb and I took this group out, came back in pouring rain from our standard afternoon thundershower, put all the saddles and pads back into the barn, and let the herd back into West pen.

Dave, Mike, Alicia, Barb, and I were standing around chattin about the day and upcoming schedule when Dave mentioned to Barb that I brought my guitar, mandolin, and djembe.  She loves music and wanted to see them, and a jam session broke out.  We spent an hour hanging on the porch and I fell more in love with life on the ranch.  I took a shower in the solar shower house, and we headed off to the rodeo.

I’ll admit I ain’t never been to a rodeo.  I’ll be going back though.  Ton of fun, neat to watch, and the beer was cheap.  They had a dance afterwards, $7 admission, $10 for couples.  It was amazing.  The floor was consistently packed with amazing country dancers putting on a show to compliment the band.  I finally talked everybody into leaving sometime after midnight, because 7:30 was going to come quick the next day.

It did, and I woke up to Mike yellin, “Wake up sleeping beauty!”  I had to take Adam, his nephew and dude I found sleeping in the bunkhouse the day before, back to his truck left at the rodeo.  Adam was super cool and drove around this ginormous F450 rig doing welding.  Dave hired him to fix a trailer and he did it faster and at about 20% of the cost that it would have been in town.  I came back and helped Dave prep for a pack-in trip that we were doing that day.  We trailered 5 horses and headed to Horn Creek Trailhead.  The custies had left all their gear in the back of their truck and started hiking up, our job was to put their gear on our three pack horses and get it the several miles and 3000 feet of elevation up the trail.

We loaded the pack horses and started up trail.  The memories flooded back, this being right smack dab in the middle of where I worked in 2003.  I was ponying Soapstone, which meant that one hand was on the reigns of my horse Mariah and the other was on the lead rope of the pack horse.  I learned a lesson that when the horse you’re ponying decides to back up, you let go of the rope.  I didn’t until I burnt myself good enough to get 5 blisters and one burn way through the skin.  O U C H.  We made it up to treeline into the basin and met the party.  We dropped off all their gear and I snapped a couple pics.

I turned around to take this one.

Back down the hill, horses in the trailer, and back to the ranch.  They have a fire pit there but it hasn’t been used in a while and was overgrown.  I want fire.  Search the tool shed for a gas powered weed whacker and settle for a machette.  After my gardening project I had most of the Lupine and grass hacked down enough for a fire, which I started as the sun was setting.  This place is covered with good sittin’ spots.

The next day, Monday, I was the first dude up.  I decided that I was going to do what Mike did on Saturday.  I grapped a couple of halters and headed into the catch pen.  In January, catching horses was a challenge.  I couldn’t see Mariah or JD out there, so I checked in the old pond.  Sans horse.  I spot them up the hill to the left standing side by side and looking at me.  They know what’s going on.  Now to catch them.  I start walking towards them, and they start walking toward me, still side by side.  I walk up right between their noses, laugh a little, give Mariah, who’s quickly becoming my favorite some lovin’, and put both halters on with ease.  I walk them out of the catch pen, Mike’s up by the time I’m back, he smiles and and we saddle up.  I’m going to do the round-up.

We walk out into West pen and he tells me all the things I need to know.  I was pretty dang overwhelmed.  My total galloping on a horse time is less than five minutes ever.  He’s telling me about how to cut and herd horses, all the while watching out for holes from the prairie dogs and ground squirrels and snakes, because if they hit one we’ll both crash and they might break a leg, then I’ll have to shoot a horse and might break my own leg.  You gotta be kidding me.  In way over my head we head find the main herd in the far pen, he tells me to go along this fence line and I should find them in the trees, he heads left for that half of the herd.

Turns out that Mariah is the queen of round-ups.  She knew what was up.  She breaks into a gallop without me asking along the fence line, headed for a copse of Aspens where I can see some horses hanging.  She tears through the trees, responding to my commands to turn and avoid low hanging branches, but otherwise she did the rest.  We came up behind the small herd flying through the trees, I started whoopin and yah-in and the horses take off toward the barn.  We wrap around the rest, and Mariah is tearing after them.  I work with her to keep any of them from slipping off, and she’s intent on driving them home.  I see about half a dozen others way off in the corner by a few houses, I think they might be ours but Mariah is on a mission, and Mike says that they’re not ours.

When we crossed back through the fence the herd broke left into the trees, and the barn was straight ahead.  I tried to get above them in the trees, and we were flying.  It was so intense zipping through those trees on a fast horse in a fast gallop.  The herd broke out of the trees and headed straight for the holding pen, Mike behind me chasing his herd, and I got my group into the pen except for two.  A quick cut and a burst and we’re in front of them, finishing the job.  Mike and I got the rest in, and with a big grin I dismounted.

We start pulling out horses for the pack trip and 2 hour ride going out that morning, and we quickly realize that we’re missing several horses.  I know where they are.  And I have no problem going to get them :).  Mike drove them out and I went down to a lower grove of trees by the highway where apparently they like to hide too.  No horse, and I see that his herd slipped him and broke right heading for a water trough.  I think Mariah knew this too, and without too much askin we were flying along the highway just inside the fence line.  Chase them off the trough and we repeat the chase through the trees.  If I get to do this every day I’m gonna be a happy (and sore) boy.

I headed up to the trailhead with everybody to help however needed, and the amount of work and precision that goes into pack trips is amazing.  Seven custies.  Two staff.  9 riders and 4 packers.  One dog.  It took us about 90 minutes at the trailhead, and then disaster happened.  I am with the 15 passenger van and am waiting for Dave to finish parking one of the truck and trailers and hear him yell, “Oh shit!”  I see the truck and trailer rolling downhill.  Oh shit.  By the time I get there I hear many more oh shits until the front of the truck slammed into the rear of another horse trailer, jackknifing the truck and trailer a bit and our truck comes to a rest against the trailer.  I was thrilled about this.  From where the truck started rolling, straight downhill involved a steep drop down the hill, one small tree, one big tree, and one in betweeen area that would have resulted in a much longer roll.  But the tires were turned to the left just a little, and the driver’s side hit the driver’s side, and the trailer being bent absorbed much of the energy.  Oh, and the truck and trailer belongs to the Colorado Division of Wildlife.  But it saved out asses there, if it wasn’t there, and we didn’t hit the left side of the trailer, things would have been much worse.  Seriously of all the possible outcomes of a runaway ranch truck and trailer at a the trailhead, this was the best possible result.  We bent the bumper back out with the van and a chain, the trailer was fine just a little stiff on the hinge and a few dents.  We still left a note and filed a report, and headed back down the hill.

No afternoon ride so I finally had the opportunity to run some errands that needed runnin.  The first stop was the auto shop to look at my frame.  It’s been damaged for years since I spun out in the Raton Pass, but I realized it was an issue when I asked Adam if he could fix my hitch and stuff.  I hadn’t looked under there in a while, and thank God I did cause one of my leaf spring shackles was almost completely torn off.  When I pulled into the service station, it was.  Literally hanging on a frame bolt.  Errands cancelled, I call Mike at the ranch at 2:15 asking for a ride.  He said yeah, be there in a bit.  An hour later I call him again, no response.  20 minutes later I get sick of sittin and walk to the street to try and hitchhike home.  I stand in front of the place for another 20 minutes, finally get a lift, and see Mike driving into town just as Myron and I were headed out.  I wave and he don’t see me, Myron offers to turn around, and I decline saying he’ll figure it out and that’s what he gets for waiting forever and not answering the phone.

Around 5pm I call Dave’s house to see about finding a vehicle to get to town.  I get Michelle and she tells me that there’s people looking for me in town.  Apparently Mike and Dave were driving around looking for me, because the service station guys told him that I “walked off”, and Dave doesn’t check messages (who doesn’t read text messages?!?), so didn’t see me tell him that I was startin to hitch and needed a ride. I laughed but feel a little bad now, sitting at the bar they looked for me at three hours ago writing this blog.

Peace and good luck,

Devo

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I finally got out of my apartment shortly after noon on Thursday.  Google maps said that I was 7.5hrs from Monument Valley, and my goal was to get there by sunset.  I headed north on the 15 through the Virgin River Gorge and St. George, turning East toward Zion.  I bypassed the park, drove through Kanab again, past Lake Powell, and east on US 160.  Really cool highway, especially after Monument Valley.

We did it :).  Enjoyed that sittin spot, woke up with the sunrise, drove through the Valley, and then got back on 163 north headed for Four Corners.

Four Corners was disappointing.  At least the lady didn’t make me pay the $3.

From there I headed into Colorado intending on checking out the Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings.  Too many people out there, but definitely some very cool things to check out.

From there it was drive East across Colorado.  Things were new to me in this area and Pagosa Springs was super cool.  Driving though this valley I saw the best example of my dream house ever, a simple house on a hill in a valley surrounded by mountains with a river flowing by and a lake on property.  I’m definitely taking a specific trip to this neck of the woods sometime soon.

I crossed over into the San Luis Valley, up the Western slope of the Sangres, along the Arkansas river getting into country I know, and then South into Westcliffe and the Wet Valley.  I love it here and am very stoked for the next month of life.

Peace and good luck,

Devo

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Ever since January I’ve been planning this journey that I’m beginning tomorrow.  In 2003 I moved to Colorado to take on a job title of “Adventure Guide” and work full time in the outdoor industry.  There I met Dave and Michelle, basically the full timers from the generation of staff that came before Eric and I who were hired in January.  Dave’s an amazing man, somewhere around 40 now, and he was a big ol kid when I met him.  I look up to him a bunch and love his ability to have a good time in any element and speak wisdom and truth when necessary.

I was fired from Peak 3 before I could quit in August 2003.  I developed a bad attitude pretty quickly due to the staff policy of having to be up at 6am, even when you didn’t have responsibilities until 8am.  It was intended to build community but I never have been a morning person and promise that I can foster communal happiness much better at 7:30am.  They also kept Eric and I in camp chopping firewood and stirring the blue water much more than I was willing to spend my summers doing.  I intended on quitting at the end of the summer but they beat me to it after I did some dumb shit.  A staff cabin of our sister camp had a toilet sitting in the driveway all summer and late one night, we pooped in that toilet.

So, I was jobless and living in Colorado, and all my friends were guides.  Turns out that 2-4 limit hold’em on Party Poker was a money factory in 2003.  As it was for the last four years, but this was the first time that I actually had no job and was paying rent with money that I had won playing poker at some point in my life.  I figured if I made $100 a day I would be fine.  I kept my bankroll somwhere betweeen $500 and $1k, cause it was so easy to win back then, that I couldn’t conceive of needing a bigger number.

That is until I went broke in February 2004.  I dodged going broke a few months earlier by being all-in with my last $55 in a SNG and winning it.  I got a job working armed security in Colorado Springs.  I started working nights at a car lot up Academy.  I’m not sure why they wanted a 22 year old kid walking around the place with a gun from 9pm to 5am.  I never saw a damned soul in three weeks.  My exemplary performance at the car lot earned me a promotion to patrol.  They gave me a car with lights and a radio, and five of us drove around town all night.

We held all the Department of Defense alarm response contracts.  So when an alarm went off at Lockheed we were required by law to be on scene within 15 minutes.  That part was fun, hauling ass across town, even though 99% of my alarms were false.  The one that wasn’t was at a mansion in the hills.  I turned a corner in the basement, gun drawn, and found a dude rummaging through a chest.  Freeze motherf***er!  I mean, what else are you supposed to say there?

Shortly after that I was invited to go climb La Plata with Dave, Joel, and Kyle.  I’ve hung with the other two and they’re good guys, but I had to work this security job.  I was quitting like a week later but I had to work this night.  I’m generally in the front when I’m going places, especially when it comes to walks through the woods.  I wasn’t there though, Kyle was in front, and when Joel started his glissade down the peak he triggered an avalanche.  Dave watched the two of them go.  He ran as fast as he could after them, and it still took him 45 minutes to get to Joel.  The avalanche released the enter couloir and traveled over a mile.  Joel rode the thing out and lived.  Kyle didn’t.  I really think that going broke saved my life.  I quit about a week later, getting a job as a prop in Cripple Creek, CO.

Somewhere around there Dave and Michelle got married, Peak 3 folded a while after that, and Dave and Michelle began looking for their next chapter.  They found it at Bear Basin Ranch in Westcliffe, CO, just across the valley from Horn Creek Ranch where we worked together.  They bought the business end, built a house on the ranch, and have started a family.  I spent a week there in January, and at the end of that week I asked Dave if I could work for him for free after the series.  He accepted, and I’m leaving tomorrow to do just that.  I bought my first pair of cowboy boots yesterday.  I’m excited.  My blogs will probably come in bursts as I will be living in a tent out of cell service and they might be a bit more video in nature, but I will be writing plenty about this trip.

Peace and good luck,

Devo

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I chose the worst month possible to run terribly. I mean there wasn’t anything I could do. I made one straight or better, flopped it, and it ran out a four flush. I still won the pot but missed a big street of value. I made zero sets, trips, flushes or better. I never had aces. Had kings once, flop came ace high, I got value on the turn and river. Had them later at 150-300/25, a spaz opened early to 1500 with 20k to start the hand. I 3b to 4k, he shoves, I snap and double up his aces. Three in a row now when I’ve been aipf with kings I’ve run into aces.

I was thrilled with how I played. I won small pots easily and chipped up well, increasing my stack every level except for the kings into aces one and the first half of day 2 when I was short and didn’t win the few hands I played. Finally busted losing a flip with AQss on a K9ssX flop, Jh turn. Too many outs.

I’m sad this series is over. Last year I had a ton of deep runs that all ended poorly and I couldn’t wait to get out of Dodge.  This year I just wanted to keep playing poker.  I also played a bunch of smaller event this year making the sting a bit less.  I went two for 23 losing about $47k.  My best finish was a 100th place in the $1500 shootout.  I also feel much better about my play this year.  I love where my game is at right now and am playing very confidently, but running way on the wrong side of variance.  I understand.  It happens.  I’ll happen again.  It just sucks.  There’s nothing you can do about it except cope as good as possible and keep playing well so variance valley isn’t deeper than it needs to be.

Final exams are over for me though, and summer break is about to start.  I’m headed to Colorado to work on a ranch for free, a sort of apprenticeship I guess.

Peace and good luck,

Devo

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Friday night I played in and busted the $2500. I don’t really remember what happened and don’t really care, I’m just glad that June is over. Such a disappointing month.

Saturday I woke up, cleaned the apartment a bit since my maid that I overpaid $70 since I only had $100 bills two weeks ago didn’t show up as scheduled. Did some laundry, did some relaxing, and after three loads I got out of the house. First stop at Men’s Warehouse to buy a pocket silk and a belt, I forgot about the belt by the time I got there. Then I headed over to the Rio to hang in the Ultimate Bet suite. My boss-ish Jo is a fellow wino, and I have had a magnum bottle of good stuff from Summerland winery. Pinot Noir is my favorite wine and they hold the title of best bottle I’ve had to date, bottles from the Odyssey Thurlestone vineyard are just amazing.

So I started my evening of drinking around 4pm. We all enjoyed the bottle and I left after a few hours to head home and get ready for the Doyle’s Room party that evening. I ran into Tony Dunst on the way out and he joined me. Picked up my date Stephanie at Green Valley Ranch, she went from sun dress and reggae and wine to a fancy going out dress and looked great. We then went and picked up Meredith who’s one of the UB model chicks with a super level head on her shoulders and a fancy for fine beer. Off to the party at Blush, we drank the place dry and were one of the last people there. Went to Half Shell after and were invited to go on a houseboat for the 4th. We accept.

Woke up the next morning, put on my summer uniform (boardshorts, white shirt, straw hat), and we made a market run before meeting our pick-up at Callville Bay. It’s crazy how much the lake is dropping, Las Vegas Valley is drinking the thing dry and it’s certainly not sustainable. The lake’s surface has dropped a hundred feet in the last ten years. Hop on the boat, cold beer in hand, and life is good.

I did some wakeboard towing and it might have been a mistake because it reminded me of how much I like boating and how awesome it was owning a boat, even if it was a Piece of Ship. I’m pretty set on buying a house in the fall though and need to take care of taxes first though so buying a boat would be a pretty bad idea. I’ve done dumber things though.

Slept in the tent, woke up when it was too hot to sleep anymore, eight am. Eight am sucks when at three am you were sitting on the swim step of a boat with your feet dangling in the water, no thank you I would not like another beer bong. Yes I will help you have one. Hand me a beer too. Once it hits your lips it’s soo good.

Mac fired up some awesome breakfast burritos with Jimmy Dean sausage, and between two of those, a big glass of orange juice, and a nice banana, I was feeling great. Their black lab named Cowboy found himself a nice spot on the couch and was napping. I was inspired. Caught a nap next to him til noon, felt way better, and chilled on the top deck for a bit reading more of The Fountainhead. I’m not even halfway done with that monster yet. Finally headed back to dock, went and had some Gyros, and headed home.

Chilled out and ended up watching a movie called 180 Degrees South, a documentary about one man’s quest to follow in the footsteps of Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkin’s journey by van to Patagonia down the Pan American highway. Jeff Johnson always wanted to take a similar journey, and received an opportunity to do so as a crew member of a sailboat. The story is about both adventures and was a super enjoyable movie.

Got geared up for the UB party at the Mandarin Bar on the 23rd floor of the Mandarin Oriental. I was feeling purple and picked up Steph at 7:30. Per Jimmy Fricke’s recommendation we ate at RM Seafood in Mandalay Place and it was absolutely fantastic. Made it to the Mandarin at 9:30 after a stop at CVS to buy some bra strap holder together chingadero so they wouldn’t stick out of the dress. I’m so glad I’m a dude. Up to the bar and we were greeted with blue margaritas and a panoramic view of the strip. It was magnificent. I was once again one of the last people in the back of the joint, and we caught a cab home.

This morning I realized I had acheived the goal of having all my vehicles not home. I was down to a dirt bike. My Honda-Davidson has been parked at Half Shell for nine days now. Court Harrington drove away in my truck a while ago thinking the green 6 on the license plate meant that the registration had expired in 2006. Dumb hick. And now the car’s at the Mandarin. Awesome. Breakfast at the Old Pancake House in GVR, I ate one half of a kid’s menu french toast, but drank every drop of three cups of coffee, one large orange juice, and one tall glass of water. Retreived the car, headed over to Wet Republic to say hi to Christina Lindley and crew which included a bunch of good guys. Hung out there for a bit, took off shortly after five, played some guitar hero, ate dinner, and bought a bag of rice to put my droid in. On Saturday night I set my phone in a margarita and it’s been good game droid ever since. After returning to technology I saw some of my tweeps had recommended the bag of rice so I invested eighty-five cents at the Fresh and Easy.

Came home and decided on movie time, Netflix streaming through the xBox is awesome. First one I watched was a documentary called Surfwise about Doc Paskowitz, his family of 9, and their twenty year long Odyssey chasing surf in a 24 foot camper. Neat story. Then a childhood favorite, Iron Eagle, and now this blog.

It’s been a good weekend and I feel really good. I’m stoked to play the main event and really would like to make a deep run. Been a long time since I was this excited for a donkament.

Peace and good luck,

Devo

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