Tag Archives: AZ

Back to Texas

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We lit out for Texas this morning after a hearty Cracker Barrel breakfast. Got to say the bacon at this one was better than yesterday’s. 

We headed toward Pecos, Odessa, Midland via the beautiful Franklin Mountains State Park and Castner Range. It’s a steep incline/decline at 5244ft (still only half the height of some of the mountains we’ve been on in Colorado and only just a couple hundred feet shorter than our highest mountain in Australia) but the roads are perfect.

Lots of inland travel and into Texas, traveling the 180 through Carlsbad Caverns National Park, back up to 5700ft through Guadalupe Mountains National Park and passed the Butterfield Trail Marker.

The Butterfield Overland Trail (or Oxbow Route) traversed through Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. It was pre Civil War mail and passenger stagecoach route operating between 1858 and 1861.

What a hell of a trip during that time over this sort of terrain in all sorts of weather!

Cross country slight trip into New Mexico and back into the Texas panhandle we are back in oil and gas land through Orla – a very productive area.

On to Pecos where we stopped again and caught the damaged historic railroad  depot, Judge Roy Bean’s, Jersey Lily and the gravesite of ‘gentleman gunfighter’ Clay Allison.

Keep heading East through oil fields of Barstow and on into Odessa.

Quick stop at the Indian store for Jack – picked up a poker chip – checked out the bikes.

From here we went to Midland again and this time got to visit the Bush Family Home. A State Historic site in Midland, Texas.

The original home was built in 1939 for Mildred Etheridge and features the original knotty pine walls and floors.

After a few moves around in 1948-1950 the Bush’s settled in Midland during his oil times prior to politics.

The Bush’s, George H. W and Barbara were associated with cancer research during and after their daughter Robin’s death due to Leukemia, with baseball which George W. had a love for also.

George W. had a love for baseball and Roy Rogers. He eventually had a part ownership in the Texas Rangers baseball team.

The house is still going under preservation and getting it back to period correct interior. There were so many fun ‘ancient’ things like the refrigerator, bakelite phone, uranium glass and more.

Thanks Chase for his exceptional guided tour!

A stay in Midland again before moving to Novice tomorrow.

Night!

Kat x

End of Trail Wrap Up

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Well Saturday saw an early start which was nice before the heat took hold.

We started with a breeze but that soon stopped and the desert sun ramped up.

The last four stages of the match

Stage 1 – Greenwood Trading Co

Line is: How much?

Stage 2 – Justice B Dunn Shooting Gallery

Line is: Don’t let ‘em loose!

Stage 3 – Rock jail

Line is: Let’s get movin’!

Stage 4 – The Fixer Land & Cattle Co

Line is: Hit ‘em all twice

And that’s it! What will be will be.

Thanks Posse 29 for an awesome match and great working folks.

Posse 29 in alphabetical order – Ben Fishin’, Big Iron Buster (not in pic), Cooncan, Doc Baker, Fast Hammer, Four Bucks, Gunleather, Holy Smoke Harmon, Idaho Calliope Kid, Jackaroo, Kathouse Kelli, Lefty Two Slim, Marshal Shorty, Questionable Content, Ricochet Russell, Sandy Beach, Silver Creek Jack and Yeldog. With Bertie Winchester in pic.

The banquet was on that evening along with costume contest. Around 50+ entries for that from juniors, military, saloon, B-Western/Silver Screen, Men’s, Ladies and couples categories.

I won Silver Screen with my B-Western USA inspired dress and story of rodeo from Pecos to Wyoming.

With Pinto Annie and Madam
Pinkerton

The Top 16 cowboys and cowgirls were announced for the shootout Sunday morning.

Ladies Top 16 and alternates
Men’s Top 16 and alternates

Another early start to the day and we head to the range for the shootout. I had a bye on the first round, won on the next run with Echo Meadows and then had a close one with Ringers Ruby also from Aus which she won and headed into the final round against Dueling Des.

Congratulations to Ringers Ruby on winning the shootout and The Cumberland Kid for the cowboys win!!

We were all done by 9.15, moved through efficiently, for sure.

10 am everyone was in the main tent for awards. 50 categories, 645 shooters from 11 countries, 60 international competitors and 129 clean shooters – meaning no misses or penalties!

With a lot of categories going to 10th place again they moved through efficiently including photo’s!

For the Australian contingent, they placed as follows:

Duelist – Mean Mongrel Matt – 7th place and a clean match

Classic Cowboy – Marlboro Man – 3rd place and a clean match

Lady Senior Duelist – Pearl Starr – 3rd place

Wrangler – Waco Kid – 9th place

Lady Wrangler – Ringers Ruby – 3rd place, Lucky Strike Lass – 4th place and a clean match

Senior – Ringer from Downunder – 8th place and a clean match

Lady Senior – Wild Ruby Rose – 7th place

Buckaroo – Tornado Tommy – 6th place

Cowboy – Savage Sam – 3rd place and a clean match, Broken Spur – 7th place

Lady Gunfighter – Sister Sarah Carnegie – 2nd place

Cattle Baron – Jackaroo – 10th place and a clean match

49er – Trapper from Oz – 9th place

Lady 49er – Kathouse Kelli – 1st place and a clean match, Clancy – 2nd place

Other clean match’s – Doc Carnegie and Frank Buck James.

Not a bad show up!! 21 Australians making up one third of the International contingent.

That’s it for this year it was a hell of a match, so good catching up with a lot of cowboys and cowgirls we have not seen for a long time indeed! We sure do miss it!

Kat x

End Of Trail

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Day 1 – Thursday

It’s hot hot hot in the Arizona desert and we were on the late wave starting at 2 pm. Shooting stages 5, 6, 7 & 8 for the start.

Stage 5 – The Rough Rider Saloon

Line is: I’m getting dizzy!

Finishing shotgun
On to pistol
Start rifle
Then on to shotgun

Stage 6 – graveyard rundown

Line is: Are they dead yet?

Start rifle, on to 2 shotgun, run down to finish with pistol.

Stage 7 – Colorado Cattleman’s Association

Line is: I want to make a deposit

Start holding money bag in hand.

Stage 8 – Dodge City Depot

Line is: they’re getting restless!

Continuous Nevada sweep with pistols, move and repeat with rifle, finish with shotgun

We finished the day and headed for the swap meet, couple of drinks, then home to clean and get ready for the next.

Day 2 – Friday

It’s still hot and dry but on the middle wave starting at 11am, slightly more pleasant than the afternoon wave.

It’s also RED shirt Friday – Remember Everyone Deployed. So a sea of red whether it be shirts, tops, skirts or whole outfits from top to bottom, cowboys do it well.

And have to say on Stage 10 Holysmoke Harmon perfectly matched the train also with red blue and gold.

Stage 9 – the cattle race

Line is: load ‘em up!

Stage 10 – Train Depot

Line is: All Aboard!

Stage 11 – Fort Sinclair

Line is: point me to the sawbones

Start on the middle with rifle, got a couple of knockdowns so if you don’t take them down, makeup with shotgun, move to shotgun then into pistol and if needed use shotgun if pistol knockdowns left up.

Stage 12 – Coosies Mercantile

Line is: Got a cigar?

Nice little rundown from rifle to shotgun and across to middle to pistol

That’s day 2 done and it’s one more day of main match to go! Let’s see how it all comes out in the wash tomorrow, where tails of wins, woes, should have’s and could have’s will unfold. we will see.

Had my hat cleaned and reshaped today by the lovely Dugan Hats. It’s been 12 or 14 years – lost shape, got wet, dried out, in the rain etc. used to be flat top with a rolled edge all round.

THIS is what it has been like for many years now.

Bent out of shape

THIS is the cleaned, reshaped and stiffened version I have now. Slight telescope top, rolled edge at the back with a slight tip at the front.

Bought a few other bits from her also and will take my brown hat tomorrow.

Tonight was Side Match Awards, won Speed 1911 Ladies Traditional. Other speed events, Plainsman, long range and clay events all done this evening, along with a Mexican dinner.

Right now though it’s time for cleaning off the crusty salt and dust and hit the hay.

One more day to round at the match!

Good luck to all for your final match day.

Kat x

When In Texas….

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It's go bold, go big or go home! Lol!

So here I present the 'I Love Texas' outfit that I made for Pistol Packin' Pami.

You would have seen it boldly worn at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix at Winter Range 2018! (Tuesday over there)

Others desiring this similar theme were a little disappointed when I said I couldn't do a corset for them because 'somebody else' was already getting it.

Pami wanted a Texas flag corset incorporated with blue bonnets and the main part to be like the flag. We put our heads together and came up with the star embroidered on the blue, the red and white on the left as per the flag – perfect – and at the back the two middle sections would be white and feature the Texas state flower, the Bluebonnet. (The 'lupinus texensis' the bluebonnet was adopted as the official state flower by the Texas legislature in 1901)

 

Pami, being a colourful character who I treasure, loves colour and so we went with a red top with a small blue and a white frill in a style she is familiar with.

 

Her flamenco styled skirt in red features a blue frill with white embroidered stars, the white frill has a smaller version of the blue bonnets and a plain red frill – see where I went with that? Keeping it in similar order to the flag itself.

 

With, of course, a quick little headpiece to boot!

 

The final product and one very happy cowgirl! You look amazing my friend, can't wait to see more photos of you in this outfit on range.

 

Somebody please post more pic's on Facebook so I can see it in all her glory!

Kat xo

 

That’ll be the day!

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Said John Wayne as Ethan Edwards in “The Searchers” (1956) and that's exactly what I thought when Petticoat Parker asked if I'd seen any John Wayne inspired fabric.

'Whoa, take 'er easy there pilgrim' I thought (John Wayne as Tom Doniphon in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)) I've never seen any John Wayne fabric but I sure was going to see if I could find anything like it for her.

I did! To my wonder and surprise Spoonflower had two designs featuring John Wayne. So therefore, Petticoat Parker's corset, matching reticule and Red River Raider's matching arm bands came to be!

Now if you haven't kept up with what's going on here, in a months time, Winter Range begins and this year the theme is John Wayne movies. So I just had to find fabric appropriate for her gear.

'Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight!' – as Wil Anderson in “The Cowboys” (1972). They are done and already in her hot little hands!

 

Wish I could be there but keep your eye out for these little beauties on the range in Phoenix! Go check out Winter Range, at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility Feb19th-25th, 2018. 700 or more shooters, Fastdraw and Mounted Shooting included.

 

Kat xo

 

Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Friday we left behind our Aussie friends, such wonderful hospitality and thank you ever so much for showing us just a few of the sights of Utah. Can't wait to visit again to see more. ❤ 🙂

Heading up through Arizona to Jacob Lake, we made a quick stop at La Fevre overlook – 6700ft. The snow is now rock solid ice but the scenery is sensational.

 

We saw a coyote through the next beautiful sections but given I was typing, missed the opportunity for photo. He was beautiful as he stood out against the snowy backdrop, looking back over his shoulder towards the other side of the road. I wondered if he had a mate close by or whether something had chased him.

 

Through Jacob Lake and now heading to Marble Canyon, we wound our way through the Kaibab National Park only to pop out the other side to red rock cliffs, desolate ground and straight roads again.

 

From Grants, I drove the rest of the day to Moriarty where we parked for the night at the usual stop – Sunset Motel. New Mexico turned on a spectacular sunset behind us as we drove through Albuquerque.

Out early this morning we stopped at Tucumcari for breakfast and hit the road again. It's 62F, sunshine, country music and highways.

 

Made it! We are back in Oklahoma, after another fabulous trip!

Kat xo

 

Winter Range Wrap Up

Posted on by kathousekelli70

The week began with Sunday being somewhat wet and miserable still with folks hoping it would dry out ready for Winter Range to start last Monday.

Heading out to the range later that day to register and pick up packs, it as sunny but cool and the waddies were desperately trying to create drains around vendor tents and pump water off ranges.

 

Monday and Tuesday were for Wild Bunch. Ten stages were done, along with some long range side match and speed. Our posse for Wild Bunch was Half-A-Hand Henri, Long Swede, Dixie Bell, Constable Nelson, Rooster Cockburn, Medicine Creek Johnny, Big Foot Billy, Deadwood Fred, Wolf Gang, Haole, Paniola Annie, Kid Rich, Shirttail Bess, Mad Dog Mark, Mar-Lynn, Matchlock, Ottercreek Bushwacker, Yellowstone Vic, Flyin' Shootist, Brushy Creek Bill, and Major Pain.

 

Tuesday afternoon was spent helping out with the Doily Gang Clinic, giving some coaching to ladies wanting to improve their transitions. I Posse'd with Dixie Bell and Whirlwind Wendy and we had 10 beautiful ladies to teach. I spoke to a few of them throughout the week and seems all are happy to have taken away something from the clinic and are excited about their matches.

Wednesday, it's warm up, side matches (which we didn't do this year), shopping, eating, catching up with more cowboys and the opening ceremonies. The fly over of 11 war birds lead by Lt. Col Scratch in his Nang Chang was spectacular and I bet those Cowboys that were chosen to go for a ride were absolutely loving it!

 

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were main match days. Four stages each and at the end of the 12, Jack and I were pretty satisfied with how we had shot our matches and would eagerly wait to hear the results. We had a great Posse, Posse 30! Alvira Sullivan Earp and Virgil Earp (our Aussie friends), Bois D'Arc and Tacky Jackie (Oklahoma friends), Chugwater One Shot, Coal Train, High Country, Honest Henry, J.B. Corn (and his lovely wife Aurora who kept all our scores for us), Just Marshall, Kerman Kid, Lazlo Scarr, Little Joe Dalton, Marshal Law, Pill Peddler, Sgt. StroDog, Standpat Steve, Valrico Kid and of course Jack and myself.

 

Friday night was Saloon night and this year they had craps tables, black jack, Texas hold 'em and the infamous Doc Holliday (we saw him when visiting Tombstone a few times) with his Faro table and regaling people with his stories. You handed your chips in, when you were ready to leave, in exchange for prize tickets of which I was lucky enough to win a voucher with Wild West Mercantile!

 

Saturday is of course the day of relief I guess, the match is done and everyone now gets to enjoy the Banquet and side match awards. Costume contest is on and I had the pleasure of being a judge this year. I stepped aside from my judging duties for Pea Patch to step in when a couple of ladies presented in costumes I had made for them. Costume Judges this year were myself, Goodness Grace, Cowtown Scout, Skinny and Capt.

 

The shoot off participants for Wild Bunch and cowboy were announced. Making it into the sweet sixteen with 3 other Lady Wranglers meant it was going to be a close match for us all.

 

This brings us to yesterday, I had one run in the shootout with fellow Lady Wrangler and my main competition Echo Meadows. She shot well and made it through to the next round after I left 3 plates up.

For the Ladies the shootout was won by Molly Magoo and for the Men's, Slick McClade.

So onto the awards and first up the SASS Wild Bunch presented the Wooly Award to the Winter Range Board for their 2016 match.

For Wild Bunch, the overall winners were Captain Sam Evans for Men and Texas Tiger for the Ladies. Jackaroo placed 9th for Wild Bunch Senior Modern and I finished 3rd in Ladies Traditional.

This year's Cowboy match had 111 people from 749 shoot a clean match! That's no misses, no procedurals etc! Outstanding effort and was achieved by three of the Aussie's – Frank James, Renegade Ty and Rooster Cockburn.

Out of the 10 Australians participating, 8 of them (sorry if you did too Renegade Ty but I didn't catch that one) placed in their categories. Constable Nelson, 8th Place in Forty Niners. Frank James, 9th Place in Senior. Alvira Sullivan Earp, 5th Place in Ladies Silver Senior. KC Woody, 7th Place in Senior Gunfighter.

Jackaroo finished 7th Place in Silver Senior and 60th overall! He shot a great match and wasn't too far off me.

I'm ecstatic, I achieved my goal for this match finishing 1st Place Lady Wrangler, 2nd Lady overall and placed 57th overall.


AND the 2017 Winter Range US National Champions overall with a huge congratulations goes to SASS Kicker for the Ladies and Deuce Stevens for the Men.

Here's congratulations to all the competitors who placed at Winter Range and we will see you again somewhere down the road for the next one.

Kat xo

 

All Done and Dusted

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Just a quick one before I get changed up from shooting into Victorian loveliness.

It's been a great week of sunshine and clear skies, we couldn't have asked for more!

 

Around 760 shooters will now be eagerly awaiting the outcome tomorrow. It's been another awesome Winter Range and it will be what it will be. Good luck to all the shooters and hope you have achieved what you came here to do.

To all the new and first time participants I hope you have thoroughly enjoyed your time at Winter Range and for those who haven't been yet – never be afraid to go to a big match!!

Tonight will be side match awards, shindig, costume contest and announcement of Top 16 Mens and Ladies!

Cheers!

Kat xo

 

On To Phoenix

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We are into Arizona and heading south, passing through Wildcat Canyon at around 7000ft and there are still some drifts of snow around.

Albeit a little dirty on the edges, it still makes for some very pretty scenery amongst the pine trees.

 

It's another long day on the road but we will be in Phoenix late this afternoon.

Breathing fresh, crisp mountain air.

Kat xo

 

Road Trip Commenced!

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Yes folks it's that time of year again where some 760 shooters will mosie on in to the Ben Avery Shooting Facility for the US Nationals of Cowboy Action Shooting.

 

We are just outside of Santa Rosa, New Mexico having stopped earlier in Amarillo, Texas for lunch, still heading for Phoenix, Arizona. Now at 5000ft even the water bottles are feeling it! Lol!


Tonight we are in Old Town Albuquerque. After gathering supplies for the tonight and a bit for next week, we will head down into Arizona tomorrow.

Ran into Misty, Roxy and Amber in Edgewood Walmart. Walked straight past looking for something when they said hello, not once but twice before I realised! 🙂 how embarrassment!

We have 8 Aussie's shooting Winter Range this year and plenty of cowboys and cowgirls to catch up with!

Exciting times ahead! Stay tuned!

Cheers big ears!

Kat xo