Heading West (Part II, Page 2) January 23rd - 30th, 2024 The Lincoln La Paz Trinitite Collection Also: The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History - The DoBell Ranch Petrified Wood.

I wanted to make another visit to DoBell Ranch on my trip back home, so I was once again heading north through Arizona towards Holbrook to spend the night. The next day, I planned to do a lot of digging and collecting at the ranch.

On the way north, I passed through this awesome mountainside loaded with cacti. I believe I was just north of the Organ Pipe National Monument.

I made contact with Rhonda DoBell when I was ready to come dig that morning. She and her granddaughter met me at the ranch gate and I followed them out into the desert. I spent several hours digging and collecting.

Above: Rhonda Dobell stands in a hole next to the exposed end of a large tree trunk they had recently discovered. Below: Rhonda's granddaughter stands next to a large tree trunk section I planned to load into my van.

Bobtailed guard cat at the DoBell Ranch.

You can dig all you want at the ranch. Or you can just wander around and pick up a ton of small specimens off the ground. Once you have finished collecting, you call Rhonda and she comes back out and gives you a price. If you are into pet wood, you will not find a better place to collect or a better deal than the one Rhonda will give you!

At the end of the day, I paid Rhonda and they left me at the ranch to load my van. I had most of it in when I got to a couple of 200+ pound trunk sections. I called Rhonda and asked if her husband could come out and help me load the last couple of pieces. She said someone would be out in a few minutes. I was able to get one piece in, but the last one was a beast. A few minutes later, her 15 year old granddaughter showed up. That girl is strong as an Ox! She helped me load the piece like it was nothing! Reminder to self; drink lots of Arizona water...

I headed back to Holbrook for the night and hauled all my trinitite treasures into the hotel room. Some things are just too valuable to leave sitting out in a parking lot for the local meth heads.

The next morning I was headed out I-40 and back towards home. I missed my furry Cat friends and was anxious to get home and sort through my goodies.

The snow capped mountains of Tennessee and Western North Carolina. A nice sight to see after a week or so in the desert. But, in my mind, I was already planning my next west adventure. Read about it in: Heading West, Part III

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