We were out for a walk on Shabbos when we noticed that in addition to every RV parked near us having horses and dogs, there was also a large enclosure for quail.  We also noticed that all the dogs looked very similar.  We assumed that the quail were for hunting.  On our way back to the RV, we ran into Margaret, who told us that we had inadvertently stumbled into an American Kennel Club competition, called a Field Trial, for Brittany dogs.

Field Trails are a kind of simulated hunting exercise.  For a detailed explanation, see here.  Like our experience being accidentally imbedded in a motocross hillclimbing competition, we had no idea that this sport even existed.  Like other RVs here, Margaret and her husband Tom had a gooseneck trailer which had a living area in front, a kennel and tack area in the center, and a horse area in the rear.

This morning, Margaret took our daughter for a ride on one of the three horses they brought to this competition:
 

Trish and the kids visited another trailer with Brittany puppies.  Looks like they’re ready to find some birds!

Margaret’s dogs rest before competition:

Margaret also gave the kids a couple ribbons her dogs had won at prior events.  They travel from competition to competition for half the year, and it sounds like they have no shortage of ribbons.  Thanks Margaret and Tom!

The grasslands go on forever:

There were two bunches of RVs here for the competition:

We left Las Cienegas National Grassland and headed West to Tumacácori National Historic Park:

Tumacácori mission was one of the missions established by the Jesuits to impose Christian culture on the native population.  The historical sequence reminded me of attempts by the Greeks to Hellenize the Jews.  This church was built in the early 1800s:

The kids completed the Junior Ranger program:

We headed north to Tubac, AZ.  Tubac is a four-by-four-block artists community.  There were a number of kinetic wind sculptures on display:

There are dozens of stores selling a wide variety of things you don’t need:

This was the entryway to some kind of “healing center”:

Leaving Tubac, we still wanted to visit the Whipple Observatory.  Looking at the various apps on my phone, I could see that the observatory was within the Coronado National Forest, so we could do dispersed camping there.  The satellite photo showed a number of pullouts beyond the visitor center, so we decided to go for it.  We drove in about 10 miles on the access road and found a great pullout just below the visitor center:

The moon was already rising:

Another great Arizona sunset:

As we set up, the bull on the left kept glaring out us.  We were worried he would charge:

Just beautiful:

Tomorrow we will explore the visitor center.  See the trip map for today’s drive.