by Pete Thorsen
When a warming trend came through in a few more days they were ready. They had some LTS (long term storage) food and loaded that and everything else they thought might be useful on the trailer that they owned. It was only a four by eight foot trailer but looked big behind the quad. When everything was loaded it proved to be a heavy load and they took it slow on the road.
Gas was never a problem because they could siphon gas from any of the stalled cars and pickups. On some of the big hills they had to lighten the load and made two trips up the hill to get everything up top.
They carried some water but not too much due to the heavy weight. This did cause them some worry because they were soon out of the snow belt and into high desert country. But they kept an eye out for windmills of which they knew they would pass many due to traveling the route before.
Every windmill except one had people camped by them. One camp was hostile and they left there without a big fight. The other camps were reasonable and gladly exchanged clean water for what information the boys had to offer. A couple times they had to use a water filter and get water from creeks.
They broke into a couple of grocery trucks that were stopped on the highway and took as much food as they thought the quad would pull. They were very picky and took only the lightest things that would keep a long time. Space was not a big problem only the weight.
They did see a few other vehicles on the road several times on the trip. They saw many bicycles, a few motorcycles and quads (even a couple of old three wheelers) but very few old cars and pickups. They were shot at a few times and many people tried to wave them down but they never stopped for anyone. Some days in hilly areas they did not make many miles but some days they went quite a ways.
They broke down once but were very lucky to find a nearby mechanic (or at least someone with good mechanical skill) who was able to fix their quad in exchange for some food. The boys gave more food than the man had asked for because the quad was so valuable to them and the man could have asked for all their food and they would have likely paid with all of it. Plus they guessed that they would find another food truck before too many miles on the road anyway (which they did).
They always camped well off the road and as hidden as possible even though there were few other travelers. It was always best to take no chances. When they finally got to our community and then to our old home they were very apprehensive of what they might find there.
They knocked on our door but by that time were not surprised when they received no answer. When they got inside our house they were very happy to find it stripped of everything for they then knew we had left and took everything with us. They stayed the night there and drove out to the ranch where we had told to meet us and the rest is history as they say.
Chapter Ten
Don and Del just camped outside that first night but the next morning they spent a little time looking over the place and especially a couple of the out buildings. They said they would do some work on that one and make it a bunkhouse for the two of them. But first they wanted to unload their trailer and make some scavenging runs for more supplies.
There was a grocery truck about forty miles or so up the highway and they thought we should get all the viable food it contained before it went bad or was taken by others. That seemed like a good idea and we decided to leave together to get what we could. When I started to hook up my little trailer they just said leave it and we could pick something up along the way.
The community where our old home was looked totally deserted. We found a small trailer similar to the one the boys had and took that before we left on the highway out of ‘town’. With no loads in either trailer we made good time to the grocery truck where we stopped and took turns loading each trailer. When both trailers were slightly over loaded we left for home again. There was still plenty in the truck for at least another double load. Other than the much slower progress due to the heavy loads the ride home to the ranch was uneventful.
When we had the trailers unloaded we just left them hooked up so they would be ready for a run tomorrow. By then it was supper time and then an early bed.
The next many days were much the same. We emptied the grocery truck and also opened and salvaged a couple more trucks on the highway with varied supplies that we could use. Besides the trucks on the highway we salvaged in our little community also.
We took every propane cylinder that was half full or more and that turned out to be many with all the RV’s parked around. Many RV’s had two propane tanks. And most people seemed to have a gas grill with a propane tank attached.
The boys brought back insulation and building materials for fixing up their ‘bunkhouse’ along with fixing the shot-up ranch house. They added an extra bunk in there also that was on a hinge so it could be folded up against the wall when not in use and still be available for any future population expansion at the ranch.
They found a small ventless propane heater which they installed in their bunk house also and rigged up a small vanity with an over head tank so they kinda had running water and it just drained into a buried five gallon bucket punched full of holes.
While all this was going on the garden planting started first with the more cold tolerant plants and followed later with everything else. With the newly turned soil there were plenty of weeds that grew very well indeed and kept many busy weeding and tending the garden. With the addition of the two boys (really full grown men) we enlarged the garden so it was even larger.
We went through several of the now vacant houses and gathered a large number of books. School books were hard to come by but we brought back just about every non- fiction book we found.
Sue was slow in her recovery from what most of us assumed was just a minor wound but it must have caused a little brain damage. She came to after a full day but she could not really talk coherently at first. Bob worked when necessary but spent almost all of his time with Sue. She gradually got better and better and after a month or so was almost normal.
She would still make simple speech mistakes which sometimes were quite hilarious. She laughed with us and knew we meant no harm with our laughter. The speech problems are definitely getting less and less and she is well on her way to a complete recovery.
Meg and I were doing most of the schooling of Jon and Debbie and a reluctant Bill. With Sue’s recovery she is taking over more and more of the schooling though to be honest everyone here teaches the kids.
Their school day is far different than those they had been used to before the event. Reading, writing, math, and history we were still teaching and they are still important but many other things are also included.
Cooking, gardening, tracking game, hunting, edible plant gathering, and more as the list was almost endless. Many times the teacher and the student were learning at the same time out of the same book.
Many houses in Arizona had solar panels on their roofs and while some seemed to be damaged from the event many were found to still be functional. Don and Del were a regular work crew dismantling systems and installing them at the ranch.
They had to school themselves on how everything worked and what was needed and some of the equipment needed was fried but new items were found and installed and soon there were first small lights in the buildings and later with more equipment and a large number of salvaged batteries we had normal lights just like before the event.
When they got the deep well to fire up and start pumping so we had real running water in the ranch house for the first time which led to a lot of cheering from everyone.
The boys did warn us that at some point those batteries would degrade and eventually become useless but the solar panels themselves should last a long time to provide power at least during the day.
We had running water and could even use the washing machine to wash clothes but only had cold water. The water heater was electric and it was too much of a drain on our electric system.
Same with the requests for a microwave (though those likely would have been fried in the event
anyway). We could have installed a gas water heater but everyone knew the propane supply was limited to what we now had and no more would be available for a long time and maybe even forever.
With some ingenuity and also a little risk Del and Don brought home several larger propane tanks from our old community. There had never been natural gas there and many homes had some size of propane tank. The hundred pound tanks were easy to move and then they went up to the hundred gallon size tanks which were substantially heavier. They even managed to bring back a couple of two hundred fifty gallon tanks by hooking both quads together to pull the heavy trailer.
None of the larger tanks were completely full but we ended up with quite a bit of propane. Another small propane heater was found and installed in the main house. The propane would never go ‘bad’ and should last us quite some time with careful use.
All three kids were growing and additional clothes and larger sizes were found and brought back to the ranch. Along with shoes in every size so we all would have extras as we wore out what we started with. Many times on scavenging trips guns were found but we had enough so only seldom were any of those brought back. All ammunition was brought home though. Both for our use and so there was never a chance of it being used against us.
Along with all the supplies that were being brought to the ranch the two boys were able to bring back three empty covered trailers that made excellent sealed storage sheds. The covered trailers were way too heavy on the hitch even empty for the quads but the two boys found a couple of two-wheeled cart type things with ball hitches on them that were made to help move a trailer by hand and they adapted those so they could be hooked up to the quad.
The cart took all the hitch weight and then the quad only had to provide the pulling power. They doubled up the quads to pull the heavy trailers to the ranch. We also decided those carts could also be used with any two-wheeled trailer and easily adapted so one or two horses could then pull the trailer.
Though we now had enough food for the present time and the garden looked to be a good producer any food found was always brought back. In many cases it might only be spices or plain flour or sugar but it was always brought back. Another item that was always brought home was any salt that was ever found. Every home usually had some salt and even water softener salt if it had no additives was brought back. We all started to think long term on our survival and salt would always be useful.
While there was plenty of gas available yet the two quads were showing quite a lot of wear from all the heavy use that they were never designed to do. At some point we would be down to walking. With that in mind many bicycles were salvaged along with any spare tires and tubes that could be found. Carts were made or adapted to be pulled by the bikes and other carts for hand use.
And always books were sought out on every scavenging run. Also any medical supplies that could be found. Pills were taken from every medicine cabinet and books were found to tell us what pills were used for what ailment. We did not stop there and sought out everything we could find on home remedies, herbal medicine, natural healing, and local medicinal plants. Books on the southwest Indians often told us what they ate and what they used for their medical needs.
Though we found very few, any seeds were brought back to the ranch. Del and Don had some seeds in their supplies that would also be a big help. As the garden was growing we allowed some of each plant to ‘go-to-seed’ so we could harvest the seeds to use next year. Fruit trees growing by houses were located and marked on detailed maps for us to harvest when the fruit ripened.
Finding a canner was not a problem and we found several but canning jars and especially lids were in very short supply. We obviously could not manufacture the lids and sought out alternate options. Some jars that contained commercial food (like spaghetti sauce) we found could be reused and they would reseal in a canner. We saved all jars with screw-on lids to reuse.
We also built a couple of natural solar dehydrators and used them to dry fruits and vegetables. What a simple thing and it worked so well. The dried fruits were a very tasty and could be carried as traveling food. Or re-hydrated and used for cooking.
We found that a surprisingly large number of native plants could be eaten though some were certainly better than others. We had never realized there was so much food hidden in the desert. In late July and August the mesquite pods ripened and we harvested a lot of them. Using a couple of hand grinders we found we made some mesquite flour.
Actually we ground a lot pods into flour. The flour was very sweet and had a very different but not unpleasant taste. The ladies found that the mesquite flour was rather difficult to bake with and mostly used a mixture of regular flour with it. Still it would certainly stretch our limited supply of regular wheat flour a long way.
The mesquite pods were so sweet that that we read that you could boil them and then boil down the ‘pod water’ much like maple sap to make a sweet syrup or even hard candy. There were certainly plenty of pods we could harvest but left that syrup experiment for another year’s harvest. We had some experience with making maple syrup in Wisconsin and knew just how much boiling that took. It was quite a job for what you ended up with at the end.
Chapter Eleven
The garden did produce fairly well, everything considered and gave us all some great learning experience so we are confident that next year’s garden will be much better. Even after the boys got the electric pump working we still used the windmill for watering the garden.
Don and Del managed to catch a couple of horses and were able to find saddles for them. It was quite a learning experience for the two boys learning the ins and outs of riding horse but they did seem to master it. I think the horses they caught were very tame and that was a big help to them.
Things did not all go smooth at the ranch of course. Bill fell and broke his left arm somehow. He literally just tripped and fell but must have landed just wrong because when he got up off the ground the arm had quite a kink in it. That kid sure is a trooper and when we set the arm straight he did turn white but never uttered a sound. Part of the scavenged medical supplies included some splints and we wrapped the arm well after setting it.
It was a fight getting him to not use that arm but with all of us keeping an eye on him we were able to keep the splint in place for about five weeks. He seems to have full use of the arm and hand so we were very lucky.
We have all received many cuts, bruises, and various sprains. We do know the danger that even a minor cut can now possess and are extremely careful so nothing gets infected. We now have a fair amount of different antibiotic creams and ointments and even some oral antibiotics if we need them.
Sue is totally back to normal after the bullet wound in the head. None of us ever catch her making any speech mistakes anymore.
Little Jon is growing like a weed and seems to really enjoy life on the ranch. I think Debbie misses her old life the most but she never talks about the old life and still seems happy.
With the cooler fall weather the boys went out and brought back a steer and we butchered it. Again the meat was turned into jerky that could be used as is or used in cooking. Making the jerky in the oven takes about four hours per batch and sure warms up the kitchen nice. The smell of the drying/cooking jerky makes us all pretty hungry though.
There isn’t that much for wood close around here and though we thought about hauling some we did not know if it was worth the effort. Often when going for a hike one of us will take a hand cart and pick up whatever scrap wood we find to haul back. As the weather gets colder the little wood stove in the kitchen is very popular in the mornings and when it is going we use it for our cooking needs to save on propane.
One of the best things that we managed to scavenge was some chickens. There was a chicken coop already here on the ranch and we cleaned that out when we found the chickens. We did also find some feed but mostly they just are free ranging.
After a bit of thought we scavenged all the birdseed from our old community. Many peo
ple fed the birds there and we hauled back a lot of bird seed. As we thought the bird seed was great for the chickens. We fed them for awhile until they got used to us and the new place and then just let them go fend for themselves most of the time. They go back in the coop in the evenings all by themselves. We keep a good lookout for critters because everything eats chickens. All of us shoot any coyote, bobcat, or raccoon we see.
We do enjoy the fresh rabbit meat we get on occasion and there are many quail in the area that also provide meat for us. We often do our hunting at some distance from the ranch to not totally deplete the local populations. We don’t use a shotgun and just use a twenty two rifle on the quail we shoot.
We never found out what caused the event that shut down the power and fried the electronics. Our best guess is that the sun did it. Our reasoning is that if it was a foreign power we would have been invaded but we never saw that happen.
Also if it was bombs or missiles that caused it we all thought the United States military had their equipment hardened for that and that equipment should still be functional. But none of us has ever seen any aircraft since the event happened. Not a single jet or contrail has ever passed through the sky. To us that also means it was a worldwide event and not just in our country.
If nothing else other countries would fly over just to taunt us. It is possible our military ground vehicles still work but we have not seen any. Just because we haven’t seen any does not mean much though because we are well off the beaten path. Even the local highways never did get much use at all.
So we all just figure we are totally on our own out here. We all try not to think about the many millions of our countrymen that have died since the event happened. I think it is likely close to ninety percent of the population by this time has died.
We were all just so dependent on all that electric stuff and on our vehicles. Hardly anyone anywhere grew a garden before the event. Granted there were still many people who still hunted but that was mostly for sport and often involved a trip to a hunting area that would be difficult at best now with no transportation available.