Bisbee then Tombstone

Benson,  AZ

Welcome to Donna and Russ of http://www.therapytravels.blogspot.com/.  Glad you dropped in.

Since we arrived for our month in Benson, we had been planning on spending time with my HS friend Carolyn.  One thing or other caused postponements but yesterday we finally got together.   Carolyn moved from NJ to this area in the mid 70's and has never looked back.

She owns a small Bed and Breakfast called Quails Nest Inn in Tombstone.   I had checked her website and find the pictures do not do her home justice.  I took several of my own - here are a few.

Guest living area

Guest dining area

One of several outside seating areas

Outside seating area near fish pond.

We then drove over to Bisbee.  She first showed us a huge copper/silver mine.  They give tours but this time of year it would be very cold down there.  No thanks, pass on that.

We had lunch at the Grand Hotel in Bisbee.   Quite a stately old hotel.

Lobby of Grand Hotel

After lunch we walked around town.   Bisbee is certainly a tourist town.  Lots of shops with overpriced goods.   I am not the shopping kind and even if a were, living in a Fiver, where would I put "stuff".   A little walkaround was enough for us.

After dropping Carolyn off, Leonard and I walked around the town of Tombstone.

Lobby of Birdcage Theater

Tombstone, too, is a tourist town.  However, this is one we want to spend more time in.  We were there just long enough to take a quick walkaround and for Len to find a silver and turquoise ring he just had to have.

My right foot is still sore and somewhat swollen from the sprain of almost three weeks ago.  By the time we walked around Bisbee and a little in Tombstone, I was feeling it.   We will return to Tombstone next week and I will keep a tighter rein on Leonard if he sees anything else he just has to have!

Can't stand all this excitement!

Benson,   AZ

Such an exciting day!

First we took our trash to the dumpsters:

Then we did the laundry:

Then to really get some excitement into our day, we worked on the jigsaw puzzle we started two days ago.

Maybe, just, maybe we will finish the puzzle tonight!

Out for a drive

Benson,  AZ

Welcome to Harold Hutchens who recently took a look at our blog and signed on as a follower.  Glad to see you here.

The last few days have been extremely cold here in southern Arizona.   The locals are certainly not used to these temps.   It would fall up below 10 degrees at night and only reach low 30's during the day with high winds.   On Tuesday and Wednesday we hung low and mostly stayed in the rig.  We did go out to dinner one night with our friend Judy, whom we first met in Tennessee.

On Friday we drove over to Hereford and visited my cousin Muriel.  We have so much to catch up on it must be really boring for Leonard to sit and listen - oh well!

This afternoon we decided it was time to shake the dust off and go for a ride.   We headed out on Rt 90  from Benson.  Our first stop was Kartchner Caverns State Park.

We thought about going into the caverns but two things stopped us:   my foot is still giving me problems when I do a lot of walking but mostly what stopped us was the cost $6.00 to park and $25.00 EACH for the tour.   We've seen enough caves and caverns so were not about to pay $56.00 to see another.

The guard did let us drive though the park (as long as we did not park the car).   There looks to be a decent campground with full hook up.   I think the sign said $20. a night.  Not bad.

We traveled on down Rt 90 to RT 82 and headed west.   What beautiful scenery.   We were climbing higher into the mountains.   On both sides were miles and miles of waving grass with mountains for a backdrop.

When we got to Rt 83 we turned right and headed back north.   We rode through a beautiful stretch of highway of about 20 miles.   About midway, we saw a sign at a dirt road indicating the Historical Empire Ranch.    We turned on to the dirt road.

About 3.5 miles back the bumpy road we found the remains of the Empire Ranch.

The ranch was established in 1860.   They were instrumental in the breeding and promotion of Hereford cattle.   AHA!   My cousin Muriel lives in nearby Hereford.  I now see the connection.  At one time the ranch was comprised of over ONE MILLION acres.   It now sits on 42,000 acres of BLM land in the Las Cienegas Natural Conservation Area. 

As you can see by the above picture, work is being done to restore the buildings.   Many movies were filmed on this property.    They include Red River staring John Wayne and later Red River staring James Arness.  Also scenes from Oklahoma!, 3:10 to Yuma, The Big Country (one of my favorites staring Gregory Peck),  Outlaw Josie Wales and a long list of other movies and tv shows including Bonanza.

After leaving the BLM area, the drive was mostly downhill.   A few of the curves were door handle holders.

We reached I10 and headed back east to Benson.  The total loop was 101 miles, including the side trip to the ranch.   

Once home we made a quick supper of pasta with white clam sauce and threw in a few nice shrimp friend Judy had given us.  Yummy!

Again, we are hearing the slide toppers flapping in the wind and feel the rig shake a little.

Been a year

Benson,  AZ

It was one year ago today that we left of NJ for our fulltime travel life.   I can't say we started then as fulltime RVer's as we had lived in the rig one year while still working.    When we left NJ there was almost a foot of snow on the ground.   Days later they got 3 feet and a few days after that, 2 more.   This year they are getting pounded again.    

Yesterday it was chilly and windy.  We decided to just ride around the area.  I am glad we did as in the morning my ankle felt almost fine, but by the afternoon there was a lot of swelling.

Our first destination was about 14 miles east of here to get a closer look at Texas Canyon.   Why it's called Texas we don't know!

This is an unexpected area of large rock formations.    I10 takes you right through the midst of it.   It got me thinking about our Grandson Justin.  He emailed me last week saying he was jealous because he has read about the various rock formations in this area and would love to see it and also the bright stars in night.   We hope someday he will get this opportunity.

We then drove through the Dragoon Mountains through Willcox and then to the town of Pearce.  A sign indicated that gold was found there many years ago and the population of the town was over 1,500.  Current population - 15.     This mountain contained gold, you can see concrete ledges built into the side of it.

There must have been some criminal activity back then as these look like jails.  There is no sign indicating this is what they were.  We are just assuming.

After going through Pearce, we found a dirt road going higher into the mountains.    We passed by what appears to be a ghost town.  According to some literature I have, it might be the town of Russellville.  This is some of what is left.

When we got down from the mountains it was after 1 and we were hungry.   Where to find food!  We were out in the desert in the middle of nowhere.    But, there it was - at the intersection of 181 and 191 - a little restaurant only open for breakfast and lunch.   We got there at 1:20.   It was really quite good and the place was so cute.  Wish I took a picture.

Soon after leaving the restaurant, we drove through a check point.

Then we could see the wind whipping up as the sky darkened up ahead.  According to our GPS, Lucy, we were 49 miles from "home"

The rains came for about 5 minutes and then the darkness lifted.   When we got back to the park, we could see it had rained heavier there.  Our lawn chairs were holding a puddle of water in the seats, there were puddles every where.    About 45 minutes later the winds started again and then another downpour that lasted about 5 minutes.

One other thing - Leonard called the RV dealer about the steps.  They are sending ANOTHER set.   We now know for sure why they are being agreeable.   When we picked up our mail, there was the copy of the letter Good Sam sent to them!  Whatever it takes.

Getting reacquainted and old/new steps

Benson,  AZ

We were looking forward to spending time with my cousin and an high school friend this weekend.  And we did. 

Yesterday my cousin, Muriel, who lives down in Hereford, came up to the campground.  We visited almost all day and went out for lunch.

This is me on left, Muriel on the right.   Our mothers are half sisters.   They had the same father.   We had a great time getting caught up.    We had our new steps sent to her so she brought them up to us.  We are planning on getting together again on Thursday where she will be our tour guide.  Murial has lived in this area for several years.

This morning we attended the local Methodist Church.   When we got there we heard someone ask "Who are the NOMADS?"   (We have a sign on our truck).   What a surprise.  It was the NOMAD couple we met back last month at Rockhound State Park in Deming, NM.   They are at the campground next to ours. Small world, indeed.

After church we met for lunch with my High School friend Carolyn who lives over in Tombstone.   She moved down here in the early 70's.

Carolyn was a Bridesmaid in my "first" wedding back when we were both young.   She married a few years later when I was 8 months pregnant with Terri, so Amy was her flower girl.    We will catch up with her next weekend and she will be our tour guide in a neighboring area she says she likes a lot.

So then we came back to the park.  Leonard took off the old steps.

While Lucky Cat looked on.

Then he installed the new steps.

See the improvement?   NEITHER DO WE!!!!!   We still have steps that are way too short for our rig.   We still need to use the platform as a bottom step.   We still have a large step down between and bottom and step and the platform.  Considering we are parked on a 2" slab, we are over 20" from bottom step to ground.  Without slab it would still be over a 18" drop.   Unacceptable.  Will be making another phone call tomorrow.  

We do like this park.   Everyone is so nice.  This is the club house.

Not too shabby, is it?

Gotta plan what we will see tomorrow.  I am still having ankle issues and tire out easily when walking.  I do hope more swelling goes down soon.  We have things to do and places to see.

From Tucson to Benson

Benson,  AZ

We (they) finished up the ceiling yesterday at Hope UMC.   I was of no help all week due to sprained ankle.  It is still swollen, making walking difficult.

Len drove the final nail in the trim.

The ceiling looks great.   The spotlights were painted and new fans installed.

We all celebrated the completion of the project and our last day by going to Red Lobster for dinner.   Mary Lou and Paul had a friend couple passing through the area and asked that they join us.   When Mary Lou introduced the woman to Leonard and I she told us that Erna once lived in NJ.    Erna told us she lived in SEABROOK when she was 15-17 and she and her father worked at Seabrook Farms. 

HEY!   We are from Seabrook!  Leonard was Asst Chief of Seabrook Fire Co. and I retired from Seabrook Bros and Sons which was founded by the grandsons of CF Seabrook who owned Seabrook Farms back in the day.  Unbelievable!!!!   She now lives in Wisconsin.

We left Tucson this morning at 8 for our 45 mile drive, arriving at the Escapees SKP park at 9.   As this is a very popular time for RVers in the southern Arizona area, we wanted to make sure we got a site at this membership park.   This park is a co-op with the sites owned by members.  The only available sites for transients are those where the owners are away.

We were put in site 1, way in the back of the park.  We are so pleased with this location.

The sites are really large.  There is a small building on our door side with a patio.  We do not have access to the building but have set up our table, grill and lawn chairs on the patio.  We have no neighbors on one side of us.  We look out over the mountains.  They tell us the sunsets are not to miss.

Once we got settled, I called my cousin Muriel who lives in nearby Hereford.   We had our new steps sent to her and they arrived yesterday.  She is bringing them to us tomorrow.  I am so looking forward to getting reacquainted with her.

We then did the WalMart thing.   Judy, who we met at the Escapees Park in Tennessee, was due to arrive here today.   I called her on the way back from WalMart and she was about 3 miles away.  We waited at check-in to give her a hug and hello.   She is traveling with her son and DIL but in her own rig.  They were a few miles behind her.  

There is a chicken dinner tonight at the Club House.  We bought the last two tickets.   We are glad to now have this time site see and relax.  Oh, and for our friends and family in the northeast, it is low 70's and sunny today.

I'm down for the count

Tucson,  AZ

Welcome to TrailerCamper from Seattle!  Glad to see you both here.

This has not been the healthiest crew at this NOMADS project.   Betsy has an ongoing breathing issue which makes it impossible for her to work.   Cheryl was not feeling well and had a constant cough.  She finally went to the Urgent Care Center and found she has bronchitis.   She is feeling better this week but is not completely healed.   Paul started feeling bad on Saturday.   Mary Lou took him to Urgent Care this morning.  He has pneumonia.   No more working on this project for him.

I was feeling great!   BUT - coming out of the fiver after lunch today, one leg of the platform (yes the one we needed to get because of the screw up with our steps) collapsed when I stepped down on to it.   I fell twisting my right ankle and scraping the front of my left leg on the platform.

So to Urgent Care I went also.   I am now on crutches.   My left leg has a large gash and is taped with bandages.  My right leg is wrapped in an Ace bandage and is swollen and sprained.   In addition my left wrist is swollen and bruised where I came down on it.    I ache, but not a lot.   But - no more work for me this week either.

Who is left to work?    Leonard, Janet, Jim, Del and Bill who was sick yesterday and still not really up to par.    The ceiling will get done - provided no more accidents, sickness, etc.