Where Legends Walked

The day started off with a plan to go to Camping World for some X Chock braces for the 5th wheel tires (done) and then a driving tour around Saguaro East National Park.  We drove up the Gates Pass Road where no RV's or vehicles over 20K lbs are allowed and it was beautiful.  At the bottom of the road was Old Tucson Studios and we decided to stop there for lunch before heading off to the Park.  Well, we had no idea that this place was simply remarkable and FUN! We spent all day till about 5:30 just there. If you go to Tucson, this is a must do. Without a doubt. Over 300 movies, television and music videos have been shot here. The whole attraction is very professional, and extremely well done. So much for stopping just for lunch.

Billy the Kid forms an outlaw alliance with Dirty Dave Rudabaugh

We saw a number of 'shows' throughout the day and they were all timed so that you could go onto the next show without rushing and be very relaxed.  There is a hesitation to talk too much about it, as it might spoil your visit!  We laughed, we sang, we cheered, we were scared ( Haunted Mine Tour) and there was even a walk up Margaritas to go window!  Good on a hot day.

I took a short video clip of part of the Wild Wild West Show - if you have mifi or limited usage, best give 'er a miss, pardner! It's just a shortie, but this show was based on Secret Agent Jim West and Artemis Gordon and their enemy.  

There was not one show today that we did not enjoy, and each one was so very different.  My favorite was The Secret of Santa Maria which was a comedy  in front of the Mission Movie Set. Hilarious.

If you had a day doing 'old west' activities in southern Arizona, my advice would be to miss Tombstone and do the Studios.  I think tomorrow we may have to rest up!

Wilderness in the City

It feels like we are way out in the desert here at Catalina State Park, and yet, out the entrance of the park is In and Out Burger and Walmart.  There is not really any highway noise, either.  Pretty perfect for a city stay.

catalina state park, tucson, arizona

Since it was a short drive day, we got set up and then headed off to Sabino Canyon, a National Forest Park.  It is beautiful there, and you can take a tram in a couple of directions to hiking stops, small beaches on the river and other sights.  We got to use our Annual Access Pass once again, so we are very pleased with the decision to spend the $80 for a years' pass.

Tomorrow we have a couple of ideas of places to see, but we'll decide in the morning.  And here's today's bird photos:

Mr. Cardinal hanging out at Sabino Canyon Bird Identification Display, Yep.. he's on there!

Thanks Kevin and Ruth!

Kevin and Ruth did some more research for us, and have found out why we were refused.  ( Thanks, guys! )Yes, we did not know it was on an active military base, however, we were encouraged to visit the museum, bowling alley, cafe, etc on the Yuma base so thought this would be no problem. Our mistake.  We were encouraged by the brochures and tourist offices to visit the Fort.  End result: we perhaps should have been informed by the tourist information places that we would not be able to visit and also, there should be some sort of information at the bottom of the many pamphlets about the Fort about who is eligible to visit.  Enough said, no worries.  ( it also would have been helpful if the main gate attendant had not said "welcome, please pull up ahead to get your day pass"). It was the second guard who stopped us, and was annoyed at the first one. Well, it was interesting for sure.

We have looked ahead and there are wind warnings of 55 mph gusts for New Mexico for the next few days.  We have amended our travel plans, which are flexible anyway, to travel to Catalina State Park in Arizona to enjoy some further things around the Tucson area.  Looking forward to that.

I also finally go around to registering for the Boomer group of Escapees.  I can't understand why I have no time to do these things!!!!(ha)

Checking out Chiricahua

What a great day again.  It is too bad the pictures of the rock formations do not do justice to what they really looked like.  Isn't that the case with most 'scene' pictures, especially of mountains?  You just cannot seem to get a sense of the magnificence of what you are actually seeing with your own eyes.

This little Jay was trying to drink at the water fountain near the Visitor Center.  A very pretty blue.

We took the 8.5 mile drive to the top of the lookout summit called Massai Point and to a further lookout, Sugarloaf. 

Tonight's entertainment at the clubhouse is Pizza, Burgers and some music group called the Elliotts. We don't know what that is about.  We might have to have a little snooze before the wild times begin.
Of course, the calm weather has left and another howler of wind is beginning. Whooooooshhhhhh.

A Six Things Day

Today we were up and at 'em early:
 1. Amerind Foundation and Museum. It was ok only.  A small collection of artifacts.  The Foundation studies American Native Cultures and apparently has an extensive library, which we did not see.  WE were very disappointed as the Museum starts its' exhibits with the "alaskan" eskimos, which we know as Inuit, then the Haida, Tahltan, Tlingit and Gitksan people.  This was all good, except from the Gitksan people to the Shuswap people, there were apparently no First Nations.  I am sure that the Wet'suwet'en peoples would be upset to find that they have been neglected. No pictures were allowed at the Foundation.

2. Elfrida for lunch at the Round Up Cafe.  Mmm Mmm.

3. Hike at Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area.  We would have been thrilled to have seen the 20,000 Sandhill Cranes that winter there, but alas, they left a couple of weeks ago.  We looked in the mud for any tracks of their feet, but we could not find any.  We did however, see a few lovely Vermillion Flycatchers and a gorgeous Great Horned Owl. The cranes pass by our house in Northern BC in early May on their way to the Arctic.

Are you looking at me?

  4. Tombstone walkabout.  The town that never died.  We had an afternoon 'refreshment' at Big Nose Kate's Saloon.

For our US friends and readers: the Canadian government dissolved today in a vote of non-confidence. We are facing an election in 5 weeks, and now we have to find out how to vote from afar.

6. Fish Fry at SKP Saguaro.  We met Doug and Joanne, fellow bloggers,at the Fish Fry, and enjoyed the company of the gentlemen at our table. Please send good thoughts for Doug and Joanne.

After all that, we walked back from the clubhouse to the television in the fifth wheel, to catch any news with today's vote in Parliament.  To Paulette: Yes indeedy, I did spend some time in the 'Cowgirl up" quilt shop in Benson.

Saguaro SKP Co-Op

We are enjoying our time here in the SKP Park even though the 'season' is winding down here, along with the activities.  Happy Hour is every day at 4:00 PM, and there has been about 15 friendly people in the couple of times we have attended. This park is extremely well organized and we look forward to the Fish Fry tomorrow evening and maybe pizza the next night before some entertainment.

With many members leaving to go to home bases further north, we have been able to rent one of the leased lots.  It is a lovely corner lot with a casita and a view over the valley.

A phone call home to BC today relayed the information that there is still lots of snow!!! I think we'll take our time yet before heading north.  It was good to talk to our friend and RV buddy, Lorne, though.  We are checking out some railway sites for him on our travels so that he can check them out  - hey Lorne are you ready to trade next winter's snow for trains and depots of the Southwest?  Today in the Benson Tourist information building we saw a picture of a fabulous looking old depot in Douglas, Arizona.  Does anyone know if this still exists?

Tomorrow will be a longer day adventure.... stay tuned. 

And we went Underground

We are here for a week at the Saguaro SKP Co-Op, with a beautiful corner lot and casita overlooking the valley in Benson.  There is so much to do in this area, so this will be our home base,while we do day trips.  Today we headed off to Tombstone, but it was very early in the day, so continued onto Bisbee, ( est. 1880 ) recommended by many rv bloggers!

We managed to catch the 10:30 am Queen Mine Tour.  Very fun and informative.  Having to wear the miner gear was a little goofy, but the little lamps we wore around our neck did help lighting up areas we each wanted to see.  It was cold in there though!

Mine entrance and 'engine' of our little train

The new camera was well worth it today as it was able to take some shots inside the tunnel.  The tour was about an hour long and we were glad to be back out into the sunshine and warm up. There were some guys wearing shorts and Tshirts..at least we knew to wear long pants and a jacket.

Yes, we got to handle some dynamite. " Pass it around, people, have a feel of that stick"! Ok. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the Bisbee Hotel and then drove out to the open pit mine.  What we found interesting was that even though there was an old town Bisbee, there is a new town just beyond the open pit mine with war time housing and further interesting architecture.

Corner of the Bisbee Hotel

Our final stop before coming back to the Eagle for a snooze, was to stop in St. David's at the Benedictine Monastery, where you can visit, and stay in their little RV Park! There were about 20 RV's there and they looked like they had at least water and power.  I guess that would have been one more different type of RV accomodation to experience, but the SKP Park is great, so we'll stay here.

Gift after the Windstorm

Well, the wind on our tour of Organ Pipe was nothing compared till after we got home, last night and most of today.  All the slides were brought in.  There was a bad wind night when we were at Imperial Dam LTVA and this was just as bad. We paid for another night, as there was no travelling today on the roads. About  5 pm , the wind finally died down and the neighbours emerged from their respective RV's to hunt all over for any missing mats or other things.


As so often with nature, there is a ying and a yang, and we were blessed with a double rainbow after a small rain shower.   Simply beautiful.

WHY are we blowing???

  Here in Why the winds started early in the morning, but did not keep us from enjoying our day.  We started on the way to Organ Pipe National Monument. First, we quickly ran down past the National Monument to Lukeville on the border, just 'cus. There were lineups to get back, since it was a Sunday and the end of school spring break.

The campground at Organ Pipe was great even for large RV's. Even though we are not staying there this time, it was good to check it out.

Organ Pipe Cactus

   The wind was blowing very hard with a cloud cover, so the skies were very dull today.  We stopped at the Visitor Centre and picked up a guide for plants and cactus in the southwest. The 21 mile Ajo Mountain Drive was still completed though, and wow! that road needs to be graded again.  It took us a couple of hours, and we stopped half way through to have lunch at Estes Canyon.  This little guy decided to visit us at the ramada

There were interesting arches that we perhaps saw yesterday on our drive through the nearby roads, and today from another side of the mountain.  The arches are created by weather action, not wind. Well, you would think it was wind today.

Yep, that's the colour of the sky today - see the 2 arches?

So many things just blend away into the desert.  An interpreter at the Ajo Museum said to look for the buildings that have melted into the desert. Animals are so camoflaged and so are the bones.

Thanks again to the Bayfield Bunch for their recommendation of an RV park here. 

Our view, Why, Arizona. Yesterday, No winds, Blue(ish) Sky.

We may stay here another day till these winds blow out.

Day Tour of AJO

Our visiting day in Ajo was very enjoyable.  Al from the Bayfield Bunch emailed us about taking the Ajo Scenic Loop, which is a 10.9 gravel road route.  It was recently graded and took us through a higher area outside of town, in the Sonoran Desert.  There were a few boondockers on Darby Wells Road. 

The first stop in the morning was to the Post Office to mail some parcels to the boys and get some more stamps, and of course, coffee time in the Ajo Plaza.  What a lovely spot, but too bad it is not busier with more businesses. We found out later the Library is one of the 'hotspots' of activity in the winter.

The nest stop was the Interpretive Center of the Wildlife Refuge, where we learned that a large portion is now closed to any activity due to the fawning season of the Pronghorn Antelope.   We picked up a book on Desert Cactus at the gift shop in order to identify and learn more! 

Next on the day's agenda were visits to the Ajo Museum, where there were at least 4 volunteer interpreters and townspeople, who were very proud of Ajo and it's history.  There, we were also encouraged to drive the Ajo Scenic Loop and were given the brochure to read along the way, explaining interesting points.  Of course, Ajo being a mining town, there was a room of rocks and specimens of all sorts.  We are not 'rock' people but volunteers at both the mine information building and the museum were - boy o boy those people love rocks. I probably should have paid more attention when the geology portion of science came up in High School.  See - you never know when you need that information, I always told my kids! 

Stained glass windows of the Catholic Church, set in hardened sand, rather than lead

Closed Mine

Imperial Dam LTVA to Ajo

Just before we left Yuma and the Imperial Dam area, we made a quick trip to a Verizon Wireless store to change the address on our account.  You can't do that online with a Canadian address.  It also seems we need at new wall plug cord, and of course, they do not stock anything at the store.  So, who knows when that will be arranged, as they are shipped UPS, but we are on the road with no plans for a longer stay anywhere.  The component is covered under warranty, so it just may have to wait for a bit.

We were too early for the opening of the Verizon store, and there was another store across the street open that somehow managed to get us to spend some moolah for a new camera. So far, it's a great little camera : Nikon S9100.  I haven't tried a night shot as yet.

Julie and Ed saying so long!

We drove from Imperial through the Dome Valley, rather than to Yuma, in order to catch I 8 East.  What a pretty valley of very busy farms.  Workers were picking lettuces and we also saw some fields of strawberries being covered by remay ( white cloth ) probably in order to keep the birds off.

The Desert Rat

A very warm day of driving, but tonight we are in Ajo, enjoying a night at Shadowridge RV Park.  They accept Passport America, so it only cost $12 tonight, and it sure was worth it for some air conditioners, and both were turned on full blast!  We drove up to the viewpoint to have a look at the closed down Cornelia Copper Mine and at the old railway station.

We will try to go back to the mine in the morning, to see if we can get some information and history.  It was way way down!

We look forward tomorrow to learning more about this little town and its beautiful architecture.  Some people have asked how our old cat is doing without her fur friend - she is fine, has turned very clingy, but she is most likely enjoying the air being on in the fifth and much cooler!

see ya later to new friends

Today we are on the road again, after a great day here at the Imperial Valley.  We finally met up with Val and Claude, who just arrived here and are camped down at the beach front property by the lake.  They joined for us a quick glass of wine before they headed off to another Happy Hour by the lake. 

Ok, Ed, go fill up your plate!

Kim cooked dinner last evening for Ed, Julie, Bob and Delores with marinated steaks, spinach salad, wine and a hot weather dessert of lemon loaf cake, strawberries and whipped cream. Mmm.  We feel very fortunate to have met such great people.  Both couples spend the winter months there at Imperial Dam LTVA, and would love us to come back and be here longer!  Oh but there is so much to see... and it is hard to leave....so, we say " see you later", rather than goodbye!

Goulash Fun

Can you believe I forgot my camera.  Darn.  Must be that mentalpause.  Or the heat.  Or the crazy burros heeing and hawing all night!  Well, we had fun with the neighbours here at Imperial Dam.  Goulash was supplied by Rhode Island Bob and his lovely wife Dee, with garlic bread made by Indiana Ed and Julie.  The rest of us supplied salads, pickles and desserts. Mmm Mmm.  Lots of good conversation and just good people. We brought a Louisiana Lemon Coconut Cake and a Watermelon and our friend Bob Stone brought a lovely fruit platter.  Just right for a hot day.

Earlier Bob, Jake, Don and I  decided to run into town to take in the Mesa Outdoor Market, in order to enjoy a Gyro for lunch.  My oh My - this blog is turning out all about food!  We drove the rural way into town, through Bard and the agricultural fields. Again with the food! Only it was lettuce.... We thought about going to the Yuma Lettuce Days Festival, but standing in the sun on hot pavement was not that appealing.

Tomorrow, Bob and Jake, both of Calgary, are leaving for further places.  We have a few days here yet, and we are excited that we may get to meet fellow bloggers, Claude and Val   They also live in the Shuswap area.  It is pretty cool when you can email your GPS coordinates to fellow bloggers..... of course you can still write long explanations..... ok, turn at the Big Guns...

We talked to a couple at the dinner this evening who rent a lot in the Fortuna Foothills.  We are not that serious about any purchase, and feel that some of the prices are too high.  It is a large area, so there is always a few lots for sale... maybe another year.

To Trent and Theresa - we would like to answer your questions but could not find an email address to pm you..... if you care to drop us a line we will do our best to answer some of your RV questions!

Looking at real estate

Just a quick post today.  Yesterday was a shopping and chore day, however, we did drive around the Fortuna Foothills area of Yuma, looking at Real Estate.  We must have rocks in our heads, as I have been known to say. And no, we didn't see anything that appealed to us.  We like the idea of owning your own lot in a suburb, not an RV park, with power etc already available and a really good normal size city lot. We will leave that under further consideration. We also got ideas on further development of the Shuswap lot from our little tour.

Upon on return, we joined the neighbours for happy hour.  They have invited us for Sunday dinner for 'goulash'.  I think some pictures are in order and will be posted after the event! 

Thank you and a busy warm day

We wish to thank all the fellow bloggers who commented and those who sent private e mails to us with condolences on the loss of our dear little dog, Ally.  Your kind words did make our time easier.

We did not get much sleep that night after she passed, but decided to get busy and we made a jaunt over to Algodones, Mexico with our friend Bob Stone, who is also at the Imperial Dam LTVA.  The major chore was to get Donald's eyes tested and new glasses.  We visited Algodones Optical, and he had his eyes tested, and picked up a pair of designer progressive lense glasses and another pair of non-designer progressive glasses all for the total of $150.00, with guarantees. He looks pretty spiffy.

It was very hot, and we had to wait till 3:00 to pick up the glasses, so we wandered for a bit amongst the vendors with out buying anything, and then headed for a cool glass of *something* before 3:00 and heading to the lineup to come back across the border.  The lineup was not that bad, and we only had about a 45 minute wait.  It would have been a lot faster - there are about 6 spots in the US border desk for guards, and only 2 were working.

Bob playing magic tricks with his Strawberry Margarita - look girls, what your Dad is doing!

When we returned to Yuma, Bob treated us to a dinner at the Golden Corral, which was very good and then we went to Target, as he wanted to pick up a baby seat for his grand-daughters visit at the end of the month. 

When we arrived back at the LTVA,  Bob's neighbour from Calgary had arrived for a couple of days. Welcome to Jake!

Our beloved Ally 1999 - 2011

Ally walking us, Bouse, Arizona

As you may have read in the last couple of days, Ally was having trouble with an ear infection. She saw the Vet here in Yuma, her heart, temperature and a quick check up was done and medicine given for her ear infection.  The next day, she threw up a couple of times, but still was drinking and eating her supper.  Today she was very much perked up and was begging for anyone to share their sandwich at lunch.  At about 5 PM, she lay down in front of the screen door of the fifth wheel, and passed away.  We don't know why, and feel that she did not suffer long.  I suspect she may have had a stroke or heart attack, or intestinal problem.  We are very upset. 

Ally came into our home as a birthday present to our youngest son when he was in Grade 4.  Her mum was a purebred Mini poodle, and the father was some local mutt.  Quickly she assumed her role of the boss of the house, and was so excited when any member of the family came home. She travelled all over western Canada on family vacations and now in the southwestern US.  In her later years, she was rarely on a leash, staying quietly by our sides.  She loved the Shuswap RV lot, preferring to lay on the deck, watching the neighbourhood and anyone walking by.  Her favourite food was banana, followed closely by mandarin oranges. 

Anderson Flats, British Columbia

'til we meet again