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.