Wild West Remembered...

So far, we've really lucked out in our timing, and this visit was another example. Arizona is celebrating it's 100th Birthday this year (on Feb. 14th actually) and Tombstone chose this weekend to celebrate by having live gun fights, music and a number of people roam around in their late 1800's finery! The weather was perfect (a little windy, but not to bad) and the crowds not to big. What we thought would be a "couple hours visit" turned into a full enjoyable day!

We leisurely walked the town, in and out of the shops, watched the gun fights and the saloon antics, listened to the western music, ate at Big Nose Kate's Saloon (pretty good too), visited the Earp brothers' house, watched a bride & groom take photos at the Courthouse where they just got married, saw where the longest continuing newspaper printing (the Epitaph) and ended it all with a visit to the famous Boothill Graveyard on the way out! Phew, what a day!

They had tours that you could purchase - stagecoach tours, to see the old Bird Cage Theatre or to see the OK Corral reenactment, but we really didn't see any need to add them to our day, it was full enough without them, or the additional $10 each, cost. The town itself had plenty enough to see on it's own.





































































































































If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

...kicking back in Arizona, Marie

History lessons...

Day 1 in Huachua City (pronounced wa-CHOO-ka) was spent at Ft Huachuca, much to Jack's glee, something he's been looking forward to for quite some time.

Ft Huachuca was originally set up in 1877 as a temporary camp for the US Calvary from Tucson. It's strategic location near the border made it a key Army post in the American West. It also played an important role in the development of the Buffalo Soldiers.

In 1954 the fort became the site of the Army Electronic Proving Ground. The 73,000+ acres is hdqrs of the Army Information Systems Command, the Army Intelligence Center and various other military organizations (think I spy and Mission Impossible). Their museums were quite impressive (and very educational, I might add).

Day 2 was spent at Kartchner Caverns State Park, to my glee! Something I was really looking forward to, having heard so much about them from friends who stressed that they were a "must see". We were not disappointed! "WOW!" Doesn't cover it. There are two tours to choose from, we went with the "Big Room" which is only open part of the year (closed during bat birthing season we later found out). The cave system is over 7 acres! A great deal of that is in the Big Room. When they say "Big", they mean BIG! Jaw-dropping BIG!

I saw so many new forms and learned so many new terms to go with them, it was mind boggling. Things like: helicites and rimstone dams and canopies and birdsnest quartz needle formations and soda straw formations and on and on.

No pictures to show you, so I can only suggest you go on their website (even that doesn't give you any great pictures). Because they are fastidious about keeping this cavern pristine as possible they take every precaution they can. No cameras, no loose clothing, we went through a misting to keep the lint down, low lights that only come on as we entered, etc. All I can say about this place is put it on your bucket list - it's a MUST SEE!!

Afterward, we drove through the lively town of Benson (not) came back to our little RV Park (nothing to brag about here) pulled out our chairs, took out the books we've started, propped up our feet, and used the rest of the afternoon to read! Ahhh, life in the retired lane is good, indeed!























































































If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

...kicking back in Arizona, Marie

One last stop, then off we go!

Our last day in Phoenix, just a little more time to "see what we can see", so we decided to go to Scottsdale.

Now the last time I had been to Scottsdale, I was about 15, and it was a small "cowboy town" that you could still tie your horses up to. Now I know things change, and places grow, but oh my goodness!! What did they do to Scottsdale? They took it away and put a high-end western version of La Jolla in it's place! They didn't even leave the horse rails! ;-) Pretty things to see, lots of nice public art displayed, even an old adobe mission...




















































As we bid a fond farewell to Phoenix, to our friends (for now) it left us with another one of it's beautiful sunsets as we head to Huachuca City AZ for a few days to enjoy their great sites...















If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can on my Flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

...on the road in Arizona, Marie

Lost and Found

As I have shared before, few things in life are more precious than friendship. Sometimes you don't realize that until you've lost it, or think you have. Coming to Phoenix was all about friendship. The friends we were coming to stay with, and the friends we were coming to try and find again.

The Smith's (that's their real name, so try and Google that!) were friends we had back in San Diego for years. We had gone on vacation together, partied together and just generally hung out together a great deal. Several years ago they moved to Phoenix. We came for a visit once, called and e mailed over the years, but work and life drifted us apart.

Before starting our journey, we sent them e mails, but they bounced back. We tried calling, but the numbers were no longer working. We tried looking up their businesses online, but found nothing. Now what? They had kids in Colorado, but where? We were at a dead end. (Do you have any idea how many Smith's are on Facebook?)

So, when we got to Phoenix, we thought we would go to their home and see if the people living there might have a forwarding address for them. We would also try the gun store that they had owned. So, we did. No one home, but I left a card with a note. When we went to the store, it was closed and empty.

Days went by, and no call. I kept telling myself that maybe the folks were out of town, or that they just enter through the garage and it would take awhile to see the note in the front door.

Then the phone rang. It was them! They hadn't moved after all! (they go through the garage & had just found the note)

One dinner, a bottle of wine and hours of laughter and wonderful conversation later and all is well.

Lesson learned: Don't go so long between visits with friends. The joy they bring into your life is far to precious to loose.

Here's to our friends, one and all! Thank you for being in our lives...for each of you make it much richer for being there!















































...kicking back in Arizona, Marie

Sun, Fun & Friends...

Phoenix isn't a city I would go out of my way to visit, having spent many a summer there as a kid, but we have friends there. So, that was our next stop. Goodbye Lake Havasu, hello Phoenix. Like our wonderful friends in Pahrump, John & Deloris have the side of their house set up for a rig as well; isn't it great to have friends with mini-rv lots? ;-) John is the one who went with Jack to pick up our rig in PA when we bought it, and helped him "learn the ropes" driving it back home. We couldn't set out on our adventure without a good long visit here first! There's nothing more valuable than friendship, and good advise from people who have "lived the life"! We welcomed both!

John's retired, but Deloris still works, so our days are pretty open. That's usually an invitation for me to get out the AAA books and see what's interesting around here! One of the places we read about was the Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting. Both Jack and I have a special love of all things related to firefighting - so that was a natural draw. What a GREAT place! It has hundreds of antique fire engines from all over the world, along with hundreds of helmets, badges, fire hydrants and other equipment, even a working, live communications center. Absolutely beautiful! It's a privately owned and run museum; started when a woman gave an antique engine to her husband to drive the grand kids around in. He liked it so much, he started buying more, "and the rest is history" as they say. What a great treasure to have in your town.
























































If you wish to see all the photos from this trip, you can view them on my Flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/sets/72157629163434355/


...kicking back in Arizona, Marie

Nothing like a good burger!

One of the fun things we like to do is find the local pub, cafe, ice cream parlor, etc. to find the "best eats" - not just the places the tourists are sent to. Most of the time we ask around, sometimes we just spot someplace that looks interesting. That's what happened this night. We felt like "a really good burger" and wandered around town until we spotted this pub with a lot of cars outside (always a good sign). The name immediately intrigued me, Mudshark Brewery & Restaurant.

Now, I have to admit, I am a sucker for blue cheese burgers, so when one is on the menu, I stop right there, no need to go any further. Jack's pretty easy to please, as he pretty much goes for the "basic American-style" burger, but is real picky about his fries. They have to be very well done. Burgers delivered, looking good, even Jack's fries done just the way he likes them. I'm a Jenny Craig student, so when I get my meal, the first thing I do is cut it in half and set one aside to take home for later. That done, I take my first bite. OMG! I don't hardly know how to describe it, except to say, do you remember a time when there was a real popular chocolate dessert called "better than sex cake"? Well, this burger just kicked that cake aside! It was the best bite of anything I had ever taken. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! "To be fair" I told myself, I took a bite of the burger without any blue cheese, one with just the beef hanging out of the bun. It was the most juicy & flavorful bite of burger I have had since, hmmm, well, since, hmmm, let me get back to you on that one...

The second half never made it home.

...kicking back in Arizona, Marie

Getting our kicks on Route 66!

We discovered that Lake Havasu is just a stone's throw from Kingman, which is part of the historic Route 66. So with that in mind, we decided to spend a day zipping up to Kingman, on to Peach Springs with a stop at the Grand Canyon Caverns. With camera in hand (and battery fully charged) off we went!

First stop was at Kingman's Powerhouse Visitor Center. Besides information, it had a small museum and wonderful history of the area, even a model train set up. We didn't spend much time in Kingman itself, saving it for the caves later on that day.






















Jumping onto Route 66, we came to one of the highlights of the day, the Hackberry General Store. The store is as much a museum as a place to grab a cold drink (Route 66 Root Beer no less!). They have everything from retired gas pumps used when Route 66 was a booming thoroughfare, to old metal signs, an outhouse, old cars and even old Burma Shave signs! Everywhere you looked was something to smile (or take a picture) about! We had to get a Route 66 cap for Jack there.













































Back on the road, we headed to Peach Springs, which is a tiny town with not much in it, but just beyond it is the entrance to the Grand Canyon Caverns & Inn, our big stop of the day. Now this is where I got my first surprise. I'm coming to realize that having worked for the world class San Diego Zoo I just naturally expect other attractions to be of the same caliber. The name implied as much, the rack card did, so I was a bit taken aback when we drove into a dirt road, up to rustic, wooden "general store" entrances for their store and then for their caverns. I was beginning to doubt our decision to come here, thinking that we were probably in for an expensive, disappointing hoax...one that Jack wouldn't let me forget either (since it was my idea to do this!). However, we decided to give it a go anyway, after all, we had come this far, might as well "go for it". Well, we were glad we did! It was quite an experience. All the caverns I had been to before have been "wet" ones that have stalagtites and stalagmites growing in them, this is a "dry" cavern that is what is left after millions of years of changes from ocean floor to volcanic eruptions, to dry floor, and on & on to what is left today. It's a very different experience than the typical cavern, and quiet pretty. The guide is very knowledgeable and funny. It was a good long tour with some great walking included. They push the envelope a little with their "creativity" but it was well worth the trip and I'm glad we took the tour!









































They even had a few treasure to admire outside, including an old forge that (of course) Jack found!


A quick stop in Seligman before heading back...













It was a fun-filled day filled with great memories of cross-country trips we had experienced as kids. There was even a few (new) Burma Shave signs along the route home, like this one: Thirty days - Hath September - April, June & November - And the speed offender! - Burma Shave

If you would like to view the rest of my photos from this trip, just go to my Flickr account at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/sets/72157629163337129/

...kicking back in Arizona, Marie