Benson, AZ 11/16

A view of the Escapees park we stayed at while in Benson. Escapees is a club made up of RV people, we joined Escapees about a year ago, a good move on our part. This Co-op park is managed and owned by the Escapee members that are lease holders in the park. It ranks high on our list with great amenities, activities and fun friendly people. We hope to return.    

Our site had a cement pad for parking the RV and a casita (Spanish for small dwelling). 

We enjoyed having the patio to use. The lots in the park are all different, most have casitas decorated beautifully with nice landscaping. It was fun walking around just looking at all the creative things people did with their lots.

This is what you do if you have a snake at your site. 

I wondered who volunteered to take care of the "deposits".

A visit to Tombstone...a short drive from Benson. 

The Earp brothers and Doc Holiday before the daily reenactment of the 

Gunfight at the OK Corral.

Perhaps the most famous shootout in the history of the Wild West. The gunfight was the end result of a feud between a band of outlaw cowboys and the Earps. The Earps had been the target of repeated death threats because of their interference in the cowboy’s illegal activities. On an October afternoon in 1881 things came to a head and the gunfight went down in history. When the the smoke cleared, three of the outlaws were killed. Doc Holiday, Virgil and Morgan Earp (the marshall) were wounded, Wyatt was unharmed.

The ghost town of Fairbank. 

Fairbank was occupied from 1881-1973. It was founded during the Tombtone silver rush.Fairbank became a railroad hub and served as Tombstone’s train depot. 

Over the years, the town had a hotel, saloons, post office, school, businesses and a stagecoach stop. The train depot closed in 1966 at that point most the jobs in town also dried up. 

We were amazed to learn the Mercantile continued as a store, post office and gas station until 1972. When it finally closed…so did Fairbank.

Post office at Fairbank.

The Boquillas Ranch

The Boquillas Ranch was a large cattle ranch near Fairbank that dates back well over 100 years. Now abandoned, the land was acquired in 1986 by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management). It’s now part of a large conservation area with wetlands and the San Pedro river running through it. 

The 2 mile hike down an old dirt 2-track road revealed the old ranch. The dirt track is closed to motorized traffic but open to hikers and bikers. We were blown away when we reached the ranch, remains of what was once a large ranch stood quiet, in a tall grassy field, subcoming to age. The old weathered barn is much larger than we expected and more beautiful. The ranch house is boarded up. It was so peaceful here. How nice to explore with no vandelisim or grafetti in sight. It’s a ways off the beaten path and not much publized. A volunteer at the little schoolhouse museum told us about it when we asked about hiking. 

Feeding area in the barn.

Old gas pump at the ranch. 

Another photo of the barn.  

I love old buildings and the weathered wood. 

I hope preservation of this ranch takes place, it’s so historic and beautiful.  

About a 40 minute drive from Benson is Tucson and the Saguaro National Park. The park consists of thousands of acres...full of saguaros and hiking trails. We love hiking in the desert and among the majestic saguaros. 

Before leaving Benson we visited Bisbee an old mining town...tune in for next blog on Bisbee. 

Congress, AZ  Oct. 2016

This was our first time Congress and surrounding area. We were pleasantly surprised. 

I think we were expecting desert with not much else around. We met some great people here and started doing things together from day one. From Cowboy church to learning to play Pickle Ball.

Sunsets were a highlight everyday.  

Another sunset...view from our campground.

On our way to hike (climb) Vulture Peak near Wickenburg. 

The last couple miles on a dirt road to the trailhead pass by this Cholla field. The needles of the Cholla are incredibly sharp. It's often referred to as Jumping Cholla because the tiniest touch against the cactus will have a bunch break off and stick to whatever touched it. Shoe, pant leg or if really unlucky your arm. I read where areas like this are a sign of over grazing from years back, the cactus takes over like an invasive weed. With that being said, it had a beauty of it's own.   

Vulture Peak, the rounded dome, that's our destination.
I took this picture from the trailhead, our hike starts here. 

The main trail leads to the "saddle" middle area between the two mountains. The views in the saddle were awesome. However we learned there was a scramble of a path that would get us to the very top. At the top a metal box with a notebook awaits for successful hikers to sign. We were determined.  

Continuing upward to the top of Vulture Peak, 

not much of a trail anymore, more climbing over rocks than hiking. 

View from Vulture Peak. 

Signing the book on Vulture Peak.

Next stop, the Chamber of Commerce in Wickenburg. They give hikers a certificate for climbing to the top. (Doesn't take much to get us excited, ha ha).  

Downtown Wickenburg has several statues, the detail is incredible on these works of art.
This statue named "Thanks for the rain."

 We really like the town of Wickenburg, about 12 miles from our Congress campground. It's a cowboy town, the team roping capital of the world. The roping season was just beginning, it runs from Nov -April. There are several arenas in town that hold weekly events. Many signs around town are welcoming the ropers back, it's a big deal here.

Another statue in Wickenburg, a tribute to the miners.
Again, the detail so impressive and realistic. It felt like this guy was looking right at us.
All for now from Congress and Wickenburg, our next stop will be Benson. 

Congress, AZ  Oct. 2016

This was our first time Congress and surrounding area. We were pleasantly surprised. I think we were expecting desert with not much else around. We met some great people here and started doing things together from day one. From Cowboy church to learning to play Pickle Ball.
Sunsets were a highlight everyday.  

Another sunset...view from our campground. 

On our way to hike (climb) Vulture Peak near Wickenburg. 

The last couple miles on a dirt road to the trailhead pass by this Cholla field. The needles of the Cholla are incredibly sharp. It's often referred to as Jumping Cholla because the tiniest touch against the cactus will have a bunch break off and stick to whatever touched it. Shoe, pant leg or if really unlucky your arm. I read where areas like this are a sign of over grazing from years back, the cactus takes over like an invasive weed. With that being said, it had a beauty of it's own.   

Vulture Peak, the rounded dome, that's our destination.
I took this picture from the trailhead, our hike starts here. 

The main trail leads to the "saddle" middle area between the two mountains. The views in the saddle were awesome. However we learned there was a scramble of a path that would get us to the very top. At the top a metal box with a notebook awaits for successful hikers to sign. We were determined.  

Continuing upward to the top of Vulture Peak, 

not much of a trail anymore, more climbing over rocks than hiking. 

View from Vulture Peak. 

Signing the book on Vulture Peak.

Next stop, the Chamber of Commerce in Wickenburg. They give hikers a certificate for climbing to the top. (Doesn't take much to get us excited, ha ha).  

Downtown Wickenburg has several statues, the detail is incredible on these works of art.
This statue named "Thanks for the rain."

 We really like the town of Wickenburg, about 12 miles from our Congress campground. It's a cowboy town, the team roping capital of the world. The roping season was just beginning, it runs from Nov -April. There are several arenas in town that hold weekly events. Many signs around town are welcoming the ropers back, it's a big deal here.

Another statue in Wickenburg, a tribute to the miners.
Again, the detail so impressive and realistic. It felt like this guy was looking right at us.
All for now from Congress and Wickenburg, our next stop will be Benson. 

Fall, 2016...Wisconsin -Two Guns - Rt 66 - Prescott 

Since I haven't been keeping up on our blog, I'll be doing some catch up.

We had a wonderful time in WI visiting family and friends. 
Beaver Dam Lake in Cumberland is one of our all time favorite spots, it's peaceful, beautiful and the water crystal clear. Nice sunsets too! 

Lambeau Field... a very special place for us Cheeseheads. 

WI Badgers - LSU game (WI wins!)

Iowa, Pikes Peak State Park - Our first night's stop after leaving northern WI.
Bluff overlooking the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers where they join together.
There's a very nice campground here.

While staying at Meteor Crater RV park near Winslow, we often walked old Rt 66, now abandoned and part of a ranch. Rt 66, (a.k.a The Mother Road), made it’s way from the midwest, thru Arizona, to the CA coast. 

The owner of the ranch allows people from the park to walk here. We found an old rusted headlight, the type that would be mounted on top a big fender. I was envisioning people traveling this rutted dusty road back in the 1930’s. It was a major pathway for those migrating westward especially during the dust bowl, later years more vacation travel. 

Ruins from Two Guns on old Rt 66

Businesses sprang up along the way, gas stations, diners and tourist attractions. About 5 miles from our campground on old Rt 66 is the ghost town of Two Guns situated on the edge Canyon Diablo. We rode our bikes to Two Guns, explored and again imagined what it must have been like back in the day. There’s a great deal of history here, some not so good. Dating back to 1878, the Apaches and Navajos had a very deadly confrontation here. Later years a trading post was built, then a lodge overlooking the canyon. With travel becoming popular, a make shift zoo was added to attract more tourists. Crumbling adobe buildings, busted wire cages, a faded Mountain Lion sign all remain. A gas station and campground were later additions, also in a crumbling state. When I-40 bypassed Two Guns (I think in the 60’s) and other small towns along Rt 66, these tourist towns dried up. Over the years, Two Guns had several people attempt to open new ventures, fires and other mis-adventures all led to failures, according to Indian lore it’s a haunted and cursed ground. There are entire books written about Two Guns and it’s history. We love this kind of exploring and learning about past history of these unique locations. What’s really cool about Two Guns is it’s a ghost town not a tourist trap, there are no signs, no paved sidewalks or souvenir shops.

As we're riding back from Two Guns, cattle cross old Rt 66.  One rule for using this road is if a gate is closed be sure to close it behind you. The trees on the far horizon is our RV park. 

While staying in Prescott, we found a great bike trail along Watson Lake, the Peavine Trail.  Beautiful scenery! I had to slam on my brakes when we came upon a large snake sunning itself on the trail. It wasn't a rattler, but the size freaked me out, especially since I didn't see it until my better half (riding behind me) yelled "SNAKE!" that's when I hit the brakes and stopped just a few feet short of it.  (Our son and wife might remember hiking here in the boulders a few years back when they visited us.)

We really like Prescott. It’s an old cowboy town that has maintained it’s feel of days gone by. Lovely quaint downtown with a courthouse square, huge white courthouse in the middle, very enjoyable place to walk. One side of the square is named Whiskey Row as it was back in the late 1800’s, it’s now listed as a Historic District. The street was lined with saloons. One in particular was quite famous, The Palace. In 1900 a massive fire burned the entire block of whiskey row, the wooden buildings had little chance of surviving. The locals knew there was no hope in putting out the fire so they carried the beautiful wooden bar and a large wooden ice chest out of the Palace across the street to where the courthouse sits today. Rebuilding started soon after the fire, this time using brick as building material. The original bar was put back into the newly constructed Palace which was completed in 1901. The Palace remains in operation today and looks very much like it did 100 years ago. Entering through the wooden swinging bar doors reminded me of the Gunsmoke shows we watched. On weekends there are people that (volunteer) dress in attire of that period. Civil war soldiers, lawmen etc. These guys greet patrons and talk history, they’re very knowledgeable historians and so interesting. We talked to an older “lawman” for quite some time, come to find out, he really was a lawman, retired police officer from Massachusetts. We learned Virgil Earp lived in Prescott. His brother Wyatt and Doc Holiday spent a lot of time in Prescott with Virgil, this was before they headed to Tombstone where the famous Shoot out at the OK Corral took place. The lawman/historian told us as we sat at the bar (eating our cheese curds), that Wyatt Earp, Virgil and Doc Holiday had all leaned on the very same bar. I just thought that was so cool as my mind wandered back 100 years. He also said they wouldn’t have been sitting on bar stools as we were, the patrons back then all stood at the bar. (I do remember watching the old westerns, most the cowboys did stand.) 

At White Spar, our Prescott Campground

Acorn Woodpeckers peck holes in the bark of these tall pines then fill them with acorns to store up for the winter. We have a couple trees by our campsite that must have a thousand holes in. They only penetrate deep enough into the thick bark to hold an acorn, it does not kill the tree. It was entertaining watching them as they fly back and forth filling the holes with acorns. Was quite the scene when a squirrel climbed the tree and tried to steal an acorn, the woodpeckers won, they chased that squirrel around and squawked like crazy. 

The  abandoned Senator Mine near Prescott

One of the longest operating mines in the region, 1860's -1918. Gold, silver and copper were all mined here. The tunnel leads deep into the mountain, a stream of water seeps out of the opening. At one time there was a small settlement here with a post office and other businesses. 

An steel skeleton remains at the mine site. 
It was a mill of some sort to process the ore before it was transported down the mountain. 

We continued on past the Senator Mine, the road turns into a 4 wheel drive road.
The views spectacular. 

A young couple at our campground in Prescott build this 5th wheel. They're very talented. 

The interior even more awesome. They've had such an interest in their "home" that they're considering building units to sell. 

Visiting Don Robinson's Gold King Mine Collection.

While in Prescott, we drove up Mingus Mountain to the old mining town of Jerome.  

Our destination was to revisit the long closed Gold King Mine located a short drive from downtown Jerome. We first visited this place when Ryan and Erin were with us several years ago. 

Story goes….about 30 years ago an interesting fella (Don Robinson) bought the closed mine and started his ever growing collection of old mining equipment, unique old trucks, tractors and whatever else. He opened the old mine grounds to the public to share his collection.

Being a master mechanic he kept many things in his collection in running order. He had a couple saw mills, one powered by a 1943 submarine engine he bought from a military sale. (The sawmills are still sawing wood.) He had a beautiful vintage race car, which he started up for us with the crank start. At one time he raced this car in vintage car races. He certainly looks like an old miner; hat, beard and all…he even had a  mule on the property, named Pedro. There are rows of faded rusted trucks, (he liked Studebakers), fuel tankers, dump trucks, old buses and firetrucks. I quickly changed my first impression of thinking this was a junk yard to thinking this is a vehicle heaven, where vehicles can die peacefully on a mountain top and not succumb to the crusher. 

There’s something about seeing an old rusted truck resting peacefully among the wildflowers and trees. On this return visit we were so looking forward to visiting with Mr Robinson again, but we sadly learned he had turned very ill and passed away only weeks ago. 

He charged very little to get into his wonder land, his enjoyment came from talking to people and showing them around. I don’t know how anybody can carry on as he did… we wonder what will become of his collection and gold mine. 

His vintage race car. 

Truck named "The Other Woman"

A sign along the driveway into this place says "Rust in Peace".

Flagstaff & Prescott AZ, 10/2016

We were fortunate to be in northern Arizona to catch some fall colors.
The view from Flagstaff's Snow Bowl Ski area. 

Loved walking in the stands of Aspen trees.

Williams AZ, an old Rt 66 town.
Old gas stations, motels and diners line old Rt 66, which is the main street through Williams. The town has done a great job preserving the old buildings which gives it a western cowboy town feel. Outdoor dining, musicians playing on outdoor patios and the train depot where the Grand Canyon Excursion train departs daily makes this a great town to visit and walk around. 

A Ponderosa Pine at our campsite in Prescott. If you look closely you'll see hundreds of small round holes in the bark. Here we learned about the Acorn Woodpecker. They peck round holes in the thick part of the bark, only penetrating deep enough to stuff an acorn in. It does not kill the tree. The woodpeckers fill the holes with acorns for the upcoming winter months. We enjoyed watching them at work, they're very busy this time of year. Funniest was when a squirrel climbed the tree and took an acorn, he had several woodpeckers squawking and chasing him, it was quite a commotion.

My favorite RV so far! I could live in this one forever.

A young, very talented, couple built this 5th wheel, it's amazing. Note all the little windows across the top, they fashioned it to take on the look of an old railroad car. The interior even more impressive, rustic and so well done. They were the talk ("rock stars") of the campground. 

Sunrise at the Grand Canyon, Oct. 2016

Sunrise at the Grand Canyon...another check-off on the bucket list.
We got up at 5:00am for the drive to the Grand Canyon to watch the sunrise. We were amazed to see a line of cars at the entrance gate when we arrived. Simply put, the sunrise was beautiful. Even with all the people, it was so quiet and peaceful...we were in church...we were in awe of this place.  Couldn't help but look up and praise God. The sunrise show slips by quickly,  the colors in every direction change by the minutes.   

Mather Point, a popular overlook at the visitors center.
People were perched on every view point that was accessible. 

After sunrise we started our hike into the Canyon on the South Kaibab Trail, our destination being Skeleton Point. Above is a pit toilet at Cedar Point about 1.5 miles down from the rim. The cowboys did some cleaning and maintenance checks, the toilets are composting using solar power and other creative practices. (Much better than my initial thought of having to haul the "stuff" out.) One mule was loaded with several white buckets, not sure what they were used for?  There weren't many open spots on the trail, most of the trail is narrow with rock walls on the inner side and a drop off on the canyon side. It's a beautiful trail, very scenic in all directions. We chose this trail over the more popular Bright Angel trail because it is less traveled and used by the mule trains. We had lunch at Skeleton Point, the views amazing with our first view of the Colorado River at the bottom. 

Yellow caution sign posted on the building reads: 

"CAUTION, DOWN IS OPTIONAL 

UP IS MANDATORY"

Mule trains haul supplies to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There is also a service that hauls overnight hikers gear into the canyon. There is a $70.00 fee per backpack each way, the weight limit being 30lbs. We were thrilled to meet the mule trains.  

Mule train takes a short rest at Cedar Point.

If there's a negative about this trail, it's the trail. 

Going down was enjoyable and quite easy. Going up not so much. Not only is it a steep climb for 

3 miles, but many stretches are very rutted with uneven steps, the ruts are from all the mule traffic. Instead of looking about at the views, one had to look down and watch where your feet were landing. Funny thing...I didn't notice all the steep switchbacks going down. 

A 7 mile hike... another challenging trek completed, so worth it!