Welcome to Arizona

We have arrived at Desert Trails for the winter! What a view out my back door. We went to a Cowboy Symposium yesterday with Ruthann and Fred.  Real cowboys preforming original songs and poetry, some pretty interesting stories about life on the range.  

My cactus garden outside my door.  We had to do some trimming and removal of dead cactus, of course it didn't take me long to end up with cactus needles in my fingers.  The gamble quail and doves have found the bird bath already.  My little oasis in the desert
                                                                                                                                                                                           




     Looking forward to the return of our winter friends and getting together!  We have had some welcomed rain the last couple of days and even snow up on  nearby Mt Lemon.  I needed a rainy day to catch up on daily chores and up date my blog. 

My home on wheels.

Bisbee, Huachuca Mts, Coronado Nat. Monument

Wow what a busy week!  Drove to the mining towns of Bisbee and Tombstone which now rely on tourism, as the copper and silver mines closed.
Of coarse we had to visit Boot hill and the OK corral, site of the shoot out of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. For you western buffs, do you know how Tombstone got its name?  Ed Schliefflin, a California prospector worked the hills by day and slept by night at Camp Huachuca.  The soldiers told him he would find nothing but his "Tombstone".






Get off the beaten path and walk the side streets of Bisbee and see what you find?  An Eco Sit-In.  Looks like Halloween to be.

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 Hiking with Randy and our dog Shelby.  Signs told us to not hike alone and keep dogs on a leash because of bears in the Huachuca Mts. We were surprised to find a stream running down through the canyon and fall flowers in bloom.

 We 4-wheeled up the pass and down through the Valley where Coronado traveled in the 1540's.   Shelby did not enjoy the ride, I think she thought we would slide or bounce off the side of the mountain.
For those of you who know Randy you will understand.

  Coronado National Memorial.  A nice interpretative  visitor center depicting the spanish expedition of Coronado. He first entered today's United States from Mexico looking for the fabled cities of gold. 

One of several murals at the Coronado visitor center.
Which sits at the base of Montezuma Peak 7766 ft.





  The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area which is an important flyway for migratory birds from  Canada all the way to South America.  Usally a popular bird watching area, but to my dismay the river was dry and I wonder about the future of this fragile Eco system.  

 



Halloween day was spent hiking around the town of Fairbanks, a ghost town of coarse!  Established in 1881 as a stopover for travelers on their way to the mining towns of Tombstone and Bisbee. Its only fame came from a train robbery at the depot.

One of Fairbanks Residence?

 Ok I think I've posted enough for this time, need to get to bed.  We're heading to Desert Trails tomarrow for the winter months.

Little Rock Ar to Fort Huachuca Arizona

After leaving Little Rock we made what seemed like along haul across Texas.  The gently rolling hill country with its scrub oaks and cattle gave way to what seemed like an endless, sparsely populated open plains with oil pumps bobbing their heads up and down . Evidence of sever drought everywhere.  I was surprised to see quite a few wind turbines with their white ghostly arms rotating in the wind dotted along the ridges, they always fascinate me!

A short drive through New Mexico with a stop in Deming and on to Fort Huachuca.  We stayed at the RV park on post at the foot of the Huachuca Mts.  

Fort Huachuca, home of the Buffalo Soldiers had its beginnings in 1877 as a temporary camp in this shaded canyon with plenty of trees and water.  Its location was so well situated along Chiricahua Apache escape routes into Mexico that it was made a permanent fort in 1882.  It served as a staging for the march into Mexico by Gen. Pershing's 10th Cavalry in pursuit of  Poncho Villa.  In World War II the post trained African-American infantry, later the post was a proving ground for electronic weaponry.  Now home to the center for all military intelligence training. 

    Museum at Fort Huachuca, well worth seeing and    its free!

Geronimo, rare photo

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Hot Springs National Park

Hot Springs Mountain Tower

Stained glass in Bath House

Water temperature averages 143 degrees!

     We had planned on spending only one day traveling through Arkansas on our way to Tucson but got side tracked and glad we did.  The Clinton Library was a great stop and then on to Hot Springs National Park.  The Hot Springs was not quite what I expected but neat.  The visitor center is located  in the middle of town  on Bathhouse Row Historic District which the park manages. Only a few of the springs are visible, the remaining have been covered to protect purity of the water.  Of course we had to taste the water from the may jug fountains along the row. Also viewed the Springs from atop the 216-ft  observation tower. Not recommended for those with a fear of heights.
     This blogging thing is quite new to me having trouble figuring out the formatting thing so bear with me. 

PS: I can always use helpful tips and suggestions.

Tennessee fall

Spent week with our daughter and her family.  Had great fall weather but temps are dropping so heading west tomorrow for Tucson.