To The Top of the Mountain

We had plans to take a trip up to Mt. Lemmon today and while I was at PT, Kari asked if Gerry could come in for her PT in the afternoon.  A quick call to Gerry and she said she would be there.  It has been difficult scheduling time for Gerry since she just started and all the times are filled.

That left Dick, Sue and me to make the drive up the mountain.  Mt. Lemmon overlooks Tucson and is about 9800 ft high.  We drove from 3,000 ft to 8,000 ft in about 40 miles.  The scenery change is spectacular with desert on the bottom of the drive and pine trees at the top.  The road became very steep the last 10 miles or so and the drive is full of curves and long dropoffs.  

I managed to take some pictures since Dick drove his truck up the hill and I was free to actually view some of the sights.  I have always driven in the past and it was nice to ride along and enjoy the views.  

Ski run on near the summit

Tucson from 30 miles away

Hazy day over Tucson

 It was close to 80 degrees when we started the drive up the mountain but there was still snow on the top with temps closer to the high 40s.  We checked out the ski run and the town of Summerhaven, then began the drive back down the mountain.  Dick took his time and we stopped a number of times to let drivers pass us since we weren't in a hurry.  A few of them were and passed us in a no passing zone and on a curve.   Guess they were in a hurry for happy hour or something like that.

We picked up Gerry and headed for Montgomery's Restaurant in Vail for dinner.  Once again, we enjoyed a great meal and company.  Then Dick & Sue headed back to their condo in Green Valley, tired out, but they had a great day.

Brainfreeze

We had appointments with the dermatologist today for our annual checkup for skin cancer.  Our appointments were one after the other so it worked out well for us.  Of course, the first thing we had to do was fill out the obligatory forms and give them our health cards.  We've been going to them for three years, but they had a new computer system as a result of the Affordable Care Act.  Just another way for the government to keep track of us.

I was talking with an old couple who were born and have lived in Tucson all their lives.  They looked to be in their mid 80s and she was very sharp and alert.  I asked them how much Tucson has changed over the years and she just laughed.  Our dermatologist has his office on East River Rd and she said it was just a dirt road and hardly ever used.  In addition, there were two high schools and they went to Tucson High and the other was Ampitheatre High out near Marana.  She said they were all farmers and ranchers there.  Also, she remembers when there actually was water in the Santa Cruz river.  Nowdays it is just a sand trap for most of it's length.  Nice people and I had a nice conversation with them.

Both of us had fewer pre-cancer spots this year and that is a good thing.  The first thing he and his assistant did when they came into the room was update my records, including taking a photo, on his computer and it then updated her computer by synching the records.  The second thing he did was start to freeze a couple spots on the top of my head and give me a quick brain freeze.  Whew, I wasn't expecting him doing it 3-4 times real fast.  Then he checked some other spots and gave me a shot of liquid nitrogen on them also.  He was quick and I was out of there in a flash and on my way.  Gerry was waiting for me in the waiting room and we hit the road.

Other than a long telephone chat with daughter Barbara, another with Cassie and a short one with my brother, it was otherwise an uneventful day.  I am still waiting for my head to thaw out.  I can't be held responsible for anything I write today because of the above.

It was another beautiful day here in Tucson with temps around 80 and no wind.  We actually ran the a/c in the car today since it was so warm.  Heater in the morning & a/c in the afternoon.  Love it.  

We stopped by Panera Bread for lunch and sat outside on the patio and enjoyed our meal.  The patio was a little close to Grant Ave, but the road noise wasn't that bad.  We prefer to eat outside whenever possible so it was a real treat.

On the phone with Barbara

Hope all of you in the East, South & Midwest are doing well with the terrible cold and bad weather out there.  Hang in there, it will warm up.

My brother was checking the weather back in Illinois and decided it would be better to stay out here a while longer.  They were talking to a lady who owns a unit next to the one they are staying in and arranged to rent it for two weeks.  I think Dick & Sue have fallen in love with the great Tucson weather.  It's going to be over 80 on Thursday and we have a trip to Mt. Lemmon planned with them.  That will cool them off since it is so much higher in altitude.

Chinese Food & Casinos

This post is out of order, but wanted to publish the Gammons Gulch one while it was fresh on my mind.  It's amazing how the days run together out here in the desert.

Sue was in the mood for Chinese food and they also were looking for a flea market on the south side of Tucson.  They drove all over and couldn't find the flea market, so they gave us a call and wanted us to join them for dinner.  Ron C had told us about a nice Chinese restaurant in the area where they were, so we hurried up and headed over to the Grand Buffet on Valencia Ave.  They had a good selection of food and for the most part it was tasty.  We managed to eat more than we should have and then waddled out of the restaurant. 

Dick & Sue were ready to head back to their condo since they had been on the go all day.  We started back to the motor home and Gerry remembered that there was a casino nearby.  So, we turned west and drove out to Casino del Sol to try our luck on the slots.  For a change I lost my meager contribution and Gerry kept winning on the penny slots.  I finally moved over to an area where I could watch basketball games.  I saw portions of 5-7 NBA games and a game between the Northern Arizona University woman's team and North Dakota State.  It turned out to be a high scoring game and was interesting to watch.

Then a group started to place their musical instruments on the nearby stage and were setting up for a concert or something.  I sat there and listened to them warming up and it sounded like a jam session.  Finally the area started filling up with people who knew each other and they were settling in for the concert.  It was about this time that Gerry returned with winnings and we beat a hasty exit from the casino.

Gerry had a great time and managed to play the slots for 2+ hours and still wound up winning more than she lost.  Cheap entertainment for a Saturday night.  I have a feeling we will be out there again in the near future.

That was our exciting Saturday, how was yours?

Gammons Gulch & The Duke

43 years ago Jay Gammons started to create an authentic old west town with 10 acres on a site 12 miles north of Benson, AZ.  He has collected old buildings, cars, knic-knacs, etc., and now has a site suitable for filming western movies. There are also many museum pieces throughout the town.  It is about 2 blocks long with a few side streets, plus an old mine behind the jail area.  It's a place that you have to see to appreciate and I can't really do it justice writing about it, so I have included a number of photos we took today.

Larry & Dick Clark

Town jail

1931 Buick

Antique Folger's coffee tins

Town Hall

Wagon which has seen better days.

Hotel & Living Qtrs

Barber Shop & Pole

Larry on the banjo

Old water pump & trough

Clark boys taking a break

"My Hero", says Gerry

Blacksmith shop

 A couple of the buildings were not available for entry, as they were "hot sets" for the next movie to be shot there next month.  While the photos say Larry Clark Photos, in reality Gerry took the majority of them.  We both take photos and the program that adds the credits is in my name, so that's the way it goes.

I took the opportunity to pick up two geocaches on the way back from Gammons Gulch.  They were easy ones, but one was a little tricky.  Gerry actually found the tricky one in short order.  I was letting Dick's friend Sue look for the cache and it was a little too difficult for her since she has only gone geocaching once before.  I think she is hooked on the game, but will have to get Dick to work with her on it.  As you can see from the first part of the blog we are up to 1271 caches found and hope to find a lot more now that my knees are working again.

We checked out the Monastery in St. David but they were closed for the day by the time we got there.  A quick trip around St. David and Benson rounded out our time in that area.

We stopped at the Vail Steakhouse on the way home and enjoyed a very nice meal.  Each of us ordered something different and all agreed that we would came back there again.

After dinner we returned to the RV and visited for a while and then Dick & Sue decided it was time to head for their condo and get to bed early.  I think the walking and fresh air wore us all out.

Good night all.  Hope you had as nice a day as we did.

RV Doctor result

We got an early morning phone call that shattered our peaceful sleep.  Where oh where was the phone and how do I shut if off?  Since it was a local number, I mumbled into it and a cheerful person informed me that our part for the toilet in the RV had arrived.  I paid extra for overnight shipping and it was a good thing that I had since the weather back in the Midwest was terrible.  If it had been shipped via truck I would have to wait until next week at the earliest for the part.

We managed to get ready and drove the RV to La Mesa and left it for them to finish the job they had started.  Gerry had PT scheduled so we drove back to her appointment and she received her first treatment for a sore neck.  No, it wasn't me that caused the problem.  Then it was back to La Mesa to pick up the RV.  Ron K likes to check out RVs and he went back with us.

Gerry and Ron checked out a few new RVs while I talked to the service tech about when the job would be finished.  There was a really nice 2014 Tiffin 37' Allegro Bus on the lot and they were very impressed by the coach.  It was nice, but there were some fatal flaws in the RV and I didn't like it that much.  It was too dark inside and the furniture arrangement was not right for the coach.  It did have four 42" tvs throughout, which was a little over the top for me.

   I managed to drag them out of the coach before Gerry bought it and by then our Bus was ready to roll.  Once I parted with $$ galore, I left in our coach and Ron rode along with me.  It was his first trip in a coach our size and I think he liked the ride.


Then it was back to setting up the coach again and relaxing for a few minutes.  My brother called and said they were at TTT visiting a friend and invited us to join them for dinner.  Back out on the road and up to TTT for a hot roast beef sandwich for Gerry and catfish filets for me.  Once again there was too much food, but we did enjoy the dinner with Dick & Sue.  

We made it an early evening since by then we were worn out and ready for bed.  

Just another exciting day for us out here in the desert.  What about you, what did you do for excitement?

Lost a friend today

We received a phone call from my cousin Sharon's husband today.  It was one that we were expecting but dreaded receiving.  Sharon passed away after battling cancer for the last 4-5 years.  She hung in there despite many setbacks and as the quality of her life was diminished, she always had a smile for us when we visited her.

Al & Sharon spent the last 3 years in a RV park a few miles from us and we visited more with them than in the previous 50 years.  She will be missed by her three sisters; Betty Ann, Marcy and Linda along with her husband Al as well as Gerry and me.

She made it one day past her 68th birthday and a wedding anniversary.  I wonder if she hung on for those two events or was it just her time to go?

She loved the Southwest and Tucson in particular.  We took a ride with them down a rough road for about 30 miles and she was a real trooper and had a great time.  I'd like to remember her like she was in the photo below, with a big smile.

Sharon OKAS Barrier

 Goodbye Sharon.

Trip to RV Doctor

As mentioned in an earlier blog, our toilet in the motorhome is on the fritz.  We can still use it, but it needs to be repaired for satisfactory use in the long run.  

We got up early this morning and packed everything away and drove to La Mesa RV for a 10:00AM appointment.  It is only a short drive and we arrived a little early for the work.   La Mesa assigns a service tech when you have any work done there and they handle your needs each time you go in.  Xavier was confused when I showed up for the appointment and said I wasn't on his list.  I went into the main office and after some searching they "found" my name at 1pm and then 11am.  Interesting.

I explained what the problem was and he said they would start on it shortly.  Since it was a beautiful day we sat outside at their little restaurant and caught up on some emails and then had a huge lunch at their expense.  They had some freshly made cinnamon rolls.  We each had one and then went back and picked up two more for later in the evening.

The techs found out what was wrong with the toilet and tried to sell us a manual one, but we didn't want to do that.  So, they had to order the parts to repair it and I agreed to pay for next day delivery.  Hopefully, the parts will be in on Wed or Thursday.   They said if they get them that fast, they would finish the repair on Friday.  I am not optimistic about that but would be very happy to see it come true.

Then it was back to the RV park and repark the unit.  No problem there and we are setup all nice and level.  While we were gone a piece of plywood I had flew out into the road and Ed put it under a couple boards I have been saving.  He said it became very windy in the park.  I noticed it driving back on I-10, or "the 10" as they say in California.

Later in the evening we met Dick & Sue at a nice Italian restaurant about halfway between them and us.  Argenziano's deliver a huge meal at a reasonable price and the service was great.  The only problem with the place is the acoustics and it was very loud there.  It was difficult talking due to the noise and we were ready to leave fairly quickly.  We brought back enough food in a "doggy bag" for a large dinner.  It was an early evening for us since we got up so early, and I think Dick & Sue were tired, also.

Tuesday is Gerry's favorite night for tv with the two NCIS shows and Person of Interest.  She likes all of them and hates to miss seeing them, but tonight was rerun night and we'd seen all of the shows.  When are they going to start the new season??

It was sunny and warm again today and we enjoyed being outside enjoying the weather.  Now it is time to hit the hay and for me to get ready for an early morning dentist appt.  I hate to think about it, but don't have any choice except to take care of the two bad teeth.  Wish me luck.

That was our exciting day, how was yours?

Birthday & Doctor visit

My brother celebrated his birthday today and we took him out to dinner at Montgomery's Bar & Grill.  It is a local place and they have great food and cold beer.  What more could you ask for?  Our friend Ron K likes Montgomery's and he met my brother a couple times in the past, so we invited him to join us.

We arrived during "Happy Hour", but Gerry and I were the only ones who took advantage of a couple cold Dos XX beers.  The others were more sedate and ordered iced tea and pepsi.  Everyone enjoyed their meals and drinks.  The little gathering for Dick's birthday celebration went very well.  Gerry made a birthday card for Dick and I gave him a Hooters Calendar.

Sue, Dick, Larry, Gerry & Ron

They arrived earlier in the day and we sat around and chatted while Gerry went to a routine doctor's appointment which went well.  No surprises or anything like that.

A friend of ours here at the park, Cliff, stopped by to borrow a movie and stopped long enough to chat with us.  Cliff was a truck driver for many years,  He and Dick had a nice chat about the trucking industry and driving big rigs.  Dick was an owner/operator of a tractor/trailer for many years and loved the job.

Grant, Dick & Me

We had a little problem last night when our toilet broke.  Now this isn't like a household toilet or anything like that.  It is electrically operated and difficult to work with.  I managed to stop it from flushing non stop and I also book a 10:00am appointment on Tuesday to have it repaired.  I am not optimistic that La Mesa will have the needed parts in stock and most likely will have to order them from Dometic.  I don't think the parts will be that big so we are willing to pay for quick shipping from the vendor.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Other than the above it was a quiet, sunny and beautiful day out here in the desert.  This has been a great run of super weather and it's what we expected all along.  I hope it continues for the rest of the time we are here.  Love it!

Tanque Verde swap meet & Agua Caliente Park

Tanque Verde swap meet is a big thing in Tucson and is the largest meet of it's kind in the area.  It really is a flea market with many different vendors in buildings, back of trucks, car trunks, small tables and everything in between.  Parking is at a premium and we took the Saturn car rather Dick's crew cab Ford F-350 dually truck.  We would never have found a spot to park it.

As soon as we walked into the sales area Dick spotted a really nice hat.  I managed to get the vendor to knock off a few bucks if we bought two, so now I have a nice hat for walking around in the bright Tucson sun.  Sue bought a straw hat and all three of us were decked out and ready to go.

I'm not really into flea markets, but managed to walk up and down three of the six rows of vendors.  I didn't see anything of interest so the hat was my only purchase, other than a glass of Shocktop beer.  I managed to find the beer tent and claimed a spot at a bench and watched all the people go by.  People-watching at these places is very interesting and entertaining.

Dick with his new hat checking for bargains.

Friendly Macaw.  Check it's eyes.

Nothing to add here.

One street of the flea market.

  Gerry had some chores to catch up on so she stayed behind for this part of the day.  After the flea market we stopped by the motor home and picked her up.  Our destination was Tucson McGraw's Cantina right down the road from us.  We sat on the veranda and enjoyed a nice late lunch/early dinner.  The beer went down real nice there and the food portions were huge.  

Dick & Sue

Since we were in that part of town, we showed Dick & Sue some of the nice homes in the area.  We road around a number of the neighborhoods and admired the beautiful homes.  The Agua Caliente Park was nearby so we checked it out, too.  It looked like it was a beautiful place, but badly in need of some water.


Roy P. Drachman - Agua Caliente Regional Park

Agua Caliente Park is named for the perennial warm water spring that supports several ponds, some seasonal, and creates a unique desert oasis.  An open lawn is flanked by huge date palms, and the stream bank is lined with mature California fan palms interspersed with native trees and shrubs like Goodding's willow,  mesquite, cottonwood, hackberry, and wolfberry.  There are scenic vistas of the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains.

Due to the prolonged and severe drought in the Tucson area the ponds are very low and there is a real concern that the oasis will disappear if something isn't done.  They are pumping water into the ponds, but not enough to keep them from drying up.  Also, the palms and other plants draw down the water a lot.

We finished off the day by observing another beautiful sunset out here in Tucson.  The weather was great with temps in the high 70s.  Love it.

That was our day, how was yours?

Bisbee, AZ trip

We took many pictures on our trip to Bisbee and I didn't want to overwhelm everyone yesterday, however this is another day.

The picture below is a wall decoration at the Santiago Restaurant in Bisbee where we had dinner yesterday.  I have always enjoyed this picture and especially the colors.  Of course I am not an art critic, so it is just my opinion.
 

The lavender pit copper mine is the main reason for the existence of Bisbee.  The pit was mined for decades and is just outside the center of the town.  The mine closed down a number of years ago and the town almost died out, but now it is an artist's colony and doing very well.

 There aren't many places in Bisbee that are level and the homes are built on steep hillsides.  In this photo you can see roofs of houses below the road and other houses above the road.  This is a two way street and very narrow.  If two cars meet, usually one will have to back up to a wider spot.  No sidewalks, so you have to watch out for walkers.  Fun place to drive.

 This street is even steeper than it looks in the picture.  I would guess it is around 17-20% incline.

 Anyone in the mood for a purple house?  They love to paint the homes in funky colors and since there are so many of them, they don't look out of place.

 Main street Bisbee looking toward the big "B" on the hillside.  The old buildings have been restored and look great.  Most of them are touristy places selling art, jewelry, and other upscale goods.

OK.  I guess nobody read the blog yesterday since I didn't get one person to even try and guess what the miner's car was.  Come on folks, what is it?

That's all for today.

Empire Ranch & Bisbee

We had a road trip planned to go to Bisbee, AZ and check out the town.  Dick & Sue drove over here and we hit the road about 11:15am.  I took the long route there and stopped by the Empire Ranch to show them what an old working cattle ranch looked like in the late 1800s in Arizona.

I took the following from Wikipedia since it covers the history of the ranch very well.

Empire Ranch was established by homesteader Edward Nye Fish in the 1860s. It was originally 160 acres (0.65 km²) with a four room adobe building and an adjoining corral. Fish was a wealthy businessman in Tucson and in 1870 he constructed the Empire Ranch House, a twenty-two room adobe and wood framed structure. However, in 1876, the businessman Walter L. Vail, a native of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and Herbert Hislop, an Englishman, acquired the ranch and established the Empire Land & Cattle Company. Throughout the Old West period, Empire Ranch expanded to over a million acres (4,000 km²) of land. New buildings were also constructed and concrete floors added just after the turn of the century. The ranch remained in the Vail family until 1928 when the Boyce, Gates and Johnston company, the successor to the Chiricahua Cattle Company, purchased the land in order to move cattle there from the San Carlos Indian Reservation.



By 1951, Frank Boyce and his family assumed full control of the property. Around the same time, the ranch was featured in several Western films starring many actors such as John Wayne, Gregory Peck and Steve McQueen. In 1969, Empire was sold to the Gulf American Corporation for a proposed real estate development and later resold to the Anamax Mining Company for mining and water potential. None of these developments materialized though and the ranch continues to work with cattle. In the 1980s, the owners began to restore the buildings to their original state and, in 1988, the ranch became public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The Empire Ranch Foundation was established as a private non-profit organization in 1997 to work with the Bureau of Land Management to develop private support to preserve the buildings and enhance the educational and recreational opportunities it offers to the public. In 2000, Congress officially designated Empire Ranch as being part of the 42,000-acre (170 km²) Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.      

The ranch is located a few miles off of AZ 83, down a gravel road.  When we turned onto the road I noticed three ladies who were geocaching near the information sign.  I stopped and told them they were arresting geocachers and they had a startled look on their faces.  Then they figured out that I was just joking and we chatted for a while.

The ranch was just down the road, but it was a little rough going in places and I heard some groans from the back seat.  I hope it didn't bother Sue that much.  We drove up to the ranch headquarters and looked it over and took a number of pictures.

Empire Ranch

Empire Ranch water supply

Courtyard of original building

Antelope Herd

Empire Ranch

We saw a number of herds of antelope in the area and I guess they are protected from hunters on the land, or they just multiply quickly.  They are beautiful animals and were well aware of us being close to them.

We stopped at Sonoita to exercise our legs and check out the mercantile building there.  Nobody saw anything they wanted and we headed on down the road toward Bisbee.

Dick, Sue & Larry

It is difficult to find any .22 Long rifle shells anywhere now. We saw a gun shop near Sierra Vista so we checked to see if they had any.  We lucked out and bought a good supply of the shells.  The dealer said he had sold 7,000 .22 LR shells in the last 24 hours and would be out of them very shortly.  Then, it's wait for the next shipment to arrive.

Next stop was Naco, AZ on the border with Mexico.  Dick and Sue wanted to see the border fence and look into Mexico.  We got there just as the public school in Naco let out and were surprised to see 50-60 students walk through US Customs and into Mexico.  I assume they were Mexican citizens and were attending a public school in the U.S.   I wonder who paid for them to do this.  U.S. taxpayers most likely.  Strange.

We finally arrived at Bisbee and checked it pretty good and saw most of the sights.  I took them on some side roads that were at least a 17% grade and down a road barely wide enough for our car.  Thankfully, we didn't meet anyone coming up the hill.  We also saw a number of old vehicles, signs and buildings along Erie St in the Lowell area.

Well known BBC - still open

54 Ford Pickup

54 Ford Police car  "Barney Fife"

We stopped by the ore pit and picked up a geocache and then checked out the mine nearby.  I ran across this there and wondered if anyone knows what it is.  I know, so send me an email if you know what it is. 

We stopped at Santiago's, our favorite restaurant in Bisbee.   It was after seeing the sights and since it was dinner time,  we decided to eat there.  We got in ahead of most of the dinner rush and were served quickly.  The food was great and we all managed to fill up on the great food. 

Dick & Sue

Then it was time to head back to Tucson, with a quick run through Tombstone on the way back. It was around 6pm and the town had shut down already except for a couple bars and restaurants.  Deader than a tombstone.  We arrived back at the motorhome around 7:30 pm and parted company.  Everyone was tired after the 200+ mile drive and a lot of walking.  I think we all will sleep soundly tonight.

Good night all.