Arizona 2000
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This page was last updated on Feb 9, 2000
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Sandy still sick (Friday 28th Jan) so I went riding again with Rudy
from the SDMB Club. He took me to Fantasy Island trails (just like
Ravenshoe without stunts, but with cactus!) which is right by the Davis-Monthan
Air Force Base. This base is famous as the "Boneyard" - it has an
unbelievable number of out-of-service aircraft parked there. This 'parking
lot' goes for several miles in each direction and is row after row of parked
aircraft - they give free bus tours around it so we'll probably go there
later. Apparently the climate here is perfect for that as the air is so
dry and the soil is non-acidic so the planes don't deteriorate - in fact
nothing does, we've never seen so many old Chevys in great shape.
Sunday - Half an hour south of here is Green Valley - a planned retirement
town full of old folk riding around in golf carts! We passed through it
on our way to Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita
Mountains. The canyon is listed in the tour books as a prime bird watching
area and for it's environment. At the base it's all grasslands, higher
up it's desert and then near the top there's pine and aspen forests. Apparently
the changes as you go up are equivalent to driving from Mexico to Canada
(they said that about Mt Lemmon too). Sandy was not well enough to
hike so we didn't get to the higher altitudes or to where the birds are.
Stopped off in Green Valley to look at the expensive homes and for supper
at a real Mexican restaurant - the burritos tasted good but I was up until
5am with stomach pains!
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Mon - Went to one of the top attractions in Tucson, the Sonora Desert Museum - only a couple of miles from us. Really it's more of a zoo than a museum - there are large fenced areas (like Toronto Zoo) where they have local wildlife. There were javelina (wild pig), cougar, mountain lions, wolves, coyote, rattlesnakes, birds, scorpion, tarantulas, etc. but none of them were very co-operative when it came to photographs! All the different local cacti are cultivated there, but the best time to visit is late spring as that's when most cactus bloom. We thought it was pretty good right now.
Tues - There are so many new computer users here as e-mail is perfect for RV'rs but most of them don't have a clue. I went to send my e-mail at 11am and didn't get back till 2pm - spent most of the day setting up their AOL accounts properly. One guy actually had his printer with him and was opening each e-mail then printing it out as he didn't know how to retrieve e-mail to his hard disc! In the evening we went to the Casino of the Sun on the local Indian Reservation - Tuesday is half price night for the prime rib buffet. That was the best $3.48 dinner I've ever had! Never been to a casino before - couldn't believe how busy that place was - you had to line up to get on most of the slots (especially the nickel ones that we wanted to play!). Had a moment of panic when I checked my back pocket and Visa/cash was gone. After calling security to report it, I found it in a different pocket - embarrassing!
Wed - Set out for the Gem and Mineral Show at Tucson but ended up at Beaudry RV Western BBQ! These guys are one of the largest RV dealers anywhere and spend a fortune on local promotions. They are holding a 5-day BBQ with live entertainment, prizes, huge discounts on sales, auctions, etc - it's all free of course and packed with snowbirders. Surprisingly there isn't any high pressure sales tactics so you can wander in and out of $500,000(US) motor homes with no hassles.
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Tombstone is about 80 mile S.E. of Tucson
and an easy drive from here. It's a bit commercialized now, but still interesting.
Most of the original buildings are still there, but many are converted
into gift shops. The Bird Cage Theatre, the most well known (with
the worst reputation) is still more or less as it was a hundred years ago,
except it's now a museum and not a bawdy house!. The same furniture
in the same place as it was back when the Earp's and Doc Holliday used
to go there, and many personal items are on display.
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This is the "Hanging Tree" outside the Tombstone Epitaph Newspaper. The guide claims they really did hang people here.
The OK Corral was next on the "cannot miss" attractions. Unfortunately, the re-enactment show they put was aimed at kids but we sat through for the sake of history. The gunfight seemed to be a simple confrontation of the bad guys and the Earps when the Earps asked them to turn in their guns (where weren't allowed in Tombstone then). Don't know how they made a two hour movie out of that.
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The guys that got shot are buried together at Boot Hill Cemetery. This place didn't seem to have much original stuff in it and I'd be surprised if it really is genuine.
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After Tombstone we detoured to Bisbee and Sierra Vista on the way home. Bisbee was really unusual - it's an old copper mining town built in a really steep canyon, with houses perched at all odd angles of the hillside. It was late in the day when we were there (sorry, no good pictures) and would have liked to take a mine tour. The open pit is at the end of the main street and is the biggest hole in the ground I've ever seen. Took a picture but without something to 'scale' it against it doesn't look right. Bisbee is now home to mainly ex-hippies, artists, and the like who started moving there in the sixties when the copper mine closed and property values plummeted. It also had an African Killer Bee attack last year - those killer bees are this far north now - how long for Toronto?
On Saturday (Feb 5) I went for a ride with the Sonoran Desert Mountain
Bicyclists at Golder Ranch in the Santa Catalinas.
The pictures are posted on the Biking section of my web site at Geocities.
Click here for a shortcut
to that site. In the evening, there was a great show on at the Rec
Hall. Bo Rivers performed - he's a really good Willie Nelson impersonator
- sings every one of his songs. He was promoting his latest CD, whose content
was open to speculation, as it was titled "Covering Willie" !!
Sandy let me out two days in a row with the bike guys! Click here
for a look at the pictures.
Monday night was Cowboy Night at Justin's. A travelling group, the Flying-J Wranglers from Mexico, cooked a cowboy supper (with loads of beans), and then sang lots of cowboy songs. Very good night out, which included "Lickies" - this is a Justin's tradition where they fill up a bunch of pickup trucks and head to the nearest McDonalds for ice cream!
Saguaro National Monument Park is close by us and went to see the show they have in their visitor centre. It gives the Indian viewpoint of the desert - they believe their ancestors are in the soil and hence treat it as sacred, they also view the saguaro cactus the same as humans and use their fruit as part of their religious ceremonies. Lots of good display on desert wildlife and plants.
Tuesday night not good for Brandy - she had another siezure, this is the 3rd in the last few weeks and our vet had warned us before we left that if they became more frequent than monthly it was bad. Took her to the local vet (instead of going to Mexico today) and got some prescription drugs (bet Colin is relieved!!). Hope this helps as the alternative seems pretty awful.