Home is where we are parked

Home is where we are parked
Home is where we are parked

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

AZ -- Tombstone, 5 Feb to 10 Feb 2020



Tombstone Territories RV Resort is 11 miles west of Tombstone on Hwy 82. There was very little traffic at night on the highway.  Whenever we were there, it was always peaceful. We appreciated their quiet hours from 9pm to 8am.

Everyone at the campground was very welcoming.  They embrace folks for the season and are quick to give advice and ideas as to what to do in area.  Park was filled with snowbirds just soaking up the sun.

They have 102 40’ x 80’ pull through sites with generous room between sites that also includes landscaped desert flora. Amenities include satellite TV, propane service, ice, laundry facilities, and clean shower and restroom facilities.  They also have a large recreation room, fully equipped kitchen, enclosed pool/spa and exercise area.

There are a few one-mile long walking paths and they have a few dog parks.  They have a variety of indoor and outdoor activities including table tennis, billiards, shuffleboard, horseshoes, water aerobics and yoga.  “You can stay as busy as you like or just sit back and relax.”

The resort is in a great location with the historic western town of Tombstone nearby and the Kartchner caverns 15 minutes northwest.

They do offer free Wi-fi. However, we had an end site and the signal was so weak it was not usable.  We had a weak phone and data signal.  We limped along during our time there. We had to send the blog early one morning before the system got clogged with traffic.  We were able to get a satellite TV signal without an issue.


 The campground from a distance

Nearby Towns

Tombstone sits at an elevation of 4,541 feet, and has a population of about 1,300.  As a tourist town it has a number of “gotcha” shops but we did not see any grocery stores.  There was one gas station.

Sierra Vista is 20 miles to the south.  The city, which sits at an elevation of 4,600 feet, and has a population of about 45,000 but the metropolitan area has a population of upwards of 130,000.  Fort Huachuca, a U.S. Army post, is located in the northwest part of the city.”

Sierra Vista has five grocery stores including an Oriental Market and a Super Walmart.  You should be able to find any service you need in the medium sized city.

Tucson is 70 miles to the northwest and has just about any supplies and services anyone would need.

Adventures

Fairbank Town Site

We met our friends Tom and Ann at the town site early in the morning after they had driven down from Tucson.

“The historic town of Fairbank used to be a very important transportation hub.  Three railroad lines pass through Fairbank including the New Mexico and Arizona which connected Fairbank to Benson and the Mexican Port of Guaymas.  In the 1880s at the peak of the silver boom in and around tombstone Fairbanks served as a central point of entry and exit for miners. In the 1880s at the peak of the silver boom in and around Tombstone Fairbank served as a central point of entry and exit for minors prospectors materials and ore”.

“ In 1987 the Bureau of land management acquired the old Spanish land grant that Fairbank was built upon.  It is now a portal into the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area and is open every day for public visitation.”

The four of us and their dog Twoey, walked the Fairbank loop trail to the cemetery and the grand central mill.  As we walked, Tom and Ann told us about places they had explored in the area.

The railroad town of Fairbank
Ann and Tom at the cemetery
Trying to decipher a grave marking
 Ann and Tom examining a prickly tree that bites!

Then we crossed the highway and walked to the Little Boquillas Ranch.  We followed the old rail trail for a ways.  They used old ore slag for the rail bed.  Tom was fascinated with finding large, colorful pieces of slag.

The abandoned ranch stirs your imagination as to how life was back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The ranch has passed through many hands over years including William Randall Hearst and Kern County Land and Cattle Company.  It was as large as 36,000 acres at one time.

We explored a number of remaining buildings including the smokehouse.  We walked the road back rather than the old rail bed.

As we waved goodbye to Tom and Ann, we said we’d see them again at Lake Powell to fish!

Ann, Twoey and Arleen walking down ore slag railroad bed



Whitewater Draw State Wildlife Area

The Whitewater Wildlife Area was 45 minutes to the east near Elfrida.

“This Important Bird Area, is dominated by a ephemeral lake, patchy marshlands, and semi-arid grasslands. Approximately 600 acres (1448 hectares) are the wetland. There are two small patches of riparian habitat. It was acquired by Arizona Game and Fish Department in 1997”.

“Many people visit Whitewater Draw each winter to experience the memorable sights and sounds of more than 20,000 sandhill cranes.  These birds spend the night standing in the Whitewater Draw’s shallow waters to evade predators, and then fly out each morning to feed and socialize in the surrounding area.  They return to Whitewater Draw in the afternoon and evening.

Based on research we had done, we were there before noon.  It was easy to pick out the large picnic overhang area where the parking area is in the flat farm and draw area.

We were able to watch thousands of the cranes return.  The noise they make as they jockey for position coming in for landings is incredible.

We know we were fortunate to see them on the east side of the area and near the viewing platform.  A fellow bird watcher told us when she had been there before they were all over on the other shore of pond.  Also, they’ll soon be headed north to nesting grounds.








We joined a couple dozen other folks who all had binoculars, camera with large lenses and tripods.

 

Other birds use the area too. A couple of great horned owl use the picnic overhang area as a roosting spot.  We saw a variety of ducks that we have never seen before.  There was also a flock of Snowgeese but they were on the other side of the riparian area.

 Duck butts always make me laugh!  Here a few pair of Northern Shovelers are feeding!

 Variety of birds: Cinnamon Teal, Green Wing Teal, Coot, Pintail

 Red Tailed Hawk giving us the evil eye
 Could be a young Vermillion Flycatcher...

 Great Horned Owl flirting with us

On the way back, we stopped in Tombstone.  We were immediately transported to the old west as we walked down the old boardwalk along the dirt Allen Street.  Cowboys in their long dusters encouraged us to sign up for the last Okay Corral performance of the day.

Instead we went for a late lunch at the highly rated Big Nose Kate's Saloon.  They brag that they are the best cowboy bar in the west! And the food was very good.

It was a fun lunch as we were entertained by Raleigh Jay Croghan as he sang his favorite Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings songs.  Other folks were dressing in cowboy and saloon waitress garb and posing for photos on the old piano.

We’d return to Tombstone in a few days.








Chiricahua National Monument, “Wonderland of Rocks” 

This little gem is located in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. “The monument was established on April 18, 1924, to protect its extensive hoodoos and balancing rocks.”

“The monument preserves the remains of an immense volcanic eruption that shook the region about 27 million years ago.  The thick, white-hot ash spewed forth from the nearby Turkey Creek Caldera, cooled and hardened into rhyolitic tuff, laying down almost 2,000 feet of highly siliceous, dark volcanic ash and pumice. The volcanic material eventually eroded into the natural rock formations of the present monument.”

It was a long 75 mile drive from the campground.  It meant three hours of driving for a day trip.  However, all our local friends had insisted that we needed to go.  It was well worth the effort.

As we drove we marveled at the number of pecan tree orchards that are everywhere a creek runs out of the mountains and can be used for irrigation.  As soon as we arrived in the park area, we started to climb in elevation, out of the surrounding flat land.

The flora started to change and as we gazed up at the surrounding ridges, we could see hoodoos everywhere.

First, we stopped at the Visitor center to get a sticker and stamp. Plus, we discussed the trail conditions with the friendly ranger for a few minutes. She said the Heart of the Rocks Loop was her favorite in the park.

There was one of two ways to get the loop.  We could leave from the Visitor center or we could drive around on Bonita Canyon Drive and park at the Echo Canyon parking area.  Either way, the hike would be about the same distance - roughly 7 miles.
We decided to leave from the Visitor Center and hike through the Rhyolite Canyon to get here.  We thought it might be quieter.  We were right!  We saw one lady out for a quick three mile hike and that was all on that section of the trail.

Rhyolite trail starts out in the creek bed and the flora was amazing and so different on the moist, dark canyon floor.  The red Ponderosa Pine bark really stood out.

Rhyolite Canyon

Manzanita along upper canyon against hoodoos.
 
Alligator Juniper against hoodoos. 




The trail slowly climbed out of the canyon to the Sarah Deming Trail.  All along here, we ogled at the hoodoos and rock formations on the ridges on the other side of the canyon and in front of us.

At the Sarah Deming Trail, the real work began as the rocky trail climbed 880 feet in 1.6 miles.  We greeted and thanked a number of trail crews working in this area.  True to national park standard, it was a great trail for being in such a rocky area.

We stopped to take many picture breaks.  It was breathtaking in every direction.






Finally we arrived at the turn for the Heart of the Rocks loop.  Here we followed the trail up and were squeezed between some massive boulders.  Now we were eye to eye with a field of hoodoos.

Everywhere we looked was a balancing rock!  Normally, and area will have one!  We couldn’t count the number of odd rock formations here!

Someone had already named a few of them for us including the Punch and Judy and a Duck on a Rock.  But our favorite was Thor’s Hammer.




Thor's Hammer




So many balancing rocks!
Finally, we followed the trail back to the Visitor Center.  We have to agree with everyone that told us we had to go.  It is an incredible and special place.

Tombstone

We returned to Tombstone a few days later.  We walked down Allen Street window shopping in a variety of western ware stores.

We made our way to the Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park and stepped into the past.  "Built in the shape of a Roman Cross, the two-story 1882 Victorian structure once housed the Cochise County offices of the sheriff, recorder, treasurer, the jail, courtrooms, and the board of supervisors. Today, the old courthouse is a 12,000 square-foot museum filled with memorabilia of those who tamed the territory."

"Huge rooms inside the old courthouse feature exhibits chronicling Tombstone's colorful history, from Geronimo and the silver mining days to the O.K. Corral gun battle, and the stories of Tombstone's unique but no less notorious citizens."






 
Next, we had dinner at Café Margarita.  Like other buildings, Café Margarita has a history. It was formerly the Russ house and was run by Nellie Cashman “The Angel of Tombstone” back in the day.  Even though they also serve Italian food, Shawn had a huge plate of Nachos and I had quesadilla with fresh guacamole and a prickly pear margarita.  It was a nice quiet dinner while Mariachi music played softly in the background.

We ate early because we had scheduled a “Gunfighter Ghost Tour” at 6pm.


We met Laura the tour guide and another couple in front of the Visitor Center.  Each couple got an infrared laser and an EMF meter to help us detect paranormal activity as we moved around Tombstone in the dusk.

 

We only visited the outside of the buildings that reputedly are the 10 most haunted spots in Tombstone.  Laura told stories behind the Courthouse hangings, John Heath and the Bisbee Massacre, China Mary's opium den in Hop Town, the Tombstone General Hospital where patient's died excruciating deaths, and the killing in front of the OK Corral and a few more.

 

Laura is very knowledgeable about Tombstone’s history and was very entertaining.  Did we detect any paranormal activity?  Shawn and I are skeptical.

 

The infrared laser did detect lower temps but it was dusk and we understand how objects of different materials can retain heat as compared to the rapidly cooling desert air.  The EMF meters did go off…  and we could not explain that… so…

 

Ghost hunt meeting at dusk


  Checking out an EMF reading

There is a lot more that we could explore in Tombstone and the surrounding area.  We may return some winter for a few weeks.


Next…

After Tombstone we spent a few days in City of Rocks and Oliver Lee State Parks in New Mexico and in Socorro and Bernalillo, New Mexico.

We are in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Our nine year traveling odyssey has ended but we will never stop traveling.

We'll have the blogs out for our final stops over the next few weeks.  Finally, we will have finale blog that summarizes the nine years of travel.

Parting Shots

Tombstone after sunset

 Rough Looking Outlaw!

 Beer Keg Urinals in Tombstone - Repurpose?
(256,000)