Visit to National Memorial Park

No wonder people carry guns here!

We visited the country's only National Memorial Park yesterday - Coronado.  Located south of us, on the Mexican/US border, chosen to be located here with the understanding that this park would be an international park with Mexico and the US - that hasn't happened yet - they hope some day in the future.  The park commemorates Francisco Vasquez de Coronado's expedition from Mexico up through to Kansas and return in the 1540s, a 'probable' route that he used through this area.  Spain sent out Coronado to find the seven cities of gold that previous explorers Cortes, Pizarro, de Vaca, and Father Marcos de Niza told about and exaggerated.  Coronado never found the cities nor the gold but did meet many native Indians and introduced the Spanish culture to them and to this day Spanish culture has integrated into our life with food, customs, words and phrases used, Catholicism, farming.

Trail to top of Coronado Peak

After leaving the visitors center we started out on a paved road but quickly it turned into a dirt, narrow, windy dusty road and started up the  switchbacks up to the top of Coronado Peak to get to the hiking trails at the top of the mountain. As Dave was driving up all I could think about was he had lots of practice with narrow twisty roads from our time spent in Glacier and Going-To-The-Sun Road.  Met a car coming down and we just made it by - by inches - to continue to the top. Not quite as pretty as Glacier with snow capped mountains - in fact this view was desert, dry, but still quite impressive.  This park borders Mexico and from the top you could see the border clearly defined with a wall. We encountered a National Park Trail Crew rehabbing the beginning of the trailhead moving huge boulders up farther onto the mountain - phew!  After reading the warning sign right at the beginning of the trailhead, we now understand why many people carry guns.  When we visited Amerind last Sunday a group of motorcycles came in - all weaving gun holsters and guns - even the women (theirs were in pink)!

Lovely day there - the vista views were amazing.  Looking north we were on the back side of the Huachuca Mountains and at  the other side of the mountain is Fort Huachuca Army Base and Sierra Vista.  Lots of history in this area.  What we didn't see during this visit is Border Patrol cars/vans.  Where we are camping - this is a common sight, seeing them sitting off the road, watching everything and everyone.  Have to go through check points each time we go to Tucson, common thing for us now. At night we can see the Border Patrol checkpoint out of Tombstone from our camper and Dave says he can see spot lights moving around.  Some times we see their helicopters flying around, low, looking for someone.  Doesn't scare us, just a fact of life here.

On our way back we decided to go out to eat - something we don't do alot of.  We were told of a great pizzeria not far from the National Memorial called Mimosa.  Wow!  Great pizza!  But a nice way to celebrate both our birthdays together.  We will begin today to pack the final things up and tomorrow we will move up to Picacho and leave the RV here and come back Tuesday morning to move off anything left or forgot and make sure all liquids are emptied, then move it to the dealer in Huachuca City - not far from here.  Picacho here we come!

A Walk in the Riparian

Dry San Pedro River - cattle under trees

We went back to San Pedro Riparian which is run by the BLM Tuesday afternoon.  We hiked this area last December and wanted to come back to go further on the trail, to see the ruins of a stamping plant and what else remained of the ghost town Fairbanks.  What surprised us the most was the dry conditions of the Riparian.  What is a riparian? It is the area along a river which serves many purposes: helps the stream get rid of energy with less erosion and flooding, has diverse habitat of animals and foliage, usually has a huge animal dependency to the water. Anyhow, we have visited many riparians on our travels but this one is quite unique.  At the turn of the century the town of Fairbanks was a thriving community with schools, banks, hotels, liveries, stores, etc.  Had a railroad here that was a major stop between Tombstone and Tucson.  As late as 1975 the town had a resident but now the it is just buildings and a ghost town.  Down the road from Fairbanks stood 9 stamping mills along the San Pedro River.  We wanted to hike to one of the last remaining structures of the Grand Central Mill, about 2 miles from Fairbanks.

Remains of Grand Central Mill

We knew that this was probably a free range area for cattle and horses and heard the rustlings in the brush and heard moo-ing.  Wasn't until our return walk back along the San Pedro where we saw the cattle standing in the dry river bed.  Found the stamping mill - was amazed at how big it was.  Must have been quite noisy - 24/7 workings and the pounding going on must have heard for miles. Saw what was left of the mill and also some foundations of buildings - probably in support of the mill.  Dave discovered an open mine shaft and he got pretty close - said he couldn't see the bottom.

Ranger Robert

Along the way ran into a woman weeding and discovered that she was with the BLM doing trail maintenance.  She said that we would find another person a little farther.  Talked with him for some time about what his work is - a Ranger with BLM - and his history, was a National Park service employee doing fire fighting (we can certainly relate to this from this past summer) and also as a ranger.  When he started as a ranger here at San Pedro there were 2 other rangers with him and with the cut backs - he's the last man standing.  We also talked in length about buying American made only - which we strongly follow - not patronizing stores that bring in products from out of the country and we also buy from the mom-and-pops' businesses when ever we can before going to the chain stores - helping keep the small business going.

The trail was flat and packed dirt going out to the Mill but on our swing around along the River it became sandy and hard to walk.  We both ended up limping by the time we got back to the car - me for my foot problem and Dave from twisting his knee.

Amerind and Whitewater Draw

Gopher snake at museum

Snake by our car

Sunday we decided to head out to visit a museum called Amerind located in Dragoon about 20 miles east of here.  But first, when we were getting into the car, Dave said - we have a visitor - a snake.  What????  Okay, we are in the desert and I have not been paying attention to where I walk - I sure do now!  We didn't know when we got to the museum is that they were celebrating 75 year anniversary - that day.   Great.  Lots of people, lots.  They had a wildlife - snake - exhibit there and we questioned one of the handlers about the snake we saw by the RV and they said more than likely it was a baby gopher.  We really didn't spend time in the museum, which is one man's interest in American Indian artifacts and then the development of the museum to share with the world, due to the amount of people there - had to wait in line to look at a display.  We will come back another day to spend time and look at the many displays.  This museum is nestled in the Dragoon mountains, can't see it at all from the road, looks very Spanish in design, and was very impressive inside.  It kept going and going and going.

Hopi Dancers 

The museum had invited various Native Indian dancers/performers and artists to spend the day, we saw the Hopi while Navajo and Tohono O'odham were scheduled for later in the day.  We happened to get there in time to see Hopi Indians sing songs and perform dances.  Listening to some other folks around us, they were wondering if they could take pictures since many Indian functions and pow-wows they had attended in the past did not allow picture taking.  The elder who presided over this session said of course - take as many pictures as you like, and there will be a question and answer period after that hopefully will answer anything you see or hear.  It was a family affair - grandfather was the moderator/drummer/singer, 3 girls were sisters - his granddaughters, the male dancer was his son, and the young man singing with him was his grandson.  The woman in black by the elder helped with everything was the girls' mother, the elder's daughter. The program started with a 10 year old girl singing a song about harvest time.  Took alot of courage to stand in front of about 400 people and sing in your native tongue.  Then the dancers came out with the grandfather singing and playing the drum with his grandson chanting with him and keeping time with a rattle.  I was most impressed with the stamina of these people, they danced continually for 25 minutes, stopping for about 2 minutes between each song.  The costumes were hand made by the grandfather's son, the head pieces again were handmade by the mother of the girls.

Sandhill Cranes - big birds!

After this performance we moved to the museum and art gallery but it was too crowded.  We opted to get some fry bread, if you get a chance to eat one of these, do it.  Very yummy.  We got our fry bread with honey and powder sugar.  I think the best we ever had was in Taos Pueblo in New Mexico.

I see you!

We left by 1pm to head over to Whitewater Draw, an area that is the resting place for the sandhill cranes as they migrate further south for the winter, they come from as far north as Siberia.  We had been to Whitewater last December and there were over 30,000 cranes here, close,  just awesome.  We are about 6 weeks ahead of the full thrust of the birds, saw maybe 5,000 but much further out feeding.  We will come back here late December to see them again.  You can hear them way before seeing them.  Stay tuned - we will visit this again and I'll report then. And our last sighting on our way out of the Draw was this pretty hawk - keeping us in his sight.  I see you!

Buffalo Soldier Museum

Displays inside museum

One of the places we wanted to visit while here in Tombstone is the Buffalo Soldier Museum located inside Fort Huachuca, an active US Army base, located in Sierra Vista at the base of the Huachuca Mountains, about a 15 minute drive south of where we are camping.  We had no idea what to expect or see so the day was an oh-my! day.  After going through the gate and getting directions as to where the museum was, we started driving on the HUGE base - and I do mean HUGE! - passed 2 elementary schools, a Burger King, gas station, hospital, grocery stores, housing, etc.  Got lost, but eventually found the museum.  There are 2 museums to visit housed in 3 buildings.  The museums tell the story of how the fort was established in 1877 as a temporary camp and eventual permanent base and of the military intelligence that is intricate to the armed forces.  Fort Huachuca (Who-ah-chew-cah and means 'thunder' in Apache, they believed weather originated in the mountains) has played a role in national defense since then.  As a matter of fact, this base is the center for all military intelligence development and training for all armed forces in the country.

The Buffalo Soldier Museum is located within the 2 Fort's museums and pays tribute to the African-American men who were trained and fought in the Spanish-American Punitive War of Mexico in 1917 and also in World War I and II.  The term 'buffalo soldier' was coined by the Apache Indians because their curly hair and dark skin resembled the buffalo.  Two regiments were established here and were trained and deployed to various conflicts around the world.

Military Intelligence Museum

The oh-my came from learning about the role the Fort plays today.  The military intelligence that is developed and products developed and tested is mind boggling.  Of course we were not allowed to see any of this, but we did know it was housed in various buildings around the base by watching a movie inside the museum.  One note:  we have noticed high in the sky over the base - we can see it from our campground - a balloon type thing just floating up there.  I asked the guard as we came into the base what it was - he said it monitors the border for activity, a security camera.  The base is located right near the border of Mexico.  And I am sure that this blog will be scanned by their intelligence since I mentioned Fort Huachuca.

And one more thing....the city of Sierra Vista is deceiving.  It boasts a population of 44,000 and the base has approximate population of 135,000! but it doesn't have the big department stores that you would expect for a large city.  Biggest store is a Wally World and JC Penney.  Two main grocery stores, big 3 car dealers, lots of small businesses.  You can drive one hour north and be in Tucson which is where I think they most go for shopping.

Donkeys, Coyotes, and Sunsets

We have been very busy while here in Tombstone, can't believe we have been here two weeks already!  We spent last Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday up in Chandler doing grandgirl watching while Mom and Dad were at work. Was great to see them again after almost 5 months of us being on the road - how they have grown and matured! Now we will get to see them alot while here for the winter - Yay!

Donkeys being led home

Each night we are here we are serenaded with the coyotes - typically coming awake about 6:45pm and running all night, back and forth, howling, then quiet, then running by again.  At first we were elated to hear them, but now - it has become ho-hum, but I find I am woken up all the time as they pass - I still love it!  And no rhyme or reason as to when they first run by or when they stop for the night.  We find their scat (poop) markings at the fence line not far from us so they are close.  Yesterday we went on a hike on one of the trails here at the RV park, taking the fence line west, traveling about a mile total.  Saw lots of animal prints, some big marks - looked like horse tracks, and lots of people feet where some may also be hiking.  As we rounded the fence line along the road, still in desert sagebrush and various foliage that I should have learned by now, we came across 2 donkeys in a high fenced area, right near the front entrance to the RV park.  There was a woman inside the fence with them, hugging one of them while brushing the other.  One man was getting water and filling a bin inside while a third was walking along the fence for security for the donkeys.  Started up a conversation with the woman - are these your babies?  Yes, they ran away yesterday and found themselves in this RV park (it's fenced all around except at the  entrance way). She said the coyotes spooked them and they took off, they tracked them yesterday for awhile but lost the trail.  She said they will come back in the morning and walk them back to their place - not sure where but I think it's a far piece to walk them (maybe 3 miles?), said they are really spooked and won't stand a ride in the trailer - will have to walk them home.  Sure enough, about an hour ago Dave took their picture as they were being walked out.

Beautiful Sunsets - looking towards California

Sunsets?  Well, just about every night we are given the most spectacular show, almost as good as Santa Fe skies, almost.  And many mornings are just as colorful.  The mornings scare us - being tuned into the weather during our time as sailors on Lake Erie - we remember the saying, "Red sky at night - sailors delight. Red sky in morning - sailors take warning."  Within two hours of sunrise the skies clear to crystal blue and no warning is sounded.  Absolutely beautiful day. Every day.

We pack up the RV, or should I say unload, and take it into the RV dealer on the 29th.  From then on we will be in Picacho.  This is a lovely place - we will miss it when we leave.

Final thoughts on the Montana Trip

Now that our 'summer' escape has ended, and we are safely back in AZ, thought I'd give some quick facts about this past trip.  We traveled 8,777 miles with the truck and put 3,479 miles on the RV's tires.  We camped 20 miles from the border of Canada in Hungry Horse, Montana and 20 miles from the border of Mexico in Huachuca City (Tombstone), Arizona.  We lived through 24 degree temperature in Montana and 103 temp in Utah.  We were on the road for 113 days - our longest of being 'out'.  We traveled from Arizona to Utah, to Idaho, to Montana, to Wyoming, back into Utah, down to New Mexico, and back into Arizona.

We visited the following national parks/monuments/sites:  South Rim and North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Wupetki National Monument, Sunset Crater NM, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Escalanti
Staircase NM, Pipespring NM, Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP, Lewis & Clark National Historical Site, Fort Benton NHS, Upper Missouri River Breaks NM, Rockefeller National Parkway, Grand Teton NP, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Dinasour NM, and too numerous to mention - lots of Lewis and Clark sights and places of their Corps of Discovery Journey plus lots and lots of local interest places.

We stayed at 15 different campgrounds - and all but two were great. Our elevation at camping was at 8100 feet (Alpine, AZ) to the lowest of 1900 at Williams, AZ. The main theme we thought we were going after before heading out was to see the wilderness of Montana.  Had no other expectations.  However, in reflecting, this trip we learned 3 main things - geology, history, and how to have fun via a Razors (ATV).  We had our first blush with Razors in Wagonhammer Campground in North Fork, Idaho where we talked with our neighbor who is a third generation farmer and his grandfather built the  farm and house they live in.  He was so enthusiastic about his Razor - couldn't wait to get back home and run it.  From that point on we started to see these ATVs being pulled all over the place.  Then when we got to Moab - WOW!

We were red-rocked out by the time we left Glendale Utah where Zion and Bryce Canyon NPs were and that is when we first got our scare of wildfires.  And never left the smoky haze from then on until we got to Gallup, New Mexico.  Only then did we have clear skies.  Hope this coming winter is very wet for the west - they need it.  Have seen some very poor areas (New Mexico comes to mind) and some very rich areas - Kalispel, Montana. RV held up well after our first boo-boo that happened not far from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, on Navajo Indian Reservations' roads - they are awful!

All in all, a trip we thoroughly enjoyed and looking forward to next spring's trip to the State of Washington.  Will not be blogging for awhile - will alert you via email when we do something special while here for the winter in Picacho.

Tombstone Territories

We got up early yesterday morning (sun rises in AZ around 6:00am right now) packed up and carefully moved out of the campground by 8:30am.  Since we had to wiggle to get into the sight due to the pine trees, had to wiggle just as much to get out.  Still, was lovely to hear nothing other than the wind rustling the pine trees and the occasional bird talking.  Wednesday we had driving into the little town of Alpine to fill up the truck and while Dave was doing that, I went into the store and asked the clerk what her thoughts were on driving through the White Mountains, south on US Route 191.  She said - don't recommend it - 25 miles an hour, hairpin turns, if you are bigger than 40 foot, not allowed, very steep drop offs, no guard rails, go this other way - and she gave me an alternative route out and south.  We did as she said yesterday, driving eastward back into New Mexico to head south.  But, again, we had to drive through the Mogollon Mountains then, hairpin turns, steep descent, but lovely views.  Traveling through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.  This area we traveled was just west of the huge wildfires that were here in May/June.  We saw just a scant of it - glad we didn't have to worry about it now.

Dragoon Mountains

Dropped down into Safford, Arizona by noon, and then headed west again towards Benson, Arizona on Interstate 10, then headed south towards Tombstone.  We started out at 57 degrees at 8:30am and by the time we got the slides out and set up, it was 92 - welcome to Arizona! We look out our living room window to the Dragoon Mountains - that's to the north east, and to the west are the Whetstone Mountains.  This area we are in is of course the Tombstone - Wyatt Earp fame, also this was the stronghold of Cochise, the Apache warrior that gave the US Army hell back in the 1880's. To the south is of course Mexico and the Huachuca Mountains and a fairly large town called Sierra Vista (will do shopping there), and at an elevation of 4000 + feet.  Amazing - yesterday we were in 8200 feet and now at 1/2 that.  Will go down to 1800 feet by the time we are back in Picacho.  We are in Tombstone Territories RV Campground, 8 miles outside of Tombstone, and 20 miles from the border of Mexico.  Border patrol is on high alert, 2 agents were killed just a few days ago by drug smugglers near the border, so the activity is intensified.  We are quite safe here, the property butts up against the US Army Military Base - Fort Huachuca - to the south.  Very quiet.  About 11:30pm last night the coyotes came roaring through, yelling and yipping.  Grace was laying on me and she stood up and looked out the window, sure she was going to growl but didn't - she's a good guard cat.

We have this space for a month, can't beat it for $11.50 a night with full hookup.  And we are about 9 miles from the Jayco dealer, so when we are ready to move to Picacho for the winter, we will unload the RV, close it up, and take it to them for service.  In the meantime, we are about 3 hour drive south from the grandkids, will see them once or twice before heading to Picacho for the winter.  Will enjoy this place - was a goal to camp here for a couple of years.  Glad our trip is done for this summer, but sad it's over.  Can't believe we did it with out too much pain.

Alpine, Arizona

Made the move yesterday from Gallup, New Mexico, to Alpine, Arizona.  Talk about quiet, peaceful, no trucks/trains/car noises here in Alpine.  And last night was so dark - amazing.  We are about 180 miles from Tombstone where we will sit for about 3 weeks, enjoying our last hurrah and getting the RV ready for the dealer.  This little town of Alpine is snuggled in the White Mountains, a haven for boaters, fishing, camping and off-road ATVs (oh no). When we do move the RV to the dealer, it is a mere 10 miles into a small town called Huachuca City (pronounced Whoo-ah-choo-cah).  We really have to get this thing in - the rough roads we encountered on this trip took a big toll, bolts broke, things came out of alignment, the front nose piece is a tidge loose, etc.  We want the RV in great shape for our next spring jaunt which will be going north west to Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and California. Looking forward to that.

Heard coyotes last night, there is a good size pond/lake near here and the Canadian geese have been flying in and out since we got here.  I think the coyotes were after some late night snack.

Today we chill out, I was lucky through this whole trip not to get sick and last night I got way-laid with a whopper cold - or could be sinus crud.  Regardless, I need today to nap on and off in order to be half way alert for Dave's directional person tomorrow.  Have about 4 hour ride ahead of us, mostly through the White Mountains, south to Interstate 10 and then west until Benson, then south to Tombstone.  Sad our trip is coming to an end - but learned this morning that Glacier Natl Park and Yellowstone Natl Park are getting hit with snow.  Good timing on our part!

Gallup, NM

Moonrise over North/South Window Arches

Our last night at Moab was very serene - until about 11:00pm when 3 young couples decided to start playing some board game outside and it had a timer that binged for time limit on answering ?.  I am all for people having fun, laughing, but not at my sleeping expense and my ears.  Seems this beeping thing was at a pitch that my ears really hurt from it.  So - at 11:50pm I was the bad guy and yelled - QUIET! which broke up the party and they went to bed. Most campgrounds have a policy where quiet time is from 10pm to 7 or 8am.  They were talking and laughing so loud that we heard them 5 sites away.  I heard the RVs near them turned on their A/C units to block out their noise instead of just telling them to go inside, or go to bed.  Anyhow, I'm bad.

Wilson Arch

The full moon came up over the North Window and South Window arches Saturday night and we got some great pictures to remember this by.  When we got up and looked out the window Sunday morning, the moon hadn't set so Dave was able to get pics of it setting over Canyonlands National Park.  When you have ever seen a moon rise in one national park and set in another?


Left yesterday morning and headed south down Route 191.  About 25 miles south of Moab we passed Wilson Arch - we didn't need to go to Arches - right here!  LOL.

Shiprock - Tse Bit'a'i

Traveled south until we got to Monticello and turned southeast on Route 491.  From Utah into Colorado into New Mexico.  Most of the day was spent riding through Navajo Indian Reservation which doesn't have any campgrounds.  Passed Shiprock, Tse Bit'a'i, which in Navajo means Rock with Wings. This name refers to the legend of the great bird that brought the Navajo from the north to their present lands.  Shiprock, a huge rock mountain, is located in the center of the Ancient Pueblo People, or Ancestral Puebloan civilization, a prehistoric Native American culture of the Southwest United States often referred to as the Anasazi. The town of Shiprock is all Navajo - signs are in their native language then subtitled in English.  Had reservations at this campground in Gallup, NM - a tad disappointed because we don't have full hookup, and we are in the main path of comings and goings.  There are over 35 Airstream RVs with another 16 coming in today.  They are staging here to go to Albuquerque Wednesday when they all converge at the Hot Air Balloon fest.  Remind me never to be in this part of New Mexico next October - second year in a row we are caught with limited camping opportunities due to the balloon festival.

We thought we would do some sightseeing while here but as it turns out, the nearest 'thing' we wanted to see is at least 95 miles away.  There are two Navajo Indian Casinos around the areas we wanted to go to - so maybe this winter we will just do a little side trip and head back in the car and stay at the casino. So - today instead we will go shopping, get some cat food, the bed frame up-lift mechanism broke so have to go find a hardware store.  We will leave tomorrow morning, heading south again, this time going west and picking back up Route 191.  Will take that down into Alpine, Arizona.  Getting closer!