Visit to Bisbee and Douglas

I do not have to be in Chandler until Monday morning, so Dave and I drove south to Bisbee on Saturday, have not been to Bisbee in many years.  Saturday the temperature was in the mid 90s, still a tidge too warm for us to do anything much.  Drove around the town, saw many historic homes, stopped at the famous Lavender Open Pit Mine (the highest producer of copper in the world up to 2009 when it totally closed down).  We saw the mine in operation when we were here in 2006, saw lots of activity at the bottom of the pit, but it was a pure ghost mine yesterday.  At one time Benson had the highest population of the state and had numerous businesses, many international, that were connected in some way to the copper mines.

Road cut right through a hill, typical of the area

Coming south out of St. David, heading towards Tombstone

Surprised the Border Patrol Checkpoint was closed

Passed through Tombstone, passed the OK Corral gunfight area

Bisbee on the other side of those Mule Mountains

Sierra Vista sits at the base of those Huachuca Mountains (looking west)

Through the Bisbee tunnel

Bisbee, elevation 5300 feet

The last time we visited Bisbee we toured the Queen Bee Mine, which takes you on the actual rail car deep into the earth, a mile down, and your tour guide who was one of the miners 'back then' provides you the day-to-day life underground.  Very chilling experience, not for the faint hearted.  Since we had been on the tour before (it was very crowded) we opted not to do it, just looked around the town.  Very artsy, crafty, lots and lots of stores selling all kinds of goods.  And bars/restaurants.  And restored buildings that are now hotels.  Headed on to Douglas.

Very colorful

Went up above the town, the mountains in the distance - Mexico 

Houses built on the side of the mountain

Lavender Open Pit Mine 

Douglas is another town that we had wanted to visit, since it was even warmer there, we only stopped at the visitor's center and picked up literature to possibly revisit the town in the future.  Saw the Mexican/US border wall (it has always been in place) drove around the town a bit, found the famous Gadsden Hotel which has been featured on television because of it's ghosts/paranormal activity.

In Douglas the Gadsden Hotel, lots of movies filmed in Douglas

Border Wall, we were on International Street (dah) 

Hard to tell but down road is the border crossing to Agua Prieta, Mexico

Today we spent getting the RV cleaned up, doing laundry, me packing my clothes and computer, etc, to head to Jill's tomorrow.  We will stop at our winter abode long enough to drop off some things, and pick up my 'good' sewing machine (have lots of mending to do at Jill's) and then be at their house by 10ish tomorrow morning.  The girls are still off on fall break, they go back to school on Wednesday, so I will have the rest of tomorrow to have one-on-one time and then all day Tuesday before they head back to the grind of school on Wednesday.