Patagonia

Wow, we had a great ride today! Pat, Charlie, Christina, Rick, Jerry and Vicki went with us to Patagonia, well on the way to Nogales.

We met for breakfast at the Mercedes Cafe, and a great good morning meal and fun conversation.

We unloaded the ATVs near the town park and struck out for an area near Red Mountain, catching magnificent views of the Patagonia Valley. The area seemed unbelievably lush, with all kinds of greenery, streams and trees.

We saw so many mine excavations, with all the slag spilled out from the pits. and trailing down the hill or mountainside. There were signs all around of the danger of the mined area. Jerry said the whole mountain area probably was like Swiss Cheese.

We had a great lunch at the end of a trail in Flux Canyon, along a crystal clear creek. Along that trail we also discovered a small cave on the side of a rocky edifice. Next to the opening was a tile image of the Lady of Guadalupe.

Inside the cave (several of us climbed up there), were about 6 religious statues and the remains of a dozen or so religious candles. So why is this shrine up there on a mountain side, difficult to get to, and full of 'holy' imagery? A safe and religious haven for illegals???

(l-r)Tim, Ellen, Rick, Christina, Pat, Charlie, Vicki and Jerry

Our Tuesday Ride

We just can't seem to get enough of this ATV thing! Yesterday we went on a super long ride with 12 other units, probably a total of 24 people. We chummed mostly with Pat and Charlie from Sierra Vista, but also met quite a nice guy, Chuck, a retired SEC judge from Tucson.

An example of the scenery we see!

Our ride left near Tombstone for China Camp. Beautiful weather! We headed for Pearce, a small mining town that had seen better days. Here is Ellen in front of the general store 'downtown' Pearce, which is only open the weekend following Thanksgiving. We were told the inside is like a museum, chock full of historic artifacts.

Ellen in front of the General Store

We saw remnants of the Ghost Town of Courtland, mostly foundations but also a still standing building that looked like a prison or a bank. My guess is that it was a bank, as it looked too 'fancy' for a jail.True enough all windows had bars on them, either to keep people in or keep them out.

We went on to Gleeson, another mining town that does not have much left...but you can see several foundations and partial buildings left as the mine played out.

A neat stop was Rattlesnake Crafts, an amazing place run by husband and wife, who hunt rattlers, and then make anything imaginable from the snake---knife sheaths, wallets, lighter covers, etc.

The cool thing about this place is rail and fence after fence with found objects hanging and displayed all along the roadway. Collections of tools, implements, small appliances, bottles, toys, license plates, and on and on. Just about anything one could imagine. It was like a rusty outdoor museum.

Ellen and Pat Schaffer at Rattlesnake Crafts

The ride totaled over 73 miles, and we sure were tuckered out when we made it back to load the Honda onto our F450.

Romantic Rocky Ride

We celebrated Valentine's Day with an ATV ride to the rocky area of Cochise's Stronghold northeast of Tombstone AZ. How romantic!

It was a beautiful day with tons of sunshine and warm temps. Our group was larger than we have had, with a total of 9 units. Lots of fantastic rock formations were out there, as well as several camping groups and hikers. Lots of fresh air! Ellen drove a good part of the return trip.

Our friend Jim Pearce brought a Polaris Razr as a demo from Cochise Motorsports in Sierra Vista, and several of us got a chance to try it out. The Razr is a sporty side by side ATV. We also test drove a Polaris "two-up" owned by new friends Rick and Christina. (Thanks Rick and Christina!) A two up is a machine made for two people, as most ATVs are manufactured only for one person. Arizona is starting to enforce this as many riders ride double on a one person machine. The fine is $250 if you're caught. We are seriously looking at buying a two up some time before we return to Arizona next January.

We ended the day with a dinner at the Longhorn Restaurant in Tombstone. Here's a photo of our group:

Empire Ranch Ride

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We had another great ATV ride yesterday, doing 54 miles on the Empire Ranch property northwest of Sierra Vista. Great views, lots of different terrain and plant life, including yucca, century plants, prairie grass and mesquite trees.

We saw a couple of antelope early in the ride. We rode among a huge herd of cattle in one pass. Several were in the road, and instead of moving to the side of the road, they keep trotting and lumbering in front of us ON the road!

Going on the ride with us were Pat and Charlie, Jerry, and Rick and Christina. We are in a nice site at the Western Horizons St. David RV Resort, enjoying the stars at night...chilly nights by the way--lows have been in the upper 20s.

At one of our breaks, 4 wild looking dune buggies rumbled past.

We plan on shopping today and an then enjoy an evening in Sierra Vista with tickets to see the Annual Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival.

Some more ATV fun

We had our first SE Arizona ATV ride yesterday with friends Pat and Janet McNamara. It was their first ride and I think they really had a fun time. We met Jim Pearce, Pat and Charlie, and 'new folks' Jim and Marci from Oregon at Sunnys D restaurant in Huachuca City.

It seemed to take forever to get to Parker Canyon Lake where we unloaded the ATVs. Then it was over the small mountains to head for the border. Beautiful scenery with grassy prairie, foothills and mountains all around us. The border fence looked really ridiculous, with a frequently broken barbed wire 'box' fencing and railroad ties welded together to make a seemingly endless rail style fence.

We also saw a group of 20+ wild turkeys on the way to the ghost settlement of Sunnyside, where a silver mine played out and the last inhabitants left less than 10 years ago. It was a fun and varied ride with very little dust. Got back to Sierra Vista after dark and had supper at La Casita with Pat and Janet.

Ellen at Sunnyside

Farewell to Gila Bend

We left Gila Bend at about 9:30 on Monday morning with heavy hearts, as we left a good many new friends. It was really nice to have a small parade of folks stop by and wish us a safe trip and certain return next winter. Larry and Jim stopped by first on their bikes. Then as we were hooked up, Bob and Mary Jo, Ron and Jean, Evelyn and Phyl, and Ted and Coleen were all in a hugging scene. Had a great time at Augie's Quail Trail, and look forward to seeing all these fine friends again!

We stopped for fuel and propane at Flying J in Eloy, and then another necessary stop at Inn-n-Out Burger on the south side of Tucson. Hooray for the tasty Double-Double!! Got to St. David's Western Horizon Park and set up on the upper loop where we can see billions and billions of stars at night.

ATV returned, a birthday

We drove the ATV back to Sierra Vista yesterday, and it rained the whole way there. Had a nice visit and lunch with Jim Pearce, our ATV owner and owner of Apache ATV Tours. Also there was Pat and Charley. Had a nice talk about possible rides when we move our home to St. David.

On the way home we had a birthday dinner for Ellen at Sweet Tomatoes in Tucson, Ellen's favorite restaurant. Shopped a bit at Fry's and toodled on home, getting back at about 9pm. Oh the birthday dinner was in honor of Ellen's birthday. We have been celebrating rather quietly.

So we are back in Gila Bend with no ATV. However, we have a full slate lined up for us until we leave on Monday morning. Playing card bingo tonight, Organ Pipe National Park tomorrow, and then a fiddling show and dance Friday night in Ajo. Saturday a bunch of us are going to the casino near Maricopa for the seafood buffet, plus a little gambling perhaps. Sunday is a Super Bowl Party at the clubhouse.