February 1 &2 2008 Belle Starr's Silverado Ranch

From the time we were first in Tucson we had been reading about Belle Starr's Siverado between Bisbee and Douglas, Arizona. When we departed Davis Monthan we decided to check out Belle's place.

It was not a long drive (about 90 miles) so we arrived early in the afternoon. We took one look at the gate and were not sure we could fit, so Bob and I both sucked in our breath and we made it through the gate in the rv with the car in tow.

We were met by Belle's ranch hand Richard. He told us to follow the dirt road to the farm buggies and turn left. There would be a loop where we could park anywhere. Bob unhooked the car and I followed him down the dirt road as he drove the rv between the mesquite bushes. It was pretty close in some places!

We found the loop and Bob oriented the rv to maximize solar reception on the panels. This was going to be an experience!
We were parked in the middle of the desert with mountains facing us and mesquite bushes all around us.

We ate a late lunch then went outside to fly kites. The wind was whipping up pretty good and we thought we had a good chance to get the kites in the air. Bob was able to get Hoss and Lynn's kite up with not trouble--it had experience. But the one Joyce had went straight up and then dove toward the ground! Bob is to the left of the rv and the kite is the dot at the upper right.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day. The sky was a deep blue with no clouds in sight.We put the kites away and walked down to the corrals to see the animals. We were met by three friendly dogs who love attention. Joyce had carrots for the horses, burros, and mules. She held them until we met Belle who said it was okay to feed the animals

The first corral we visited had Comanche (miniature burro), three mares and their babies.One baby was unusual. We found out later that it is a blue paint--it has not one, but two blue eyes.

Across the drive were more mini burros, geese and chickens. The roosters were like watch dogs, every time we came close, they crowed.
Behind Belle's house was a mini burro with a baby in with the chicken coop.There were more corrals with other horses. The largest horse we found out was a percheron. He is in retirement now, but he pulled Belle's carriage at one time.

At 80 years old, Belle is still very active. She drives a 'gator' around to visit with anyone who stays. We saw her using a pickaxe to remove a tree root near one of the out buildings.

Belle found out Joyce had never been on a horse and she said she would fix that first thing in the morning when Enrique arrived.

So, yes Amy, Joyce was finally going to ride a horse!

Saturday dawned with a few clouds and a little wind. The clouds dispersed early and it was another beautiful day.

We walked down to the corrals where Richard and Enrique were both hard at work. Richard was building a wheelchair ramp for Belle's cabin which is a replica of the infamous Belle Starr's cabin in Oklahoma.

Enrique saddled a gentle horse.

He rode it around the arena to show Joyce how it was done.

Okay, so now it was Joyce's turn. Are you sure the horse is ready?She has to throw her leg how high?

With a little help from Bob, she made it. This wasn't so bad after all!
I think she's got it now!

After the ride, Bob and Joyce drove into Bisbee to see what it was all about. It looks like a town you would find on the northeastern coast with houses going up the hills.There are many artists' studios and antique stores in Bisbee.

Bisbee is also famous for the Queen Mine. The road was built around this old open pit mine.We decided to have lunch at this quaint little diner with a special name. The diner was crowded (only 10 stools inside at the counter and a small outside patio). We were able to eat at the counter. The food was good and the milk shakes looked scrumptious--we may have to go back for a milk shake.On our way back to Belle's, we made a wrong turn. We managed to find a sign that pointed us in the direction of AZ 80, but after about a mile it turned into a dirt road. We perservered and found ourselves on the US/Mexican border. We know this to be true because of the fence!

After a few miles, we met a border patrol truck. We stopped and asked if this was indeed the road to AZ 80. The patrolman told us we would run into 80 if we continued on our way and went right as soon as we saw paved road. So we continued on our way wondering just how far away that paved road was.

As we drove we saw a vehicle used for mobile border monitoring on a hill . The crane has a camera top as well as holding the observation booth.
We eventually found the paved road and AZ80. We were not as close to Douglas (border town) as we thought. We were just a few miles south of Belle's ranch.

Bob checked the solar panels on the rv roof since it was so windy. As he went up the ladder one of the bolts came loose. It looked like we were going to Douglas after all. Douglas is home to Wal-Mart and we knew we could find something to fix the ladder. So off we went to Douglas. It is a border town and there were a lot of people coming into the US to shop at Safeway and Wal-Mart. Many of them were walking back toward Mexico carrying shopping bags. Bob found what he needed and we drove back to Belle's. It was getting dark and time to think about dinner.

I wonder what adventures await us tomorrow.....

Oh, yeah. I forgot it is Super Bowl Sunday!

Thursday, January 31 On the Road Again!

It was time for us to move to a new area. We decided to return to Davis Monthan Famcamp in Tucson. We knew we wouldn't get a spot with hook-ups, but we needed a long, hot shower and to do laundry.

We drove through the Tohono O'Odham Reservation all the way to Tucson. It was discouraging to see the number of bottles and cans littering the sides of the road.

We passed the Kitt Peak Observatory, but the road was not made for rvs and there wasn't a good place for us to unhook the car. Maybe on our next trip.

When we arrived at the famcamp, we filled the rv with gas and propane. After registering for overflow we went to the BX and commissary.

As we were checking out of the BX we were behind a couple from Washington state that we met at Quartzsite! They were in Tucson on business. Rod and Ardith invited us to dinner. We had a great meal and good conversation. Rod is retired Navy and Ardith is a retired nurse.

We put off doing laundry and showers until Friday morning. We still got it done and were out of the famcamp before checkout time--10 a.m.

Wednesday, January 30 Still at Organ Pipe!

We are enjoying our stay at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. In the morning we hiked the desert view trail again--this time we hiked the loop opposite of our evening stroll. From the top of the hill we had a good view of the campground. The whilte rectangles in the background are rvs.We enjoyed the view from the top. We walked the steepest part of the trail first. This picture helps you see the size of saguaros and cactus pipes in relation to us. The saguaro behind us is about 60 years old--it doesn't have arms.
We saw dead saguaros. The Tohono O'Odham still use the spines from saguaros to harvest the fruit in summer. Birds also nest in them.

Animals also nest in dead organ pipe cacti.Wednesday afternoon we took the van ride around Ajo Mountain Loop. It is a 21 mile drive that takes about 2 hours as you can only go 15 mph.

Our driver pointed out many of the plants at the stops on the loop.
We drove through a young saguaro forest. The saguaro doesn't grow arms until it is between 75 and 90 years old.
Here is a mixed forest of saguaros and organ pipes. Organ pipes only grow a few feet in their first 10 years.

The lighter section of mountain behind us is called tough. It could have caves carved in it.Several of the people on the ride with us agreed that we didn't agree with the measurements on the plaque about the larger arch. It is said to be 36 feet tall, 90 feet deep and 720 feet long! We thought a decimal point was misplaced on the 720 feet!Saguaros and organ pipes can have a genetic mutation which causes a cristate. If you look closely at this picture you can see the cristate in this organ pipe.
This is a close up of the same cristate. It is a fan shaped stalk in the middle of this cactus.

The ride was enjoyable. We found several trails we would like to hike, but Wednesday was our last day at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Tuesday, January 29 Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Tuesday dawned a bright and sunny day, but with a little chill. As the sun made its way higher in the sky, the air warmed. We decided to hike to the old Victoria Mine which was a 4.5 mile round trip. There were several benches on which to rest and view the desert sceneryAll along the path there were chain fruit chollas or as many people call them, jumping chollas. These chollas are the cacti with the light green color in the background of the next picture.
You can see how they get their name in the next picture. The fruit just jumps off and lands wherever it wants. Several times Bob was the receipient of jumping fruit. He said it didn't hurt going in, but he sure felt it when Joyce pulled it out.....

As we approached the mine we could see the remnants of an old house.

It had a wonderful view of the sky and even a bathtub!
The mine was active from the 1880s until the early 1900s. This mound of dirt was taken from the mine in the quest for valuable minerals and ores. Over $120,000 of gold, silver and copper was mined during that time.
The mine re-opened in 1941 for metal that was needed for WWII.

We didn't see many animals during our hike as most in the desert are nocturnal. Bob was able to get a picture of this lizard before it scurried away.

We were the first on the trail Tuesday morning, but we passed other hikers as we returned to camp. It was a pleasant hike through the Sonoran Desert.

Later in the day we walked the desert view trail which was another 1.1 miles. We had a great view of the campground and the surrounding desert.

Before dinner we realized that we had not done a toast in a while so "Here's to retirement!"

Monday, January 28--Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

When we awoke on Monday it was amazing to see the changes in the desert! Everything was green and lush. The most amazing change was the octotillo trees. When everything is dry, the tree looks like dead branches with long thorns. It is not something you want to brush against as you are hiking.

But with just a little water, the tree grows leaves! With the leaves, the thorns are well hidden! When it dries out, the leaves fall off and the tree once again waits for moisture. This tree is just getting its leaves. It may gain and lose leaves many times throughout the year.

The saguaro cactus look just like you would imagine--the armed sentry guarding the desert. Every now and then something goes wrong with nature and the arms don't look like you would expect! Some go up, some go down.
And others look like robots ready to club you!
We realized we didn't gas the crv before we arrived so we drove back to Why, Arizona for gas. The only things we saw in Why were 2 gas/convenience stores and one gas/convenience store/casino. We stopped and played the slots for a few minutes (lost three dollars), gassed the crv and got some cervesa since we knew Cecil wanted us to do that!

From Why we drove south through the park to Gringo's Pass, Arizona. which is the border town formerly known as Lukeville. We went in the grocery store since it was the only one for many miles. It was well stocked with both Mexican and American items.

When we returned to Organ Pipe, we went toured the Kris Eggle Visitor Center. It is named for a park ranger who was killed in 2002 by members of a Mexican drug cartel. They were on the run for murdering 5 people in Mexico. Kris was 28.

Monday evening Joyce went to the program in the amphitheater. It was everything you wanted to know about coyote and roadrunner. She learned a lot about both animals and nearly froze! It was windy and cold that night. Sometimes it is hard to remember that the nights are going to be cold since the days are so nice in the desert.

Sunday, January 27--On the Road Again

We waved goodbye to our new friends through the rain and headed out of Scadden Wash to the highway. Many other rvs were leaving Quartzsite so we drove to Gila Bend AFS to dump our tanks. We were going to stay at the famcamp, but it was full. Our next stop was Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument where we would be boondocking.

Organ Pipe National Monument is one of 47 biospheres recognized by the United Nations in America.

The monument has over 330,000 acres. Three hundred thousand are wilderness areas.

When we arrived at the campground, we filled our fresh water tank before parking. The campground has 208 campsites arranged like an amphitheater going down the hill. RVs park at the top of the hill and tents use the last 2 rows at the bottom.

It was still raining when we set up so there was no hiking on Sunday!

Every evening at 7 there was a program at the amphitheater near the campground. Due to the rain, the program was held at the visitors' center. We saw a slide show of the summer desert. The ranger said very few people camp in the summer, but many international visitors go through the center.

January 25 & 26 Quartzsite Continued

Friday morning Bob went with the boomer guys to have coffee and doughnuts at one of the 2 bakeries in town. He brought back one of the famous apple fritters for Joyce.

Joyce, in the meanwhile, went for a walk with the 9:30 group. The group of about 15 started up the hill near the southeast corner of Scadden Wash where we were camped. There are signs marking 1/2, 1, 1 1/2, 2 , and 2 1/2 miles. The plan was to walk to the 2 mile marker and turn around to head back to the campground. Well, Joyce and Julie were walking and talking and never saw any of the markers. The group ahead of them told them the last marker was around the big pit. Well, Joyce nor Julie saw it. As they rounded a corner, a boomer on a bicycle told them that if they went about 1/4 mile more it would be 3 miles. They turned around and looked for the markers on the way down the hill. It turns out that the markers were flat green sticks (like Lincoln log roof pieces) with small black marker lettering. The markers were less than 12 inches tall! Needless to say, Joyce got her 5 miles in and some that day!

Friday evening we ate pizza with Larry and Connie. They taught us to play a new game that all of the boomers seemed to have--Pegs and Jokers. If we can remember how the game board looks, we might make one when we return to Florida. It was a lot of fun, similar to Pachesi and Sorry, but with cards.

Saturday we drove into Quartzsite for one last look around. We planned to leave Sunday morning (our tanks were almost full). The rv show was winding down and the rock and mineral show would set up on Sunday afternoon.

We also walked 1.1. miles south of our rv to find the "Boomer South" geocache. We found it near a palo verde tree.

Saturday afternoon was the Boomer Potluck. Joyce made Bob's favorite cashew chicken. Bob heard that if you were late to the potluck, the food would be gone. He was worried about getting cashew chicken, especially when he saw the long line!

Here is a picture of about half the boomers with their dinners.

Bob, Larry, and Connie are sitting at the table in the foreground. Joyce didn't want to set up the tripod with all the people walking around.

Saturday evening we played Pegs and Jokers with Larry and Connie. We said our goodbyes as we were leaving Sunday morning.