Silverado Ranch

The Silverado Ranch is 40 acres located about nine miles west of Douglas, AZ owned by Belle Starr utilizing the property as a campground/boondocking site.  All she asks is if you stay you either help out with some of the ranch chores or make a donation for your stay.  She has a few sites with 20 amp service, water and electric.  Lots of dreams for the site and even lots of potential but Miss Starr (not the original Belle Starr) is 85 years old, confined to a wheel chair with MS and very little money to make the necessary improvements.

We stopped here last year for a couple days, Cherri groomed one of her dogs and I setup her wifi and fixed a couple garden hoses. This year when we arrived she greeted us on her motorized wheel chair and even remembered us telling me she has computer problems right away.

After setting in I went up to the house and took a look at Miss Belle's computer. Apparently she just had it replaced after in "crashed". Not sure what happened then but whoever she took it to gave her a new "old" Dell computer just installing her old drive as a second hard drive. No virus protection was installed and loaded with so called performance software that not only slows down your computer but is loaded with spyware. After a couple hours I had installed Avast software which is excellent virus protection and they have a free version which I have been using on all my computers for about seven years now. I highly recommend it. Junk software removed, virus protection enabled and also some anti spyware called Super Anti Spyware both anti spyware and virus set to scan we will see how bad it is in the morning.

The next morning I was pleasantly surprised to find out that except for quite a bit spyeware it did not have any viruses so after a little more cleanup we spent the rest of the day relaxing in the Arizona Sun.

My other accomplishment here was installing a FM antenna on the trailer. The installed antenna is just an internal antenna which is only good if you are in town. I picked up a new antenna some time ago so I was happy to finally get it installed.

A few pictures of the Silverado Ranch... 

Cochise Stronghold

We spent a couple days at Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains.  Cochise had complied with the U.S. Army until 1860 when a young Lieutenant handled an incident poorly causing Cochise and the Chircahua Clan of Apache Indians to flee into this area using the natural layout of the land as a hideout until 1872.

Cochise died June 8, 1874 buried somewhere in the Dragoon Mountains.  The only white man to witness his burial was the only white man Cochise trusted, blood brother and Indian Agent, Thomas J. Jeffords.

 

 

 

The second day here we hiked the Cochise trail back to the pass.  A very nice hike only six miles round trip with the first three mostly uphill but never strenuous.  

 

 

A couple pictures of our hike you can almost imagine how easy it would be for the Apache to hide in these mountains.

 Yup, still a little snow along the trail.

Next blog will be about the Silverado Ranch...

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Wings over Willcox

Leaving the Hot Well Dunes was difficult we became accustom to soaking in the tubs but the Wings Over Willcox festival looked interesting.  Now anyone that knows me will probably be shaking their head and saying, Ron is a birder?  No, I'm not really but I am interested in all kinds of wildlife so I am going to not only learn about Sandhill Cranes but about the wildlife in general located here in Arizona.

So we leave here with a request from our hosts to stop at the Bowie Post Office and see when they will be having their music festival.  We arrived just after noon only to find the Post Office is closed for lunch.  We didn't have time to wait so just called Bud and told him that we couldn't get that information for him.

Willcox was only another 20 miles or so se we arrived with time to spare before our first seminar so we stopped at the Tourist Information Center and picked up some literature.   They sponsor several free seminars and we attended most of them and they also have several tours which we felt that they were all a bit expensive so we passed on those.  One in particular tour for hire was the Walking Tour of Willcox.  The cost was $15 per person!  You would think they would want to promote the downtown area, what a perfect opportunity to take the out of town people like us through the downtown area.  Take them into the stores and explain the history.  How many people would see something they like and either purchase on the spot or come back?  Another thought would to just post some information outside the store so us tourist could walk and read the history.

Ok, so I'm off my soapbox.  As I stated we attended a few Seminars.  On Friday we went to Sandhill Cranes 101 and it was very informative but the speaker needed to learn his topic and not read it to us, and he is a middle school teacher, poor kids.  Next was titled "Ambush on the Jaguar Trail" the speaker was excellent and his presentation composed from trail cameras was outstanding.  Just before this we met up with a couple people that we met at the Hot Well Dunes.  I wanted to go to one more seminar but we had time to go out for dinner first.  We went to the Rail Road Dinning Car for some BBQ, good choice it was excellent.  My last seminar was on Photography, I really need to invest in a better camera one of these days and really learn the fine details of it.

On Saturday we went to three seminars the first one on Snakes, then Bats and finally Lizards.  All the speakers were very informative and excellent speakers.   We had time to do the walking tour of Willcox using the free ligature that we picked up at the Tourist Information Building between the first and second seminar.

One of the stops on the walking tour was the old jail house.  With a little renovation this would be a fantastic stop on the walking tour.

 

 

 

 

By the end of the third seminar we had time to stop at the local grocery store and pick up a few supplies before it was getting dark so we just parked in a truck parking lot next to the Holliday Inn.  It was empty when we went to bed and only one truck when we woke up so I wonder why he felt it necessary to park right next to us and leave his engine running all night.  At least the end of the trailer was near the back of the trailer so the engine noise was not right next to us.

Klondyke Road and Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness

Leaving the Hot Well Dunes to escape the arrival of what could be a lot of ATV's left us with a question, where are we going to go for the weekend?  We definitely want to go back and spend some more time at the hot tubs, but where to go?  We stopped at the Safford BLM office to get some ideas.  The lady at the desk was very helpful but little less then accurate.

We purchased a couple BLM land maps and decided on driving out the Klondyke Road to the Aravipa Canyon and camping there for the weekend.  It was now 4pm and 50 miles away or hour and half to two hours with the camper.  Klondyke Road is supposed to be a good dirt road but it is 33 miles of dirt.

We drove north on highway 70 to just north of Pima to Klondyke Road.  It was a "good" dirt road but slow at times due to the chatter bumps.  I was surprised to see dozens of ranches and power poles all the way back to Klondyke.  Just before 6pm we arrived at the town of Klondyke which consisted of a small general store which was closed, a pay phone without the phone, a BLM office and a campground. 

It was getting dark so we decided to stay at the "Fourmile Campground".  This is a National Forest Service campground.  No hookups, no water at all right now except for in the bathrooms, small probably only a dozen sites but they did have flush toilets.   Only one other camper here tonight and as we went to bed we could tell it was going to be a cold night but the stars were bright and beautiful.

The next morning we woke up to 10 degrees and our water frozen up so I went to the bathrooms to get water for our morning coffee.  After coffee I figured out that the water was only frozen at the water inlet.  A little pipe insulation would fix this but for now I started up the generator and the hair dryer quickly thawed the hose.

Daytime temperatures were in the comfortable 60's and I decided to just disconnect the trailer and do a day trip to Turkey Creek or the end of the road to the Aravaipa Canyon.  This as it turned out was a good decision because this is where the lady at the BLM did not give very good information.  She knew we were pulling a travel trailer and she told us there were seven stream crossings once past Klondyke but we should find a campsite at Turkey Creek.  Well the stream crossings could be done with any two wheel drive high clearance vehicle but I do not thing pulling a travel trailer would have worked out so well and once back at Turkey Creek the turnaround spot was Turkey Creek.  No way a travel trailer could go down that road.  Thinking that we crossed that stream more than seven times I counted on the way back, eleven crossings.

So what about this valley?  Aravaipa comes from the Papago, which means "little wells."  The trail ( Aravaipa creek) is about 10-12 miles from the east to the west entrances.  There are not trails, designated campsites or signs.  You follow the creek through the canyon with several other canyons to explore if you desire.

 

 

I took a picture of this chapel and learned the story a few days later. This use to be a house of prostitution  but when her sons were sent off to WW I she promised if they both returned she would change her ways and convert the house to a house of god.

 

 

The end of the road at Turkey Creek.  Hard to see here but I took this picture from the window of my truck sitting in the creek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At one of the stream crossings we saw quite a few deer, one posed for me.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the stream crossings.

 

 

 

 

 

I am going to have to add this to my bucket list and come back and hike this.  To reduce the impact on the area the BLM requires permits to enter the canyon allowing only 50 per day.  30 from the West entrance and 20 from the East.  You can only spend three days in the canyon which I think is a bit restrictive knowing if you wanted to explore all the side canyons you will need a lot more than three days.

Back at the Fourmile campground we had another cold night and frozen pipes in the morning.  Sure hope this cold spell ends soon.  By the end of the day we made it back to Hot Well Dunes where the temperatures were back into the upper 60's and the hot tub temperatures were still 104 degrees!

The next week was spent at the Hot Wells as I wrote about in my previous entry so I won't write about it again but the following weekend we went to Willcox, AZ for the "Birds over Willcox" festival.

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Is 105 degrees hot enough for ya?

We arrived in Arizona on January 6th it was warmer than Texas but not by much.  We went to the town of Safford first because I know of a couple spots to boondock or otherwise known as free camping on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land which for those that do not know belongs to the citizens of the USA.  Anyways, this spot just outside of Safford is supposed to be a spot where lots of snowbirds go to in the winter but last year in March there were only 4-5 other RV's and this year I only saw one.  Not sure how hot a spot this is but I had planned on only one night here and then go check out the Hot Well Dunes and soak in a hot tub.

Monday morning we pack up and head down Haskell Road another 25 miles to Hot Well Dunes.  The Hot Wells is located on BLM land but there is a charge to camp here but it is only $3.00 per vehicle per day.  The hot tubs, two of them use to be artesian wells which kept the pools at a steady 104-105 degrees 24 hours a day but several years ago they quit flowing so now the water is pumped out of the ground powered by an solar array.   When the sun shines you have hot water.   This means every night the pumps quit but the tubs are designed to completely drain.  Basically there is a trickle drain at the bottom of the tub and an overflow drain at the top.  The overflow drain goes into a secondary pond which is designed for campers to do the sponge bath.  Somebody put some thought into this design.

We stayed here until Friday morning this week because the down side to this spot is that it is HEAVLY used on the weekends by ATV's, 4x4 trucks, Dune buggies, Motorcycles so it is not the place to be unless you like noise, dust and parties.  So we headed to Klondike which is a small village North of Safford then we returned Sunday evening and spent another week in sometimes cool but always hot tubs.

We also became friends with the hosts there at the Hot Wells as well as a couple other sun seekers from the north so I'm sure we will be heading back that way again.

Next blog I will have to write a little about our weekend in Klondike, AZ.

 This picture shows the first hot tub and the solar collector that keeps the water flowing.

This picture shows the second hot tub that use to be shaded with several trees but died so they had to be cut down.

Leaving Texas behind us

Wow Texas seems like it was such a long time ago.  We are moving slowly most days not traveling more than 40-50 miles.  Leaving Round Rock, TX we have gone from Llano to Winter to Abilene to Big Springs and finally El Paso, TX.  Each very interesting spots so I will write a little bit about each one.

Llano, Tx is a small community and like so many small towns the courthouse is really the focal point of the town but go much more than a block or two in any direction and you see a mixture of older homes with a few newer ones built among them.  They have a small RV park just out of town that we spent the night in.  Nothing special being built right next to the golf course so I can imagine that it is heavily used by snowbirds.

Winter, TX was not our planned stop, it was supposed to be Coleman but my information was outdated and they no longer allowed overnight camping.  We drove through their downtown area and decided that we were not missing anything so we move on to Winter which was only 20 or so miles away.  Winter had a very nice RV park right downtown and we had it to ourselves but being New Years eve just about everything was closed, still a nice walk downtown.

Abilene, TX is a rather large city in Texas and where my nephew David is currently attending college.  Here we did not stay in the city but at a park just north of town called SeeBee Park.  Here they have three designated camping spots which we did not use disregarding their rules but I figure if they want you to use those sites they need to clean them up a bit.  So we setup on the hill overlooking the dried up pond and it was also in the sun so it provided a little bit of solar heat for us.

Big Springs, TX this is a larger community and the home of June's place, a lady that allows people to camp in her side yard.  June's hospitality was awesome making us feel right at home.  We were waiting for our mail and we were also waiting for a winter snow storm to pass so we spent three nights there.  The second night she invited us over for a chili dinner which not only the food was fantastic but the company.  Our mail finally arrived on our third day but we waited until the next morning to head out.

El Paso, TX.  This was a Walmart camping night so the days travel was as eventful as the night but the next morning we stopped at Costco to pickup a couple supplies.  Being a bit early the store wasn't open yet but the Costco gas station was so I took my little generator gas can over to top it off.  At the pump next to me I started a conversation with the gentleman pumping gas and he asked me if that all I was doing is filling up that gas can and before I could say yes he removed the nozzle from his truck and filled up my gas can.  I only regret that I did not get his name.  About an hour later we stopped at another gas station to fill up our propane tanks.  While I was at the register a gentleman was looking for some distilled water rather desperately and disappointed when the clerk told him that they did not carry any.  He told the clerk that he needs some because he has two batteries that were almost dry.  I told him to come out with me that I carry some distilled water with me and gave him two liters of distilled water and his batteries took every drop.  He offered to pay me but I told him about the gentleman that filled my gas can earlier.  So now it is his turn, we shook hands and we crossed drove on down the road.

Holidays in Texas

Holidays in Texas

It was warm if not a little on the hot side which was great but it only lasted a couple days unfortunately.  Our first night we had plans on going with my sister and her family to the Texas University clock tower to take some pictures.  My sister Janet, after raising her family of six wonderful children decided to go back to school and we have the honor to watch her graduate tomorrow but tonight it is a photo opp of my sister and her family in front of the clock.  Notice in the picture that they light up the clock tower with the graduation year.

The next day was the actual graduation, wish I had a picture but the lighting was so poor that all the pictures came out as a blur.  Very proud of my sister!

 

Mid weak Cherri, my mother and I all went to San Antonio to visit my Uncle Art (moms older brother) for a  day visit then spending the night at the local KOA before heading to Padre Island for a couple days.  Too bad the weather didn't cooperate, not terrible but foggy, windy and a bit cool.

The following Monday we went back to the Round Rock area but first stopping at my other sisters house in Hutto, TX. for a visit and dinner at the Downtown Hall of Fame which is a neighborhood bar and grill that has a lot of atmosphere and the food was not bad either.

Christmas was low keyed at my sister Janet's along with her family, my mother and other sister from Hutto.  It was a really nice day only to be repeated that Friday with a Christmas dinner at my sisters Linda's in Hutto.

The Christmas holiday ended on the 30th when we packed up and hooked up our travel trailer and headed west.  We ended up spending double the time that we planned on at my sister Janet's.  Their hospitality was very much appreciated.  It is great having such fantastic family.

 Note:  I had planned on inserting a couple pictures but for some reason the software is not allowing me to do that right now, maybe I can update a little later.

Texas?

While traveling home from Alaska we talked about heading south after the Christmas holidays so soon after we returned home I started preparing the Shasta travel trailer to put it up for sale.  First cleaning out and then removing a few items like the four Trojan batteries, the inverter, wireless network, generator to mention a few things.  OK, let's not forget the fact that I need to find a new travel trailer.

Preparing the trailer took a lot longer than I anticipated but I finally finished and moved it over to a friend's house that is on a main road but after almost two weeks and no calls I tried another friend that has a business on a main highway this was a little bit better and received a couple calls and even thought I had it sold to one of them.

One day I was over at my mother's house and she told that she was planning on going down to my sister's house for Christmas but she was planning on leaving around the first of December so she could attend her graduation from Texas University.   So the offer came around that we could travel together down to Texas.  This also put the pressure on to be ready in time.

We found the our new (used) travel trailer the first part of November still holding out and hoping that we can sell our trailer but that never came to be so we bit the bullet and bought our new trailer finally picking it up right after Thanksgiving.

Skipping ahead to the first of December ready... set... and wait forgot to renew some medications so finally on the 5th of December we hit the road.