Wednesday, October 13th, I went outside about 9:00 a.m. to set up our patio and get the sun screens on the coach. It takes about two hours or so for me to get the flagpole set up, the patio mat down, set up the BBQ, get Jackie’s hammock set up, the sun screens on the windows, and other odds and ends I do for the longer stays. After lunch we gathered up our clothes and drove into Benson to do laundry. The RV park has a laundry, but it only had three machines and we had not done laundry for a couple of weeks, and needed more capacity. After we did laundry we found it had been eighteen days - both of us were running short of underwear, which is the only real reason we have to do laundry more than once every couple of months. We also picked up our mail, which was the first mail we have had since leaving Pahrump a couple weeks ago.
Thursday we decided to just stay home and relax for the entire day. We have been on the run for the last two weeks and it felt good to not have to do anything important, or be anywhere, for a change. We played games, watched television, and took care of some administrative things like bill paying. We also completed our Nevada absentee ballots which had come in the mail. I am proud to say that I have never missed voting in a General Election since I was first eligible in 1968.
Friday, October 15th, we went out after lunch to do some geocaching. We did a couple in St. David and then drove up to Benson for some more. We ended up finding ten caches in a couple of hours. We noticed that the skies were getting dark, and the weather had predicted a chance of thundershowers, so we headed home after our
ten finds. We just made it to the motorhome before the skies opened up with rain, thunder and wind. The storms were not severe, but we were happy that we made it back before they started. The storms kept up for a couple hours, then things calmed down for the rest of the night. We had a nice dinner and stayed in the rest of the day. Saturday we thought about driving down to Tombstone for the Helldorado Days celebration, but the weather forecast called for possible afternoon thundershowers again, so we decided to stay home. We played games, watched TV and took care of a few chores. Jackie got to lay in her hammock and read for a few hours. She enjoyed that. I managed to get my balky rear view camera monitor working again. That is the one item on our coach that has been a problem since we bought it. Monaco replaced the rear camera several times, we have modified the wiring and generally fooled with it for five years. It works most of the time, but still goes out from time to time. This time it was a loose wire. It’s now working, for how long I don’t know.
Sunday, October 17th we left the coach in the late morning and drove the fifteen miles South to Tombstone, Arizona, the Town Too Tough To Die! This weekend was their 87th annual Helldorado Days celebration. We got there as the parade was going on. Lots of horses, wagons and tractors. A real old fashioned parade. Oh, of
course there were politicians coming out of the woodwork being as it was just a couple weeks before the election. People running for office were riding in the parade in a tiny Smart car convertible all the way up to a Class A motorhome. We didn’t find the parade particularly compelling so we went to lunch at our favorite restaurant, the Longhorn, before the crowd watching the parade broke up.
We had a nice lunch and then strolled around town for a couple of hours, watching gunfights, looking in the stores, and people watching. There were hundreds of folks on the street in period costumes. Gunfighters, outlaws, bandits, marshals, enough Wyatt Earps to fill a school bus, and even an old time reverend. At one point they
had what they called the “cowboy walkdown.” Apparently this only happens once a year in Tombstone, during Helldorado. As many of the costumed characters as want to start at one end of Allen Street, the main drag, and start walking North a couple blocks. At each of the three intersections they stop and all shoot their weapons (blanks, of course. Or at least I certainly hope so!) in the air. Since there were about a hundred folks participating, it made quite a sight, and quite a racket.
For those interested, here is a little history of Tombstone as gleaned from the town’s website. Tombstone was founded in 1877 by a prospector named Ed Schieffelin. Ed was staying at what was then called Camp Huachuca, now Fort Huachuca and Sierra Vista, Arizona, as part of a scouting expedition against the local Apaches. During his time there he would venture out into the wilderness "looking for rocks", all the while ignoring the warnings he received from the soldiers at the camp. They would tell him, "Ed, the only stone you will find out there will be your tombstone". Well, Ed did find his stone. And it was Silver. So, remembering the words of warning from the soldiers, he named his first mine The Tombstone.
It wasn't long before word spread about Ed's silver strike. Soon prospectors, cowboys, homesteaders, lawyers, speculators, gunmen and business people flocked to the area in droves. In 1879 a town site was laid out on the nearest level spot to the mines, known at that time as Goose Flats, and was appropriately named "Tombstone" after Ed Schieffelin's first mining claim. By the mid 1880's Tombstone's population had increased to between 15,000 and 20,000 people. At its peak, it is said to have been the fastest growing city between St. Louis and San Francisco. There were over one hundred saloons, numerous restaurants, a large red-light district, an even larger Chinese population, schools, churches, newspapers, and one of the first public swimming pools in Arizona (which is still used today)
Tombstone is also the home of Boothill Graveyard. Boothill began in 1879 and was used until 1884 when the New Tombstone City Cemetery was opened. After the opening of the new cemetery, Boothill became known as "The Old Cemetery". The legend is
that Boothill was named for the fact that many residents there died violent or unexpected deaths and were buried with their boots on. However, it was actually named Boothill after Dodge City's pioneer cemetery in the hopes of attracting tourists in the late 1920's. Many famous Tombstone folks lie there including the victims of the 1881 Shootout on Fremont Street between the Earps and the Clanton gang.
The most famous event in Tombstone's history was the famed Gunfight at the OK Corral, which didn't actually happen at the corral, but in a vacant lot next door. On October 26, 1881, members of the Clanton gang had a run-in with Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp. With help from Wyatt's friend Doc Holiday. 24 seconds and 30 shots later, Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury were mortally wounded. In many peoples opinion, it was this one event that has kept Tombstone alive for all these years.
In 1882 the Cochise County Courthouse was built. It provided offices for the sheriff and other county offices. The county seat remained in Tombstone until voters in 1929 chose to move it to Bisbee, a bustling copper mining town 29 miles away. As the silver mining continued the mineshafts were dug deeper and deeper to get the precious ore. Once they hit the 520 foot level, the water table was reached which flooded the mines. Attempts to pump out the water marginally worked for a few years but soon became too costly to continue. As the mining slowed down, the people of Tombstone started leaving, but not before $37,000,000 worth of ore had been taken from the many mines in the area. It is estimated that by the early 1930's Tombstone's population dwindled to around 150 people. Tombstone today relies solely on tourism and is home to around 1,500 year round residents who believe in preserving the history and heritage of the Wildest Town in the West.
After exploring Tombstone we tried to do some caching in the area. However, I had made a mistake when I downloaded the caches and ended up with a bunch that were out in the middle of the desert with high difficulty ratings. So instead, we drove North and did some more caching around the Benson area. We found five caches before we got wore down from all the walking, both in Tombstone and getting the caches, and headed for home. We spent the rest of the evening at the coach.
Monday, October 18th we decided to stay around the coach for the day. We played games on the computer and also got some of our “to do’s” done. I fixed the wiring on our Brake Buddy, the unit that goes in the Jeep when we tow it to activate the brakes. I also rewired the cable that goes from the coach to the Jeep when towing. We were having trouble getting the tail lights to work consistently. Both jobs are now done. Yea! We also spent a couple hours cleaning cabinets after battling ants. This park is infested with the tiny tiny black ants that some call Sugar Ants. I sprayed all of the hoses and cables that come into the coach from the outside, as well as putting ant powder around the wheels, however, they can still come up the jacks and the inside of the tires where I couldn’t reach. Give them any kind of opening and they will come in. Every day they invade a new place and we spray and clean. At least our cupboards are getting a good cleaning. We should have known when we checked in at the park the office gave us a large can of ant powder and a very large bottle of ant spray! Oh well, there are more of them than us so I guess we will just keep up the fight until we leave.
Tuesday we left after lunch and headed 30 miles South to the town of Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee is one of Arizona’s famous mining towns and is located in the Mule Mountains at about 5,500 feet elevation. It was founded in 1880 when gold and
silver were discovered, however, within a few years massive deposits of copper were found and copper became the primary mineral. By 1910 Bisbee was the largest city in the Arizona Territory with 25,000 people. At this same time Phoenix and Tucson both had only a few thousand citizens. The biggest underground mine in the area was the Copper Queen, which was located just to the West of town. By this time the Phelps Dodge Mining Company had taken over most of the claims in the area and Bisbee
became a true company town. Although open pit mining was introduced to the area during WW-I the Copper Queen continued as the most productive copper mine in Arizona until it finally closed in 1975. In 1917 about 1,200 members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) participated in a general strike at the Copper Queen and were ultimately rounded up by the Sheriff and a posse of vigilantes. They were
loaded on a train and deported to Hermanas, New Mexico, where they were unloaded and abandoned. A similar deportation occurred about the same time in another Phelps Dodge town, Jerome, Arizona, about 100 miles North of Phoenix. In 1950 Phelps Dodge opened the Lavender Pit just South of the Copper Queen site. The Lavender Pit also operated until 1975 when Phelps Dodge ceased mining in the area. The pit remains today right alongside Highway 80 and is an interesting sight. The Copper Queen mine still has tours which take you underground and give you a feel for underground mining.
During almost a century of mining the mines around Bisbee produced 2.8 million ounces of gold, 102 ounces of silver, and eight billion pounds of copper. Today the town has a population of about 6,000 and, like many old mining towns, now counts on tourism for it’s primary support. Old Bisbee, which is located in a steep, winding canyon, has many shops and restaurants and a large artist community. The city is part of a historic district and still boasts most of the buildings from the turn of the century. The old Phelps Dodge headquarters building is a National Historical
Site and is now a mining museum. Right behind the Phelps Dodge building is the Copper Queen Hotel, finished in 1902 and once the center of society in Bisbee. The Copper Queen is the longest continually operating hotel in Arizona and is also believed to be haunted by at least three ghosts.We spent a couple of hours walking down and then back up Tombstone Canyon, the name of the main road and the canyon the town is built in. We stopped in a lot of the shops and had a good time. At the bottom of the hill we stopped at the saloon in the Copper Queen Hotel and had a drink. While we were exploring we found that the parking we left the car in was across the street from the old Elks Lodge building. The Bisbee Elks formed in 1903 as Lodge 671 and built a nice lodge building on
Tombstone Canyon which burned down in the fire of 1908 that destroyed about half of Bisbee. They rebuilt and opened the building again on the same site in 1910. Sometime in the 60's they sold he building downtown and bought 40 acres outside of town. About 15 years ago the Bisbee Elks succumbed to loss of membership and folded. Their old building downtown is now used for businesses. After our exploration of Bisbee we did some geocaching in the area and found six. We then headed back to St. David for the rest of the evening.
Wednesday, October 20th, we decided to stay around the coach for the day. I did a couple more things on my to-do list, including checking the engine for an exhaust leak. When I had the transmission serviced in Redmond during the FMCA rally, the service guy told me that it sounded to him like I had an exhaust leak. I could never hear anything that sounded like a leak to me, so I just put it on the list of things to look for. Today, when I took the access hatch in the back of the coach up and looked at the engine I could clearly see where there had been exhaust gases leaking from the side of one of the flanges of the exhaust header pipe. There was a streak of black soot on the engine block and what looked like a piece of the gasket missing. Oh, goody - another thing to fix. Twenty years ago I would have fixed it myself, when I had tools and a little more strength and flexibility. Now, I will let someone else handle the job. It is not a major repair - unbolt the manifold, put new gaskets on, and bolt it back on. However, because it’s a diesel it is a big, heavy piece of iron and the turbo is attached to it, which makes it even heavier to handle.
Since we are leaving here on Tuesday to go to Tucson for a week I called some diesel repair shops in the Tucson area to see if they could get me in and get an approximate cost. Turns out that, barring any unforseen problems, its about a $500 to $800 job and can be done in one day. I also called the extended warranty company to see if it a covered repair and it is. I have a $500 deductible, so it will cost at least that much, but at least it will be covered after that, especially if there are complications. We also spent some time cleaning one of the cabinets where the ants had invaded. I will be glad to be out of the ants next week. Other than these issues it was a relaxing day.
Thursday, October 21st I spent some time in the morning pinning down the repairs to our engine when we go to Tucson. I settled on a shop recommended by my friend Ray Babcock, W. W. Williams. They are a national company with a good reputation and shops all over the country. Ray said they are very competent and fair and thei
r shop is large and neat. When I called them their price was a little less than the other place I called as well. Of course, that’s based on a repair with no complications. Fingers crossed! I set up an appointment for next Wednesday, the day after we move up to Tucson. After lunch we headed into Benson to do a Wally World run and then some caches. We found six caches and got a little bit of shopping done before returning to the coach for the rest of the evening. One of our caches earlier in the week had been near a small barnyard in St. David and there was a donkey, a horse and a goat in the yard. When we got near the fence the donkey came right over to be petted. The picture is me saying goodbye to our friend Donkey. Friday we just stayed at the coach all day relaxing.
Saturday, October 23rd we went out after lunch and drive the 30 miles South and West to the city of Sierra Vista, Arizona. Ready for more history lessons? Adjacent to the city of Sierra Vista is Fort Huachuca (Wa-chu-ka), an Army base founded in 1877 to counter the threat posed by Geronimo and the Chiricahua Apache Indians who inhabited the mountains to the East, near what is now Bisbee and Douglas, Arizona. The base is located about 15 miles North of the Mexican border. Although the Indian threat was eliminated with the surrender of Geronimo in 1889, the Army kept the Fort active because of its strategic location. Starting in 1913 the Fort was home to the 10th Calvary Regiment, the infamous “Buffalo Soldiers”. The Regiment was made up primarily of African American soldiers. The base was a major training facility for the Army during World War II. Except for a brief post war closure from 1947 to 1951, the base has been operational since 1877.
In the 1950's the base began to serve as the center of the Army’s electronic warfare and signals intelligence operations. It now houses a number of military electronic counter measure operations and serves as the primary electronic warfare proving ground for all branches of the military. It is also one of the military bases which house the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s Aerostat system. The Aerostat is a large helium balloon which is fitted with a radar system similar to that carried by the AWACS aircraft. The radar provides coverage of a large portion of the Arizona-Mexico border. The Aerostat system was put into place in the 1990's and has been instrumental in greatly reducing the incidence of air smuggling across the border.
The City of Sierra Vista is adjacent to Fort Huachuca and extends to the East and South of the military reservation. In 1892 the first businesses were opened at the entrance to the Fort, a saloon and brothel. Over the ensuing years of hit and miss development the area that is now Sierra Vista had numerous names, including Carmichael, Buena, Overton, and Garden Canyon. In 1956 the City of Sierra Vista was incorporated and the city’s current population is estimated to be 45,000. It is a popular retirement community, particularly with military retirees because of the excellent climate and the availability of the military facilities.
We spent several hours caching in Sierra Vista and managed to make a dozen finds. One of the caches was called "Wonder Wheel" and was located on this huge pully wheel on display at a local self storage lot. The wheel was used at of the local mines at the turn of the century as part of the system to winch miners, ore and equipment out of the mine. After our caching we made a quick visit to the Sierra Vista Elks Lodge. This is a very friendly lodge. In fact, when we presented our Elks cards to the bartender,
she rang the bell behind the bar and announced us to the crowd, who responded with enthusiastic cheers. The place was pretty full because they had just finished a chili cookoff that afternoon. We had a drink and some nice conversation with some of the members. After our visit we headed back to St. David for the rest of the day.
Sunday, October 24th, we didn’t do too much except drive into Benson after lunch to do our laundry. We will be leaving here for Tucson on Tuesday, so we wanted to get some things done. Monday I spent a couple hours getting the outside stuff put away in preparation for our move on Tuesday.
Tuesday, October 26th we packed up the coach and left St. David around 10:00 a.m. headed for Tucson. It is only about 40 miles and most of it was on the freeway. We are finally free of the damn ants! Yea! I know that we have a few hitchhikers that we will have to deal with over the next few days, but once we get them, we are done! We arrived at the Cactus Country RV resort around 11:15 a.m. and got settled into our spot. This is a pretty nice RV park, one of the Passport America parks, located at the far Southeast part of Tucson, just off Interstate 10. We didn’t set up all the stuff on the inside because we have to take the coach in for repairs in the morning. We hope that it will be a one day job repairing the exhaust manifold gasket. I realize that there could be complications, but I have my fingers crossed.
With our arrival in Tucson I will close this episode of our travel blog with a picture of our "fur-kid" Smokey. We will spend one week in Tucson before heading up to Casa Grande, Arizona for a couple of
weeks. Sometime in the next couple weeks I will publish another chapter. Until then, love, live and laugh! Life is to short to sweat the small stuff! Bye for now.
