Contrast Desert Wildlife and RV Park Dangers

    This Monday morning meant breaking camp after 6 wonderful days in the desert near Tombstone. Our space 64 was a lucky break as it is exceptionally spacious and back right up on the desert filled with so many birds and, as we discovered this morning deer. These spaces are usually reserved on a monthly basis and after our stay we are flirting with a stay next year that is much longer. We watched and identified many birds from our window over the dining table thanks to our neighbor's feeder. Quail, cardinals, many types of sparrows and finches as well as wrens and others we had not been able to ID. This morning as we were hooking up, 4 deer came along the bank behind our space. Our neighbor had mentioned that the family who had been in Space 64 for several months before us had been putting apples out for the critters. So I couldn't resist and put some apple slices on the bank for them. I noticed that one of them had been badly injured at one time and her lower jaw was displaced to the side and her tongue was hanging out in the front so browsing must be difficult. I fed the others since they quickly cleaned up the apples and the little injured one hung around after they left so was able to give her time to eat some apple slices. I fear life is not going to be kind to this little one with this injury.  She is the one in the back. The white you see is actually the bottom or most forward aspect of the lower jaw. She looks from her weight to be managing to get food.

We moved on with a several hour drive to Yuma and for a moment crossed through California in the area were Arizona, Cali and Mexico all come close together. Again we are struck by the number of RV parks and the park we moved into this afternoon is again full of license plates from any number of states to include just some of them, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Colorado, and, of course, California and that was just in the two rows next to us in the park. We immediately noticed a terribly damaged big RV and soon learned that last Tuesday a couple had a propane explosion which terribly burned the retired Pastor, spared his wife and two dogs. He had been trying to light his propane furnace about 3:00 am not realizing his newly filled tanks had been leaking into his RV. Somehow his propane sensor did not alert them that they had the leak and go off to tell them to leave the area. He, tragically, died from the 85% burns on his body from the explosion. The explosion did not burn the rest of the RV but completely destroyed it and badly damaged their car parked next to it. 

There was an article on an RV Safety Forum reminding all to double check their sensors and noting that they should be totally replaced about every 5 years. I am sure there will be many investigations and suits following this terrible accident. Many sensors must be working with all the RVs on the road since this is a rare occurrence. 

Bisbee, Lavender Copper Mine and the Fence

      On Saturday, 2/4/17, we continued on from the San Pedro National Conservation Area to Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee was full of artist's shops, restaurants and hilly narrow streets that end in dead ends but an attraction to many people not only from the US but internationally. There was a big group of Chinese tourists enjoying the place while we were there. Parking was at a high premium. We drove through and up into the higher parts of town and found a delightful store-bakery-juice bar-patio to have lunch. We have easily found restaurants that allow dogs on the patio. Rose had the company of two big golden retrievers on the patio. We found restaurants in Tombstone also that were dog friendly.
      Bisbee, like Tombstone, is a mining town. For Tombstone it was silver but for Bisbee the draw was the copper mine, first high grade underground mines but later starting during WWII it was open pit low grade copper mining. The Lavender Copper mine pits were first above the town and around it. Open pit mines that are now reclaimed and replanted. The huge pits just outside of town only stopped working in 1974. They are deep, rutted and metallic smelling ruts which await the huge task of reclamation. Must admit as we were reminded at the story board above the mine overview that it is our telephones, now cellphones, wires and computers that continue demand copper and open pit allows the lower grades to be mined. Ouch!

The pit at the bottom is a red color which didn't show in the picture and this is only on of many such pits in the area. Our technology comes at a big cost but such mines helped us win WWII and make many of the advances we now enjoy. Made me look a bit differently about taxpayers bearing the cost of reclamation. 

After viewing the mining area, we drove on through the desert  to Neco a border town with a port of entry from Mexico. On the trip we saw several border patrol SUVs parked descreetly along the road on small side roads and Border Patrol horse trailers sitting empty while the officers patrols on horse back. We wanted to see the fence which now stands and understand why, other than because Trump promised, we need to spend billions for some Wall of the U.S. 

The Wall we have now at border crossings like Neco is double and at least 20 feet tall. This double fence runs for at least 1 miles beyond the town and continues a single fence with lights along  the fences which I am sure burn all night. The patrols move along the fence in SUVs and horses and probably 4 wheelers. I can't imagine how disruptive a wall would be to both man and beast.

San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area

Lesser Gold Finch at the San Pedro House

    Today, Saturday, February 4th, also Rachel's Birthday, we visited the San Pedro Conservation Area or, I should say, a very small area by the San Pedro house which is a restored ranch house. We met several people who were outfitted for serious bird watching as this 57,000 acre conservation area is a nationally protected flyway and breeding area for over 400 species. Around the San Pedro house were numerous feeders with many species to see. Among them where the Gila woodpeckers, screech owls in the huge Fremont Cottonwoods, and a Northern Cardinal. There were many trails to walk but we took the self-guided nature walk across the flats from the San Pedro house to the river. This area was once farming and grazing until it was overused and the native grasses destroyed. The area was declared a National Conservation Area in 1988 and work was begun to allow the native grasses to return along with the basques or shrubby small trees (velvet mesquite) which are native to the area. These plants with the Yucca and some cacti as well as the towering old Fremont cottonwoods along the river create a rich habitat for birds and animals not only in this area but others since it lies in the flyway for North America.

      The San Pedro River requires the cooperation of both the U.S. and Mexico to protect it against overdraft. I try to have hope that the Trump administration will have the skills to continue the important task of protecting the wild San Pedro and the entire ecosystem which relies on it. The birds are counting on us.

Pencil Cholla in bloom at San Pedro House 

Gila Woodpecker feeding near the San Pedro House

Tombstone Legends

     It looks like my last post was the 30th of January, Mom's Birthday, and I have been quiet till today. Traveling with what, I believe, was the flu, now remitting, I seemed to do the day and then not enjoy my writing. Today I am better.  Cough is hanging on but today we hiked a bit and bird watched so am looking forward to leaving this bad stuff behind! We are so enjoying the Tombstone area and being unabashed tourists with everyone else.
     We arrived on Tuesday, Wednesday was a rest day for me while Jimmy drove into Tombstone and explored the Tombstone Courthouse and walked the streets enjoying the people in period dress. On Thursday we took Dr. Jay's Walking Tour which was delightful. Dr. Jay, a retired dentist, is a history buff who has studied the Tombstone area extensively. Our man Wyatt Earp, according to Dr. Jay, was more opportunist, and less a hero. The famous 28 second gunfight with the Cowboys was about control of the town resources and greed. The Earps and Holliday were in many ways bullies from the East (Kansas) but the "Cowboys" of red sash legend, were in part, also local opportunists who also bullied and rustled cattle to build their wealth. So, it was this gunfight, and the books and movies that followed, which launched the American Western. Improbably, Wyatt Earp moved to Southern California and influenced John Ford and John Wayne in his later years. He was a good storyteller and since he lived until 1929, it was his version that survived. We may never know what actually happened at the OK Corral but since Wyatt Earp's version has endured, his story prevails. Jim and I have read the biographies by Maria Doria Russell one titled Doc (Doc Holliday) and the other, Epitaph (about the life of Wyatt Earp) and were fascinated by the detail. It was these books that brought us to Tombstone on this trip. Russell researched local newspapers and town records in her preparation. She tried to avoid the first biographies written by people who had the story dictated by Wyatt Earp and his last wife, Josephine, after they moved to California. His wife worked to "clean" up his story. Saturday we took in a "Gunfight" which was turned into a comedy if that is possible. In the real gunfight, 3 men died and three were wounded. The only untouched was Wyatt Earp. The guys who do the gunfight reenactment about 3 times a day, walk the streets and hang out along the streets between acts in costume while the stage and the tour wagons and horses move up and down the main street which is off limits to cars. Great fun, beer and food!

Here come the evil Cowboys, time to Boo!

   

Gallows behind the Courthouse. They are placed right behind the Court room.  Seven guys went directly from verdict to hanging. No appeals!

Doc Holliday on left, Virgil Earp in middle, and Wyatt on right. Morgan was way to the right. Crowd was told to cheer when the guys in coats and ties came on stage or left and boo the Cowboys who were beautifully evil. Fun production!

Perhaps this was placed before 1/20/2017.

Our Reverend Dr. Jay walking tour guide.

Cochise County Courthouse Built 1882

Quartzite, another world!

     It is Monday morning, a beautiful day in Quartzite, Arizona. I found some 110 electricity to charge my Mac in the Quartzite Library so I  am back in business finally after several days. We have a great solar array that powers lights, charges our iPads and iPhones on 12V but not my laptop. We decided not to spend the additional $800 on an inverter which would have converted the electricity to 110 so it just means we need, every few days to go to the world and find some 110. Other than that we can dry camp till our tanks fill up which is quite a few days. Lots of RV Wanderers seem to to do the same thing as they are around me using the library WiFi and electricity.

Ocotillo begining to get leaves after rain. 

    We took a walk into the dessert behind us yesterday and found some wonderful cactus of different types. There are also some wonderful specimens of Saguaro cactus in area.

This has been a day we have tried to stay present for the beauty of this desert area but it seems Trump keeps the action high with his continuing unvetted Executive Orders which have caused chaos. As we had dinner the phone dinged with news. He has fired the Legal Official who refused defend the EO due to it's lacking legal merit. No surprise. We need to turn of our internet connection but every hour brings staggering news.

I am slowly coming through this cold/flu but the cough hangs on. Jim does not seem to be getting it thank goodness. The weather gets better every day. No wind the last two days and temperature is rising as we break camp tomorrow morning and go to Tombstone, Arizona for next 4 days. We will return to the Quartzite 3nd week in February and hope to see many of the cactus in bloom. The Ocotillo puts out it's leaves briefly just before it blooms.

Close up of the Ocotillo  leaves which come out protected by spines.

Teddy Bear Cholla about 4 feet tall, new growth is light colored.

Political Breakfast

           Saturday night at the Hickison Petroglyphs BLM Campground was a interesting ride. After enjoying a shady late afternoon in our chairs outside the trailer, catching up on the news (thank you Verison hotspot) and writing in our blog; the weather completely changed. It started with a little rise in the wind, then moved into higher gusts.

Valley below our camp before the wind arose and it filled with dust clouds.

Our camp oversaw a long valley which soon started to fill with dust and, it appeared, a wall of a dust storm was moving toward us. The particles in the air began it settle on our faces and it became time to pick up and move indoors. We shut up all the windows and  vents and, with a little prayer, were glad it was not hot. Running the air conditioner was not an option since this was a dry camp with no utilities. Our generator or solar does not have enough power for an energy guzzling air conditioner.  We felt snug and safe from the wind that continued to gust strongly and blow the dust all night. The morning, though, felt clear and calm though the dust remained in the long view over the valley below us.

International Cafe and Bar in Austin, Nevada

          Sunday morning we decided to hook up and go the 30 miles or so into Austin, Nevada and have breakfast at the International Cafe and Bar. We had read comments that some were put off by the big Trump Will Make American Great Again posters, the hippies use the backdoor sign, and various other signs indicating the politics of the proprietor. He had also been described as a curt grumpy old guy. This sounded like a GREAT place to have breakfast with a bit of spice!
          The cafe was in the middle of town, with a broken down weathered wagon in front and a porch with big, uneven, thick slabs of rough hewn boards as the floor. The building it turned out had been originally build in the late 1800's when Austin was a mining town. The building was divided into a open cafe with an old plank floor with a wall that divided it from the equally large bar on the other side.

Beautiful bar in the International Cafe. Jim looks like he is getting an early start. 

The bar had been built in England in 1840s and came around the horn for a bar in Virginia City. When mining slowed in Virginia City, the massive bar and back wall were dismantled and brought over the many high passes with mules and wagons. It is truly a beauty to behold and a surprise to find in this little town that once was a high flying mining town in the mountains. The jewel in this crown were the people, from the grumpy bartender ready for business at 9:30 in the morning, to the group of older men discussing the events of the last week i.e. sniper shooting of police in Dallas and the Black Lives Matter movement response to the shootings of two black men at routine police interactions. We were served a huge breakfast of toast, great hash browns, eggs and large sausage patty and bacon for Jim. The grey haired ponytailed owner of the cafe was both host and server for ourselves and about 10 other people in the small cafe. At the end of the meal, he came to sit at our table and ask us where we were from. We told him about our swing through upper and middle states. After a few pleasantries, I led in with the fact that his signs would indicate that he was a Trump supporter. I asked him what his thoughts may be about the possible attempt to derail Trump's nomination at the Republican convention. He began to talk about Trump being misrepresented by the press, that Trump's acts of generosity are either overlooked or he is so humble that he doesn't talk about it. Trump, he said, has been such a great businessman, our pony tailed owner believes, that it is his expertise as a business person that the U.S. desperately needs in the White House.

We thought the bartender may be the Serbian. 

        It seemed that our Trump supporter did not see himself as part of the Republican Party and, in fact, spoke about them as being the "establishment" that needs to be dismantled by the likes of Trump. It was a good conversation, very reasonable in tone. He commented that he was happy to have someone listen to him that some people just call him crazy and walk away. We did not disclose our leanings but he gave us a window into why Trump supporters seem immune to the facts and history on their candidate. Once the press is labeled as untrustworthy unless you care to do your own digging for information, you or at this least this Trump supporter or reliant only on what their candidate tells them. This is going to be one interesting election season.  

In the early morning light, a wagon restored by Don and a sculpture by Patty.

 
          By 4 o'clock we reached our destination at Don and Patty's in Smith Valley. Always enjoy our
visit with these good friends. They are both artists and live in harmony with the desert that surrounds
 their home. Except for some lawn which mainly serves as fodder for the cottontails and jack rabbits that come to visit and eat their morning carrots, native plants are the backdrop for the wonderful views. Found metal and wood provide the bones for the metal figures who dot their natural landscape and pay homage to natures spirit. Quail, lizards and the birds of the high desert seem to know they can find food, water and shelter at Don and Patty's natural space. Their home is full of beautiful pieces of art they have created using basketry, gourds. weaving, bead work and found objects.

Remains of a structure at the mining location near Rafter Seven Ranch. 

On Sunday we drove out to the Rafter Seven which is about an hour from their home and down 20 miles of pretty tough dirt road. Patty and Don have been irrigating the permanent pasture for family stock and going out to the ranch several days a weeks for the last few months. The ranch was started originally in the 1870's but is now owned by a Water Conservancy.

This was such a delicately carved stone for a young boy lovingly missed. Rose is tired after our hike to the top of the hill in hot sand. 

The monument has a guard against the cattle in the area. 

Nearby was the remains of a small mining settlement and the grave marker delicately carved of a boy who only lived 5 years. The grave stone gives his birth date not his date of death. Patty found his name and history on line.
       It is such a peaceful place to catch up with each other and to begin to end a great trip that has taught us much and help us know that there are so many places to explore, enjoy and learn about in this good old U.S.
       As I write this today, we are coming up on the Eastern Sierras and hope to be home by 4:00 pm. The unloading will start and there will be two months of mail to sort through. That is good too. One must go back to base to begin to understand, with some deliberation, what we have learned through this experience we feel so honored to have undertaken.

Open Spaces

         Saturday night at Hickson Petroglyphs 24 miles east of Austin, Nevada elevation 6500 feet and we have no neighbors in our BLM campground. This is a dry camp bring your own water but staggering views of the valley below us and a walk to view the petroglyphs.

Trust me, petroglyphs here but hard to see!

The reason, we think, we have no neighbors is that it took us nearly 2 hours to get our trailer level. Since this is a BLM campground it has been directly impacted by sequestration and it appears that no grading of the sites has been done in several years. Let me guess since the Republicans took control of the House and Senate. So we had to work and work and eventually dig to get level but finally managed and we have been rewarded in our last night at a campsite after our weeks on the road. Tomorrow we will be at our Don and Patty's in Wellington, Nevada until Wednesday when we make our way home. Do recommend this great site at Hickson, just bring water and maybe a shovel and a beautiful home is yours for the night.

Borders Inn

        Yesterday, Friday, was a transect from the bluffs of Utah to the Great Basin area of Nevada with a stop last night at the Border Inn, which has it's famous showers in Utah and it's casino and bar in Nevada. We had driven 83 miles from Delta, Utah with no services, none. We encountered bike riders 20 miles out with 63 miles to go on this desolate but scenic road. At the end of the 83 miles was Border Inn. It first built when highway 50 was built and a log cabin from Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park was moved down to become the Inn. The RV park is wind swept and includes some permanent trailers. We settled in and turned on the air conditioner for Rose and went over for a beer at the Border Inn.

View from the petroglyph walk Hickson BLM

We ordered at cold one and had a chance to talk to Denys Koyle the owner of the Inn. We mentioned the bike rider and she said they often get riders on Highway 50. She has taken gallons of water and dropped them for the riders at agreed mile posts for them. She also mentioned the TransAmerica trail that is a dirt road often taken by trail bike riders who come by the Border Inn and restock and shower. The trail we found out is 3743 miles across the US from Astoria, Oregon
to the East Coast. One of the routes goes through Baker City or the Border Inn.
      The Inn has been enlarged over time and has motel rooms in Utah on Mountain time and the restaurant, bar and small casino is on Pacific time. The halls of the Inn has pictures with names of all the local residents and many, we noticed were shepherds. Border Inn, we found out, is beholden to the many shepherds who have come in for a shower (free and clean) and beer and a good meal. It appears to be a community gathering place. The evening we were there they were holding a wake for a local person who had been a "regular." There were at least 40 cars that appeared that evening. We had breakfast there in the morning and the young woman serving us said the man who died "lived up the mountain, did"t say much, looked kind of mean, but was listened to when he spoke, and was really a very gentle person, cared for by many." Jim googled the Inn tonight and found that for the last 14 years and scheduled for this January 20th and 21th is the Sheepherders Ball which welcomes all involved in the sheep industry. The Borders Inn acknowledges that the sheepherders who often come in during the winter months have enabled them to stay in business. Another joy, at finding the Borders Inn was the older gentleman who was at the bar with us in the afternoon telling about people history in this place, and again at breakfast. The Borders is truly a place for community in a very open space. Made me wonder, how many other little unassuming little cafes in out of the way places may also have a long history and connection for the people who live there.

Designs from Native Peoples deepened by erosion on the sandstone