Monday, January 18, 2010

A SUNDAY DRIVE TO THE BORDER TOWN OF NACO………. ARIZONA

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BULLET HOLE IN DOWNTOWN NACO

The very last photo in Saturday night's blog showed where the previous blog photos were all taken but I should have made that clearer.  All the close up photos of the ice mushrooms (that's what Kelly called them) were taken around the base of that fruit tree.  Water from the hose had trickled down during the night forming that cascade of ice.  I have more pics from another tree that I will post later.

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NACO ARIZONA…… BORDER TOWN OF THE PAST

It's nearly 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon & Kelly is outside getting a campfire going under cloudy skies.  We headed off to the tiny border town of Naco late this morning to have another look around.  We had been there in the spring but just drove through it & back to Bisbee.  Today we stopped on what once was the main street right outside the Mexican border gates.  It's a wide street & it is a dead street that ends with a barrier saying 'Road Closed.'  A narrow alley street leads east a couple hundred yards between old buildings to the actual border crossing point.  This town was probably a going concern years ago but for whatever reasons it has fallen on hard times & is basically a living ghost town.  One old store front head a bullet hole in the window.  Blanched & rusting metal signs have long since faded in the long days of the hot Arizona sun.  While standing with my camera in the middle of the empty street between forgotten buildings I could hear the boisterous sounds of Mexican music just across the border about 500 yards away.  How sad it was as I looked around me at the dirty street, peopleless sidewalks, & dark empty windows.  How ironic it was to hear the sounds of happy music coming from an impoverished country............just over the fence.  Naco's streets are dusty & the houses are tattered.  A few children playing here & there.  Barking dogs watch us pass slowly by & we saw few people.  Some old trailer homes back right up against the tall border security line fence between the two countries & border patrol vehicles are about the only thing we saw moving.  This was Naco Arizona....U.S.A.

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(click pics to enlarge)

PHOTOS OF MAIN STREET NACO,  (notice the smashed out car window) BORDER FENCE BEHIND TRAILERS, A TRASHY BACK YARD, & SOME OLD MILITARY CAMP BUILDINGS  (more about these buildings in another post)

The Turquoise Valley RV & Golf Club sits at the northern edge of town with it's fairways & greens splayed out on the valley floor with the Mule mountains looming on the horizon.   The little town of San Jose nestles at the foot of the mountains.  San Jose is now a part of the Bisbee complex.  We drove north along the border fence for awhile before swinging back up into the town of Warren, also now part of Bisbee.  On this drive I was reminded that it was this area where Walter's father had the homestead.  Walter was the writer of the book I read awhile back called, 'Henry And Me.'

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THE TURQUOISE VALLEY GOLF COURSE IN NACO…….OLDEST COURSE IN ARIZONA

Kelly wanted to slip into old Bisbee to the sock store again & pick up another pair of colorful mismatched socks.  Mismatch seems to be the in thing now.  I've been wearing mismatched socks for over 60 years now so what's the big deal!!  I've even been known to wear my underwear inside out & put my head on backwards some mornings.  Grabbed a coffee at the Bisbee  Coffee Company & stood outside marveling at the downtown buildings & surrounding hillsides with their colorful  hippy looking houses & cabins scattered on slopes that only mountain goats would normally call home.  Not long ago a lady commented on the internet that when she visited Bisbee she couldn't get out of there fast enough.  Another lady commented about going to Bisbee once & will never return.  To each their own I suppose.  No big box stores here for those ladies I guess.  Some folks come with tunnel vision.  Browse a few shops, look for bargains, & then go away saying they have been to & seen Bisbee.  Yes, you may have been to Bisbee but you sure as hell never saw Bisbee!!!!

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RANDOM PHOTOS OF BISBEE INCLUDING THE COPPER QUEEN RV PARK

I was surprised by all the comments & emails about last night's post & I sincerely thank everyone.  And I also sincerely hope nobody thought I was soliciting comments.  I would never do that!!  I was trying to point out the importance of feedback for ALL bloggers.  There are a lot of great blogger folks out there who deserve to be recognized for their superb efforts.  Keep up the good work everybody.  And a special thanks from Kelly & I, Max, Checkers, & the Motormouse, to Cindy L from Dayton Ohio for your lovely email.  I’m going to send that one to my Aunt  in Sarasota  Florida!!

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HELICOPTER LANDS IN A WARREN SCHOOL YARD & MEDICS WALK ACROSS THE STREET TO THE HOSPITAL

And a big welcome to Cindy our latest blog follower.  Thanks for taking the time to climb aboard & travel along with, The Bayfield Bunch:))

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THE ROAD TO NACO

It's Sunday night now & the wind has picked up.  The sky is loaded with heavy gray clouds as the storm front approaches from the west.  I am seeing long tailing gray wisps of probable rain all around in the higher elevations.  Thick black clouds are obscuring the south end of the Swiss Helm mountains & the peaks are lost in a gloom.  I have moved the donkeys into the corral for shelter & tomorrow morning we are off to Tucson.............:))

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TO-NIGHT’S SUNSET

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A tour bus driver is driving with a bus load of seniors down a highway when he is tapped on his shoulder by a little old lady. She offers him a handful of peanuts, which he gratefully munches up.
After about 15 minutes, she taps him on his shoulder again and she hands him another handful of peanuts.
She repeats this gesture about five more times. When she is about to hand him another batch again he asks the little old lady, 'Why don't you eat the peanuts yourself?' 'We can't chew them because we've no teeth', she replied.
The puzzled driver asks, 'Why do you buy them then?'
The old lady replied, 'We just love the chocolate around them.'

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

8 comments:

  1. EEEEWWWWW!!!! The groaner was a real GROANER today...

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  2. On our trip to Sulphur Springs Valley yesterday we talked about stopping in to see you guys. Instead we wandered among all the dirt roads in the upper reaches of Sunsites, following our GPS and trying to find our way home. We got home about the time Kelly was setting up your campfire. Sorry we missed that.

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  3. Thanks for the tour of another neat little town, Al. We'll have to add that one to our list of places when we visit Bisbee later - I know we won't be disappointed by Bisbee at all - it looks like a terrific place to visit and explore!

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  4. Hey guys, everyone's telling us to stay farrrr away from the border. The violence has been so bad, the media is really playing it up here in L.A. and I can't tell if it's hype or for real. What's your take on the level of danger in the area now?

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  5. DENNIS AND DONNAMonday, January 18, 2010

    AMAZING PICTURES...A MODERN DAY GHOST TOWN FOR SURE....SAD WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE BORDER TOWNS...WE CHECK YOUR BLOG EVERY MORNING!

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  6. GREAT PICTURES OF A MODERN DAY GHOST TOWN, AL....WE CHECK YOUR BLOG EVERY MORNING!

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  7. THAT CERTAINLY WAS A MODERN DAY "GHOST TOWN', AL...LOVE YOUR BLOG..I AM PRETTY NEW AT IT...WE READ YOURS FIRST THING EVERY MORNING!!

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  8. Al, Bisbee looks so lovely, and we can't wait to get there.
    We took your advice and going to stay in Queen mine park, probably by the end of this week.
    I can't agree with you more about the importance of reader's comments to the blogger.
    As always - I love your photos. Those from Nacos are so sharp and have vivd colors. That is beautiful.

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