MARCH 11/09....THROUGH THE APACHE PASS TO HISTORIC FORT BOWIE, ARIZONA

REMAINS OF AN OLD BUCKBOARD AT FORT BOWIE..... HORSES WERE KEPT IN THIS AREA

As kids watching western movies we always saw the mounted cavalry riding in & out of their Forts. Big high wooden log pole walls with an assortment of buildings inside & an American flag flying proudly in the middle. It's a picture we carry in our minds every time the word Fort is mentioned. Just as in real ghost towns we can easily be disappointed when we finally reach an old town site or Fort. We're hoping to see a setting just as we remembered it from the movies. But time, the elements, & reality have taken their toll. Several buildings & a water tank still remain somewhat intact at Fort Rucker but historic Fort Bowie is only left with it's walls & foundations. I would recommend anyone going to Fort Bowie to eat an extra bowl of Cheerios in the morning, drive through the Apache Pass from the north or northwest as we did & begin your long historic hike into the Fort from a parking lot on the south side of Apache Pass road.

TROOPS WERE HOUSED WITHIN THESE BARRACK WALLS (Note: You will notice that the tops of the old walls are rounded & a different color. To prevent the elements from eroding the original walls any further a mixture of special cement had to be applied to the tops of them to prevent wind & rain from breaking the walls down any further.) ALL THAT'S LEFT OF THE ONCE ELOQUENT POST COMMANDER'S QUARTERS

As with walking the grounds of old ghost towns I find there is an overall feeling that comes over a person. If your with a group of people though you will probably not pick up that feeling. I suppose it's akin to wandering through an old cemetery. Very quiet, very peaceful, & your always aware of a presence & a time in history that you have been reading or hearing about since a child. Try as you may you cannot comprehend the magnitude of events which took place on the ground you are standing upon or the walls you are seeing or the scattered bits of weathered wood & broken foundation stones laying in the tall grass at your feet. To think that a mighty Fort once stood here, or a complete town or a huge battle took place on this very spot many years ago can be overwhelming. When I visited Custer's Little Bighorn battlefield in Montana back in 1993 I felt that. And on March 11 of 2009 I felt it once more as we headed through the Apache Pass to a parking lot & then off on a long winding path in search of old Fort Bowie. APACHE LEADER GERONIMO WAS HELD CAPTIVE WITHIN THIS BUILDING'S WALLS

Might be a mile into the Fort but the path leads you through a valley of history. The old Butterfield Stage line ran through here on it's way from the east to California. Wagon wheel ruts are still visibile in the ground. Running gun battles & confrontations between the Cavalry & the Chiricahua Apache Indians took place here in this scenic valley. A meeting with the Apache leader Cochise was arranged. A cemetery, the foundation ruins of an old stagecoach stop near where the meeting & battle took place between Indians & Cavalry. It is a path through history. Go alone or with one other quiet person & let the trail through the little valley whisper you it's tales. STONE WALL RUINS OF THE 'FIRST' FORT BOWIE

Wikipedia info on FORT BOWIE

My blog of our day can be found here...... FORT BOWIE BLOG
My photos of our day are here.........FORT BOWIE PHOTOS

FORT BOWIE CEMETERY AS SEEN FROM A HIGH RIDGE TO THE SOUTHEAST

INDIANS & SOLDIERS ALIKE BURIED HERE BUT MANY SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN MOVED

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Everyone seems normal..........until you get to know them!!

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

THE SECOND COMING OF SPRING:))

COLORFUL BEACH CHAIRS AWAIT SUMMER GUESTS ON THE SHORES OF LAKE HURON AT DEERPARK LODGE http://www.deerparklodge.com/

Well, I sure wish I had something interesting to write about. One month ago to-day we hiked our way into old historic Fort Bowie near the Apache Pass in Arizona. http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2009/03/through-apache-pass-to-historic-fort.html
To-day, I puddled around raking leaves & cleaned up sticks & branches for a few hours. Doesn't really compare to our day at Fort Bowie but at least Spring has returned again after Old Man Winter took a final poke at us a few days ago.
Our snow is all but gone & I'm certainly hoping that was winter's last gasp.

ALONG OUR MORNING WALK

Weatherman has a nice Easter week-end lined up so maybe it will be a good time to begin the big clean up in the motorhome. All the bins have to emptied, cleaned, & re-organized. The inside has to cleaned from stem to stern & the carpet should probably be steamed cleaned. If I was handy I would pull that carpet out of there & replace it with a tile or wood laminate floor. I said......IF I was handy:(( And WHY would the manufacturer ever have put carpet in the bathroom!!!! Dumb, dumb, dumb. OUR FRONT YARD POND BUDDHA IS WEARING A WHITE HAT THIS MORNING

Had a big 4 hour coffee blow out last night with an old friend at a nearby coffee shop. In our case a coffee blow out now consists of one medium Tim Hortons coffee for me & a half pint of milk for my buddy Jim. He actually quit drinking coffee altogether a few years back. I'm down to 4 a day now & have been at that level for nearly 10 years. It's a far cry from years ago when we would seemingly drink the stuff by the pail full in our long chats in the many coffee shops in the Stratford Ontario area. Jim & I have been best friends for nearly 30 years now & in our coffee shop heyday used to meet every Monday & Thursday nights for coffee at 7 P.M. Jim broke an alcohol dependency habit about 34 years ago & I'm coming up on 30 years in October. I met Jim in my first week of sobriety & we've been best friends ever since. Up until last night we hadn't got to-gether for a good old round house chat in about a year & a half. As usual it didn't take us long to solve all the world's ills & establish ourselves once again as just a couple of wild & aging guys. Remember the Muppet Show? Remember the two old guys in the balcony, Statler & Hilton? Yep, that's me & my old buddy Jim alright:)) I STOCK THIS POND WITH FROGS EVERY AUTUMN

Another friend emailed this week bringing to my attention that I had spelled the word Curmudgeon wrong on our website. He noticed I had an S in there. Well, that is intentional, simply because I've always liked the sound of the word better with an S in it. Cur-smudge-eon. Good one Fred, you sharp eyed old devil you.

Ron from the Shoutbox noticed that since re-doing the format of the website, the top picture doesn't stretch all the way across the page. I wished it did but suspect a problem with the photo format not matching the blogger format may be the culprit. I have tried different photos but all with the same results. If anyone has a solution for that I would be happy to hear from them. I did initially have a lot of problems getting the wording to fit because it kept bleeding off into the gray area to the right. Had to not only reduce the size of the printing but also had to take out most of the text. I like the newer look better than what we had, but yes there is room for improvement. A LITTLE EARLY FOR PICNICS AT THE 5 SEASONS ESTATES, BAYFIELD

And thanks to Don out there in Brandon Manitoba once again for bringing to my attention the brake recall notice for the Workhorse Chassis. He spotted it on RV Net. http://www.rv.net/ You Workhorse drivers can check it out here..... http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22625788.cfm

The snow you see in to-day's blog pics is gone now. The pics were taken yesterday & I didn't have any new photos for to-day. Besides, how exciting can a picture of somebody raking leaves be...................:(( AS MUCH AS I DISLIKE WINTER......IT SURE CAN BE PRETTY

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/