NICE DAY & SOME MEXICAN BORDER MEMORIES

POOR MAMA GOOSE....NO BABY GOOSES THIS YEAR:((

Another cooker today but when you don't have to be outside working in the heat it's not too bad.  Nice mobility van run to London & back this morning in air conditioned comfort.  A big plus from the days many years ago when I might have been out in the back of some new housing sub division on my hands & knees in the dirt laying new sod for hours & hours in the heat.  Yep, did that for awhile in Kitchener Ontario back in the late 60's.

OUR LITTLE 'MOUSE'

I have read in the RV NET FORUMS from time to time about RV'ers having their rigs towing assemblies tampered with by kids while they have been away from their rigs or even around the other side gassing up.  I always make it a point to especially check our tow pins whenever we have made a stop somewhere.  Kids have been known to pull them out &  bicycles have been stolen right off the back of some rigs at fuel stops.  Came across a blog last night that ran into what could have been a very dangerous situation when they stopped at a Flying J for diesel fuel.   Check out R SANITY RV ADVENTURES

ALONG THE FOREST FLOOR

While ranch sitting near McNeal Arizona last winter I noticed they had a small photo group meeting every Monday afternoon over in the little town of Elfrida so I threw my cameras in the car & wandered on over.  Met some great folks over the next couple of months before departing the area & heading further west.  Ray, (RAY'S QCC BLOG) from the group still sends me updates & keeps me in the loop as to what the group is up to & what photo shoots they are out on.   He has just put a BLOG SITE together for the group & you can find photos of their last shoot in the rough & tumbly down town of Naco Arizona on the Mexican border.   Kelly & I were in Naco this past January & here is my BLOG & PHOTOS from that day....complete with a bullet hole in a downtown window!!

 

MAIN STREET NACO ARIZONA....THE MEXICAN BORDER IS DEAD AHEAD!!

We are sometimes asked if we feel threatened at any time while near the border in the Southwest & my answer to that is...no!!  I would feel much safer there by the Mexican border than I would in most large cities I have been too in Canada or the States.  We only had one incident & that was when we crossed into Mexico one time south of Why, Arizona at Lukeville.  You can read about our little scrape here...SONOYTA 

LOOKING DEEP INTO THE HEART OF MEXICO FROM ATOP CORONADO PEAK SOUTH OF SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA

For the most part it is life as usual just as it is here.  It's when something happens along the border & the media gets a hold of it that makes things seem much worse than they sometimes really are.  We have met many locals in the last couple of years & they all seem less concerned with the problems than people living far to the north.  We have seen people in the desert & we have found pieces of clothing, back packs, etc.  We have heard the ambulances wailing by in the cold nights heading out into the desert to pick up people in distress & we have been buzzed by border patrol helicopters. 

WHENEVER WE HEAR A BORDER PATROL CHOPPER COMING OVER THE RIDGE WE  JUST STAND VERY STILL & PRETEND WE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF SAGUARO CACTUS SHADOWS IN THE DESERT

We have seen the bright yellow flares floating out of the night sky lighting the ground below & one morning we came across about a dozen Mexican folks sitting in single file along a ditch with 2 border patrol guys standing over them.  The group looked to be handcuffed, weary, & worn.  Unfortunately it is the way of life along the border & would we ever consider not going there because of those problems.  No, not a chance.  The American southwest is too special a place not to go & besides, it is just another great chapter in the exciting saga of the daily liveliness & charm of the old wild west..................................:))

    

(click to enlarge)

THERE'S KELLY CRAWLING UNDER THE BORDER WIRE INTO MEXICO EAST OF DOUGLAS ARIZONA - 'ADIOS KELLY'- OH OH SHE'S HEADING BACK TO THE CAR....DIDN'T FIND ANY BARGOOOONS IN THE DESERT I GUESS!!

 

MORNING PHLOX

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I don't know why I consider myself over the hill when I don't even remember ever getting to the top.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

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

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

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.

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.

 

(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.'

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!!!!

   

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!!

 

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:))

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.............:))

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.'

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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

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