AND ONE DAY WE ENDED UP AT A MONASTERY

Because of our close proximity to the Great Lakes here in southern Ontario we are subject to very damp cold in the winter & a heavy humidity factor in the summer.  We are a few degrees below freezing at the moment & it's a damp kind of cold that just gets right inside your clothes & makes you feel like a dripping ice cube.  We've noticed the same temperature in Arizona is not nearly as bad.  I also believe what they say about the southwest's drier weather being much healthier for people.  Max, Checkers, & I all have problems with arthritis & we are hobbling around here like a bunch of old bruised & bent rodeo clowns at the moment.    Looking forward to reaching Arizona in a couple of weeks, strapping on the old hiking boots, & heading off into the Chiricahua mountains to kick this aching arthritis out of my legs. 

  Last November while at the Kartchner Caverns near Benson Arizona we stopped by to visit another RV couple we had met the year before near Why, Arizona.  We had been emailing back & forth with Bea & Herb & knew they were at an RV Park in the area.   When they said the RV Park was at a Monastery I was a little apprehensive about going but they were quick to mention that the Monastery had no religious affiliations with the Park itself so we headed over to the little town of St. David just south of Benson Arizona to the HOLY TRINITY MONASTERY .  A lot of information about this Monastery can be found by typing Holy Trinity Monastery St. David Arizona into the Google search engine.  I do know that it is well known for it's pecan orchards &  products.  I will put to-gether a short photo album of our walk around the Monastery grounds with Bea & Herb.  As mentioned, the RV Park, although on the same grounds, does not have a religious affiliation with the Monastery & fortunately anyone can go there.

We did take one of the Kartchner Cavern tours but I was very disappointed when I found out camera's were not allowed on the tours so all I have are a few pics of paintings in the State Park's lobby.  I really do think the Carlsbad Caverns are a much bigger bang for your buck by far.  Just my opinion & I do have to careful about my opinions don't I!! 

Our unusual cold snap is continuing here in southern Ontario & my favorite time of the year has been very disappointing so far & is quickly slipping away.   Most trees are still very green so we just may miss the Autumn colors this year.  Some of the snowbirds in our Park are flexing their travel wings already with one lady leaving for Florida to-day, another couple heading for Georgia next week, & some other folks heading for the Rio Grande Valley in Texas very shortly.  Just a few short years ago Kelly & I were the one's keeping an eye on some neighbor's places for the winter & now we have to have someone come in every week & check on ours while away.  Some folks shut their place completely down, draining all the water lines, etc.  No heat whatsoever during the winter.  We thought about that this year but in the end I think we'll just end up leaving a bit of heat on again & take our chances with the money grubbing electricity company.  No, I'm not going to rant about them again, it doesn't do any good anyway.  All those large companies have put a lot of years into perfecting the art of greed & that's pretty much the end of the story for all the little guys out here!! 

HERB, KELLY, & BEA, LOOKING AT THE KOI IN THE PONDS

PECAN LOAD	QUIET PATH
SAN PEDRO RIVER	THE HERMITAGE
PECAN PICKING
	QUIET SPOT
BEA & HERB'S
	Hover your cursor over the photos for captions & click to enlarge

You might want to slip over to Randy's, ROAD SIDE CHRONICLES to-day for a look at some trials & tribulations of having a motorhome breakdown & the towing problems that can ensue when proper equipment is not sent out to help you.  I would be out on the road jumping up & down on my hat but I think Randy & Pam have handled matters quite well....considering!! 

GROANER'S CORNER:(( The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.

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

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

TO-DAY WE FOUND THE RUINS OF CHARLESTON ARIZONA

BEGINNING OUR SHORTCUT TO CHARLESTON

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28/09 (Computer seized up a couple times Wednesday night so couldn't upload the blog. About half the web albums made it & I'm uploading the rest of the pictures right now....Thursday morning)

The thermometer in our bin said the temperature dropped to 36F last night but it must have been lower because there was a layer of thin ice on a large vat of water nearby used for watering cattle. Didn't seem as cold to me on our morning walk as the morning before though.

A chance encounter with the older couple while on our walk this morning led to some better information as to where the elusive ghost town of Charleston could be found. We had been close the day before, but not close enough so we decided to go back this morning & have us another look.

Started off on the other side of the San Pedro river this time heading for another ghost town called Millville. Charleston & Millville were separated only by the river but Millville was going to be much easier to find because of paths, directions, & reader boards. The brochures & the BLM officer yesterday told us there wasn't anything left of Charleston except a few old adobe foundations. That information is misleading. The brochures also state there is more left of Millville than there really is. Again misleading. It's obvious the BLM authority do not want people finding the ruins of Charleston so all the emphasis is put on the Millville ruins..........of which there isn't much left aside from a few old stone foundations scattered amongst the thick underbrush. The Gird House is one of the few recognizable foundations left.

SOME OLD MILLVILLE RUINS

We knew the old ruins of Charleston were somewhere across the San Pedro river & we also knew there was an old rail bed running along the north side of the river between Millville & Charleston so we figured if we could find a way through the heavy underbrush bramble & many mesquite trees we should be able to come across the rail bed. From there we had a pretty good idea where to go because of the information the older farm couple gave us. From the Millville path we headed into the thickets & managed to find our way through to the rail bed. (check to-day's web album for pics) It was not easy going & we got ourselves full of prickles & small scratches. Had to carefully crawl through a barbed wire fence as well.
SPLASHING ACROSS THE SAN PEDRO & THE CEMENT BRIDGE CULVERT UNDER THE RAIL BED

Once up on the railbed we finally found the bridge over a dry wash the lady had told us about so we knew we were getting closer. She said to turn northwest & cross the San Pedro river at this point & then head straight for about a quarter mile to the ruins of Charleston. We made our way down the bank to the river & then made the mistake of heading up river a bit to find a better crossing. Turns out the best crossing is right there at the large graffiti infested concrete culvert. We searched for a narrow spot in the river but didn't find one so finally picked a spot to cross & away we went......after removing our shoes & socks & rolling up our pantlegs of course. And yes, the water was icy cold!! We then made the second mistake of walking downriver a bit looking for a path which we couldn't find. We knew the ruins had to be on our left somewhere so headed into the underbrush again. Luckily we blundered onto a path & after a bit of searching we followed a second path up a slight rise. The mesquite trees were very thick here. Kelly stopped & pulled a peanut butter sandwich out of her pack, tore it in half & handed me a section. I stuffed it in my mouth, turned around, took about 3 steps..........and there off to my right, through the mesquite brambles I spied an adobe wall. "Walla" we had just found the ghost town of Charleston:)) It immediately became apparent there was far more to see here than in Millville just back across the river, but first let me explain something about ghost towns. CHARLESTON RUINS

The words "ghost town" conjures up old wooden buildings with broken windows, doors ajar, wooden sidewalks, some rusting tin roofs on the buildings, rooms inside with old paraphernalia, etc. etc. Kind of a Hollywood looking ghost town with streets & alleys. Some are manufactured ghost towns for the sole purpose of attracting people & commercialism. These are the ghost towns we most often think about & see in our minds. And these are the ghost towns in namesake only. Real ghost towns as a rule look nothing like any of the above & so it is with Millville & Charleston. These & other places like them are the real ghost towns of the old west. MANY ADOBE WALLS STILL STANDING IN CHARLESTON

We spent about 40 minutes in Charleston to-day & I took a lot of photos. So many in fact that I'm only going to include a few in to-day's web album because I have already uploaded all the Charleston photos into their own album. All's you will see is sections of adobe walls with a lot of trees & grass growing in & around them, but for anyone who has an interest in this sort of thing, they might enjoy the photos. We didn't count, but we think we saw between 15 & 20 structures. I will include some links here that give the history of Charleston & Millville.......
http://clantongang.com/oldwest/charles3.htm
http://www.azkatz.net/Sites/Quiz/Lesson1.html

We finally left Charleston to it's ghosts & memories around 1:30 & headed back to the river. Off with the shoes & socks & away we went again, tippy toeing through the shallow & icy cold waters of the San Pedro. Shoes & socks back on, up the bank & through the graffiti infested cement culvert to a wide wash on the other side. Followed this back for aways until we picked up the Millville trail again which in turn led us back to the parking lot & our car. We had been gone about three & a half hours. Boy, was it great to sit down in those comfy car seats at last.

IS SHE GONNA MAKE IT:))

We were back to the rig in about 5 minutes & spent the next couple of hours resting up. Around 3:30 we took a short 3 mile drive over to Tombstone. Just wanted to check out where to get gas & propane when we leave here Friday morning. Parked the car & walked over to Tombstone's gunfigher street. Looked the same as when we had been there before just a couple of years ago. Only to-day we were lucky enough to catch Wyatt, Doc, & the boys out on the mainstreet just hanging around before the big OK Corral shoot out at 4 p.m. Cracked off some photos before the guys all sauntered over to the OK Coral building. If you want to see guns blazing & bodies dropping, you have to pay to see that inside the building, so needless to say we just kept walking. GUNFIGHTERS ON THE STREETS OF TOMBSTONE

My main purpose now was to find the Crystal Palace. A few days ago Kelly had started a thread in the RV Net Forum with some queries about the area & several people answered & have kept the thread going. Yesterday we actually met one of those fellas. This morning a message arrived from a fellow by the name of Len who remembered the Crystal Palace in Tombstone. So Len, Kelly & I went into the Crystal Palace about 4:15 this afternoon & raised a silent toast to your old departed friend, Buck . I took some photos inside for you as well & you will find them in to-day's web album.
RV Net Forum...http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm

THE CRYSTAL PALACE IN TOMBSTONE

We were back to the rig by 5 & that was about it for another fine day in beautiful sunny Arizona........:))

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

CAMPED ALONG THE BANKS OF THE SAN PEDRO RIVER

THE CHARLESTON ROAD PARKING LOT

Definitely a little cooler in this neck of the woods. Had a quiet night & no town constables came around to roust us out behind the Visitor's Center. The Centers doors opened at 8 & a few minutes later we were inside asking questions about the area & stocking up on brochures. An elderly lady was most helpful and made it clear there was no boondocking sites in the area. Luckily we had heard of one on the highway from Sierra Vista to Tombstone.

I checked Google Earth last night & it showed us where we could find a Wal-Mart in town so we didn't waste any time getting ourselves over there for a few groceries. In the meantime the wind gusts had picked up something fierce & while in the Wally-World parking lot our rig was being rocked back & forth like a small boat on a choppy lake. Picked up a few groceries & waited out the wind.

Around 11 we decided to head out in search of the Charleston road boondocking site. Wind had let up a bit so the short 8 mile drive wasn't too bad. I had previously un-hooked the car so Kelly followed along behind. Had checked the site out on Google Earth so knew as soon as I came to a river I would be there. No problem finding the big square parking lot on the south side of the bridge & east of the San Pedro river.

THE SAN PEDRO RIVER IS ABOUT A HUNDRED YARDS BEHIND THE RIG

The whole parking lot slopes towards the river so there was no finding a level spot. Ended up putting some wood under the back tires. Didn't want to use the jacks in case we had to unexpectantly leave in a hurry. We are only about 20 miles from the Mexican border here so there are additional things to take into consideration when setting up camp.

Took the furry guys for a walk down along the banks of the San Pedro river. Lots of animal tracks down there & later in the day around dusk we walked over to the old steel bridge (web album) & looked down upon 3 deer casually drinking along the river bank.

STROLLING ALONG THE BANKS OF THE SAN PEDRO

About a mile north of us up the river lies the ruins of the old western town of Charleston. In it's heyday Charleston was known as a rough & tumble town which boasted saloons, livery stables, restaurants, hotels, a school, a church, a post office, & stores that held $100.000 in goods. We understand there isn't much left on the site anymore. A few crumbled foundation walls & that's about it. We'll try taking a hike up that way in the morning but the underbrush along the river is pretty thick so we'll see how far we get. Or, we may follow the old railroad bed on the east side of the river & then try crossing the river farther up.

There is also a cairn (will get a photo of that to-morrow) here dedicated to the Morman Brigade who in 1846 encountered a number of wild bulls at this spot while trying to cross the river. A clash with the bulls erupted resulting in injuries. It is said that the "battle of the bulls" was the only battle the Mormon Battalion ever fought.

Nice sunset to-night & we were fortunate enough to see deer down at the river drinking. We've heard this parking lot is a favorite spot for telescope gazing astronomers & I can sure see why. No moon to-night & the sky is about 90% clear of clouds so the stars are just a poppin out of the night sky. In fact it was so clear that I could actually see beyond the stars into the future. And, the future told me if I don't smarten up right quick & knock off all the peanut butter & honey sandwiches I'm going to roll right past the 210 pound mark!!!!

No idea where we'll be to-morrow night but it just might still be here in this very same spot. And thanks to the folks on the RV Net Forum for the info & stories on this area......................

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm

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