WISHED WE COULD SEND SOME OF THIS HOT WEATHER TO CANADA RIGHT NOW

Well, we wanted hot....now we got hot!! I'm already seeing some other bloggers succumbing to the heat & pining for those good old cooler northern winter days. "Give me some ice, give me some snow, let the winds come, let the winds blow." Well, fellow bloggers..........ya gotta be nuts!!I'M THE BIG HORSE BOSS AROUND HERE & DON'T YOU FORGET IT

Aside from cleaning some outside windows on the rig this morning it's been a quiet day. We were low on come grocery items so headed off for the Safeway store in Bisbee. That part of Bisbee used to be called San Jose years ago & is actually a few miles west of downtown Bisbee but I think that whole area is now referred to as Bisbee. Stopped at Jimmy's Hot Dog Company for some eats before the grocery store Someone once said it's better to grocery shop on a full stomach so that was our logic this morning. It worked because we didn't come home with the usual 25 cases of Oreo cookies.

It's 4 P.M. right now, the side door of the rig is open, we've got 2 fans rolling & the thermometer in front of the computer says it's 89F inside the rig. The ranch house is waaaaay cooler so earlier this afternoon we went inside & watched a DVD. We stopped in Elfrida yesterday to drop off some books & the Librarian recommended a good DVD movie so we brought it back & that is the movie we watched about an hour ago. This movie was unlike any other movie I've seen. It's a very powerful thought provoking movie, guaranteed to bring a lump to your throat & guaranteed to remain in my memory from this day forth. The movie is called, Wit. Mike Nichols directs & Emma Thompson plays a woman diagnosed with a devastating illness. My Dad died of cancer years ago & I saw some comparisons. My Mother passed away a few years ago as well & again I felt comparisons. A very touching movie. Emma Thompson's superb performance deserves an award. Movie is based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson.

Some folks have been having difficulty enlarging the photos in the blog so I'm going to try uploading two other sizes & see if that works. First pic will be the usual larger size. Next one will be medium & the following pics will be the smallest size. Would appreciate knowing if that works.
This is a pretty nice set up we've got here. Kelly is able to watch her night time television shows in the ranch house on the big screen cable TV & I'm able to sit out here in the rig listening to my tunes while working on the blog. If I didn't have this blog to do I'd probably go bonkers because we only have one TV station in the rig & the night time programming is total garbage. (NBC)

So, on that positive note I'll wrap this up & send it off into cyberspace somewhere. Careful, it just might land somewhere very close to where your sitting..........................................

No photos for the web album to-day.

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A SCENIC DRIVE THROUGH LESLIE CANYON

Holy Smackers was that sun ever hot to-day. I think we got up into the 80's somewhere. Not a lot of relief but to stay in the shade. I pulled my lounge chair around the back of the motorhome out of the sun, grabbed my binoculars, tipped my chair back, & watched the spiraling of thousands & thousands of Sand Hill cranes. With outstretched wings they soared ever higher in tightening circles. Some of the flocks had hundreds of birds in them & within the many flocks were many patterns, but no confusion. It was like a single great mind was in charge of the aerobatics as groups merged, split, flowed in & around each other. Sometimes as they made their sweeping turns the sun would catch their feathers & there would be great flashes of white in the sky. I was reminded of gliders & sailplanes I have seen winging their way skyward on ascending warm thermals on hot sunny days. Sometimes the cranes were so high I could only see them with the binoculars & at other times they looked like tiny bits of paper falling from the sky as they made their way back to earth landing just south of the ranch at the Whitewater Draw's shallow lake. THE ROAD TO LESLIE CANYON

Kelly slipped into Elfrida for a yoga class at 10:30. They have quite an active community center program & she is going again Friday morning. Eight people in the class plus the instructor & his friendly German Shepherd dog. When the class ended, the German Shepherd walked over & put a big slurpy smooch on Kelly's face. See, I told you about animals sensing good people:))By early afternoon the sun was beating us up pretty good so we jumped in the car, cranked up the A/C & headed east of McNeal for the Swisshelm Mountains. We had heard that it was a nice drive over to Leslie Canyon. Slipped over the south end of the Swisshelms on a dusty but surprisingly good dirt road into a picturesque rolling hills valley surrounded by gentle mountains. This was cattle country with fields of yellow grass stretching off in all directions to the foothills on the horizons. Some distant ranches here & there scattered about. It was a beautiful day for a drive with beautiful high nimbus clouds high overhead. It was a big Arizona sky day. RED TAILED HAWK SOARING IN THE WARM ARIZONA AIR

We headed north up the valley before heading west back to the Elfrida highway. We could see Cochise's Stronghold ahead & to our left shrouded in the blue haze of the day. We remarked that at the same time yesterday we were over there winding our way down the narrow rocky mountain path. Sore feet & all!! A VALLEY OF CATTLE

We were back to the ranch by 4 & on the job by 4:15. We had happy chickens to-day & have been restored to exalted chicken caregivers, feeders, & egg gatherers, in the eyes of His Royal Highness, Sir Rooster of Shuster. Sir Rooster resides in the pen beside his 9 lovely capons & reins supreme over his haramesque little flock of cluckers.............................................SIR ROOSTER OF SHUSTER

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MONDAY FEB. 23/09 HIKING TO THE COCHISE STRONGHOLD

It was so nice to finally not have a freezing cold night & I'm thinking it may have been our mildest night since leaving Ontario back in mid November. Didn't even have to run our Blue Flame propane heater. And, to-night is going to be even warmer. Just came in from looking at Comet Lulin again & I hardly needed a jacket. AN ABANDONED RANCH WITH THE COCHISE STRONGHOLD IN THE BACKGROUND RIGHT

Bit of a cloud cover when we got up this morning so figured it might be a good day to head for the Cochise Stronghold about an hour's drive north of here. http://www.cochisestronghold.com/ Weatherman said it was going to be a very warm one (a record breaking 91F in Tucson to-day) so a bit of cloud cover was probably good. Kelly made up some peanut butter sandwiches & popped some bottled water & orange juice into a back pack & we were off about 9:30. A totally beautiful morning as we headed into the little town of Sunsites & made a left turn on Ironwood Road. We could see the Dragoon Mountain Range ahead of us & Cochise's Stronghold was plainly visible with it's large rock mountain called Rockfellow dome. The mid morning sun played across the rugged looking mountains casting shadows into deep canyons & highlighting the tall jagged peaks. It gave one the feeling of a very mystic & mysterious place. The paved road soon turned to dirt & gravel becoming a bit washboardy. Stopped at an abandoned ranch for some pictures. It was one of those kinds of places you just wanted to sign on the dotted line & move right in the next day.

CHECKING THE TRAIL MAP

At the end of Ironwood Road is the Cochise Stronghold Campground. Not for large RV rigs but you can get in there with small trailers & truck campers. http://www.hikercentral.com/campgrounds/114051.html
It's a cozy little campground with a lot of trees & the trailhead for the 3 hiking trails are right there. We decided on the longest trail which leads up into the mountains for 3 miles to the summit divide. When you reach the divide you can also begin a descent on the west side of the mountain range. Our goal was to reach the summit & then return the same way back to our car, all on the east side of the mountains. And, that is what we did.
IT'S A 6 MILE ROUND TRIP ON A ROCKY TRAIL

Right from the parking lot the trail begins it's ascent & it's a continuous climb for the next 3 miles. In hindsight, we should have taken more water & less camera gear, binoculars, etc. By the time we got back down the mountain 5 hours later all that gear seemed to have doubled in weight somehow. This is a beautiful area with an abundance of greenery everywhere. We were especially taken with the early flowering Pointleaf Manzanita bushes along the trail & for us northerner's it was sure nice walking along underneath green trees once again. Pines, Junipers, & Cottonwoods, just to mention a few. We do miss our trees!! The first third of the trail is reasonably good walking & we met some fellow hikers along the path on their way down from the summit. Nice folks from Utah & Colorado. They told us the trail gets steeper the higher you go. And, they were right. We moved on, rounded a bend & the trail began to climb sharply. The scenery began to change as well. Less trees & more open vistas around us with many towering rock formations. Again came the feeling of how lucky we were to be here. At one point we had just come down through a narrow slot in the rock path when we heard voices ahead. Coming down the trail through a rocky outcropping was a lady leading a horse with a small boy sitting on it. Behind them were 3 cows & behind the cows was another lady bring up the rear on another horse. We stepped aside on the path to let them through but couldn't believe that they were going to try & go up the rocky narrow & steep section of rocks we had just come through. But, sure enough, without a seconds hesitation that's right where they headed & while I cracked off some pictures, they went right up, over, & through what we thought was an impossible situation. Two women, two horses, 3 cows, & one small boy. Guess we got a lot to learn about cows, horses, women, & small boys!! Apparently they were taking the cows from one section of free grazing land to another. I could have understood it if the cows had been mountain goats......but cows!! And they didn't even have good Merrell hiking boots on their hooves. COWS & HORSES ON THE TRAIL

We continued our upward trek until we reached an old man made spring. Stopped for a peanut butter break here before continuing on. Wasn't long & we reached a place called, Half Moon Tank. Might have been the Army Corps of Engineers who built this small dam years ago but not sure. When we got there a fellow was kneeling beside the cement dam & using it's top as an easel for his painting. Nice chap & we talked to him for a bit about directions. He was familiar with the trail, having been there before. CASTLE DOME PEAK

We continued our ascent but by now we were both tired & running out of steam. We thought of turning back but it seemed we had made it about two thirds of the way & it would be a shame not to reach the summit. Stopped & talked to another hiking couple from Wisconsin. They had a portable GPS with them so we talked about that for awhile before making our final push to the summit divide location. We were sooooo tired by this time that it just didn't matter any more. The time was 2 P.M. & we had been hiking steadily upwards for over 3 hours when the summit divide was finally reached. I had been hoping to see a sweeping panoramic view of the San Pedro Valley splayed out before me........but it was not to be. I could see a bit of the valley to the north & a fellow hiker said I would have to go farther down the west side of the mountain to see farther out into the valley. That was not going to happen!! We were at our limit of endurance as it was & we already had a 3 mile hike ahead of us back down the mountain trail to the parking lot & our car. Our feet & legs were already sore but at 2:15 we began our descent & at first it was a relief to be going down hill using our uphill muscles in a downhill sort of way. But, that didn't last long & soon our toes were trying to push themselves out the front of our hiking boots. But, we just kept going, & going, & going and all the while, our backpacks, camera bags, etc just kept getting heavier & heavier & heavier. ATOP THE DRAGOONS

To make a long story short, we finally made it back to our car in a flurry of grunts, ughs, & groans about 4:15 P.M. I think the last 500 yards to the car were the worst. Just like when you have to go the bathroom real darn bad, it seems the closer you get to the washroom, the worse the urge to go, gets!! It felt sooooo good to sit down in those soft cushy car seats. Luckily we had water, coffee, & an orange in the car so that was priority 1. Second thing was to get our shoes off & give our feet a break. With that done I hooked up my seat belt, started the car, put it in gear, & drove all the way back to the ranch in my socks. COCHISE PEAK....HE MAY BE BURIED UP THERE SOMEWHERE

It was after 5 when we rolled into the yard. Lots of happy dogs to see us as we quickly changed our hiking hats for our farm chores hats. The donkeys & horses were happy we were back but boy oh boy were the chickens ever mad at us for being late. It's not nice having chickens mad at you. They can give you such a stare!!

Our day finally ended with aching joints, sore bones, blistered feet, & a beautiful sunset. What a day, what a day............................................ OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

TOTALLY KER-POOPED

I am sooooooo totally tired & out of energy right now I'm going to have to finish the blog to-morrow morning. I did manage to get a bunch of photos uploaded to the web album though. We overdid ourselves to-day with a 5 hour, 6 mile strenous hike into the Dragoon Mountains & Cochise's Stronghold..............ker-pooped:((

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CORKY CAME FOR THE DAY

SAND HILL CRANES IN THE SUNRISE

A lot of sounds in the morning sky as flocks of Sand Hill Cranes headed north for their feeding grounds. Or, were they departing the area for the last time. Some people have told us the Cranes begin their long journey north to their summer haunts around this time in February. Come to think of it, I don't remember hearing them come back to-day but they might have slipped past during one of my half dozen afternoon siestas. I'm sure they were being extra quiet so as not to wake me. Little do they know I was out in my pajamas & housecoat taking pictures of them flying across the sunrise hours earlier this morning. Worked away on my little garden project for awhile this morning while Kelly rode her bicycle all the way down the dirt road to the Whitewater Wildlife Refuge & back. She was a little miffed I hadn't told her I forgot to hook up the wheel brake when I put the front wheels on the bikes a few days ago. I tried to explain that years ago we never had front wheel brakes anyway. My explanation didn't fly!! HARK, IS THAT FLORENCE OF ARABIA OFF ON A MORNING RIDE

Kelly had brought some books back from the Elfrida Library yesterday. Started one of them Saturday morning & finished it this afternoon. "Dead In Their Tracks" tells the story of people crossing America's desert border lands. It's a true documentary by photo journalist John Annerino & tells about the tragic plight of thousands of people who have tried crossing vast stretches of desert from Mexico into America. He tells the story from both sides as he rides & fly's with Border Patrol agents who are not only trying to apprehend illegal aliens but also trying to save their lives. He also walks the blistering heat drenched deadly miles with the very people the Border Patrol's are trying to save. Graphic descriptions & graphic photos make this book not for the light hearted.LIKE A SQUADRON OF BOMBERS GOING OVER

Corky came to-day. Corky is a big black friendly dog who comes to the ranch on Sundays while his Mom & Dad go over to Sierra Vista for the day. Ingrid & Tom are a friendly older couple who live about 3 miles away & have been friends of Jeanie & Ray for years. Corky loves coming to the ranch & now that we are here with our 3 dogs it makes for quite a circus with a total of 6 dogs running around upside down for the whole day. They all get along & I love watching them interacting with each other. The more the merrier. Ingrid & Tom brought back supper from SV late this afternoon so we all ate in the ranchhouse. Tom is a WW2 veteran paratrooper who flew in gliders during the early days of the war & Ingrid hails from Germany. Hmmmm, I wonder how an American soldier & a girl from Germany ever managed to meet up back in those dark days years ago. SINGLE FILE PASSED THE CRESCENT MOON (try clicking on the pics to make them bigger)

We watched to-night's movie in the house because it had been pre-programmed. "No Country For Old Men" is a very graphically violent movie. Reminded me of Pulp Fiction years ago. Not my kind of movie but I must say that I found it well done. If your going to show violence then do it as realistically as possible because it is simply the way it is. The scenes in this movie were not over the top like most other movies that portray violence in their standard bang bang shoot-em-ups with exploding cars, hero's, super cops, & all that blah blah blah televisionisk boredom. No, the violence & characters in this movie are believable!! There were a few stretches of the imagination here & there but what the heck, I still thought it was a good movie despite myself. INGRID HANDING OUT SOME DOGGY TREATS....THAT'S CORKY WITH THE RED COLLAR

It's been a restful & quiet past 3 days so I'm hoping we can get out & about somewhere to-morrow. We'll discuss that in the morning. Maybe Cochise's Stronghold, maybe the Texas John Slaughter's Ranch, maybe Belle Star's animal sanctuary, maybe the ghost town of Pearce, maybe Fort Bowie, or maybe, just maybe............................................................TOM & INGRID HAVING A LIVELY DISCUSSION ABOUT WHO'S GOT THE FACTS RIGHT

No photos for the web album to-day.

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ANOTHER QUIET DAY FOR THE BAYFIELD BUNCH

THIS WAS OUR LAST BOONDOCKING DAY NEAR DARBY WELLS ROAD WEST OF AJO ARIZONA ONE YEAR AGO TO-DAY

If I thought Friday was a quiet day at the ranch, I hadn't met Saturday yet. The temperatures have really come up the past couple of days so we spent the biggest part of the day staying out of the sun relaxing & reading. Kelly went into Elfrida this morning & brought back some books & DVDs.

A year ago to-day we were spending our last day boondocking just west of Ajo, Arizona near a place called Darby Wells Road. I'll include a picture of that. We then went to Hickiwan Trails RV Park http://hickiwantrailsrvpark.com/ in Why for a night before heading over to the town of Truth or Consequences on the first leg of our long journey home. But, that was a year ago.

HEY, DON'T FORGET ABOUT US GUYS

It took me a bit of looking with my tri-pod & 7x50 binoculars to-night but I was finally able to locate Comet Lulin. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/35992534.html Thanks to the Hermit in Kitchener for jogging my mind in an email a few days ago to step outside & have a look for it. If I didn't know any better I'd say they sure have a lot more stars down here in southeastern Arizona than we have up there in southwestern Ontario Canada. But, I do know better:)) Beautiful night skies here. MAKING GOOD USE OF AN OLD BATHTUB

To-night's DVD was "Traffic" with Michael Douglas. Not the kind of movie I would normally pay to go see in a theater but on a free DVD it was OK. A little hard to follow in spots so you couldn't doze off for a second because you would soon become lost in one of the movies many twists & turns. It did win some awards & it did keep us entertained.

Hard to believe we're entering the final week of February already. A month from now we'll be watching the weather closely & formulating a homeward journey plan for an arrival time somewhere around the first week of April I think. I'm always sort of glad to get home but it doesn't last long. Within a week I'm itching to be back out on the road again heading for places I've never been before. I have always had the travel bug in me but these past few years it has really begun to bite. And not working full time or hardly even part time anymore doesn't make it any easier. So, some decisions have to somehow be made over the course of the next bunch of months. With the economy the way it is, everything is up in the air for everyone & it is a harder time than ever for decision making. AFTERNOON CHORES ARE DONE SO HEADING BACK TO THE RIG

Well it's nearly 11 o'clock & I've been sitting here spinning my wheels for something to write about long enough. Time to pull the plug on another day. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:))

No photos for the web album to-day.

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A QUIET DAY ON THE RANCH

BISBEE'S COUNTY COURTHOUSE


Didn't end up taking any photos to-day so I'm going to go with the pics I took in Bisbee yesterday. While taking some of those photos a couple of ladies walking by stopped to say hello when they noticed our Ontario license plates on the car. I asked the lady where she was from & she said Mississauga. (near Toronto Ontario) I said we were from Bayfield. Her face lit up & she said, "we own a house in Bayfield on Ducharme Street." Had we talked further I'm sure we could have come up with some mutual friends back home, but as it was the ladies husbands were somewhere up ahead of them & they had to hurry to catch up. I figure the boys were probably in a gift shop browsing around for some nice things to buy their wives. D'ya think:)) Once again though, what a small world this is.

Our temperatures are slowly warming up so the water troughs in the corral had a thinner crust of ice on them this morning but we're still dressed in our winter gear until the sun starts warming things up around 10. The usual convoy of bird watchers slowly flocked by this morning, binoculars glued to their faces while hanging out the windows of their slow moving vehicles. Curly, the local game warden guy figures some of their spotting scopes cost more than his pick-up truck. I figure Curly's right. THIS IS A TOWN OF NEVER ENDING STAIRWAYS

Worked away on a little garden project here in front of the ranch house for most of the day. What I accomplished to-day would have taken me less than a couple of hours a few years ago but for some reason the shovels & rakes are getting old & just don't seem to move as fast as they once did. My shovel gets tired more often than it once did & my garden rake seems to take more breaks. Even the little wheelbarrow here on the farm seemed a tad pooped. Luckily Ray has an ATV with a trailer & I have been using that for getting around. That ATV must be a young whipper snapper because it always wants to get right up & go like nuts so I gotta keep a tight rein on it. Aw youth, you were such a fleeting young thing when I knew you well years ago.

I'm a little behind on my DVD movie reviews. Keep in mind, these are just the views from a cranky old cursmudgeon.
"Return To Me"....David Ducovny & Minnie Driver. Forget this one guys, it's a girl's movie!!
"Woman In The Water"....This one started out not too bad, got weird, & finished up with a tacky ending!!
"The Da Vinci Code".... Tom Hanks. We turfed this one after half an hour & that was too long. I'm sure this piece of Hollywood junk has to be a major embarrassment for director Ron Howard!!
"After The Sunset"...Pierce Brosnan, Woody Harrelson. We sent this one to the trash bin in less than 10 minutes!!
Like I said.......just my opinion. Not sure what we're up to for to-morrow but next week we hope to get over to Cochise's stronghold. Geronimo's place of surrender in Skeleton Canyon has been closed to the public so we won't be going there now. Still a few small ghost towns in the area to check out. And for sure we will be going back to Bisbee a few more times............... AL'S ABSTRACT PHOTO

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BISBEE & THE UNDERGROUND QUEEN MINE TOUR

ALL SUITED UP & READY TO GO

We had to get ourselves moving a little earlier than usual this morning because we wanted to have breakfast at the Bisbee Breakfast Club before taking the Queen Mine tour at 10:30. A cloudless sky made for some heavy frost in the night but the weatherman tells us we're right on the doorstep of a healthy warming trend. That would be nice!! WE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE BISBEE BREAKFAST CLUB

It was a relaxing 25 minute drive to Bisbee despite the Border Patrol helicopter flying at tree top level on Frontier road with boots on the ground beating the shrubs for rabbits wearing sombreros. The land is flat here on the valley floor but we were soon into the foothills of the Mule mountains heading for the fascinating little alpine like town of colorful Bisbee. This is a town like no other and I must say that it is probably the most interesting little place I've ever been.

INSIDE THE BBC

We found the Bisbee Breakfast Club located in a very old part of Bisbee that we had not seen before. http://www.bisbeebreakfastclub.com/ It has one mainstreet & most of the stores are vacant. Looks like everybody just dropped everything & left one day many years ago & never came back. It's almost as if the town decided to move about a mile to the northwest on the other side of the big open pit Lavender mine where the heart of Bisbee now lives. It's nice that the Bisbee Breakfast Club is located in this 1940's section of town because that means lots of easy parking. Even so, there were a lot of cars on the street around the restaurant. We hear that people are lined up to get in on the week-ends. As soon as you walk into the BBC the open spaciousness, creative designs & warm breakfast smells make you feel at home. Didn't matter if they brought me a stone on a plate, I was still going to like it here. Breakfast was great & the staff was friendly. Be sure to have a look at to-day's web album because I even took a picture of my breakfast. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/ AN OLD SECTION OF TOWN

We arrived at the Queen Mine building near an RV Park about 10 & got our tickets. $12 each. http://www.queenminetour.com/ The building is large with a big cozy fireplace in the corner. Lots of mining displays & exhibits here. About 10:20 we were all summoned up to a counter where we were outfitted with raincoats, mining helmets, and a battery pack with a light attached to it. There were about 40 people suited up for the tour. Lots of picture taking because we all looked like a bunch of yellow hard hat penguins or something. Outside the building everyone boarded a train like affair unlike any other train like affair I've ever seen. Pulled by a small orange iron engine of sorts it's 10 cars or so had to mounted much the same way as you mount a horse. You stepped up & swung a leg over a raised but cushioned board or something. Some folks raised their leg better than others, if ya know what I mean. Two ex-miners were our guide tours. The main fellow said his Grandfather & Father both worked this mine & he had worked here for 30 years before retiring in 93. ALL ABOARD FOR THE MINE TOUR

The Queen Mine goes straight into the mountain for 1500 feet unlike most other mines that would go straight down that distance. Temperature in there is about 48F at all times so we were all dressed warm. The guide might have told us his name but if he did I didn't hear him so from here on I'm going to call him Rocky. I will call his assistant, Stoner. Rocky & Stoner boarded the small orange engine & away we went bumping & rocking our way into the long dark mountain tunnel. First stop was at about the 300 foot mark where we all dis-embarked the straddling train & walked single file up a set of old wooden steps into a cavernous room. Reminded me right away of the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico & the Kartchner Caverns not far from here over near Benson. However there was a big difference. Those large caverns were made by Mother Nature & this small cavern we were standing in was made by man. Good thing we were all wearing miner's lights. Rocky explained all parts of the mining operations in this cavern & how it was done. He pointed out different mineral veins running through the rocks & an air shaft. Sparkling crystals could be seen in some of the rocks. So hard to believe that early miners only had candles to work with. WE WILL GO STRAIGHT IN THERE FOR 1500 FEET

Our next stop was at the end of the tunnel at the 1500 foot mark. Here we dis-embarked & Rocky led us on foot into another side tunnel while Stoner took off with the train to some unknown dark destination to turn it around. In this section of the mine were heavy iron cars used for hauling the tons of rocks. There were old elevators & chutes for dumping the rock into the small rail cars. A red car for hauling dynamite & a red emergency phone on the rock wall in case of disaster. 3 steel rock drills were set up & Rocky explained how they were used. He called one the widowmaker because of the dust it created which in turn entered the operators lungs, thus shortening his life. He also demonstrated how dynamite was packed into the drilled holes & how the fuses were all lit to set the dynamite off in a series of timed explosions. From the time the fuses were lit, the dynamite guy had a short 8 minutes to get himself over to the other side of Texas. Of particular interest was another steel car sitting nearby with two curious opened lids & two round holes on the top. Well wouldn't you know it......this was the miners toilet. A true dumper so to speak. Rocky said when this car was full it was pulled out of the mine by a "honey wagon" person & pumped out. Not a nice job in them days for sure!!!! THE MINER'S TOILET CAR

By the time we returned up the shaft, Stoner was back with the train. Everyone straddled up & away we went heading back for the outside world. Yes, yes, some people straddle better than others. We emerged about 5 minutes later out of the cooler dark mineshaft into the much warmer & brighter light of day. From there it was back into the miners building where everyone was helped out of their mining gear. All & all, it was a great tour & we enjoyed the hour long underground learning experience. ROCKY DEMONSTRATES THE LIGHTING OF DYNAMITE FUSES

From the mine we drove across the road & into the downtown section of Bisbee. We spent the next hour & a half walking & driving up & down & around the town trying to take in as much of this Bisbee experience as we could. For anyone interested in architecture, painting, photography, etc., this town is a must see for sure. Seems to be something here for everybody, especially if you are an arts type person. To see how the houses are built into & onto the hillsides is something else. The narrow little winding streets, the squeeze through alleys, and never ending stairways reaching for the sky just have to be seen to be appreciated. Multi-colored restored miners cabins, magnificent stone & brick buildings, stately Hotels, cozy bed & breakfast cottages, artsy cafe's, quaint shops, miner's museums, & the list just goes on & on & on. We even saw daffodils & pansies blooming to-day. I took another ka-zillion million pictures but I'm not going to include them in to-day's web album. Instead I will make up a separate web album with to-day's Bisbee pics & the one's from last week & put them all to-gether. I'm sure we'll be back to Bisbee a few more times before we depart the area next month & I will include future photos in one big Bisbee album so that they are all to-gether. I will start putting that album to-gether to-morrow. NO MAME YOU CAN'T KEEP THE MINER'S HELMET

We rolled out of Bisbee around 2 heading for the rig. Noticed a "For Sale" sign on a nice looking but abandoned ranch style house on the way back. Just for fun Kelly called the real estate number & got a recording. It said, "I'm up to my butt in alligators to-day but if you leave a message I'll call you back." She didn't leave a message but yep, we're out here in the old wild west alright where cowboys is cowboys & gators is gators. Butt grabbin gators that is...........................................................

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DOUGLAS ARIZONA'S HOTEL GADSDEN

Another fine Arizona morning. Any morning is fine if the wind isn't trying to rip your skin off as soon as you step out of the door. Kelly forgot to turn off her Deerpark Lodge work phone off last night so at 4 a.m. I was jolted out of bed by a wrong number. Not nice!!!! Did a clean up around the corral this morning & spent some time schmoozing with the animals. Found out chickens don't like to schmooz. Noticed cars stopped out on the road again & 3 people were out with large spotting scopes looking across the field. Figured they were probably birdwatchers looking for the rare & elusive Abyssinia Asscratcher that was reportedly sighted in a grove of Pecan Pie trees back in the summer of 1836 by a wandering band of Chiricahua Apaches on their way to the Bisbee Breakfast Club in nearby Bisbee. Needed a few groceries so headed off to Douglas around noon. We had heard about the lobby & grand staircase in the Hotel Gadsden so decided to head there for a look see. Also heard there was a large glass light dome in the local police station which originally was the Douglas train station so we stopped there first for a picture. The Gadsden Hotel is by far the largest hotel in this sleepy little border town of Douglas. A big blocky looking building gives no clue to the grand lobby & staircase inside. It reminded me immediately of the swanky-do lobbies I have seen in many Las Vegas Hotels. Big & grandiose with a sweeping marble staircase leading to a wrap around mezzanine deck 20 feet above the spacious lobby below. Right away I thought, what a great place to drop water balloons on people below. It is reported that the notorious Pancho Villa road his horse through the Hotels main doors into the lobby & right up that marble staircase. Yes, there is a lot of history here.....and a lot of ghosts too. Check the website. http://www.hotelgadsden.com/ Be sure to check our web album to-day for pictures. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/ From the Gadsden we headed over to another great American icon.....Wal-Mart. Cruised around picking up some groceries & just doing some general browsing. I think we were probably the only 2 English speaking people in the whole store. This is a border town & I think most of the other side of the border makes Douglas their home. A bonafide white American person would have a pretty tough time finding any kind of employment here. We were back to the ranch by 3 & on the job by 4. Only 2 eggs to-day so it's going to be a pretty skinny omelet to share in the morning. We're going to have to figure out some kind of stimulus package for those chickens. Some kind of incentive program. Maybe more feed for more eggs. How about for every egg laid we offer a free chicken massage. Maybe the promise of an exotic cruise in the south China sea aboard the SS Henrietta would bring the girls around. Well, whatever!! Guess we can always buy some eggs if we have to but it just ain't the same as when you grows em yerself....................................
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