On to Arizona

Things are a little slow today so this blog is a bit behind schedule.  Of course, I was set to get it out but I had an incredibly slow signal last night so thought I would try this morning - so far so good.

We started the week off in Bandera, TX at a neat little campground near Lake Medina.  You could often look out to see deer grazing nearby which is always a treat.  This is Hill Country in Texas- an absolutely beautiful area of the state.  We toured through a Natural Wildlife Area where we saw a mother wild pig with her babies following behind.

We stopped in at a hardware store in town - a big hardware store - which is always fun to look around in to see what one might find.  Also, the cowboy store again in search of a cowboy but nope, they were still out.

Then it is time to head west.  Now Texas is a huge state - 850+ miles across on the interstate.  It took us two days and we started partway through.  Of course, when it's time to head out, something seems to crop up.  This time it was a problem with the tail lights on the Jeep.  After much fiddling around (as well as a blessing or two😏), they seemed to be working so off we go.  Oops, not so quick - the step won't retract.  Underneath Gerry goes, makes it inoperable and we are heading out - but now it wants to work so put things back together as it seems to be working fine.  And we are off!!

 A couple of days later we stopped at Empire Ranch which is about an hour out of Tucson.  This gives us a chance to do some touring of the area, especially Tombstone and Bisbee.  Both these towns have retained the old look.  Tombstone cemetery is an interesting place to wander through and to see the various descriptions on the "headstones".  Anyone working in this town is dressed in the western dress as well as a show we attended of a shootout.  This was a comedy show that was really quite humorous and a fun thing to attend.

Off to Bisbee which is still a mining town.  Many of the old buildings have been preserved as we drove down several streets which were plenty wide for the mules and horses of the day but were barely wide enough for a vehicle to pass through.  And so many of the houses have been built on the side of the mountain - sorry but not for me.  There is a sign that it is a town of 1,000 stairs.  Gerry asked if I wanted to go up them but with it being late in the day, we decided that would have to wait for another time!!

Gotta love some signs

At Empire Ranch, the area where we are staying is a working ranch.  They have preserved all the old buildings of the original ranch which are open to the public.  There were many interesting artifacts including information regarding wages, etc. paid to the cowboys of the time.

The weather at the end of this past week has been cool - in fact downright cold at times.  But that isn't a surprise as we are quite high (in altitude) but wanted to tour Tombstone and Bisbee since it has been twenty years since we were in this area.  However, tomorrow will be moving day.  And it was cloudy a couple of days so with no sun to stay warm, we are grateful for our propane heater.  Now I must not complain as there are no snow boots or heavy jackets.

I hope everyone has a great week!!