Naco, Bisbee, We Two

The highlight of today is our trip to Naco, Mexico, Bisbee and topped off with entertainment by “We Two”, two sisters that live in the local area and entertain at the clubhouse once a month. They are quite entertaining, telling stories, jokes, singing and playing guitar, accordion, a type of Zither and the harmonica. The park serves home baked Brownies and Ice Cream with coffee, juice and water at 6:30 PM entertainment starts at 7:00 PM, which allows time for socializing. A very good day, we didn’t take any pictures at Naco, and kicked ourselves after leaving. We could have gotten some good pictures of the wall between AZ and Mexico, ah well next time eh! Temperatures in the mid 60's today with winds gusting to 22mph, still a nice sunny day though.

Coming into Bisbee from Naco a good view of Old Bisbee with the buildings on the side of the mountain.

Coming in from the South one of the first sites to visit is the Lavender Pit,
a former open pit copper mine near Bisbee in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. It is located near the famous Copper Queen Mine. The Lavender Pit was named in honor of Harrison M. Lavender (1890-1952), who as Vice-President and General Manager of Phelps Dodge Corporation, conceived and carried out this plan for making the previously unprofitable low-grade copper bearing rock of the area into commercial copper ore.
Phelps Dodge Corporation opened the Lavender Pit in 1950, at the site of the earlier, higher-grade Sacramento Hill mine. Production through 1974 totaled 86 million tons of ore averaging about 0.7% copper, or about 600,000 tons of copper produced, with gold and silver as byproducts. About 256 million tons of waste were stripped, but a portion of this was acid-leached for additional copper [1]. Turquoise was also a by-product of this mining activity. Bisbee turquoise, also known as Bisbee Blue, is amongst the finest turquoise found anywhere in the world [2]. Mining operations in the pit ended in 1974. The undeveloped Cochise deposit, located immediately north of the Lavender pit, contains an estimated 190 million tons of rock containing 0.4% acid-soluble copper [3], which may be mined in the future.
Because of the competent host rock, this pit has much steeper sides than other open pit copper mines in the southwest area. The pit covers an area of 300 acres (1.2 km²), and is 900 feet (274 m) deep. Large tonnages of dump rock are placed around Bisbee, notably north of the residential district of Warren and other parts of the southeastern Mule Mountains area. This dump material, along with the large open hole of the pit, is unsightly and unpopular with many tourists and residents, but was typical of the mining practices of the time. (Copied from Wikipedia)











A good sized memorial has been erected in the area that has been set up for viewing the mine.

The mine has more than 15, 50 foot high benches.

Looking down, there is water in the bottom of the pit.

Across the road from the mine, the hills show a copper colour.


We wandered around Old Bisbee snapping a few pictures, this town just captures your spirit and takes you back to about 1910.

We stopped and had a very good early dinner at one of the many restaurants before heading home.

We arrived home in time to take the dogs for a needed walk and some play time. Then headed to the clubhouse for Ice Cream and brownies before the We Two show at 7:00 PM.

We Two came all decked out Christmas.

Some of the folks enjoying the show.

A couple of ladies could not resist dancing the the lively music.

We Two Norma and Polly with the Head Honcho, John!

Ah, another fantastic day in Arizona and Tombstone Territoris RV Park!

Emu Ranch

A busy day today and another nice day weather wise, 70F with a little wind, we attended the Information Session as we always do on Tuesday mornings, today’s topic the San Pedro Riparian area which runs all along the San Pedro River and a haven for bird watchers, we will visit more of the area at some point while here so want to learn as much as we can about it.

After lunch, we travelled to an Emu and Yak ranch just down the road a few miles with others from the park arranged by Jim and Annie, the park Activity Coordinators. We travelled caravan style to the ranch. The owner of the Circle T Emu Ranch, Roger and wife Priscilla Tabar did a presentation earlier at the park and we were interested in seeing their ranch and all the animals they have at the ranch. We bought an Emu egg when they were here for the presentation, one egg is like having 6-7 chicken eggs and they are a very pretty Turquoise/Green colour, some with some speckling, no cholesterol, the yoke is lighter than chicken eggs with more white than yoke. We ate the contents of the egg, the taste is similar to chicken but the consistency is different. Woody drilled a hole in one end, yes drilled, the shells are very thick and tough then he shook the contents out and made scrambled eggs, as we wanted to save the shell. We ended up donating the shell to the park, which is displayed in a case in the clubhouse. Woody made a holder for the Emu egg and inserted some Emu feathers that had been given to us at the presentation so it is very cool, will have to talk Woody into taking a picture of it to add here later.
The Emu is a prehistoric bird thought to have roamed the outback of Australia some 80 million years ago, coexisting with dinosaurs until the dinosaur’s demise about 65 million years ago. Much like the Native Americans’ relationship with the Bison, the Aborigines looked upon the Emu as the core of their existence. The Emu provided them with food, clothing, shelter, and spiritual substance. The Emu is the second largest member of the ratite group of flightless birds and the National Bird of Australia. Emu meat is very lean, 97% fat free, red meat, similar to beef in both taste and appearance. It is higher in vitamins, calcium and iron than beef, and lower in cholesterol than chicken. We did not buy any meat, so cannot vouch for the taste. The oil is sold and uses of Emu oil range from pain relief, healing of rashes and burns, is a great moisturizer, wrinkle reduces, plus has many other uses. We did not purchase any oil either. Each Emu can yield on average about 5 to 6 litres of natural oil. The owners sell many products, which are all processed by approved facilities.


Feeding a baby Yak, her Mom died just after giving birth.

Nice set of horns.

A baby minature goat, way too cute.

All of us wanted to pet the baby!

A big boy Yak below!

The owner with an Emu.

Roger also has some pot bellied pigs!

After returning from the Ranch we had a quick bite to eat walked our puppies and attended Karaoke at 7:00 PM, which is always a good time, Woody did not sing lol! Returning home walked the dogs one more time, then settled in and watched some TV until we retired fairly early.

Another shopping day

Another nice day today 68F still no frost at night yet but nights are cool going down to 37F here tonight. After our usual morning routine we decide to head into Sierra Vista to do some shopping for a photo printer. We have a Canon all-in-one but it does not do a great job of printing pictures or cards, the colors do not come out true and we are printing more pictures here than we have ever done previously, some for the park bulletin board and some for our friends. I did some pre-shopping on the internet looking at reviews, etc., and have decided on a couple of models that should fit our space and needs. We ended up purchasing a HP Photosmart; small enough to sit on the desk with the capability to print up to legal size paper (not an all-in-one) so will keep the Canon for scanning and regular print jobs. If it does not perform up to expectations, we can return it within 30 days, which gives us lots of time to test the performance. Returning home late afternoon, we take the dogs for a needed walk and unpack our new printer testing it out immediately using the same pictures we could not get the color to print correctly on nor the detail we could see on the computer but not when we printed them. Decided right away that we will keep the Photosmart, without spending a fortune it does a great job of printing photos, also has a separate bin for the 4 x 6 photo paper and it will print directly onto special CD’s and DVD’s. I will not use that function for any DVD or CD that I want to keep long term until the technology improves as any printing or writing directly on them eventually causes deterioration the same as adding a label on any CD or DVD.
After chatting online with friends for a while during the evening we ended up watching movies until 3:00 AM, this is a first for us!

Army Band Performance

Dec 13th
This morning we managed to attend the “Coffee and Doughnuts” gathering at the clubhouse, an opportunity to chat with other campers here. The park sponsors this every Saturday morning at 8:30 AM, which means I have to get up earlier than I usually do to be ready in time. It is a beautiful morning; we end up chatting with the other RVer’s until just about noon! As the day progresses it becomes quite windy (wind gusts up to 45 mph/72 kph) but is not cold temperature in the high 60’s. After lunch, I continue working on the DVD’s, other than walking the dogs and eating that was my afternoon. I cannot believe how much time it takes to create, render, burn, make labels, I love doing it though, but poor Woody he is left to find his own things to do. During the evening we watch KUAT TV station (Public channel) which has great music show playing everything from Opera, Country, to DooWhop, old songs and some new, what fun to watch. A very nice way to spend an evening!

Dec 14th
Today the highlight of our day is attending a Holiday Concert by the 36th & 62nd Army Band. The 36th band is from Ft. Huachuca, the 62nd came from El Paso, TX. The Concert is a no charge function (donations accepted) at the Buena Performing Arts Centre in Sierra Vista. The Performing Arts Centre is a first class theatre attached to the High School in Sierra Vista.

The 36th Army Band carries on the traditions started by the musicians who accompanied General George Washington’s troops into battle more than 200 years ago. Formed in France in 1944, the band provided musical accompaniment to military ceremonies throughout the European Theatre of Operations from 1944 until 1949, when it moved to Fort Knox, KY. In 1954, the band moved its headquarters to Ft. Huachuca. The band was officially designated as the Military Intelligence Corps Regimental Band in June 1999. The band is the only active duty band in AZ and plays parades, concerts, tours, fairs and other community events—beyond its requirements to support on post functions. The band annually logs more than 30,000 miles a year with performances in Arizona, California, Texas and Nevada.

The 62nd Army Band is in its 107th year of service to our nation. The band, located in scenic El Paso, Texas provides music to enhance unit cohesion and Soldier morale, musical support to civil/military operations, coalition operations, recruiting operations and national and international community relations. The band performs for thousands of people annually. It covers West Texas and New Mexico supporting the military installations of White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base and Kirkland Air Force Base.
Lineage and Honors
Constituted 2 February 1901 in the Regular Army as Band, 15th Cavalry
Organized 12 February 1901 at the Presidio of San Francisco, California
Reorganized and redesignated 3 June 1916 as Band Section, Headquarters Troop, 15th Cavalry
Reorganized in 1921 as Band Section, Service Troop, 15th Cavalry
Inactivated 18 October 1921 at Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming
Separated from the Service Troop 31 July 1927 and redesignated as Band, 15th Cavalry
Activated 22 March 1942 at Fort Riley, Kansas
Reorganized and redesignated 2 June 1944 as the 62nd Army Ground Forces Band
Redesignated 15 May 1947 as the 62nd Army Band

Campaign Participation Credit
Band served in the Philippine Insurrection, but not in a named campaign
Band served in World War I, but not in a named campaign.Copied directly from the Band’s website, a public domain.

The Boogie Down Brass Band was marvelous comprised of members of the 36th Army Band, they write their own compositions and practice on their own time.

The conductor of the 62nd Army Band.

A solo, what a voice he had!

Conductor of the 36th Army Band.

Even Santa Claus made an appearance with candy for the children!

The Concert was first class, we are so happy to have the opportunity to attend a concert of this calibre!
The program had a little something for everyone, from the kids to various Christmas arrangements, including a Sing-A-Long for the whole audience, words for the Sing-A-Long included in the program hand out.

The Activity Coordinators here at the park (Jim and Annie) suggested we attend this concert and we met them a few others their, an awesome Sunday afternoon!

Dec 10th, 11th & 12th

Dec 10th
The weather is awesome, temperatures in the high 70’s, Woody and I continue to count our blessings for the opportunity to be here enjoying this beautiful area. I finished the DVD’s to send out to our kids and grandkids, plus added some extras and got them in the mail. We found out there is Postal Strike in Canada so we doubt they will make it in time for Christmas, I will send an email informing our family that the gifts will be late but we have not forgot them!! I know they will be okay with that because we have such a great family. I continue to work on the DVD’s of the Jam Session for friends here and the regular Jam Musicians and will get them done in time for the last Jam Session before Christmas.
Dec 11th
The one Jam Session took 8 hours for Sony Vegas to take my composition and render it into a movie format for burning the actual DVD. I did an overnight render, there were errors so ended up rendering the movie again. I ended up staying until 2:00 AM working on more slide shows for Christmas. Now I will burn 10 copies of the DVD Jam Session, create the labels and we will be ready for Christmas! We are getting the Christmas feeling, even if we have to remind ourselves that Christmas is so close just seems somewhat strange linking Christmas with warm weather!

Woody captured some spectacular sunset pictures this evening!

Our living area windows face the west so we are always able to view the sunsets!
The best sunsets happen when there are a few clouds on the horizon.

Dec 12th
Nothing too exciting happening today except for the Jam Session tonight, we spent the day shopping, and other daily tasks, the weather is still gorgeous 77F and I do not include this to make you northern dwellers feel bad, I just want to be able check back here and see what the weather was on a particular day.
Some pictures of the Jam Musicians this evening.

Mary Kaye has a wonderful voice and is a charactor, she comes faithfully from their home park at St. David about 20 miles from here.

Biff also hails from St. David, he is 88 years young, sings and picks a mean guitar, another faithful Jam Musician.

Bob hails from our park, he does not sing but can play and pick many songs expertly!

Some ladies here are very creative and dress up for Jam Sessions and other occasions at the park. This is Irene, she made the shawl and her friend Donna here at the park created her hat, just too cool!

We love the Jam Sessions and will not miss one!

Dec 9th

Today the weather is a bit cooler 65F 18C low predicted to be 38, so no frost yet! We attended the regular Information Session at 9:30; we always pick up more information or details on the history of Cochise County, historic sites, local shopping, birds and other tidbits. The park hosted a Baked Potato Feed at 5:00 pm (the park provides baked potatoes) everyone else brings a side dish and/or their favourite garnish for baked potatoes. The food was absolutely awesome as it always is when everyone brings his or her favourite dishes. Karaoke followed the potluck at 7:00 pm, not many stayed for Karaoke but those of us who did had a good time pretending we could sing.

Dec 7th & 8th

Dec 7th & 8th
These two days we spent quietly doing daily tasks, nothing very exciting. Sunday was Pearl Harbour Day and many folk putting up flags for the day, we had ours up already. The park is collecting food for local charities so when shopping we picked up some items for the food bank, we always donated to food banks at home as well as to Santa’s Anonymous and were very happy to see the park involved in this endeavour. Weather is a little cooler today high being 66F 18c, still real nice weather!

Yard and Craft Sale

This morning was a Breakfast Buffet at 8:30 all the food provided by the park and cooked by park staff. A great deal, tickets are $5 and there is everything, scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, potatoes, home baked biscuits, real butter, jams, syrup, honey from a local beekeeper, it is all so good and kept hot in warmers so available for seconds if one has room! The park was also having a Yard Sale from 1-4:00 pm at individual sites and a craft sale in the clubhouse. Great day for a yard sale, temperature is 80F. We enjoyed breakfast, some socializing, went home walked the dogs and relaxed awhile. We then wandered about the park viewing items for sale, some campers gathered their sale items at one site, it really was a good way to meet folks here and a wonderful way to get rid of stuff no longer needed. We picked up a hanger for bird food and met others who had picked up a needed item for a good price, we did not have anything too sell but had fun looking and visiting. The craft sale was awesome, could not believe all the talented people staying at this park, knitted items, beautiful dolls, quilts, crochet items, paintings, photo albums, jewellery, all the items you would expect at a craft show, some crafters displaying their items were local folk. Woody purchased a native wooden flute from Flute and Feather Productions, a beautiful piece of wood with a marvellous melodic sound. Overall, it was a fun day. We spent our evening as usual chatting online with friends and watching TV.

The flutes come in many different keys and made of many different woods. Different wood has a slighty different sound and the flutes vary in size depending on the key.

Harvery Seavy (owner of Flute & Feathers Productioss).

There are single flutes and double flutes, the double flutes are neat it is like playing 2 flutes at the same time, if you ever get a chance to listen to these flutes take the time to do so, the sound is so soothing.

Ft. Hauchuca Military Base

We were very lucky to be able to visit Ft. Huachuca today and are very grateful to our friends Nels and Betty who offered to escort us as the Fort is closed to non-US citizens at this time and the only way we could tour Fort Huachuca was to have an escort. Thank you so much Nels and Betty as the Fort was so worth touring and we were so happy to have you both as our tour guides and so enjoyed your company as well. Nels was very informative, as he had previously worked at the base.

Fort Huachuca is a product of the Indian Wars of the 1870s and 1880s. In February 1877, Colonel August B. Kautz, commander of the Department of Arizona, ordered that a camp be established in the Huachuca Mountains. This camp would offer protection to settlers and travel routes in southeastern Arizona while simultaneously blocking the traditional Apache escape routes through the San Pedro and Santa Cruz valleys to sanctuary in Mexico. A temporary camp was established at the post’s current location on March 3, 1877, by Captain Samuel Marmaduke Whitside with two companies of the 6th Cavalry. The site was selected because it had fresh running water, an abundance of trees, excellent observation in three directions, and protective high ground for security against Apache tactical methods. Camp Huachuca was re-designated a fort in 1882.
For more information if you are interested click on the link below:
http://www.us-army-info.com/directory/Installations/Fort_Huachuca,_Arizona/index.html
Entrance to the main museum, you may visit this museum at no charge, a donation is greatfully accepted if you so choose to leave one.

Above and right are rooms that that are set behind glass, depicting life as it was in the 1800's.

The lady with the broom is trying to kill a scorpion which is laying on a bear rug on the floor.

The Fort was home to Buffalo Soldiers.

There is some controversy as to where the name "Buffalo Soldier" originated. Some sources assert that the nickname was given out of respect for the fierce fighting ability of the 10th cavalry. Other sources assert that Native Americans called the black cavalry troops "buffalo soldiers" because of their dark curly hair, which resembled a buffalo's coat. Still other sources point to a combination of both legends. The term Buffalo Soldiers became a generic term for all African-American soldiers. It is now used for U.S. Army units that trace their direct lineage back to the 9th and 10th Cavalry, units whose bravery earned them an honored place in U.S. history.

During the American Civil War, the U.S. government formed regiments known as the United States Colored Troops, composed of black soldiers led by white officers. After the war, Congress reorganized the Army and authorized the formation of two regiments of black cavalry with the designations 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry, and four regiments of black infantry, designated the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st Infantry Regiments (Colored). The 38th and 41st were reorganized as the 25th Infantry Regiment, with headquarters in Jackson Barracks in New Orleans, Louisiana, in November 1869. The 39th and 40th were reorganized as the 24th Infantry Regiment, with headquarters at Fort Clark, Texas, in April 1869. All of these units were composed of black enlisted men commanded by white officers such as Benjamin Grierson and Ranald S. Mackenzie and, occasionally, black officers such as Henry O. Flipper.

From 1866 to the early 1890s, these regiments served at a variety of posts in the Southwestern United States (Apache Wars) and Great Plains regions. They participated in most of the military campaigns in these areas and earned a distinguished record. Thirteen enlisted men and six officers from these four regiments earned the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars. In addition to the military campaigns, the "Buffalo Soldiers" served a variety of roles along the frontier from building roads to escorting the U.S. mail.
If you are interested you can read more at the links below:
http://www.buffalosoldiers.com/AAChronology.htm
http://www.buffalosoldier.net/















A monument to the Buffalo Soldiers.

The Fort has the main museum and an annex which was set up in an old theatre.

When you enter the annex there is this awesome scene set up.

The whole camp is set up, campfire and all the details, very realistic.

The barracks are still being used today with some upgrades.

We cannot thank Nels and Betty enough for giving us the opportunity to visit Fort Huachuca, we would recommend a visit to this Fort if you are in the area.