Bliss. Just the sound of teeny Hummingbirds having mid air punch ups
In the middle of nowhere HERE
Temperature watch today is between 16 degrees (yes you read that right) and 38 degrees.
A 5 hour drive from Bisbee AZ to Gila NM, with some amazing roads and terrible museums (even Mrs Fogg would agree).
And a rattlesnake ready to strike
And a deluge about to happen
And a Casita down a 5 mile “road” which is an off road dirt track that needs a 4 Wheel Drive
Tonight BBQ Steak and watching the hummingbirds next to the bedroom window (and not a hummingbird hunter in sight). They are fast little things and appear very territorial having spats in the sky about who owns the nectar station. So much fun to watch and they don’t care you are literally 1 foot away.
Ah the Shady Dell RV Park. How cool is this? A collection of 1950’s RVs gathered together that you can stay in.
We are in the 1951 Mansion – sheer luxury for its day. How super awesome? All the fittings (including 10″ Black and White TV) are only from the 50’s so no WiFi or mod cons – with the exception of aircon (thank goodness) and a modern fridge.
We have a teeny record player and a stack of 50′ LPs so guess what Mr Fogg is making work right now? Yup, some old hip 1950s crooners belting out cheerful melodies. Now for all of you Millenials, a record player spins a 12inch plastic disc with grooves cut in it, the grooves are picked up by a needle and transferred into sound, this predates CDs, which you won’t know about either, oh you have missed so much!). The site also has 2 1950s taxis that you can book to take you on a ride around. So so awesome and easily the funkiest place Mrs Fogg has found so far!
Cool cool cool
And now a chance to watch a 1965 “B” sci-fi movie “Night Caller from Outer Space” on a 1950s TV. It’s so much fun
Yes, salad with carrot! It will never catch on.
(Sorry, dived right in hence looks decimated)
Greens – get em while you can
Founded in 1880 and considered one of the richest areas for copper,gold and silver, not to mention the quantity of gems located in the hillsides. This literally is a town unchanged since it came into being in the gold and copper rush era. This is the seat of the county when it took the honour from Tombstone (after Tombstone run out of steam)
Look at Mr Foog playing candy crush
It is about 6 miles from Mexico and has a great museum about the history of the place. It was one of the first areas in the US to create unions of the mine workers and in 1917 due to fractious rows between the miners and the authorities over 2000 men were rounded up and interviewed to determine who was protesting, nearly 1200 were forcibly loaded into rail carts and deposited over the border into Mexico told never to return.
The whole place clings precariously to the hillside with steep roads and houses that look like there are the originals from the 1880s.
Mining stopped here in 1975 but they are considering starting again as there is more to access. The place also looks like it stalled in 1975. A hippy town with plenty of unusual characters roaming around.
Love it! We have even been able to see Mexico in the distance.
The 70s stoppedHERE
temperatures here are a cool 28 – 31 degrees, awesome!
Well we had an interesting night in Katie’s Cozy Cabins, I was way to hot and ended up sleeping downstairs on the sofa under the air con unit. Last look around Tombstone
Before heading onto Bisbee
Tonight we are sleeping in an 1950s tin RV (can’t imagine that’s gonna be much cooler).
Mrs Fogg managed to find the Bisbee museum within 3 seconds of landing here (what a surprise).
And in the background behind our heads is Mexico, which is as close as we actually get (approx 6 miles).
They had a gunfight HERE
A full day at Tombstone with Mrs Fogg in her Geeky Heaven
As we were treated to a re-enactment of the Gunfight at the OK Coral, where Mrs Fogg insisted on a photo opportunity with all the gunslingers (Good Guys on the top and Bad Guys on the bottom).
And tonight we stop in Katie’s Cozy Cabins
Mrs Fogg looking OK!
And we decided to enter the local competition, not sure if we’ll win tho
So yesterday we spent our last morning in the desert area around Tucson visiting the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (which is in fact a zoo and a set of desert gardens). It is well laid out and informative although I agree with Mr Fogg that the animal enclosures seemed very small and inhumane. However, we did get to see a mountain lion up close and personal. Don’t want to meet one in the wild that’s for sure. We also saw tiny hummingbirds in a walk through aviary.
We stopped briefly to admire the San Xavier Mission, founded in the early 1800s by a Spaniard who successfully converted the local Indians to Catholicism.
On then towards Patagonia and a climb up from the desert floor to nearly 4000 feet above sea level. The scenery giving way to greenery, rolling fields of grassland and scrub. This is most definitely cow and horse country
Our stop for the night is quaint Patagonia. Population 918, mainly retirees (like so many US small towns). We headed to the Wagon Wheel Saloon for a beer and a steak in a place that is unchanged since around 1937. Well, they now have electricity and a juke box! Great food and a great vibe.
Next stop Hummingbirds! ( tee hee Mr Fogg, I’m driving so we just HAVE to go)
To any fans of the BBC Comedy “The Fast Show” (1990s skits), greetings from Patagonia (you ain’t seen me, right)
And the Patagonian Pan Pipe players (courtesy of the Fast Show)
Brilliant
So when we travel the US, we are always on the lookout for public washrooms and always attribute a SAW rating to them. To those unfamiliar with the practice, SAW is a set of horror movies, the first of which takes place in a disgusting abandoned washroom, so we now give a SAW 1 through to 5, for some washrooms, the higher the number the more disgusting it is and this one gets a 3.5, based on the layout, cleanliness, the fact it is attached to a restaurant and had a second door that seemed to go nowhere, or did it?
I am tempted to say it was dire here.