FROM THE OUTBACK

Our second stay at Saint David in Southern Arizona was as interesting as our first. This was Barbara’s (Ken’s sister) first visit in this vicinity and we enjoyed retracing our steps of 2002 (or was it 2003?) while adding new explorations.
On Sunday, Ken and Barbara visited Tombstone, where they enjoyed a “shootout at the OK Corral”, lunch and a visit to Boothill. I used the day to “nurse” a cold that I managed to pick up along the way and enjoyed basking in my “misery”.
Monday saw us revisiting Bisbee and the Copper Queen Mine. After a delightful lunch at the Bisbee Bar and Grill, Barbara visited the museum while Ken and I toured the antique haunts of the town. There were many treasures available for the antique collectors among us, but we are not part of that group. It is sufficient that we are borderline antiquities. After our “walkabouts”, Barbara and Ken enjoyed a tour inside the mine where they were able to capture a glimpse into the hardships of life under ground as they fine tuned their understanding of the courage exemplified by the miners of yore. The visit may have reminded of their “roots” and their many trips with their dad prospecting trips in and around Arizona.
The size and capacity of the mining operation in Bisbee provides a first hand awareness of the wealth that lies beneath the surface. The two siblings must have been reminded that but for the “stroke of a pick”, they might have been part of a similar operation but isn’t that the reality of life? Of course, had they been blessed with such good fortune, the likes of me would not have been in their company. What a loss that would have been for both!
Now, a review of our lunch at the Bisbee Bar and Grill. The restaurant is located on the main street just across from the museum. We entered through an inviting entrance and found it clean and well appointed. A courteous and personable young man seated us with a charming smile and offered us drinks accompanied by small talk welcoming our business. The bulletin board outside listed two specials of the day, BBQ pork and BBQ brisket with “signature” fries. Ken chose the BBQ pork. A taste proved the wisdom of his choice, while Barbara and I scanned the menu for other options. Barbara chose a chicken “wrap” that she said was excellent. I enjoyed the restaurant’s version of a ruben with cole slaw and pasta salad. We decided that the restaurant’s “chef” was definitely a “step above” Hicksville in both his/her creativity with food and its presentation and taste. We all agreed that it was a superb lunch and upon finishing “to the last drop” our food choices for the day, we were motivated to inquire about the dessert offerings.
The dessert choices all sounded great. Fried ice cream, chocolate Brule and Smores. “What are smores”? The description sounded vaguely familiar to me and I envisioned a sort of sophisticated “mud pie. My sense of familiarity was acknowledged and became the “orderee” for two. Well, dessert was served and I was enlightened about my stupidity on smores. Dessert consisted of a small server containing “canned heat” (an alcohol fire) in the middle of a plate of graham crackers, several marshmallows and two chocolate bars with two skewers. Everyone looked at me for direction on what to do next and I looked at the plate before me and said, “This isn’t what I expected and I have not the slightest idea of what to do!” One of us gained our composure enough to poke a marshmallow with one of the skewers provided for “toasting” our marshmallows and when it was soft enough, squashed the marshmallow onto a graham cracker, covered it with a square from a Nestle chocolate bar and bit into our new found delicacy. Barbara proved to be the most capable in preparing “smores” (a play on words for “some more”) but even though the dessert may have needed some refinement in our preparation techniques, it proved “tastey” and satisfying. Presumably “smores” have been around for years, but would you believe this was a first for us? It was a fun lunch and if you ever find yourself in Bisbee Arizona, please consider the Bisbee Bar and Grill for your dining pleasure. Oh yes, they also served an excellent fresh brewed coffee that both Ken and Barbara raved about, although Barbara was a bit “piqued” that Ken got more refill attention than she. However, I thought their explanation that they ran out of coffee and had to make a fresh pot corrected the oversight but Barbara felt that they should have been more “on top of the pot”.
On Tuesday, we drove to Sierra Vista and Ft Huachuca where we visited the Visitors Center and educated ourselves on the things to do in the area. We mentioned that we had called to obtain reservations to do a tour of Karchner Caverns but that we had been advised there were no openings available for the big room until January 22. The gentleman at the information center advised us that a certain number of tickets are held back for early visitors and that we might be successful in gaining entrance if we arrive before 730A. We thanked him for the tip and vowed to give it a try.
Ken was suffering from early symptoms of a cold that I was grateful to pass along to him and thus, our outing was less enthusiastic than usual. However, we drove to the Coronado National Monument and its visitor Center before driving approximately five miles of gravel “washboard” road to an overlook where we were able to gaze over miles and miles of the great valley below into Mexico. What a view. We considered staying for a beautiful sunset view, but the weather was brisk, the wind breezy and the “washboard” road difficult. So, we passed on the sunset and proceeded back to the valley floor, had dinner and returned to our “wheels” that we call home on the road. A good day in spite of “hacking” coughs, runny noses and loud sneezes.
Wednesday was a laid back day of cold rain and down time. It was cold enough that we had no doubt snow was falling at the overlook where we visited the day before. In self-protection, we stayed in and enjoyed a day with only one short trip into the small town of Benson for a quick look around, piece of pie and brief outing. By now, Barbara was beginning to share my used “cold symptoms” and thus, “down time” was well deserved in the interest of good health. We had planned to visit Karchner Caverns on Thursday but as the evening passed, the thought of rising at 530AM for a trek into the ground below, lost its luster. We decided to delay our “early outing” until Friday and that decided, Barbara and I played a game of scrabble while Ken watched the “tube”.
Thursday morning was somewhat overcast but it was not raining. I awakened with an idea that perhaps if we drove up to Karchner Caverns the weather would have dissuaded enough people from an outing that there would be tickets available to the caverns. Barbara had the same thought and when we presented our brainstorm to Ken, he said, “let’s do it!” Breakfast finished, we were off to Karchner Caverns.
Upon arriving at Karchner Caverns, we were happy to be vindicated in our “theory” with tickets to the Big Room available for the 1245 PM tour. We smiled with our good fortune because rising before 8AM has not been our “happy mode”. After viewing a video presentation of the discovery of the caverns and studying the exhibits in the Visitors center for background, we joined our tour “down under”.
The Big room was only opened to the public in November 2003. Although it was the first discovery, it was the last opened to the public because it is occupied by bats during “batting season”. Preparatory work was delayed to avoid “disturbing” the “tenants” and we understood that the Big Room will not be open to the public during “batting season”.
We did not tour the Thorne Room, one in a single day is sufficient, but we were told that the two rooms are very different and a trip into each results in a varied and different experience. Karchner Caverns is a “live” cave and the State of Arizona has gone to great lengths to preserve the “sanctity” of its environment. Karchner Caverns was first discovered in 1974. The discovery was kept secret for 14 years until the discoverers and owners of the land where the caverns are located were able to work out an agreement for purchase of the land and develop a plan for the development and preservation of the caverns for future generations. The State has done an outstanding job in its custodial position. The caverns, though in my view not as spectacular as Carlsbad Caverns, are awesome in their “down under” beauty with all of their stalagmites and stalactites. It was another good day in the great Southwest.
Friday was a wrap up day with a visit to Ft. Huachuca and the three museums on the base. Ft Huachuca is a cavalry base turned army intelligence. One museum is devoted solely to intelligence. A tour of the three museums was enlightening in the ways of the Army and the history of Ft. Huachuca and its tradition of Indian battles, negotiations and treaties. From the museums we drove up Garden Canyon, located on the base, for what was an interesting drive into the “boonies” in search of an Indian village supposedly in restoration. We did not find the Indian Village but we did have a nice drive into the ”wild” and endured another “washboard” road.
There you have it – a week in the “outback” of Southwestern Arizona. Today, Saturday, we returned to Casa Grande and tomorrow, Mike and Jeanne will meet us for lunch and Barbara will return to Phoenix with them in preparation for her return to Brazil on Wednesday. We have enjoyed sharing our travels with Barbara these past four weeks. We will miss her. We wish her a safe trip and happy “soul searching” as she pursues her missionary calling in Brazil.
Tuesday we are off to Las Cruces for a few days with the Haselmans and then, onward to our search for adventure and exploration.

HAVE A GOOD WEEK
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