HEADING UP RUCKER CANYON ROADCooler this morning with a high light cloud cover. We knew the day was not going to be another cooker & that was a big relief. Weatherman is calling for temps to drop into the low 80's & mid 70's. I would say those mid 70's are just about totally perfect.
A LOT OF FREE RANGING CATTLE IN THIS AREABeen a month now since we settled into the ranch here & our propane level was down about the empty mark. Pretty good considering we didn't roll in here with a full tank to begin with. Packed things up, secured the coach about 9:30 & headed over to the Double Adobe Road RV Park near Bisbee to re-fill our propane tank. Came to about $55 dollars so we were pretty low. A word about the Park to other RV'ers. The park only accepts cheques or cash for propane. No credit cards. Also, if your thinking of staying there it would be good for you to know that they have a shotgun shooting range right beside the park. If you have pets that are scared of guns this would not be a good campground for you. While we were getting propane, shotguns were going off & poor Checkers & the little Motormouse were totally traumatized. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. Other than that, it looks like an OK campground.....if you like that campground thing that is.
WE SAW SOME DEER BUT NO BEARS
We were back to the ranch & re-settled into our spot in less than an hour. Did some more tree watering & then loaded the cameras in the car & we were off for another day trip. On our drive through Leslie Canyon last week we noticed another road leading into the Chiricahua mountains so to-day we returned to that point & headed on up Rucker Canyon road. http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/forest/recreation/scenic_drives/rucker_tex.shtml As soon as you start gaining altitude the environment begins to change from desert brown to jungle green. The cottonwood trees are beginning to leaf out now so the splotches of early spring green in the treetops is refreshing. Pine, & Ironwoods, mixed with Agaves & Prickly Pear Cactus make for roadside beauty. Valleys of yellow grasses appear between the mountains & forests of Mesquite trees dot the hillsides. Overhead, patches of blue sky between billowing clouds let through enough sunlight to highlight the high cliff faces of colored rock on the mountain sides. We are so fortunate to be here & to be a part of this beautiful American southwest. 
KELLY'S LOADING ROCKS IN THE CAR
A fork in the road led us on a 6 mile trip up to Rucker campground. No one there but the wind in the trees & the babbling of a mountain stream running down through the empty campground. Note to RV'ers...I wouldn't bring anything bigger than a small Class C, truck camper, or B class van up here. Not sure if I would feel comfortable tenting either because of the Bear population. The road ends at the campground. We noticed a lot of free ranging cattle in this area as well & had to stop & let a small herd cross the road on our way back down the road to the junction. 
A QUIET MOUNTAIN STREAM
When we reached the road junction we had to decide whether to return the way we had come & go back through Leslie Canyon or head east over the mountains on Tex Canyon Road & see if we could find highway 80 in the San Bernardino Valley. That highway would take us back down to Douglas. We needed some groceries anyway so headed east. Surprisingly, the road through the mountains was very good with only a few slow downs to cross some minor washes. The scenery was beautiful & around every corner was another panoramic view. We were wishing we had a portable GPS unit though because we had no idea how far the highway or Douglas was. We have one on our wish list because with the amount of hiking, car trips, & RVing we do on back roads it would certainly be a useful & safe thing for us. We have been looking at some Garmin Vista models with built in altimeter & compass. 
RUCKER CANYON
From atop a hill I finally spotted what looked like the San Bernardino Valley ahead, far off on the horizon. The dirt road was steadily leading down hill so I knew we had crested the mountains & were on our way down the east side of them. Seemed like a long time but we finally reached highway 80. Just a few words here about dirt roads. After to-day we probably have enough dust in the car to make up a whole 50 pound bag of topsoil. If you don't like dust & dirt the American southwest is probably not going to be your cup of tea unless you stay on the pavement & only move between them there fancy RV Parks. If you want to experience the mountains & the deserts you have to get off the Interstates, get off the pavement, & get yourself out onto the dust & the dirt of the back roads. The wild west for the most part is still the wild west & as far as I am concerned that's exactly what makes it one of the most interesting & best places in the whole country. 
LOOKING EAST TO THE SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY
Ok, getting back on track......... Once on highway 80 it was about a 40 mile scenic mountain vista drive through the Perilla mountains to Douglas. In that 40 or so miles we might have past 3 or 4 vehicles coming the other way. Just another thing I love about the southwest, endless miles of open roads & big wide open spaces. 
GREAT CLOUD PATTERNS TO-DAY
Popped into a little Mexican restaurant called Jaliscos for a bite to eat before grocery shopping. Kelly had something called a Chimi Changa or something. I learned a long time ago not to eat anything I couldn't spell or pronounce right so I had a hamburger & fries. Kelly did say her Chimi Jange thingy was very good though. Only about 5 blocks to Wally-World so we stocked up on some groceries & headed back to the ranch. Really nice overcast sky with eerie gray cloud patterns all the way back. Yep, ya just gotta love it out here alright....................................... 
ALIEN SPACE SHIP CLOUDS OVER THE MULE MOUNTAINS
To-morrow we are headed for the ghost town of Pearce........and beyond!!
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
A LAST MINUTE PICTURE
OK, HERE WE GO........HOLD ONTO YOUR HAT!!And it was one year ago to-day that we left Truth or Consequences New Mexico for our long 8 day journey home to Bayfield Ontario, Canada.
The historic town of Fairbank used to be a very important transportation hub. Three railroad lines passed through Fairbank including the New Mexico & Arizona which connected Fairbank to Benson & the Mexican port of Guamas. In the 1880s, at the peak of the silver boom in & around Tombstone, Fairbank served as a central point of entry & exit for miners, prospectors, materials, & ore. Tombstone was not connected to the railway until 1903 so passengers had to take a stagecoach from Fairbank. Passengers who stepped off the train in Fairbank in the 1880s would have seen an elegant hotel and restaurant, a post office, railroad depots and several other businesses. 
And so it was that we pulled off the highway into a dirt parking lot & down around a short road to what was left of the once booming little town of Fairbank. Well, there isn't much left but a sign tells us that it is probably one of the last authentic places with some original buildings intact. The old schoolhouse has been restored & is now a museum but it was closed to-day. There were 3 wooden buildings of which 2 were locked. The small open building was probably for horses years ago. A handwritten sign on another building said for us to stay back because of rattlesnakes. The largest building is completely enclosed by a wire fence with a no admittance sign. This was the General Store, Saloon, & Jail years ago. Plans are in the works to restore this building & a new steel roof has already been put on to protect what's left of the interiors. The San Pedro River & old railway line run along a short distance west of the buildings. 
It was Fairbank's old cemetery located about a half mile north of the town down a narrow dusty mesquite lined road that interested us the most. The cemetery is located atop a rough & rock strewn hill with a narrow footpath leading up to it. As we walked up the path I imagined how many of Fairbank's residents had been carried up this rocky stretch to their final destination. I also thought of all the people who flock to Tombstone's Boot Hill & believe that to be a real authentic cemetery. Oh sure, there are people buried there all right, but anything you see above ground has been manufactured & jazzed up for the tourist trade. I wonder what people would think if they ever saw a real western cemetery, untouched by human hands for over a century. I'm sure a lot of folks would find it boring with it's piles of stones, brambly mesquite trees, decaying old wooden crosses, & rusting gates & fences. No fancy or humorous inscriptions on the tombstones, because there are no tombstones. Just piles of rocks & stones on the gravesites with a few old tattered & broken wooden crosses that have stood the winds of time. Anything inscribed on a piece of wood has long been weathered out by the Arizona sun. There are no flowers here, no manicured trees, no finely mowed grass. Just piles of rocks marking the end of someone's life. No one to remember, no one to care. 
And so we made our way back down the hill of forgotten dreams & walked the half mile back to our car for some much needed water. Tucson tied a heat record to-day at 91F which was first set back in 1910. We probably topped out somewhere around 85F in our area & by the time we made it back to the car from the cemetery Kelly had a headache from the heat. The sun just seemed to ignite your skin everytime it touched you. I've heard it called a dry heat down here but I think it's more like a fry heat. Thank heavens for A/C in the car. The heat must have been brutal in the old days in these parts. Hard to comprehend people out in the hot sun digging holes in the hardened ground searching for silver, gold, & copper, day after day. I'm sure it led many to early graves. 
From Fairbank's we headed west to Whetstone where Kelly had seen a pottery place advertised on TV. Browsed around in there for awhile & thankfully came away empty handed. Headed back down highway 82 past Fairbanks, through Tombstone & south to Bisbee. Stopped along the highway in Bisbee at a scenic look-out & took a few more photos of this picturesque little town in the mountains. And, it seems everytime we go to Bisbee it seems to expand it's boundaries. To-day we stumbled into a little town once known as Warren, but has been annexed by Bisbee so falls under the Bisbee name now. A couple of weeks ago we came across San Jose which is another little town also now under the name of Bisbee. So, for anyone going to Bisbee, be aware that it is made up of 3 separate little towns. Or is it 4. There is another little section on Erie Street that seems to be a whole street complex unto itself & if you find The Bisbee Breakfast Club........you have found Erie Street. The BBC - 