More Arizonia, Easter and Movin' on....

Well, we were supposed to leave Saguaro Park in Benson, AZ on April 21st but we figured since we would be staying someplace in CA, which we were told would be expensive, we decided to stay another week. Plus we were real comfortable and there's so much to do there!
Some things we did;
Went to Tombstone, twice.
The  first time was on a Saturday and it was real windy and a bit cool, so we just drove through and decided to come back when we could enjoy the town. So, on the way back we took a road across the mtns, Mo driving, that turned into a light jeep road adventure. Loads of fun and the scenery again was incredible. The next day, Sunday, we went back to Tombstone. There were lots of actors scheduled to be there reenacting the gunfight at the OK Corral. Talking to people at the park we knew this would be a fun day so we planned all day there. We found a place to park and started walking, the first place we came to was "Trashy Trishes"

This was a dress up shop where you could rent period clothes (1880's) for the day or for a party or such. Trish would also custom make clothes of the period...for a price. It was up stairs and as you went up the stairs the walls were papered with old original newspapers, whore house notices, wanted posters etc. really cool but it took about 20 minutes to get up the steps cause you had to read them all! No one else was there so we got to talk to Trish and browse the whole shop. Neat stuff.








Well we left there and went up to Main Street and it was full of cowboys and towns folk with guns and attitudes. Mo went to start taking pictures and  wouldn't you know it, the battery was dead!  We watched gunfights and fist fights, horses riding into town with bad guys causing all kinds of trouble. Of course the guns were loaded with blanks but they were loaded and the actors did a good job of shootin' and killin'. We went in all the stores and shopped for nothing and everything. Mo bought a great Stetson hat and we had lunch at "Big Nosed Kate's Saloon". She was Doc Hollidays girlfriend, for real. We stayed all day and had a great time, just wish we had taken some pictures to share because it really was authentic.
We went to Bisbee, AZ.
Bisbee was a mining town very near the border. The town was thriving when the mines were shut down and continues to survive. there are lots of younger generation living there and the tourist trade keeps shops and restaurants open and busy. We saw 2 brew pubs and we went in and got a sampler at one. There were 7 and they were ll good, even MO drank a pale ale sample and agreed it was good!

 This is a wall along Main St in Bisbee, lots of flowers blooming, especially roses.

 Some of the homes were kinda eccentric in ways, or maybe I should say, individually special?

 A garden above, a gate below......

  The city is built in a canyon, kind of, and here I climbed up on a rock out crop and took a few pictures.
These first two are a right and left shot showing some of the city.

 This one is looking straight down onto Main St, I was about 125 feet up.

 Looking in another direction

 Some flowers blooming. Mo was amazed, it was really pretty, we must have caught it at just the right time.

 Here I am up on the rocks where I took those shots, this was right in the middle of town.














We went to Sierra Vista, AZ.
We heard about this town from some neighbors, it, too, was south of Benson and west of Bisbee. It is a military town, Ft Huachuca. This is an old Army post in the Indian War days and is still in use today, but not for fighting Indians! We found much better shopping here than even in Tucson. Lowe's, New Super WalMart, Fry's (Kroger), all drug stores and Ross and the rest. This is all concentrated in a small town.
We went to Tucson, AZ.
We went over on a Sunday with the recommendation of a good Mexican Restaurant named, 'Paco and Mom's'. We got there just before noon and it was a good thing because it quickly got crowded. It was a small place, seated maybe 35 inside and out total. The food was just ok, nothing great.
Then we went to an old Mission we heard about, San Xavier del Bac.

  

 This Mission was built by Jesuits in the middle 1600's.

 It barely survived a bad earthquake and was rebuilt and then left in ruins again. It is being rebuilt again now and is close to completion. There is a small school that goes with it that native American and some locals attend

 An outdoor market in the large parking lot, mostly serving Mexican food.

 A blooming cactus outside the church door.

 To the east there was a rock hill, It wasn't part of the Mission property but there was a large Grotto to Our Lady of Guadalupe and a Cross on top.

Looking down on the Mission from the hill.

 These next few are inside. Remember this was built in the middle 1600's, by hand, with only local Indians and Priests.

People stood in awe at the detail inside. A group of people from Italy and all over Europe were brought in to do the restoration inside. Even they were amazed at the work!

We stayed here touring the Mission for a couple of hours, it was that interesting. By then it was about 4pm and we had an hour's drive back to Benson so, other then the shopping available, that's about all we saw in Tucson.
We went lots of other places that were interesting around the area but these were the main things that we thought might interest you.
One thing really worth mentioning is the Catholic Church we attended while we were there. The first thing we do when we know we will be in an area for the weekend is to google Catholic Churches and Mass times in the area. In Benson we found Our Lady of Lourdes. Each Saturday we attended Mass and with Easter weekend coming up, this church helped us make the decision to stay that extra time. We attended the Easter Tridumm. All 3 of the services were special, they were personal and spiritual. We really did enjoy this Easter Season at Our Lady of Lourdes!

Well that's about enough, I'd say!      BUT !  We will be back next year to Saguaro SKP Park in Benson, AZ, and we have good news for all...... AmTrac Runs right thru town and stops to pick up and drop off passengers, soooo, if you think you might want to come out and enjoy some great adventures, Plan on March/April, 2011. Here's the AmTrac Station in Benson, AZ......

 Here's the station, it's only about 2 miles from the park.

 Thought I was kidding?

So, plan now and let us know and we'll meet you at the 'station'!
We leave for CA Thursday morning, will post next week........
Oops, posted this late