March 2, 2008 Apache Trail

Yesterday we arrived at the Apache Junction Elks and had a beautiful view of the Superstition Mts.

We decided that since we will be here a couple of days we will drive the Apache Trail. The first stop is the Goldfield Ghost Town.

Goldfield Ghost Town got it's start in 1892 when high grade ore was found. A town sprung up especially since people had heard about the famous Lost Dutchman Mine. The town boomed for 5 yrs before dying because the quality of ore declined. Along came George Young acting Governor and tried to revive the town adding a mill and cyanide plant. After 5 years the died again. Then in 1966 a man named Bob Schoose came along and was interested in ghost towns and mining and recreated the town. Today they underground mining tours, a narrow gauge railroad, shops, brothel,jail and a church. It was a fun stop.

Feb.29,2008 Benson

The time we have spent in Benson has been great,although I didn't feel too good and Sam also has come down with this bug. Our friends came over from Tuscon and we went to lunch and had a nice visit. Of course there were plenty of things to do in the park. Movies ,bingo computer club, crafts,cards and dinners. We've enjoyed our time here and can hardly wait to get our lot.

March 27,2008 Palm Springs

We have beenhere at Thousand Trails for about a week now and have been busy. We have been enjoying the pool ,going to the street fair, and just hanging out. Today we caravaned to Box Canyon,Salton Sea, Mud Pots, and Salvation Mt. First stop is Box Canyon a colorful ravine in Mecca Hills with interesting geology. They also had some pretty wildflowers.

Here's a slot in the canyon.
The next stop was the Salton Sea. The visitors center wasn't open but we stopped to see the lake and have lunch. There was lots of dead fish along the shore. After lunch we headed to see the mud pots. They were bubbling and hot.If you got to close the mud would get on you and what a mess. After viewing the mud pots we went to Salvation Mt. out of Niland.Leonard Knight started making and painting his Mt. in 1985 and still is adding on to it. He lives in his Salvation truck with a house added to the back. He takes donations of paint to continue his project.
Next we were on to slab city. During World War 11 they used this area and all that is left is slabs thus called Slab City. There are lots of squatters and rv's out there in winter. They even have a place off the road where they can take a shower. The water comes out of a pipe in the ground and it's warm. Here's some pictures of the shower. Pretty primitive. More pictures On the way back we stopped at the Date Farms for a date shake. A nice stop for a great day.

Feb.24,2008 Copper Queen Mine

Here's a little history of the Queen Mine. The mine was founded in 1880 and started mining copper. It was the largest mine in the world. I t was in operation continuously for 100 years and has more than 2500 miles of tunnels. Mines in Bisbee mined copper,gold,silver.lead,and zinc. The mine closed in 1975 and then began giving tours. This is a authentic mining adventure. All the tour guides are men that worked in the mines and can tell you all about the workings of this mine. Here is a picture of the mine entrance.

We also met our friends Ike and Vicki and we went to lunch at the Copper Queen Hotel. The hotel was built after the mining town and the miners came an Bisbee became a town. The Phelps Dodge Mining company built the hotel for investors and important dignataries.Bisbee is a unique and interesting town built on the side of a hill. If your in Az make plans to go to Bisbee and Tombstone.

Feb.23, 2008 Feeling sick

I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and felt crappy all day and today. I guess I'm coming down with allergies or a cold. Sam went to the Ron and opal show. Here's another picture of one of the casitas.

Feb.21, 2008

We arrived yesterday at the Benson skp park and felt welcome and home right away. This is one of our favorite skp parks.Last night we went to movie nightand today we drove around Benson and looked at some lots for sale in the Legends. The lots are 40,000 to 55,000 and smaller than the skp park. We put our name on the hot list here at Saquaro ko-op 4 years ago so we'll wait for our # to come up. We're under 100 so getting closer. They have casitas on some of the lots or you can put one on a empty lot when you you get yours. Here's a picture of the casitas.

Feb.19, 2008

Yesterday we moved to our friends George & Arlene house in Tuscon for a couple of days. They use to live in Calif. by us so it's nice to see them again. We went to the Diamond Desert Casino for their buffet and it was very good. Tomorrow we will be going to Benson to the skp park for a week or two.

Feb. 17, 2008 Heather Stephen's

We left Casa Grande today for Tuscon and found Casa Adobes Elks where we will stay overnight. We got parked and went up to Oro Valley to see my neice and her husband and their new home. Heather is expecting a baby in March and everyone is excited about it,especiaaly my sister. It will be the 1st grandbaby.

Here's a picture of Sam & Heather in the back yard
After a nice visit and dinner we headed back to the rv. We were right by the train tracks so it was a byus and noisy night.

Feb. 16, 2008 Parade

Left the rally on Friday and went over to the Casa Grande Elks to stay for 2 nights. We are dry camping for 2 nights at 5 dollars a night. This morning there is a Indian parade right in front of the Elks so we are sitting here with our chairs waiting for the parade to begin.

There was also the red hat ladies

Later in the afternoon we went to see a movie and then went to Mimi's for dinner.Tomorrow we leave to see our niece in Tuscon.

Feb. 14, 2008 Happy Valentines Day

Today is the last day of the rally and I've learned a lot from The Geeks On Tour. I bought their video tutorials on blogging and picasa and internet. They teach in a way anyone can learn. It's great for dummies like me. Tonight we will go to Barney's for a Valentines dinner with George & Janice. This has been a fun rally and we thank Nick and Teri for all the hard work they do to put this on.Hugs to you two.

Feb. 12, 2008 Gypsy Journal Rally

We met up with George and Janice on the 10th and caravanned to the Rally. When we arrived there were quite a few people we knew. We attended last year and had a great time. While here Sam joined the Moose along with about 40 others. We went with George and Janice to the Golden Corral for dinner and came out stuffed as usual. Don't go there if your on a diet. We've been to several seminars and we always like Nick's Backroads Meanderings. They had a Pizza party and someone donated all the wine for the rally. Thanks! They also had a Cactus Queen contest that was quite entertaining. The class of 2007 were the Queens and here are some of the pictures as bad as they are.
Here are some of the others vying for the title.

Feb.9, 2008 Happy Birthday

Yesterday it was back to Algodones to see the Dentist. Sam is going to have a liner put in teeth as he has sore spots with the new choppers. I also decided to get my teeth cleaned since we won't be back in Calif. till April. Today it's my birthday and you can say I hit the big one. I am now a recipenet of Medicare. I decided to have pedicure and a manicure to treat myself for the big day. We topped off the night out with our friends for a birthday dinner.We leave for the rally tomorrow.

Feb. 7, 2008 Elks, friends

We moved over to the Elks on Tues. and will be staying here for 5 nights. They have a dump and access to water but no hookups. The price is good,only 7 dollars a night. The price has jumped as it use to be 5 dollars still not to bad. Ike and Vicki ,Chuck and Pat showed up after spending a week in Palm Springs and we went to a favorite place for dinner. We went to Burgers and Beer and all were disapointed with the service and the food. It use to be good but not so now. I also went to do laundry before we leave for the Gypsy Journal Rally.

Feb. 4, 2008 Moving

Today we had to leave our park so decided to move over to blm land by Algodones. We have solar panels so it's not a problem. Sam has to go get his new teeth and this is close by.Don't have much news for today so will post in a couple of days.

Feb.2, 2008

Don't know where Jan. went but it flew by and were into Feb. Today we went to see longtime friends Dick & Doris at there place. Doris wasn't doing well as she has a bout of pneumonia. They come and stay in yuma for 5 months in their rv. I have known them since I was in high school in New Hampshire and they were good friends of my parents. We lived on base at Pease Air Force Base on the same street. Later this day we went over to the Az. Marketplace and did some shopping. This is a rv'ers favorite place to go in Yuma and find all kinds of good rv stuff among other things. We usually try to go a couple times while in Yuma.