POTR #9 From Texas

PEACE ON THE ROAD
From Texas
January 23, 2005

This is Sunday, January 23, 2005; we are currently in Fort Stockton, Texas. We will head for San Antonio on Monday. We have not pushed too hard to get here but there has not been a lot of distractions that have made us want to stop to look very often. Many people have told us that there is nothing to see along I-10 across the bottom of the US. While I would not disagree too much, I have to say that the views are pleasant. There is a lot of country that is filled with sagebrush, creosote bush, and yucca plants. On the horizon the mountain create a view worth looking at. It actually has been a nice trip to here. We were at Casa Grande for two weeks and it was rather nice to not pack up and drive every day

Casa Grande is a growing town. There is construction of some kind in every direction. I heard people forecasting that the town would double is size in just a few years. I can easily believe that it will. As in every place that people come to build homes one thing happens that always bothers me. The new construction is primarily done on productive farmland. The most valuable land always seems to be taken for new houses. People keep shoving the farmer off the good land and push him further into the poor areas and then complain when the food is not as good or cheap as it was once was.

CASA GRANDE RUINS NATIONAL MONUMENT IN CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is not far from town. It is an Indian ruins that was abandoned about 650 years ago. It has been extensively researched and stabilized to prevent further damage from the weather and people. If it were not for restriction to access by the tourist the chances are that the main building would have been carted off, piece by piece, to serve as mantle decorations. The Indians created an irrigation system that was hundreds of miles long. At the height of occupancy there may have been as many as 100,000 people living in the area. One thing that is evident, both by the number of Indians that lived there once and the farms that are there now, is that the desert is lying semi-dormant now. It only needs water to flourish and be highly productive.

We went from Casa Grande to St. David, AZ. It is only a short distance north of Tombstone and Bisbee. We stayed there for two nights and tried to see some of the area, with mixed results. We had a couple of hours before sunset the first day we were there so we went down to Tombstone, AZ. I went there with low expectations and was disappointed. I thought that Tombstone would be located in a valley or at least in a flat area. I was so wrong. Tombstone is located on the top of a hill. All the movie pictures I have seen of it have been set in an area that is very different from reality. As we went through El Paso I found out that it was more like I expected Tombstone to be. In Tombstone there are some very nice areas in the non-historic part of town. We were looking at some of the residential areas and saw a deer standing in the front yard of a house. Another home had the largest prickly pear cactus plants I think I have ever seen. Perhaps I have seen too many towns that have been converted to separate the tourist from his money to appreciate Historic Tombstone. To be sure we got to the historic area too late to see the street gunfights and too late to take buggy rides, but those don’t really mean a lot to me. The OK corral was totally surrounded by tall adobe type walls and buildings. Somehow I felt that replacing a corral with solid walls takes away the historical value of it, but I suppose that the original corral could have been an adobe pen and the movies may have all been using directors license. I did not have the time to visit Boot Hill before dark. That is still something that I would like to do some time in the future. Perhaps it would be better a little later in the year when there is more activity.

The day after visiting Tombstone we went beyond it about seventeen miles to Bisbee. There too I had low expectations and it did not match my expectations, it exceeded them by far. Bisbee is built at the bottom and up the sides of Tombstone canyon in the Mule Mountains. Some of the slopes are so steep that there are houses that have their rooflines even with the foundations of the house just across the street. Some of the streets are so narrow that as I drove through them a wall was six inches from one mirror and the cars parked on the other side of the road were six inches from the other mirror. Erma was not sure that I had room to go through at all. While we were walking around town taking pictures a fellow told us to take a certain road up the hill to get some good views. I wish I could find him and thank him for the best views I have had anywhere. We found the narrowest, steepest road with the tightest hairpin curves I have ever been on. The road went to the top of a high hill and ended in the garage of the highest house. Luckily twenty feet before the top there was a turnaround with the great view of the city. The edge of the turnaround was a cliff edge that was higher than the roof of the house built below. There were views of abandoned mines, old mine buildings, the Phelps Dodge copper works, and of course the full view of Bisbee itself. We also saw something that I would never expect to see. There was young man walking down the street with a dog on a leash. Nothing unusual there except that there was a cat lying on the dogs back. That is unusual in itself and it is even more so because the cat had a brown and white mouse on its back. People were taking pictures and giving tips to owner. Do you think I could find a parking space within a half-mile? Not a chance. When I did find a parking place within walking distance they were gone. I think I saw the man later without the animals. One more missed opportunity. I should have just stopped the Jeep, grabbed the camera and told Erma to pick me up later somewhere.

A HOUSE IN BISBEE AT EDGE OF TURNAROUND

LAVENDER PIT OF PHELPS DODGE IN BISBEE ARIZONA

The main pit of Phelps Dodge Mining was called the Lavender Pit, named after an Engineer by the name of Lavender. There were so many different colors on the walls of the pit and the collection pool at the bottom was rather colorful too. It was really impressive. Bisbee made the trip to the area worthwhile. I would enjoy going back later and exploring the area more thoroughly.

DIESEL FRIED CHICKEN

I have seen Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pan Fried Chicken, Southern Fried Chicken, and Home Fried Chicken. As a matter of fact I have eaten all of those kinds of chicken. Somehow I think that I will draw the line when it comes to Diesel Fried Chicken. We stopped here and ate across the street. Apparently a lot of other people have had the same feeling about it as I have. The restaurant was closed. Perhaps it is just a Texas thing.

I am going to see if I can get this sent through the WIFI here in the park I am in. Last night I had to hook up in the Jeep to get an Internet connection. If you get this on Sunday or Monday you will know that I had success.

Till Later This Is Doug Of
PEACE ON THE ROAD