Travels with Edna and Papi: February 2017

The hills of Arizona and the Titan ll missile

It wasn't easy leaving my home state of California, but we had frozen our last night here in the desert and couldn't wait to head towards Arizona hoping for warmer weather. I think the cold had gotten to our dog Daisy because she had not been feeling well constantly getting sick making for a long, treacherous car ride! She whined throughout the long five hour trip but poor little thing managed to wait until we stopped each time to be sick. We finally arrived in Tuscon at Davis-Monthan AFB around 7:00 pm with the sweetest couple helping to guide us into our spot. It was a somewhat stressful driving day so we opted out of our usual pizza night and stayed in planning the next few days.
Our first adventure in Tuscon was to head southeast to a small pioneer town named Tubac. Thank goodness Daisy was back to her usual vibrant (Walker Coonhound) self. Tubac was filled with Art Galleries but first we wanted to take the dogs on the famous walking trail of Spaniard Juan Bautista de Anza. First thing when starting off your day with two dogs is to make sure you have leashes! We left them back in the fifth wheel (about an hour away), and there were no stores close by only Art Galleries....and a trail! Perry thought a long bungee cord might take care of one dog, certainly not Daisy (she sprung right back) so it had to be the dog that listened, Gracie. Perry bought twine that we used for our makeshift leash for Daisy and away we went on our two mile walk in the high desert of Tubac, Az. We felt the rich history of early Native Americans and cowboys, but even more so the late 1700's Spaniard settlers and missionaries. We walked past an old church built in the early 1800's called St. Ann's that still had some of the original walls....a peaceful presence. Our short visit to Tubac was enjoyable but we were on our own mission and that was to try Arizona wines.
We drove another forty-five minutes taking the high desert side roads that led us to a gradual climb to an elevation of 4500' ending up at our first wine tasting in Sonoita. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of their white wines but especially the reds. The next few wineries we stopped at we enjoyed many conversations with other travelers. Our favorite winery (highly recommended) was a aluminum like building in the middle of nowhere. We passed by a herd of prong-horned antelope on our road to the Rune winery stopping to take a picture,...beautiful countryside. We arrived just before closing and enjoyed meeting the owner, winemaker and sole proprietor of this amazing winery and he in turn didn't mind us turning the dogs loose while we enjoyed a glass of chardonnay. He suggested the best placed to eat in town ( pop. of 800 people) was called the "Cafe". Gathering up the dogs and heading off to "The Cafe" with ravenous appetites, there were no places to sit so we opted to eat at the bar while listening to two local cowboys play guitar. There was a lively group next to us celebrating a birthday and a gal "Mel" from the group engaged us in conversation. She invited us to visit their brewery in a tiny town named Elgin not far from Sonoita. This was a beautiful area surrounded by mountains and we didn't mind making another trip back but tonight we wanted to be able to find our way back to Tuscon before dark. The next day was to a historical western town called Tombstone, Az.
Tombstone is best known for the shootout at the OK Corral back in 1881 between " Billy the kid", James Hickey and William Clairborne , Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. There was no sort of law enforcement during this time in Tombstone and it attracted a lot of outlaws. There were shootouts in the streets, at the wild Birdcage Theater where over twenty men were killed in a shootout and the infamous thirty second gunfight in the OK Corral. We visited the Boothill Grave Yard where cowboys and "Indians" were buried. Their graves were built up in stone to keep out critters and grave robbers. What an interesting place and time in history and so glad I didn't live back then to experience the hardships and violence. We've evolved.......somewhat! As we walked the town absorbing the wild west history with the dogs, we were invited into a building by a sweet older lady who was part of the Arizona Rangers. She was happy to explain the police like Ranger training that she and several other volunteers had to endure including how to use a firearm. The Rangers were used at the turn of the 20th century to control outlaws and protect the U.S. border. We were soon joined by two more Rangers who were very proud of what they did.......I could picture my Dad being a Ranger.
This historical place was something I wouldn't forget but we had a small town brewery to catch in the town of Elgin visiting our new friend, Mel! Thank goodness for GPS getting us there, because like other places we visit, it is once again in the middle of nowhere. She was happy to see us as we joined other visiting beer tasters. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but this trip was worth it. Mel and her husband moved to Elgin a couple years ago purchasing a large farmhouse on several acres caring for many farm animals and growing hops (used in beer). Their tiny brewery was marked with conservatism and the second Amendment....."nope" we're NOT in California anymore. Perry had one beer before we were informed there was a possibility of snow that night....time to head back to Davis_Monthan AFB. The next day was for domestic things.....grocery shopping, post office, laundry and of course, my hair!
Perry and I went to a laundry mat not far from outside the Navy base to wash dog bedding. It was not a safe area and I couldn't wait to get back to our safe surroundings of the U.S. military. Later that day, I did some errands inside the base and as I'm driving back to the fifth wheel, cars are stopped in the middle of the road and all activities around me ceased. I stopped as well and rolling down my window, I realized our national anthem was being played. Here at Davis-Monthan, at 5:00 pm everything stops to pay tribute to our country by listening to our national anthem which I think instills pride!
Before we were to leave Tuscon, my retired military husband wanted to see the Titan ll museum in nearby Sahuarita. We caught the last hour tour which this experience will stay with me for a long time. The Tital II is the only missile left in an underground silo from the cold war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union from 1963-1987. It was somewhat unnerving to think we were standing next to a disabled nuclear warhead that was capable of traveling over 6,000 miles and destroying a city over 1,000,000 people. During this time period, they explained, this was used more as a safety precaution to protect the U.S. again the old Soviet Union as they had several nuclear weapons aimed at the U.S. We were able to sit in the control room where four young military men sat and guarded the missile, next to the red switch if given the executive order. I thought to myself how we take our country's safety for granted not knowing what really goes on to keep us safe. It made me appreciate where we live even more. Good bye Tuscon.....off to El Paso, Texas.

West Texas

The change going into Texas from Arizona was a more windy and gradual climb in elevation and I was excited to be here with so much to see! After traveling four hours we decided to stay in El Paso for a few nights at Camp Bliss, an Army base. We did seek out our traditional pizza night and not being familiar with El Paso, we depended on Yelp reviews. It was not exactly the area I would have chosen to enjoy pizza. There was graffiti everywhere with bars on the few "intact" home windows but, the restaurant was everything and more that the reviews talked about. The pizza and service couldn't have been better. We got back to the fifth wheel and Perry realized he had left his wallet at the restaurant. Not looking forward to returning to this particular area, we headed back the next day and retrieved his wallet from a friendly and honest staff. Once again, the RV location on a military base has not let us down. Fort Bliss amazed us with their shopping mall where we actually enjoyed a long overdue movie. As we hitched up the next day to head towards Fort Stockton, I couldn't help but be amazed at the wall that runs for miles separating our country from Mexico. As we continued to head east in Texas, we couldn't help but watch the temperature drop into the 20's. We didn't quite expect this and before arriving at our RV site, the temperature dropped to 23 degrees with an expected low of 14. We were hoping to avoid drastic weather and climate changes but it IS January and the middle of winter so try to dig out all our heavy jackets and comforters. This night, we decided to enjoy some Mexican food in a small close by restaurant where we were greeted by southern hospitality. The hostess asked where we were from and three women of one family joined in conversation. They were proud of their hometown of Fort Stockton and gave us suggestions of places to visit and the oldest family member offered to teach us line dancing. (You sure know you're in Texas when it takes you twice as long to eat a meal because the people are so friendly). Once we were back in the fifth wheel, a staff member stopped by to tell us to drip water out of our faucets to prevent the pipes from freezing that night. We did just that but somehow missed the hot water in the kitchen. We must have had at least six inches of bedding on us that night to keep warm and we actually let the dogs on the bed that night to keep them warm. The next morning we woke up to find an icicle where the water connecting hose is....obviously a poor connection. Thankfully, it warmed up quickly and the hot water returned in the kitchen. Today we were packing up overnight bags for a stay in the small town of Alpine, Texas after making small trips along the way to Fort Davis, Marfa and Marathon. It was a Sunday and the roads to Fort Davis were miles of rolling hills with no one in sight, except for the amazing sight of a hundred Texas bighorn sheep and one car parked along side of the road, a State Trooper. We pulled into the park with the dogs and hiked along a trail not finding the Fort but took in the beautiful (chilly) view. It was going to be a long sightseeing day so we decided to head towards the interesting, small "artsy" town of Marfa. Driving away from Fort Davis the one car on the road decided to pull us over. The young State Trooper must have had a very slow day as he informed us it was illegal to drive a dually truck without mudflaps in the state of Texas. Explaining we were visiting from California (we had the token travel snacks in the front seat and the dogs in the back, not to mention a trailer hitch) we drove off with a warning. We took it lightly as we figured it was a slow day and it was probably his first warning....especially to Californians! Marfa.....here we come!

Marfa

Ok.....Perry's been talking this town up for sometime so I had expectations! The tiny town of 2,000 had Art Galleries unexplained evening lights and a famous hotel but no restaurants to grab a quick bite. Driving through town we saw a couple sitting outside a small place eating a burger and Perry was intrigued by the dilapidated building with a sign "Bad Hombres". He insisted we check this place out after we visit Chinati, an Art Gallery of aluminum sculptures. Very interesting to say the least because these aluminum peaces of art were all the exact same size with the variation (not much) to be inside the outer piece. After seeing building after building of these sculptures (you couldn't touch them or take pictures), it was time to move on. There wasn't a whole lot to see in this tiny town so next we stopped at "Bad Hombres". Not feeling too confident that this was the place to trust to get food, a patron was eating a burger that looked somewhat decent. We were greeted by a young man wearing sunglasses yelling over Bob Marley music, "Welcome to Bad Hombres, what do you want?! Perry wanted the creole as he had to yell it back to him over the loud music. "We don't have creole (it was on the menu)", "ok, we'll have a burger", "what's your name?", the employee yelled! "Perry", he yelled back. "Ethan?", " No....Perry". "Ok Ethan, I'll call you when it's ready". I wasn't sure based on the employees and looking inside the kitchen area this is where I wanted to have lunch, but despite the odd encounter the burger was actually pretty good. Next, we had to check the well known charming Hotel Paisano . This is hotel was built in 1930 and struggled during the "great depression" as this 35,000 square foot building housed cattle ranchers who came to Marfa to sell their herds. In the 1960's, the movie "Giant" was filmed in Marfa, and the cast and crew stayed in the hotel including Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean. Perry and I enjoyed a glass of wine on the patio while admiring the beauty of this once vibrant hotel. I now wished we had more time to spend in this eclectic town passing up several other Art Galleries but time to move on once again to our stay in the somewhat larger town of Alpine. We stayed in a small but charming, western hotel that welcomed dogs and this concluded our delightful visit to several small western Texas towns. Returning the next day to Fort Stockton we came across a herd of wild buffalo. Time to pack up and head out the next day for the much anticipated city of Austin.
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Next......Austin Music, "Houston, I think we have a problem!", and good ol' New Orleans!