Bisbee Arizona, A Mining Town

Bisbee, Arizona started around 1880 as a copper, silver and gold mining town and up until 1974 actively mined for copper. High quality turquoise was a by-product of the copper mining. Phelps Dodge was the main company that mined and it ultimately sold out to another company that holds the rights to further mining when that should happen. Today the town thrives as a tourist destination with shops and mining tours of the Queens Mine. 

Steve, Betty and Dennis

leaving the Bisbee Breakfast Club

Yes we had the Eggs Darlene
at the Bisbee Breakfast Club. It was
excellent.

Bisbee Shopping

A Bisbee Mine Inspector - Steve!

Heading down the Bisbee Queen's Mine. It will
be an 1800 foot decline

Queen's Mine ride down the shaft

A 2-sitter for the miners.
Made from a rail bin, the lucky worker
had to empty at the end of each day. Talk
about a cold seat and you had company too!

Displayed is how holes are drilled,
with dynamite insersted to blow away
rock

The Lavendar Pit Mine in Bisbee mining copper

Another view of the Lavendar Pit mine

Terracing of the Lavender Pit Mine

Fort Huachucha, Tombstone, Bisbee and Chiricahua Mountains

We arrived in the Ft. Huachucha, Tombstone Arizona area on February 1st. From Yuma we travelled via I-10 East thru Phoenix and Tucson then south to the Tombstone (Cochise County) area. It's located in the Sonoran desert at about 4200 feet above sea level. Arid and wide open desert with mountain ranges surrounding the RV park. We are about 20 miles north of the Mexican border, with a Border Patrol Checkpoint approximately 8 miles from our RV park.

Fort Huachucha Memorial in front

of the Buffalo Soldiers Museum at

the Army Base.

The term Buffalo Soldiers was given the African American troops that were assigned to Fort Huachucha by the Indians. The soldiers were commanded by General Pershing and were exceptional and heroic in their duty.

A windshield view of two A-10 Warthog aircraft
practicing landing approaches near the Ft. Huachucha
Army base. You can enlarge by clicking pix
or right click on pix and then open link.

Betty Steve and Dennis

in front of the Ft Huachucha Museum

BootHill Graveyard

just outside of Tombstone.

Interesting Epitaph at BootHill.

The Clantons were Wyatt Earps
conquest. Today a Grandson of Clanton
still works the streets of Tombstone in
the recreation of the famous OK Corral
Shootout.

A sign posted outside a Tombstone
business.

Tombstone Street Troubadours

Virgil Earp with his famous shotgun
walking the Tombstone streets
in the late 1880's. He could be
considered tougher than his brother
Wyatt. Like all of the Earp brothers,
they were all U S Marshalls.

The Earp Brothers from left to right with
Doc Holliday on the right

Are these Wyatt's or Virgil's Boots?

Daryl and his other brother Daryl

staying clear of the Earps!

The OK Corral Shootout reinacted

 with about thirty shots fired in thirty seconds. Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed. Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton were killed; Morgan Earp, Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday were wounded and survived.

This occurred in October 1881.

Judy and Betty  with the Earp Brothers

and Doc Holliday after their Gunfight at

OK Corral

Tombstone Stage Coach. We took the tour.

Wyatt Earp died in 1929 in Los Angeles California.

02/07/2011

Yuma, Castle Dome, and Algodones Mexico

We left Quartzsite after 8 days of dry camping, meeting some great people and visiting with some friends from the East in our Montana circle. It's January 26th and we are now heading to Yuma Arizona only about 65 miles South from Quartzsite. We will stay awhile at delPueblo RV park, a nice park with full hookups including water for continuous hot showers and washing clothes.

Castle Dome Ghost Town 35 miles NW of Yuma

Arizona. You can see the dome in the background.

Mining began in the late 1860's in the Castle Dome

area for silver but was soon discovered there was a

large copper-lead ore presence that was valued more.

Castle Dome was a mining town area in the mid 1860's

This pix shows a car. Must have belonged to a tourist!

Mexican boys flippin' coin in Algondones Mexico square.

This town is just south of Yuma Arizona. Full of

drug stores and dentists for US tourists.

Gladys, named after my mother!

Quartzsite Arizona and Dry Camping Experience

Quartzsite Arizona is our next area to visit as we leave Lake Havasu and head South for a short trip to the Quartzsite area. The town of Q is small but the area around it has many Burea of Land Management areas owned by the Federal government. You can park free on these BLM areas for up to 14 days at a time. There are no amenities such as electric, water or dumping of tanks. We will be in a Montana group of 60-65 rigs. We are positioned in the lower center of the circle. Note the center has a big bonfire ring for evening social time around the fire.

Quartzsite Sunset

Guest Apperances

2011 Circling of the Montanas

at Quartzsite Arizona

Q Group Pix 2011

Dennis, Judy, Betty and Steve

on the Left Side

Hoover Dam and New Bridge Visit

View of Hoover Dam from the New Bridge completed

in 2010. It took almost six years to complete.

Pix taken by us.

New Hoover Dam Bridge view from the Dam.

Pix taken by us.

Dennis, Betty and Steve atop

the new bridge overlooking the Hoover Dam. Below us

is the Canyon...way down!

Another View of the New Bridge at Hoover Dam

taken by us.

Aerial View of new Hoover Dam Bridge

which bypasses the old road that remains

atop of the dam. We walked the bridge on

a walkway across the canyon.

Trivia: Who is from Searchlight Nevada?

Answer: Harry Reid
Still not sure? Ask your Senator!

London Bridge at Lake Havasu City, AZ.
American Entrepreneur Robert McCulloch
bought the bridge in 1967 for 2.5 million.
Each piece of the bridge was inventoried and
reconstructed in October 1971

Betty Senderovitz on the stairs to the
lower level of the London Bridge.
Shopping along the water, and Judy must
be already in the shops

A Great Looking group of East Coast Tourists
at London Bridge at Lake Havasu City, AZ!