We're Still Here!

 February 20 - March 6, 2023

Tombstone, Arizona 

My blogging mojo continues to lag far behind. Even my blog reading has been non-existent for over a month. I hope it's not permanent, I miss the connection with others, and know I'll fail to record things I would have liked to look back on. And this has been a helluva few weeks! 

We were looking forward to the last week of February as our good friends were arriving in Benson for a couple weeks of play. All of us met through our respective blogs with meet-ups around the country. Sue and Dave (Beluga's Excellent Adventure), and Pam and John (Oh, the Places They Go!) have been a big part of our RVing life, and we're so happy they found their own "home base" not too far away. Still, it's been way too long since we've seen them!

On another cold and damp day we all meet up at Janna and Mike's (Restoration Cowboy Style) on the other side of the Dragoons for yummy eats and great visiting. A wonderful surprise coming through the front door - Gay and Joe (good-times-rollin) are here too! So four more good folks who we know through blogs and past adventures. What a fantastic afternoon!!

I can't believe none of us got pics of the delicious spread with Janna's brisket and sides (also delicious) from the rest of us - Janna's tasty dessert wrapped it all up. 

A gorgeous home they mostly built themselves with fab views of Cochise Stronghold in the Dragoon Mountains. 

John holding court with Dave, Sue and Michael.

What a treat to get caught up with Gay and Joe.

Post-feast conversating. Bill, Pam, John, Michael with Emmi, Janna and Joe. We all agree we should always meet here!

Sue captured this great shot of our "Jeep convention" with Michael's lovely stained glass owl.

It was good timing since the next day our fourth snow storm of the season arrives, leaving behind a few inches of the soft and quiet white stuff overnight. I still love it, and how it transforms our desert.

In the SoCal mountains they've had many feet of snow, and this week Brian (Ezra and Elliott's dad) has to shovel his driveway! A first for our always-lived-in-California family.

The most snow they've had since moving to the mountains.

Ezra takes a snack break from the snow work.

The snow in their yard is almost half-an-Elliott deep!

Fortunately for our visiting friends the weather shapes up quickly here in Arizona, and we join them for an exploration of our historic Gleeson, Courtland and Pearce ghost towns. The buildings consistently still standing? The jails!

First stop the Gleeson Jail and museum which is only open once a month. 

Two delinquents plot more trouble on the stairs of the Gleeson School.

The large school served up to 150 Gleeson children from the 1920's until it closed in 1945. 

The Gleeson Mercantile supplied a population of over a 1000 residents in the 1920's. Later it became a saloon which was closed after a shooting there. Local lore places Johnny Ringo here in his last year, but no proof has been found.

This beautiful tree has a brutal history as the hanging tree - and the first "jail". 

That jail was a chain (see imbedded in the trunk) and a steel cable that held the prisoner here overnight. The night sounds in the lonely desert were said to be a successful deterrent to repeat offenses. 

The hospital was built with adobe bricks said to be more durable because the mud was mixed with cattle blood. Hmmm.

A side trip to a Courtland tailings pile.

Blue skies and golden plains.

We stop at the best restaurant in Courtland for lunch.

The suspicious proprietor keeps an eye on us.

The Courtland Jail turned local information center.

And art gallery.

Our last stop before parting ways - Pearce.

Watch out for the bunnies - no spelling police on site.

This beautiful old building has been for sale for years.

We're glad we had this time with our dear friends and bummed we're going to miss their second week in the area. As it turns out we should have stayed here and never traveled to SoCal :-(