Monday, June 1, 2009

Bisbee, Arizona

Left Phoenix and went south past Tucson (shout out to Mary Bird and awesome memories of Tucson) and on to Bisbee.  It's a pretty dry road - saw some intense dust funnels and a mountain that looked like Mordor.  
Arrived at the Double Adobe around 6:30, and it was after dark by the time I was set up.  Was starving though, so went into town and enjoyed a steak at the Copper Queen hotel.  Not so keen on eating alone in a nice restaurant, but I was willing to do it to get some protein.  And I got a nice glass of wine to go with it, so that wasn't so bad.  

Yesterday, I woke up and looked out the window of the popup only to find a few animals looking back!  At first I thought they were deer, but once my sleepy eyes cleared, I realized that on the other side of the fence there were goats!!  They've been pretty friendly and aren't afraid of Higbee at all.  I've been feeding them carrots and salad, and they eagerly take it, but they also butt their buddies pretty hard, so I won't be visiting them on the other side of the fence.  

Cleaned up and drove about an hour away to visit the Kartchner Caverns.  The caverns were discovered in the mid '70s, but were kept a secret until the state agreed to make it a park and preserve it as a living cave.  It opened up to the public about 20 years later.  Wow - breathtaking place - I've been to the Colossal cave (another shout out to Mary Bird) and to the caves in Gibraltar (shout out to Nick), and both were amazing, but these caves were still growing and as a result, were truly spectacular.  I'm really impressed with the way the place has been designed to stay alive and also to allow visitors to see this underground wonder.  I was told that the shape of the hills and the ocotillo plants are hints that there are caves below, and since this area was mined quite extensively, there are many other caverns in the area that have unfortunately been mined and filled in with the leftover diggings from other mines.   Shame.  

On the drive, I saw at least 20 law enforcement vehicles or roadblocks-- between border patrol, highway patrol, sheriffs and other lawmen, I don't think  you could illegally fart around here - but I guess that's not entirely true - when I was walking Higbee off leash outside the campsite yesterday, I realized that she might come across a rattler or other nasty bitey thing, so I leashed her up and brought her back.  But there are mammals out there too -  a few weeks ago, someone's dog treed an immigrant!  I guess he got to go back.  Can't imagine how anyone gets past all these guys -- the Mexicans (and central and south Americans) must be pretty smart and pretty sneaky -- and probably pretty desperate.  Don't want to think too hard about that one.  

At 5300 feet altitude, the weather up here has been pretty nice - breezy and temps around the '80s, but man - is it dry!!  I can literally feel (and unfortunately see) my skin shriveling up and even though I'm drinking plenty of water and coconut water (shout out Sunny) and even eating fish oil tablets, I'm absolutely dried out.   Couldn't live here.  Nope.  

Today, after a bit of a rough morning, Higbee and I went into Bisbee and explored town.  It's a cute place, reminds me a lot of the gold country towns along hwy 49 in California - Same era construction in the side of hills, same type of saloons, same kind of shops, only the gold country towns are, in my opinion, a lot prettier - I just prefer oaks to cacti.   Bisbee has an interesting community to it.  There are old long haired guys who look like they just stepped into this century from the 1850's, and there are Grateful Dead followers, wealthy retirees, new age crystal users, and really poor people.  It's also down season, so this may not be representative of the winter population.  Seems to me though, that the town is drying up too - lots of the shops are closing.  


I have found, though, that the people here in both the RV camp and in town, are very very kind.  I've talked to a lot of folks and here in the campsite, nearly all of the residents have come by to say hi and comment on how beautiful Higbee is.  She needs a bath.  I need a bath - in warm oil.  I feel very welcome here, but I'll be glad to move on in a day or so.

Tomorrow is Tombstone and then it's onward to New Mexico.  

3 comments:

thedancingj said...

Hey there! I followed your blog when you were at training, and just today I stumbled back over it - I am so excited that you are off on new adventures! I will be following you for sure. I think you're awesome. And you love Diane, who is one of my favorite teachers from home, so we are automatically friends. Come to think of it, I drove from Boston out to SoCal just last fall and stopped at yoga studios along the way, so you are almost retracing my path in reverse - COOL. Love it.

And I agree 100% with everything you've written about the yoga and the Dialogue. Oh my god, it is just ALL IN THERE, isn't it?? Awesome.

Happy trails!!
Juliana :)

thedancingj said...

P.S. I'm linking to your blog from mine... let me know if that's ok with you! :)

RJB said...

Very rough, hearty, but friendly people in Bisbee! Up the road in Sierra Vista, I was once chased out of the Sorry Gulch Saloon after outbidding the locals for a deck of cards...from strippers that they had bussed in from Tuscon...and I'm not making this up! A 6'4", bare chested American Indian, with a pony tail down to his butt and a bowie knife longer than your...arm...came at me. That was a fun nite!