Leaving Arizona

11 03 2021

After departing Apache Junction on March 8th, we’ve met friends for 3 nights at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  Organ Pipe has become a favorite for us and, while we won’t be able to enjoy crossing over into Mexico this year, it’s still a great place to stay.  A beautiful campground, dark skies, quiet nights and some great hiking trails!

Organ Pipe Cactus Desert View Trail HIke

Organ Pipe Cactus Alamo Canyon Trail HIke

From Organ Pipe Cactus we’re bound for Sierra Vista RV Park for 4 nights.  This is a well maintained park on the outskirts of town.  However, probably the tightest site we’ve ever maneuvered into! Services are good, and the town of Sierra Vista provides unique dining opportunities including German, Mexican and Korean  – said to be enhanced by the local military presence at Ft. Huachuca.

Sierra Vista RV Park, site #17

Sierra Vista is convenient to Bisbee and Tombstone, and we plan to visit both.  In Bisbee we enjoyed a few beers on the patio of the Old Bisbee Brewing Company before taking a 30 minute town tour.  The tour was on a gas powered golf cart, and, while interesting – it was very tough to hear over the roar of the small engine as it struggled up the steep hills of Bisbee.  As an alternative, next time we’d check out Lavender Jeep Tours located in the Cooper Queen Hotel.

Overlooking Bisbee, AZ

As you’d expect in Tombstone, the on-street gunfights are the most common attraction.  And, we purchased a ticket for the shootout at the OK Corral.  The Corral shootout was nothing spectacular and as expected Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed, but at least we can say we did it!  More satisfying after all the street killings were the cold beers on the patio of the Tombstone Brewing Company. Even the surly bartender couldn’t depreciate the nice Stouts, Ales and IPA’s.

After departing Sierra Vista, we’re headed to Las Cruces, NM.  More from there…


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Queen Mine RV Park, Bisbee, AZ

11 03 2020

The Quarry Bisbee

Bisbee is THE small city to see in Arizona, so says Trip Advisor and Frommers.  So, instead of heading directly east as normal, we’ve detoured south from Tucson, through Tombstone and are parked in site #5 at the Queen Mine RV Park in Bisbee, just a little over 7 miles north of the Mexican border.

The 25 sites of Queen Mine RV are laid out in a circle, 1 through about 8 are up against a hillside, the next 8 or so overlook the huge Lavender Pit and the remaining sites overlook Old Bisbee.  The driveway to the campground is steep, but didn’t require any special maneuvering for jacks or truck clearance.  An approach from the west on highway 80 is best for taller rigs.  Coming in from the east will require a transit of a the 13’5” Main Street underpass, or a U-turn past the Main Street exit allowing an approach from the west.  Departures to either direction avoid the underpass.

Queen Mine RV Park, Bisbee, AZ

Our $35/night rate included 30Amp electric, water, sewer, WiFi and cable TV.  All sites are capable of satellite reception so we didn’t try the cable TV.  We did use the park WiFi – sometime with good success, sometimes with poor.  The T-Mobile signal was weak, but provided enough hotspot service to satisfy light browsing and email.

Queen Mine RV Park, Bisbee, AZ

Bisbee itself is very reminiscent of one of the old Colorado mining cities such as Cripple Creek.  Built along the hills & gulches above the open pit copper mines, early stories tell of frequent flooding, inadequate sewage facilities, garbage in the streets and over 50 saloons, gambling halls and of course houses of prostitution.  In addition, the huge smelting operations completely de-forested the nearby hillsides which were soon covered in iron-colored tailings from the many mines in the areas.  It must have been a horrific sight!

Lavender Pit next to Old Bisbee, AZ – Google Earth

Today, Old Bisbee boasts hundreds of carefully renovated buildings, a thriving art/music/hospitality scene, wonderful summertime festivals and a cool, mountain location. With an amazing number of dining options, we opted for The Quarry Bisbee on Brewery Ave.  Within a 5 or 10 minute walk of the RV park, the Quarry provides great comfort plates such as meatloaf, chicken pot pie, patty melts and of course big juicy burgers.  We enjoyed our night out and will probably return for another visit to explore more of Bisbee.  From here we’re headed into New Mexico – more from along I-10.

 


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