ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen

King of Arizona

16/04/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Boondocking, Overlanding, Scenic Drive, Travel

We are going to start this post with a question. Who thinks the Beast was able to navigate this ledge? We will provide the answer later in this post.

After our trip across El Camino del Diablo and up to the Fortuna Mine we spent a couple nights in Yuma. We cannot say that Yuma is our favorite town but we needed to have our bikes serviced and repaired as a result of the bike rack breaking as we crossed the El Camino. The photo below shows the Beast after we made makeshift repairs to secure the bikes and rack. Note the now oval shaped front wheel on the blue bike.

Our bikes would not be ready for five days as the misshapen front wheel was irrepairable and the new wheel was apparently coming via stagecoach.

Cafecito, which was our home base in Yuma, is on Main Street along with several restaurants, bars, mercantiles, a theater and city governmental offices. Cafecito was the perfect spot for modifying our travel plans with its excellent drinks, toasts and bowls. The space is immense with 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor seating. Please find the owners’ bittersweet story in the link below. Here we revised our itinerary to head north to the Northern Sonoran Desert and the KOFA NWR and then loop back south to (hopefully) collect our bikes.

https://www.cafecitoyuma.com/our-story.html

We departed Yuma via 95 North passing through the Yuma Army Proving Ground and the Castle Dome Mountains ( we transited the Castle Dome on a previous adventure) to our east; then turning at Palm Canyon Road. We followed the road until its terminus at the entrance to the Palm Canyon Trail.

Palm Canyon, KOFA NWR

Palm Canyon is a narrow, relatively short but rugged canyon. What distinguishes this canyon from other canyons in the KOFA is that there are California Fan Palms nestled up on the north side of the canyon. These Fan Palms are believed to be the only California Palm Trees in Arizona. In the photo below left you can see the palms tucked into the side of the canyon.

After hiking back down the canyon to the trailhead we drove back west on Palm Canyon Road to scout out a good camping spot – not to difficult actually!

Every evening and morning is a treat in the desert with spectacular sunsets, starry black nights and gorgeous sunrises.

The next morning we set out to explore the nearby KOFA Queen Canyon Trail. The road is a rocky affair that winds up the narrow canyon with jagged peaks framing the canyon on both sides. The trail itself becomes progressively rougher and narrower. At the eight mile mark the USFWS has closed the trail to make sure people do not try to proceed further as the next mile of trail across the Big Horn Pass is impassable regardless of weather conditions.

Queen Canyon

On the drive out and back we stopped several times and wandered out through several of the many washes that run through the canyon. Beautiful blue sky, a gentle breeze and total silence!

Waking up to another beautiful, sunny, blue sky day with 75F temperatures never becomes tiresome – in case you were wondering. For our third sortie in the KOFA we opted to go a bit further north and skirt the KOFA mountains and follow the Valve 2 Road eastward to the High Six. The High Six Tank is a deep bedrock water pool.

We assume somewhere in the vicinity of this road there is a Valve 2. The El Paso Natural Gas pipeline carries natural gas from the Permian Basin to a number of western states. The pipelines are buried but there are valves above ground that we observed in other parts of the desert.

From our campsite we would need to navigate approximately ten miles with the Beast to reach the trail for the High Six. If we could reach the trail for the tank we planned to make the short climb up to the tank. It appeared based on our reading of the topo map that elevation gain from Valve 2 Road to the tank was only 150 feet.

While ten miles doesn’t seem much like much terrain to cover we were not able to reach the High Six Trailhead.The photos below show the spot where we had to concede on getting to the High Six. We tried several different approaches to tackling this drop but we just did not have the clearance.

With the premature demise of this adventure we quickly regrouped and decided it was time for a cocktail! We backed down the trail until we found a spot for a 100-point K turn, headed west for the pavement and then north seeking food and beverages in Quartzite (about 20 miles north on Highway 95).

***Silly Al’s Pizza, Quartzite, Arizona***

Silly Al’s Pizza was packed but we secured a hightop in the bar. If we had thought about it, we would have realized that Quartzite would have a crowd on a Sunday afternoon as the town is a major snowbird location and home to many gem and mineral shows during the winter months. The cocktails were excellent – the pizza decent – the restaurant makes their own dough. The problem is no one outside the Northeast puts enough char on the pie!

The following day we made our last foray into the desert before returning to Yuma to collect our bicycles. We opted to head west towards the California border and check out some old mining sights.

We visited the abandoned Gold Eye Mine, which was owned by Lehre Erdman. This not much history other than Erdman started this mine and worked it for 63 years. Erdman died in 1996. The remnants of the stone cottage he built and lived in are still standing at the mine sight.

There are a number of mines in the area we explored. Many are abandoned but there are a fair number of claims being worked on a small scale. If you are interested in mining for gold call the phone number in the photo above!

Our next post will provide a glimpse of our visit to Phoenix.

Be seeing you!

Ts-iuk-shan

12/04/202512/04/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Art, Bike Trails, Scenic Drive, Street Art and Murals, The American West, Travel

***La Guitarrista by IGNACIO, Rialto Theater, Downtown Tucson***

From the Tumacacori Mission we made the hour drive to Tucson – first stop Presta Coffee – excellent Cortados! Always fun to return to one of your favorites!

Tucson’s origins date back to the 1770s when the Spanish built a presidio here to stop the westward movement of the French from the Gulf of Mexico (yes-Mexico!). At that time Tucson was the northern frontier of New Spain and there was a well- established line of missions throughout the area dating back to the early 1700s and the work of Padre Kino and the Jesuits ( see previous post: Tumacacori National Historical Park).

Hotel Mccoy

A s we have accumulated more time on the road we have come to appreciate smaller and more unique hotel accommodations when we are not camping in the Beast.

The Hotel McCoy in Tucson (there are three in total – the other locations are in Texas and Washington) is a renovated mid-century motor court hotel. Logistically, we were drawn by its proximity to downtown and the light rail. More importantly, we like to see older properties renovated and brought back to life, as the McCoy has done in Tucson. Additionally, any accommodation that promotes local art, live music, coffee, beer and wine has our attention. The murals pictured below are a sample of the murals on the exterior walls. Fine art is on display in all the rooms and lobby/bar area.

We enjoyed our stay for all of the reasons we have mentioned above; in addition, all of the hotel staff were quite friendly and focused on meeting our needs.

barrio viejo

The barrio represents one of the best examples of the Sonoran Adobe architecture utilized by Spanish and Mexican settlers. Most of the buildings and dwellings were constructed between 1860 and 1900. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the barrio was demolished under the guise of urban renewal. Thankfully, the community was able to halt the demolition of the entire neighborhood and what exists today is protected as a National Historic District.

The barrio that exists today is quite handsome. It is also quite gentrified and no longer home to the working class Mexicans that lived here for many decades. In our opinion, this neighborhood is absolutely worth spending time to explore. Also, several of the corner buildings are occupied by excellent restaurants (more on that later).

Downtown – Congress & Broadway

The downtown entertainment and shopping district is packed into several blocks on Congress and Broadway. The district is anchored by the Congress Hotel, a local landmark. The hotel opened in 1919 and closed in 1934 as a result of a major fire. The hotel reopened in 1940 albeit with just 40 rooms in lieu of the original 80 rooms. The hotel presents live music seven nights a week in multiple venues. Jazz is on tap every evening. Photos below courtesy of the hotel.

Street murals are all around town with a significant concentration downtown. Some of our favorites are pictured below.

We mentioned the light rail earlier in the post. The Sun Link routes allow people to travel from the west end at the Mercado (near our hotel) through downtown, the Fourth Avenue District and out to the university in the east end. Quite convenient and FREE! We really appreciate not having to take the van into downtown areas in larger cities.

***Sun Link Streetcar, Downtown Tucson*** (***Photo courtesy of Sun Link)***

Fourth Avenue – Boho

Fourth Street is regarded as the Boho or Hippie area of Tucson and appropriately so. The district is just north of downtown and full of all sorts of small shops-vintage clothing, art, home decor, vinyl and plenty of eateries and bars. The area is also home to a fair number of murals (we have photos of a couple below). It is a fun neighborhood to explore on foot and pop into the shops (and maybe a bar or two).

Redington Pass

After several days touring around town using the light rail we fired up the Beast to take an afternoon road trip to the Redington Pass which is east of Tucson in the Coronado National Forest. The road (Forest Road 371) climbs up and over the pass between the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains and then descends into the San Pedro River Valley.

The pavement ends at mile marker three as the rough dirt road begins the winding climb to the pass.

Redington Road

We stopped at the pass to take in the distant views. Recreational target shooting is legal in this area of the Coronado National Forest and we took advantage of the opportunity before proceeding down into the San Pedro River Valley. This area is also cattle country. The Bellota Ranch (bay-OH-ta) has been here since 1875. It was founded by the Redfield brothers, who had migrated from New York. The ranch is no longer owned by the Redfield family but it is still operational as a cattle ranch (plenty of evidence of that scattered everywhere!).

As we proceeded down the west side of the mountain we entered into a zone filled with Saguaro cacti and green farm fields further off in the heart of the river valley. Quite beautiful!

***North Redington Road, Galiuro Mountains and Wilderness in the Background***

Once down onto the valley floor we follow the road north before making a right turn onto East Redfield Canyon Road. The road takes us past what appeared to be a small abandoned settlement (it was at one time) but upon further investigation all that remains is the Carlink Ranch. The family farm and ranch was established in 1884 and is now under the care of the sixth generation of the Smallhouse family. The Carlink sells cattle, cacti and wood. The independent spirit of the West lives on!

https://carlinkranch.com/

From the Carlink we traveled north along the San Pedro Valley River to San Manuel and then passed to the north of Mt. Lemmon and finally headed south back to Tucson and a well earned dinner (and perhaps a cocktail).

Bicycling

Tucson has many miles of bike trails. We threw a figurative dart at the board and opted for the Rillito River Path. This section of the path follows the bank of the river for a bit over 23 miles. Perfect bicycling weather – 75F, sunny, no wind and no humidity!

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/arizona/rillito-river-path

fika & food

Tucson as a city of almost 550,000 has plenty of excellent dining options from taco trucks to full on fine dining. And, of course, many specialty coffee shops to sample.

Our all around favorite on this visit was the Coronet which consists of a cafe, a fine dining restaurant and the Nightjar Craft Cocktail Bar. The Coronet is located approximately one mile from our hotel in an absolutely gorgeous 160 year old Spanish style building in the Barrio Viejo. As you might infer from the sheer number of photos from the Coronet this was our “go to” eatery while in Tucson. We enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Coronet (not on the same day!).

We also recommend the Five Points Market and Restaurant. The restaurant sits at a five way intersection which joins multiple barrios. It has a very simple interior but the food is excellent. They also have small but excellent wine list well matched to their dinner offerings.

For drinks and small plates we recommend the Crisol Bar. The Crisol is also located in the Barrio Viejo and co-located with the Exo Roast Company. Very convenient!! We did not partake but the Crisol is locally well known to be the place to go if you are mezcal aficionado. Para todo mal, mezcal… y para todo bien tambien. When things are bad, mezcal… and when good, the same.

There are many great attractions in Tucson that we have not covered in this post primarily because we have visited them on previous visits to Tucson. We have listed our top recommendations below.

Saguaro National Park
Sabino Canyon Recreation Area
Pima Air and Space Museum
San Xavier del Bac Mission
Mt Lemmon
Tucson Museum Of Art

We will post next on our time in the King of Arizona National Wildlife Refuge which is located about 40 miles north of the Yuma Army Proving Ground in the Northern Sonoran Desert. Yes, back to the desert!

Be seeing you!

P.S. Ts-iuk-shan is the Tohono O’odham name for Signal Mountain in Tucson. Tucson is a bastardization of the name given by the original inhabitants.

El Camino del Diablo – The Devil’s Road

07/04/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Camping, Overlanding, Scenic Drive, The American West, Travel

***El Camino del Diablo, Sonoran Desert, Arizona***

We departed Tucson (future post) on a southwesterly course heading for Ajo Townsite. The journey took us through the large and mostly desolate Tohono O’Odham Nation. The reservation is about the size of Connecticut with an on reservation population of approximately 9000 members. There are 28,000 enrolled members of the tribe. The Tohono O’odham Nation sits on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.

Ajo has been the site of copper mining since the 1840’s. Copper has been extracted by Native American, Spanish and Euro-Americans. By the early 1900’s the production of copper in Ajo caught the attention of Phelps Dodge, the largest copper mining company in the United States. Phelps purchased the mine in 1921 and continued to operate the mine until 1985. During those years the mine employed several thousand people and the town boomed. An employee strike in 1983 ultimately led to the permanent closure of the mine in 1985 . Today, all that remains is a very large pit just outside of the town center.

The town’s attractive square and architecture was built by Phelps Dodge to make working and living in town more appealing. The year round population in Ajo is 3300. The town has become a popular snowbird destination during the winter due to the delightful weather. There is also a small artist colony living and working here.

The photos below are two notable murals that have been painted in Ajo since our last visit.

We decided to camp and relax for several days in an area of the desert south of Ajo known as Darby Well.

On our second day of camping at Darby Well we drove south on Route 85 to visit the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (OPCNM). After stopping at the visitor center and speaking with the rangers we opted to drive the Ajo Mountain Loop as the best way to take in the OPCNM in an afternoon.

Ajo Mountain Road, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

The Ajo Mountain Loop is a 21 mile road which provides a great sample of the variety of terrain and vegetation in the monument. The loop starts on the desert floor and winds up into the Ajo Mountains. We took a short hike into the Estes Canyon (photos below -note the arch in the photo directly below).

OPCNM does not receive many visitors relative to other National Monuments and National Parks. The remote location, extreme weather (heat) and proximity to the Mexico border are all contributing factors.

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2017/09/organ-pipe-cactus-sonoran-desert-treasure

https://www.nps.gov/orpi/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

After several days camping in the Darby Well and our visit to OPCNM we decided we were ready to tackle the El Camino. The El Camino is a 142 mile trail through the Southern Sonoran Desert. It starts south of Ajo from the Darby Well Road and then follows an east/west route through a portion of the Organ Pipe Cactus NM, the Cabeza Prieta NWR and finally the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range.

This overland adventure does come with risks. One of the risks is captured in the photo directly above. The other risks are inherent in any extended overland trip – adequate fuel and water, mechanical breakdown, flat tire and, finally, getting stuck in sand or mud. Fortunately, other than a damaged bike carrier and the obligatory addition of more desert pinstriping we did not have any issues.

Our first stop was at the Bates Well Ranch which was owned and operated by the Gray family from 1935 until 1976. The operation consisted of 15 cattle ranches and line camps across the Southern Sonoran Desert.

The ranch is inside the boundaries of the OPCNM. The National Monument was established in 1937 but the Gray family was allowed to continue to ranch the land (many national parks consist of land appropriated from private owners). The National Park Service does not allow cattle grazing but in this case made an exception. Harry Gray, the last member of the family made maximum use of the “exception” raising cattle on the ranch until his death in 1976.

The one advantage of the ranch property becoming public land is that is protected and overseen by the park service. Much of the property is intact and provides a great example of a frontier ranch.

We pushed on from the Bates Well past the Camp Grip Border Patrol Outpost where we could see four border patrollers on a hill scanning southward with their binoculars while the electronic gear above them whirred away.

The next section of the trail brought us into the Pinta Sands. The Sands area was undoubtedly the most enjoyable segment of the trip from a pure driving perspective. Soft sand —deep but not too deep—smooth riding and higher speeds!

Prietza National Wildlife Refuge, El Camino del Diablo

From the Pinta Sands we transitioned to a dramatically rougher environment as we began transiting through the Pinacate Lava Flow. We decided that this area would be good for camping as it was reasonably level and provided a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and unobstructed views for stargazing.

Pinacate Volcanic Field

On day two, we continued west until we arrived at the site of the Tule Well. In the 1840s many Mexicans from the state of Sonora were traveling north to work the gold diggings on the Colorado River. One of them decided to dig a well (by hand) and to sell the water to his fellow countrymen as they traveled north. Some accounts claim that the well digger was killed by a traveler who refused to pay for the water. The well fell into disuse between the 1860s and 1890s as this route was all but abandoned due the frequency of deaths from dehydration.

After visiting the Tule Well and the Circle 8 Gravesite we continued west towards the Tinjas Atlas Mountains. We were hoping to follow a trail that would lead us to the remains of the Fortuna Mine. As you can see from the video below this area has numerous narrow washes. Ultimately, we were foiled by a wash too deep and steep for the Beast.

Tinjas Atlas

We worked our way back until we found a route that took us in a northeasterly direction to the town of Wellton. This route took us through the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. It is most advisable to stay on the road if you choose this route as it is an active military gunnery and bombing range! Fortunately, we had obtained the necessary permit and pass to transit through the range.

We exited the desert in Wellton driving through the encroaching housing subdivisions spreading east from Yuma. We spent the evening in Yuma; in the morning , we decided to head back out into the Sonoran Desert and visit the Fortuna Mine using a route from Yuma. The road out from Yuma was extremely rough and rocky but were committed to going out to the mine as part of our completion of the El Camino del Diablo.

As so often appears to be the case, gold was discovered accidentally – in this case by three men looking for stray cattle in the foothills of the Gila Mountains in 1894. They filed land claims and gold was mined here from 1896 to 1904. The story of Fortuna is similar to many of the old west mining scenarios – boom and then quickly bust. The mine was productive – producing 125,000 ounces of recorded gold during its short run. The vertical shafts are still visible (photo below). The remnants of the town that quickly blossomed above the mine are still accessible by foot.

One other item that we wanted to share relates to the photo below. Periodically as we crossed the desert we would see blue flags placed within sight of the trail. The blue flags are on 30 foot high poles so that they are visible from a great distance. At each of these sites there is a 55 gallon drum of potable water. These drums are placed and maintained by an organization called Humane Borders. The organization has obtained permission to place the water drums along the border (the El Camino is within sight of the border for much of the route). You may read about the Humane Borders organization in the article linked below.

https://www.humaneborders.org/

Our two day journey across El Camino del Diablo was an exciting adventure. This is a trip we have wanted to do for some time and we recognized that in the context of our OTR story arc this was the time to make the crossing. There is a point where the physical rigors of this trip would be beyond our capability.

After resting for a couple days in Yuma we will be heading north to explore the Northern Sonoran Desert and the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge.

Be seeing you!

Tumacacori National Historical Park (TNHP)

29/03/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in National Park, Travel

After our trek through the Coronado Monument and the San Rafael Valley (see previous post) we were ready for a city segment. While on our way north to Tucson we stopped at the THNP. This mission dates back to the late 1600s, and was one of 20 established by Padre Kino, a Jesuit missionary. Padre Kino is revered by the church for his work with the indigenous people of the Pima Alta (O’odham, Apache, Yaqui). There are other historians who have a different view of the work of Padre Kino and his fellow Jesuits. In this article we are not going to delve into the debate over the forced conversion of indigenous people to Catholicism. We have included links below regarding this topic.

https://news.diocesetucson.org/news/who-is-padre-kino

https://www.tucsonlocalmedia.com/news/november-1751-father-kino-and-the-pima-revolts/article_3f70584c-638f-11e4-b1fd-cfb0a4d8bc5e.html

While the mission church is the centerpiece of the mission architecturally, it is important to remember that the mission was a self-sufficient community with approximately 200 people living within the mission wallls.

***Tumacacori Mission (Photo courtesy of NPS)***

The photo above gives a sense of the mission with the church and the remains of storage buildings, cemetary, living quarters and kilns within the walls and fruit orchards outside.

The church that stands within the mission grounds today was commissioned by Franciscan missionaries who had replaced the Jesuits by Spanish authorities who believed they had become too powerful. The Franciscans wanted a much larger church. They began work on a grand design in 1800. In 1820 they dedicated the new church, although over the 20 years of construction the design was changed due budget constraints. The new church, while larger than the orignal, was smaller and less ornate than the original design. Nonetheless, a beautiful structure in our opinion.

Masses were conducted in Latin, but in recognition of the diversity of parishioners, readings and other parts of the mass were conducted in Spanish and O’odham. The O’odham, who were the victims signifcant physical violence from the Spanish settlers who were forcing their removal from their land, were not satisfied with this concession.

Finally, in 1751 the O’odham revolted under the leadership of Luis Oacpicagigua. The revolt was not long lived and the O’odham surrendered in early 1752. The O’odham cannily blamed the rebellion on the Jesuits (who were in much disfavor in Spain at that time) and the colonial governor promptly pardoned all of the O’odham who had participated in the rebellion.

The aftermath of the revolt, as well as the impact of Apache raids on the mission, led to its abandonment. Unfortunately, neglect and vandalism took its toll on the church. Fortunately, President Roosevelt declared the site a national monument in 1908 allowing for the preservation of the monument and no further vandalism or looting.

If you are a history buff, then we think that a two- to three-hour stop here will be worth your while. The self guided tour is well curated and the park staff were knowledgeable and helpful. There are also guided tours available several times a day.

Next is Tucson — comfy bed, hot showers, heated pool — the whole shebang!

Be seeing you!

https://www.nps.gov/tuma/planyourvisit/index.htm

Over the Mountain and Across the Valley

24/03/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Scenic Drive, The American West, Travel

As we departed Bisbee (see previous post) we decided to make a quick detour to the border to check out the small town of Naco.

Naco, Arizona is a census designated place with a population of 1176. Naco, Sonora, the sister city (pop. 6064), is immediately on the other side of the border. While the border was finalized by the Gadsden Treaty of 1853, the two Nacos functioned as a single community regarding everyday living. Recently, Naco, Sonora was also very popular with United States citizens who could easily cross the border and purchase prescription drugs and other items (see Pancho Villa post) . Additionally, the younger drinking age in Mexico (18 vs. 21 Arizona) saw many teens crossing over for an evening of drinking.

The situation changed dramatically during the 1990’s as routes for smuggling migrants and drugs moved to this area after other parts of the border were more effectively sealed. The reverse flow of the smuggling business is the movement of large quantities of weapons south from the U.S. into Mexico for use by drug cartels (shameful).

The increase in smuggling coupled with 9/11 resulted in much tighter security. Residents were no longer able to cross back and forth across the border as freely. The completion of a new border fence in 2017 (pictured above) made the separation of the two towns very real. The residents of Naco, Arizona were not apprised of the new fence – they literally woke up one morning to the sound of construction equipment rolling into town.

***United States Border Station, Naco, Arizona***

Many residents claim that this event was the beginning of the end for Naco from a business perspective. An additional factor is that the port of entry restricted its operating hours – moving from 24 hours per day to closing at 10:00 PM – sending more traffic to Douglas where the port of entry is 24/7. Today, there is just one remaining business in Naco.

The last business standing in Naco is not unsurprisingly a bar! But not just any bar it is the Gay 90’s Bar as in the 1890s! The bar, which serves food, has pool tables and live music, has been in business since 1931. Why anyone would open a bar during prohibition does not make sense on surface of the issue, but there is probably more to the story than we will ever know. More importantly, they are still in business despite all the turmoil and hard times.

After our brief and somewhat depressing stop in Naco, we cotinued west across beautiful grasslands and entered the Coronado National Memorial. We had visited the Memorial in 2019 to explore the Coronado Cave but did not continue up to the pass. The photographs below are from our caving adventure in 2019. The entrance to the cave is a half mile hike up the south slope of Montezuma Peak and definitely worth the trip. The cave is 600 feet long with lots of small spurs.

Back tothe present — we wound our way up the canyon road of the 7640 foot high Montezuma Peak and stopped at the pass to take in the views back to the east and west to the immense (330 square miles) San Rafael Valley.

Montezuma Canyon Road

***View West from Montezuma Pass — San Rafael Valley — Huachuca Mountains to the North***

The road beyond the pass heading west is best suited to 4WD, high clearance vehicles as it becomes progressively more rutted and rocky.

Montezuma Canyon Road

From the pass we continued down the road admiring the views of the valley below. It is hard for us to fathom that the majority of the valley’s 90,000 acres is privately owned by a handful of ranchers. But then again, the valley has been home to cattle ranching for 175 years!

The largest ranch in the valley was owned and operated by the Sharp family from 1903 to 1999. The ranch, The San Rafael Ranch, lies in the center of the valley and consisted of 22,000 acres. The state acquired the land and designated it as natural area in order to protect what is considered the finest stand of grassland in the state. Sadly, when the state purchased the land and designated it as a natural area, it closed access to the ranch house and all of the property (although the state allows the remaining ranchers to graze their cattle on the land). The other interesting historical note is that the property that comprised the ranch was the last remaining intact Spanish Land Grant (well, we think it is interesting).

***San Rafael Ranch House (Photo courtesy of SouthernArizonaGuide.com)***

Being very cognizant of the fact that we were traveling through a fragile area, we carefully followed an established track which took us out through the grasslands. The video below provides some perspective of the experience of riding through the grasslands with the mountains ahead of us — quite spectacular!

San Rafael Valley

After our jaunt through the grass we returned to the road to complete our crossing of the valley.

***Patagonia Mountains*** ***Left — Canelo Hills Right***

At the end of the drive across the valley, we arrived at the border town of Lochiel. The town was originally named La Noria by Mexican settlers. It was renamed Lochiel (Low—Keel) in 1885 by rancher Colin Cameron in honor of his Scottish ancestors.

Lochiel is often described as a ghost town but it appears there a handful of inhabitants. Our research comes up with ten people. We don’t think anyone really knows and historical records indicate that the population peaked at 400 when the mine in nearby Patagonia was in full operation. We can’t warrant that anyone actually lives there because while we saw several dwellings that appeared to be inhabited we did not see any people while in Lochiel. In fact, we only saw one person during our ride across the valley — a man in a pick up truck — who we let pass us by as he was traveling at a much higher rate of speed than we could or would on the rough and winding road.

We visited the red schoolhouse pictured above. It is an adobe structure and operated as a classic one room schoolhouse for all of the children in town. The schoolhouse began operation in 1892 and closed in 1972 in response to declining enrollment. The remaining kids were bussed to school in Patagonia. Today the school is maintained by the Patagonia Museum.

There is also small church in Lochiel. We could not visit the church as the fence around the church is gated and locked. It appears to be of adobe construction as well. The fence directly behind the church is the border fence with Mexico. We unfortunately could not find any history regarding the church.

***Lochiel Church (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia)***

We mentioned that Lochiel is a border town. The border fence here is just a chain link fence with some barbed wire on top. Quite a contrast from the other sections of the border we have seen on this trip. Years ago, from the 1960s until 1983 there was a port of entry in Lochiel. It was operated by Customs Inspector Helen Mills during the 60s and 70s and then Custom Inspector Mike Daniels until closing in 1983. We found some fantastic photos (below) of Helen and the port of entry from an article in Tucson.com

Well, that is our report on our experience overlanding through the Coronado Memorial NM and the San Rafael Valley. This trip really helped us to envision a different time in our country.

From Lochiel we drove north and camped in the Patagonia Mountains for an evening. Our next segment will take us to Mission San Jose’ de Tumaca’cori north of Nogales and then on up to Tucson for a city segment.

Be seeing you!

Bisbee…….for a night or two or three or four

15/03/202502/05/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Dining, Scenic Drive, Street Art and Murals, The American West, Travel

Gadsden Hotel—Douglas, Arizona

The morning after our foray into Puerto Palomas we broke camp and lit out for the Arizona border. We followed NM 9 to its terminus just before the Arizona border (completing our crossing of New Mexico on NM 9). From there we rejoined US 80 (which we had driven on from Montgomery, Alabama to the Texas/New Mexico border) on the roughly three hour drive from Columbus, NM to another border town- Douglas, Arizona.

We had passed through Douglas in 2019 and stopped for lunch at the restaurant located in the Gadsden Hotel. We made a note that if any future road trips brought us close to Douglas, we would stay the night and enjoy cocktails sitting in the Henry Trost designed lobby. As we were ultimately heading to one of our favorite weird towns, Bisbee, just west of Douglas, that is just what we did.

The Gadsden is not much to look at from the outside, but the interior, especially the lobby, is quite impressive. We have stayed at six hotels designed by the architect Henry Trost (1860-1933). His firm, Trost & Trost was based in El Paso, Texas and designed over 600 buildings in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona as well as Mexico. Trost & Trost heavily influenced the look of the Southwest and still does today with over 100 of their structures still standing.

The article embedded below provides a brief history of the hotel and the town of Douglas.

About

After our enjoyable night at the Gadsden Hotel we made the short trip to Bisbee. We had visited Bisbee in 2019 and chronicled the interesting history of the town at that time (see our post Bisbee, AZ 03.20.2019)

On this trip, we stayed at the Bisbee Grand Hotel right in the heart of downtown Bisbee. The Grand has been in business since 1906. The hotel describes itself as a place where “the rugged charm of the Old West blends with modern comfort”. Modern might be a bit of a stretch, but the hotel is great. Everyone on staff is friendly and helpful. The first floor has a great bar and restaurant, and there is live music just about every night. Booze, beds, food (and music)! The formula certainly works for us. We will come back to our stay at the Grand later in the post.

Bisbee is no longer a mining town, other than the daily tours of the Copper Queen Mine (we did the mine tour on our previous visit – it is excellent – you ride into the mine on the train that carried the miners deep into the mountain). After the mine closed the population decreased for several years but has reversed course as the town has become home to a plethora of artists, musicians and people who just want to do their own thing.

When we visited Bisbee in 2019 Stephen became a devoted customer of Optimo Hatworks. Optimo is a milliner and renovator. The shop has been in business for around 50 years. Knowing that we were heading back to Bisbee, Stephen planned on a renovation for his 2019 panama and having a new hat made. Below left, Karen fitting the hat with their hat fitting tool aka medieval torture device. Below right, renovated panama with new band.

Now that a successful trip is assured with a renovated hat in hand and a new hat scheduled to arrive at The Fort in approximately three months, let’s get to the coffee portion of our Bisbee stay.

https://www.optimohatworks.com/

Allen & Co Espresso House opened in October 2024. The space was previously occupied by Kafka, another specialty coffee shop, for many years. When Kafka closed, husband and wife John and Kelsey Allen jumped at the chance to open their own cafe. When we were frequenting the cafe during our stay they had just celebrated the cafe’s four month anniversary.

***Allen & Company Espresso House, Subway Street, Bisbee***

The timing of the opportunity worked perfectly as Scott and Kelsey had just returned from a one year, 29 state photography assignment when the space became available. Scott is also an experienced barista and he makes a mean cortado. Best of luck to Scott and Kelsey (and their newest family member Pip – pictured above with Maria)!

On a related topic Bisbee is home to Patisserie Jacqui. The patisserie was named a James Beard semifinalist in the outstanding bakery category. The patisserie has a line down the street each morning because they sell out quickly. As soon as we pulled up in front of the hotel, Maria bolted up the hill to get on line. She snagged a pistachio chocolate snail and a morning bun. Beyond delicious!

We mentioned earlier that Bisbee has become a hub for many artists. There is public art on display all around the town. We have included below several photos of artwork from around town and the Bisbee Art Wall located in the alleyway between 24 and 26 Broadway (the area below the alley is known locally as Beer Gulch — bars and brothels were located on this street in the mining era).

We spent an afternoon walkabout exploring some areas in the maze of streets and alleys that we had not visited during our previous stay. In particular, we walked out Brewery Avenue from the Old Bisbee Park until we reached Zacatecas Canyon. We followed the road up the canyon until we came upon a closed gate and private property signs. You do not under any circumstance trespass on private property in the West.

We spotted a number of interesting homes and buildings and nice views of the canyon walls (and great exercise at 5600 feet elevation).

On our last evening in Bisbee, we walked up Tombstone Hill for dinner at Thuy’s Noodle Shop. We had read an article about Thuy Dang in Arizona Highways Magazine; she moved to Bisbee from Vietnam nine years ago. Thuy desperately missed Vietnamese food and decided to address the issue by opening a noodle shop. She spent two years perfecting her recipes before opening the shop.

https://www.arizonahighways.com/business/thuys-noodle-shop

The food was delicious! We have to admit that we probably would not have tried a pho shop in Bisbee if we had not seen the article and then spoken with John at Allen & Company Espresso. Lesson learned (although we have learned the hard way that pizza outside the northeast is invariably mediocre at best).

We will finish up this post with the Grand Bisbee Hotel. We had originally booked one night thinking we would have dinner, take care of business at Optimo Hatworks and be on our way. But there is just something about Bisbee (for us)- the place, the people that kept us from leaving. Everybody has a story in Bisbee (and they are usually quite interesting). So everyday we ended up at the bar/front desk asking to extend our stay. Fortunately the hotel was able to accommodate our requests, although we ended up staying in three different rooms, all “unique” for lack of a better term (photos below).

One of the interesting people we met in Bisbee was Alice. She was a competitive shooter wielding six shooters at targets while riding her horse. Alice also owned a bar in Sonoita (a nearby census designated place, population 803) for 15 years. She shared with us how she kept the peace when her bar filled up with thirsty and eventually rowdy bikers. Let’s just say don’t mess with Alice!

Our next segment will take us west through the Coronado National Monument and across the magnificent and isolated St. Raphael Valley (which extends into Mexico).

Be seeing you!

Pancho Villa Visits New Mexico and OTR Visits Old Mexico

06/03/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in Camping, Foreign Travel, Museum, The American West, Travel, Western history

Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway

24/02/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Adventure Van Travel, Camping, Museum, New Mexico, Scenic Drive, Travel

Las Cruces—City of Crosses

05/02/202512/02/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in Coffee, Dining, Hiking, New Mexico, Street Art and Murals, The American West, Travel

Montgomery

28/01/2025 by Maria+Stephen, posted in American Slavery, Cities, Civil Rights, Civil Rights, History, Museum, Street Art and Murals, Travel

OTR Version 11.0 — the never better tour

During a visit to Birmingham on a previous OTR we had taken in quite a lot of the history of the civil rights movement. At the time, a guide at the 16th Street Baptist Street Church had recommended that we visit Montgomery in the future to further our knowledge and understanding of the history of slavery and the civil rights movement in the United States. As we planned to head south before heading west to Arizona, we incorporated a stay in Montgomery into our journey.

We chose the Trilogy Hotel as our base. The hotel is located in the heart of the city and within walking distance to the museums we planned to visit (as well as coffee).

***Trilogy Hotel, Montgomery, Alabama***

The Trilogy Hotel opened in 2023. The hotel reflects the history of the city, consisting of two renovated cotton warehouses joined with an 1851 Greek Revival mansion housing the hotel restaurant (The Kinsmith). The hotel is beautifully decorated with artwork and furnishings which are authentic to the area. The service was friendly and professional.

After checking in we departed for Prevail Union for coffee and tea. We were assured by our barista at Seeds (Birmingham) that Prevail is the only specialty coffee shop worth visiting in Monty.

We also met local artist Bob Adams while at Prevail. Bob worked for many years as a court room artist for the local television station in addition to producing his own work. The work clearly required an eye for detail and the ability to work quickly. Bob is 70 years old but still draws for about 90 minutes every day and has not lost any of his skills as you can see from the drawing below, which he completed while we were enjoying our drinks.

Our first museum visit was to the Rosa Parks Museum. The museum provides a re-creation of the fateful day when Rosa Parks refused to relinguish her seat on the bus in order that a white man could sit.

The re-creation is accomplished using an actual city bus from that time period with a digital representation of the people and characters involved visible through the bus windows. The exhibit is well done and quite moving.

We definitely recommend visiting the Rosa Parks Museum if you visit Montgomery. The link embedded is from the museum and provides an excellent overview of the life of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

https://www.troy.edu/student-life-resources/arts-culture/rosa-parks-museum/about/index.html#bus

We also visited the Legacy Museum during our stay in Montgomery. The museum opened during April 2018 and was built on the site of a former cotton warehouse (there were many in Montgomery). The museum endeavors to tell the story of enslaved Africans starting with their kidnapping in Africa through to the years of Jim Crow and race issues which still persist today. (All photos courtesy of the Legacy Museum)

The museum is state of the art — making full use of technology to deliver an experience from the perspective of enslaved individuals. The exerience for us was quite intense.The physical and emotional suffering of the enslaved individuals is tragic. It is difficult for us to fathom how slave owners could have by any measure justified owning and brutalizng other human beings.

The museum also delves into the slave trade in detail. We commonly think about the hardships inflicted upon the enlaved individuals on the plantation while overlooking the misery and frequency of deaths that occurred on the slave ships. Over two million people died on the journey from Africa — starvation,sickness, beatings and sheer exhaustion.

Of course, slavery did not truely end with emancipation in 1865. As southerners were allowed back into politics and positions of power most African Africans found themselves anything but free. White only laws and other barriers restricted blacks in every aspect of their daily lives.

Another dimension of the immoral treatment of African Americans occurred all too routinely during the 12 year period of Reconstruction (1865-1877). Lynching of blacks by white mobs and the KKK. Over 2000 lynchings have been documented during that 12 year period. Sadly, a additional 2000 lynchings have been documented from Post Construction to the end of World War II.

We could continue on but instead will provide you with a link to the Legacy Museum if you are interested in learning more. We will leave you with one quote that we think captures the essence and depth of racism that existed in the South for over 200 years.

“In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”. George Wallace, Alabama Governor, 1963 Gubanatorial Inaugural Address

Museum

***Selma to Montgomery Marches*** **Mural**

We learned quite a bit more about black history in the United States during our visits to the two museums. The town itself is was nice but seems a bit on the sleepy side. The museums are worth a visit if you are going to be nearby but not a destination in our opinion.

We are heading west from Montgomery on US 80 through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. US 80 was, before the construction of the interstate system, one of a handful of coast to coast two lane highways We will keep you posted on what we find along the 80.

Be seeing you!