Balmorhea, Texas

Anywhere you want to go in Texas is a long ways from where you're at. A friend we met in Tucson told me that when he drove from El Paso (his home) to Chicago, he knew he was about half way there when he got to Dallas. Think about that. Anyway, on the way down to Big Bend, we spent quite a few hours on the highway, passing trucks loaded with wind mill blades. When this truck pulled into a rest stop behind us, we talked with the trucker and found that these were the "small blades", only capable of generating 1 Megawatt. Next week, he said, they'd be hauling the big ones...

We turned south from I-10 and stopped at Balmorhea State Park for two days. Didn't see any turkeys, though they evidently cross the road here when they're around.
The swimming pool at Balmorhea is built over a warm springs that produces millions of gallons of water each day, all measuring about 75 degrees. The pool here covers several acres, hosting catfish, turtles and ducks and scuba divers - it's 25 feet deep in places. Little tetras and pup fish would nibble at our toes if we stayed in one place too long. The days were in the 80s while we were there, so we enjoyed swimming in the waters.
This is one Texas sized pool!

The Route from Scottsdale Arizona to Big Bend National Park, TX

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Previous section: Post Falls Idaho to Scottsdale Arizona

Roper Lake State Park

When we left Karchner Caverns south of Benson Arizona, we headed east on I-10, past The Thing and turned slightly north to Safford. There we made Roper Lake State Park our base in the area. From the lake you can see Mt. Graham (over 10,000 feet), snowy now, and home to several telescopes.

This being one of the few lakes in the area, it attracts alot of birds. Flocks of Yellow Headed Black Birds filled the tree tops. They sang together, flew together, sat in the sun together, bedded down in the rushes, then did it all again the next day.

We enjoyed the hot springs fed rock and concrete tub in the park. This is the one where we met the two Sisters on the Fly.

There's alot to do in Southern Arizona during the winter time - one of the trips we enjoyed from here followed a route through what they call the Black Hills into Clifton. On the way we found the grave of this convict. He was shot while trying to escape from a road construction crew.

Here's the Gila River, shot from Old Safford Bridge. Spring is coming, the Cottonwoods are starting to bud, just barely.

This trip ended in Clifton. Clifton is an old mining town, it's reason to be is the Morenci Copper Mine just down the road. Last year, when the price of copper was so high, the mine was booming. Since then, Phelps-Dodge has layed off 1500 people from the mine. Clifton is a run down ghost town, with poor folks living in buildings that should be, and perhaps are, condemned. This mine has produced more copper than any other mine in North America. It has significant proven reserves. Why is the town poverty stricken?

Sisters on the Fly

There's a great group of ladies out there that go by the name "Sisters on the Fly". I think they were originally a fly fishing group, and, while their interests have expanded, the name has stuck. We read about them in the Arizona magazine and then, guess what? We shared some time in the hot springs at Roper Lake with two of the members. They're alot of fun!

You can find more information at:

http://www.sistersonthefly.com/

Tourist time - The Thing

We saw SO many signs advertising "The Thing" as we drove east on I-10 from Benson, that, when we finally came too it, Joanie really wanted to stop. We did. It was the best tourist $2 we ever spent! Pay your $1 per head and you, too, could walk through three buildings following painted yellow footsteps, seeing a bizarre collection of items, until you, too, see The Thing!

Now, don't make this a destination, but if you're ever in the area, stop in.

Tourist time - Tombstone

OK, one day when a cold wind was blowing we went over to the tourist trap they call Tombstone. We wandered around the town, doing our best to not part with too many of our hard earned dollars ... Here, for your enjoyment, is a snippet of Tombstone.

The Earps and Doc Holiday get shot by tourists with cameras these days!

The human fly poster advertises an act that appeared at the Bird Cage Theater. I've a feeling that this act might have been a bit different than Joanie's human fly act ...

Karchner Caverns, Arizona

We headed east from Tucson to Karchner Caverns, just south of Benson Arizona. Karchner is a relatively new state park, and Arizona has knocked it out of the park with this one (sorry ...). Two guided tours are available at this time of year. We toured the Big Room one day, and the Throne Room the next. Both are awesome. Each enters the cave through a series of air locks through a man made tunnel. Concrete paths then take different routes through the two rooms. Spectacular formations in each room are back lit by strategically positioned lights that turn on and off at key moments as the tour passes by. The cave is wet, humidity is 99%, formations are still in process of being built. This cave has not been trashed by early explorers or unconscious party goers. I highly recommend visiting! Note that they close the Big Room when the bats return between April and November, so if you want to tour both rooms you must be there when the bats are not. Reservations are darn near required. Here's their URL: http://azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/index.html


Cameras are not allowed in the cave, so Joanie took a few in the visitor center ... We had some fun wriggling through some rock openings, viewing "fried eggs" and staring down a replica of a Shasta Ground Sloth, the remains of which were found in the cave.

We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary at Karchner with a tour of the Throne Room and followed it up with a light meal in the Bat Cafe at the visitor center. Here Joanie models the necklace and ear rings that I bought her for an anniversary gift when we visited Tubac with friends in late January.

We met Phil, an avid bird hunter from Pennsylvania, travelling with his three dogs. They looked to me like German Wire Haired Pointers, but turned out be Cesky Fousaks, which are Bohemian wirehaired pointer hunting dogs from the Czech and Slovak Republics. The dog on the right is mostly griffon, while the other two are mainly Cesky Fousak. The do probably have some German Short Hair Pointers in their background.

Karchner sits fairly high, so we did get some snow one day. Joanie couldn't resist building a short lived snow man.