Rodeo, NM to Benson, AZ – Meeting Friends along the Way!

(Benson, AZ) – Thursday was a travel day, but slightly different for us since when we travel we usually don’t make stops along the way, mostly because it can be challenging to find parking for the motorhome/jeep, about 60 feet of total vehicle.

In this case we had been invited by some of our RVing friends to meet in Bisbee, AZ.  This meant that instead of taking the interstate over to Benson, AZ, we enjoyed taking Highway 80 down toward Mexico around the Chiricahua Mountains.

This area continues to make the drives themselves a sightseeing adventure with all the beautiful scenery.

Molly had sent us an suggestion from a fellow RVer on where we might be park in Bisbee and we missed it the first time.  That meant that we did have a few moments of potential panic as we headed in to a congested area with the rig.  I got out and cased out the area and found a local who directed us back to the area we missed.  Ken positioned us in a deserted lot next to the mine just in time to wave hello to our friends as they pulled in from Benson.

We were only parked a block or two from our group destination, the Bisbee Breakfast Club.  From the outside you would never guess there was such a scrumptious dining experience inside.

Five couples were joining us from Benson, so we had to wait a bit while they organized a table for us.  The place was definitely busy though we didn’t have a long wait which I understand is not unusual because of its popularity.

I have a few group pictures below but suggest you go here to see JoAnn and Dougs much better pictures where she got pictures of the couples as well.  

From left to right, Donna (showing off the great food!) and Keith, JoAnn and Doug, Molly and Bob, and Sylvia and Glenn.  Although we’ve talked online this was our first time to me Sylvia and Glenn.

On the far end of the table to Ken’s right are Gerry and Claudette, new friends who are from Canada and also new to RVing.

Ken and I both had the special which was a variation on Eggs Benedict.  We would definitely recommend BBC as a perfect breakfast/lunch stop and hope to be back to Bisbee for another great meal and more exploring.

The group went on to spend more time in Bisbee.  However, since this was a travel day for us and we had the rig and the pups along, we figured we better get back on the road.

 

 

Between Bisbee and Benzon, we drove through Mule Pass Tunnel which was one of the first tunnels we’ve encountered in a long time.

 

The gang had recommended that we make a stop in Tombstone on the way since there seemed to be lots of places to pull over the rig.  They were right and so for the second time in one day we did what we normally don’t – stop to look around en route.

We did a tour of the Cochise County Courthouse.   Having a son that’s an attorney, we found it particularly interesting to see what it was like to practice law in this Old West town 100 years ago.  We also spent a lot of time getting a better understanding of what really happened at the OK Corral.

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We took time to stroll down some of the Tombstone Streets, where we met up with the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday.

 

 

Other scenes from the streets of Tombstone.

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We stopped by the Tombstone Mercantile and purchased an Arizona red wine, Tombstone Gunslinger which comes from the Village of Elgin Winery.  This is the number one selling Arizona wine, a really nice Cabernet Sauvignon, that we would definitely recommend.  As it turns out Elgin is about 40 miles from here so if we were staying longer we’d consider a day trip in that direction to do a bit more tasting.

We were pleasantly surprised on our arrival at SKP Saguaro Co-op in Benson.  This place is large, very clean, with modern facilities and loads of things to do without ever leaving the park.  Most of all it is very, very friendly.  In fact, we spent so much time outside visiting with our new neighbors that we had to run in to set up so we could get to our evening meal.

Doug and Joann were very gracious in hosting us for a travel day dinner at their rig.  JoAnn had a very good crockpot dish that was a combination of chicken, turkey and sausage.  She said it was was Linda Payne so I’m going to be looking up this recipe for sure.  This is our third time meeting up with Doug and JoAnn on the road and we really enjoy having time to just sit and talk with them as they seem to be kindred spirits.  That said, I was certainly happy to get my ‘Fillmore fix’.  Fillmore, there standard poodle is one of the coolest furkids we know, extremely smart and great to be around.

I seem to be struggling a bit with getting a really good nights sleep and so felt myself begin to crash after a few hours.  Ken and I headed back to the rig and after a dog walk, I was in my jammies and in bed.

Hugs, C