Laundry and Tombstone

We spent the morning doing laundry at the RV park's laundry room.

John asked "What do you say we mosey on down to Tombstone and see about stirring us up some grub?" How could a girl turn down that invite? A little after noon, we were off. So what did we think about Tombstone . . . . Yuck! A total tourist trap with hucksters on the sidewalks trying to direct you to different shows/businesses. I do not enjoy that type of entrapment at all. We did have a good lunch that was reasonably priced. Here are a few pictures that John took.

They cordoned off several blocks from traffic and have dirt streets between the shops.

Here are some people on a stagecoach ride. Notice the microphone on the driver as he is giving the highlights tour (just like in the olden days, I'm sure).

Another town shot. Notice the hitching posts where the horses can be tied up while you go in for a cool sasparilla.

Biggest joke of all is at the O.K. Corral. To see the main attraction of the area costs you $9 per person and you are given some "entertainment". We did not succumb.

We had enough of Tombstone and were on our way home by 2:15. I guess you can tell we weren't impressed. A total waste of time in our opinion unless you are a true Old West fan. We thought Old Sacramento was just as impressive.

Once we got home, we sat outside enjoying the sun with the occasional gusts of wind. We enjoyed sitting out in the sun more than we did at Tombstone. I guess it was bound to happen.

San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA)

We were going to go on the nature walk this morning at 9 a.m at the SPRNCA but we had purchased tickets to have breakfast at the RV park at 8:30. It was a good breakfast and we had good company at our table as we got to meet some of our neighbors. We decided to do our own nature walk. Here is some information on the area:

SPRNCA was created in 1988 to protect one of the rarest ecosystems in the United States - a desert riparian forest. SPRNCA covers approximately 58,000 acres of public land that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. This 40 miles of riparian habitat runs from the Mexican border to St. David, AZ. What is unusual (at least to us) is that the San Pedro River flows north from Mexico. This area has been designated as a "Globally Important Bird Area" as it is a migratory pathway for birds. We were told that there are 400 different species of birds in the United States and that at least 300 species make their way here over the course of a year.

We were standing within the overlap of four eco-regions: the southern edge of the Rockies, the northern edge of the Sierra Madre, the eastern edge of the Sonoran Desert, and the western edge of the Chihuahuan Desert. Here is what an area of the San Pedro River looks like:

There are some nice trails that you can take through the SPRNCA. Here is a shot of the Green Kingfisher Pond. This was once a sand and gravel quarry. It is not spring fed but the water surface is the ground water level. This water is available during the dry season. Beavers were reintroduced to the SPRNCA in 1999 after having been eliminated due to hunting and trapping in the 1800s. Several of the large trees had wire mesh around them to protect them from the beavers.

We saw Coots, Cinnamon Teal Ducks, and this Great Blue Heron as we walked around the pond.

John got this great shot of the Cinnamon Teal Ducks as they spooked when we got close. Click on the picture to get a better view of their beautiful blue wing patches. They must have flown over our heads several times until they settled down. We were treated to the sound of hearing the wind through their wings as they went by. John said that is what it sounded like when ducks flew over when he was hunting them. It was a neat sound.

As we walked towards the river, we got to see lots of different birds and several Vermilion Flycatchers. They certainly do stand out.

I really like this picture. It doesn't look like we are in Arizona does it?

As we continued our walk along the river, we could hear what sounded like two owls having a conversation. They were on the other side of the river so we never got to see them but it was interesting to stand there and listen to them.

As we got closer to the San Pedro House, we stopped and watched a Northern Harrier as it flew low over the grassy field. As we approached San Pedro House, we saw this Red Tail Hawk sitting high in the tree from quite a distance. He wasn't the least bit concerned about all the human activity going on below him. We also ran into neighbors of ours at the RV park who shared our breakfast table. They are quite the birders.

This is a large Fremont cottonwood that is about 80 years old and is over 36 feet around. Supposedly, they live between 100 and 150 years. John looks tiny in front of it. The tree is huge!

As you can tell from the shot above, the clouds started moving in as we were wrapping up our exploration. It was so beautiful in the morning and in a matter of hours it turned very cold and it poured in Sierra Vista. John and I got pretty wet while running between stores. When we got home after making our stops, we could tell that it hadn't rain here at all. We did, however, have some strong wind gusts that knocked over John lounge chair (quite an accomplishment).

The RV park was going to have a group fire this evening and everyone was invited. It was definitely too cold for the both of us to sit out there so we settled in for some TV.

White Water Draw State Wildlife Refuge

After breakfast, we headed out to the White Water Draw Wildlife Refuge as we heard yesterday that the Sandhill Cranes numbers were vastly decreasing as they were heading out towards New Mexico and Nebraska. We wanted to see if we could view any in their wintering spot. Our path would take us through Tombstone. We plan on visiting Tombstone either Monday or Tuesday so we didn't stop but the drive-thru didn't impress too much. We were amazed at the flat grassland. If there wasn't Mesquite growing, we would have thought we were in the plains states somewhere.

When we got to the refuge, it sort of looked like any wildlife refuge in California except it is in the middle of the desert. We had been advised that there could be some Barn Owls in the barn that is on the premises. We didn't see any Barn Owls but we were treated to a pair of Great Horned Owls. One is sitting out on the beam and the other can be seen towards the left side behind a truss. So beautiful and the very first time we have seen any out in the wild.

As we walked along the refuge trail, we first spotted some Cinnamon Teal ducks. A first for both John and I.

This is a view of one of the ponds closest to us. No Sandhill Cranes but a few Northern Shovelers (no pictures).

As we stood on the viewing platform, we met up with a group who had a guide. We were able to eavesdrop on some good information of which none comes to memory right now. We were standing there looking at a few Sandhill Cranes way out in a distant pond when we noticed that large groups of Sandhill Cranes were coming. We must have stood there for almost an hour watching wave after wave Sandhill Cranes landing. The first wave landed in the pond with the earlier arrivals.

Soon, we had them flying over us and landing in the pond closest to us. What a sight as they dropped down from high above in the sky until they came in for landing. Along with the Sandhill Cranes were a few Snow Geese. Their white bodies with dark wing tips stood out amongst the Sandhill Cranes.

Wings locked and landing gear is down. One fact, Sandhill Cranes don't like to land on water. They will land on land and then walk into the water.

Here is a shot of one of the ponds closest to us after the arrival of several hundred Sandhill Cranes. We must have seen close to 1,000 Sandhill Cranes land. It must have been amazing when there were close to 20,000 of them in the air and on the ground not too long ago.

What a banner day. We saw Great Horned Owls, Cinnamon Teal Ducks, Northern Shoveler Ducks, Northern Pintail Ducks, Greenwing Teal Ducks, Snow Geese, Vermillion Flycatcher (its sweet song drew me in), and an American Kestrel.

We ate our lunch in the barn under the watchful but sleepy eyes of the two Great Horned Owls. One of the best dining views we have had in a long while. While we were eating lunch, we were approached by a guy camping there who had locked his keys in his car. He was ticked off because he had called Geico for assistance two hours ago and was told someone would be there in a half-hour. The unlucky guy was able to give me the name and location of the tow company and with Google's assistance, we got him connected to the tow company. With no pen or paper, he was given another number to call so we called John's phone into use. Isn't technology great sometimes? Happily, by the time we left, the tow truck was there and he was getting his car open.

We decided to take a different route home. This route would take us to the outer edge of Bisbee, within two miles of the Mexican border, and up to the Coronado National Monument. We went inside the Visitor Center and had a nice conversation with the ranger who gave us some ins and outs of the area. We opted not to take the gravel road to the top of the mountain just so we could look down on Mexico. We headed home with a stop in Sierra Vista to get some fuel.

Got home and took a walk around the park and then headed in to fix dinner. As we were finishing dinner, Melissa gave us a call. Poor thing is fighting another cold. As always, it is good to hear from her and to get caught up with her life. Love ya honey. The rest of the evening was spent chilling with a bit of TV.