Cross-country to Key West: High Desert Arizona
Well, blog fans(?), we’ve made it almost back across the country. Down to our last legs through Arizona and to California and up the coast. As we got to the vineyard, just 4 miles west of Rodeo, NM and about 12 miles south of Portal, AZ, the entrance to the Coronado National Forest and the Chiricahua Monument, the rains stayed away long enough for us to get to the vineyard. This is saying a lot because these thunderstorms dump a lot of water and the roads out to the vineyard are PRIMITIVE. You need ground clearance and 4 wheel drive may be necessary. You have to drive across and through dry washes to get there, so when it rains in the mountains it can get sketchy. One the weather does provide are opportunities for some beautiful photos.
We tried to go to the Chiricahua Monument but the last 15 miles were closed for maintenance and, on our first day, we could ‘t get past Cave Canyon because of the danger of flash floods in the canyon from a huge thunderstorm. As a result we headed into Wilcox, an hour away on the west side of the range, to see the winery where Copper Horse’s, and other vineyards, grapes are processed. We met Mark, the vintner, and Tyler, whose family owns a vineyard and was helping Mark with some machine repairs. We got to taste some viognier pressed a week earlier and some syrah from two weeks earlier from Copper Horse grapes. Both show great promise and the syrah is going to be excellent. We barrel tasted some of the other varietals which should be bottled soon.
Our second day we tried again to get into the mountains. This time the rains held off, or at least stayed south of us so we could head into the canyon and then take the “back” route into Paradise, AZ and then back to Portal. Eric and Gina took us to a couple of their favorite places in Cave Canyon, the Cathedral Vista and John Hands campground and we did a little hiking, not much. At John Hands there’s a creek which is usually pretty slow, but with the rains at this time of the year it was running pretty well. A few years ago a flash flood blew through here and destroyed the campground. It’s been abandoned rather than continue to rebuild it.
On the way back to the vineyard, through the almost non-existent town of Paradise we had to cross streams flowing across the road. Eric and Gina’s dog, Diva, a lab/australian sheepdog mix, commandeered the center console to watch out the windshield. She only does this on gravel roads as she watches for rabbits and birds on the road. When one crossed in front of us she got real alert. It was fun to watch. There are some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and cliffs as you drive through the valleys back to “civilization”.
We stopped at the Paradise Cemetery and walked through it, checking out the old gravesites. It’s recently been through some restoration and someone had researched the cemetery and prepared a map of the plots, names and dates of burial. You can see where families have been maintaining some plots, while others have gone to seed.
On the road to Paradise
Not much in Paradise, a few “houses”.
The evening after this excursion we drove to Douglas, AZ for dinner. We went to the Gladsden Hotel, a relic of the copper mining in southern Arizona. It’s a grand old building that has recently been undergoing restoration. Eric has done some tasting events there and the latin restaurant in the hotel is excellent. The owners are proudest of the fact that President Obama and Michelle have been there, for the food. The hotel reminded us of the Hotel Davenport in Spokane, which also has undergone restoration to the splendor that it had at the start of the 1900’s. The Gladsden’s claim to fame was when Pancho Villa raided Douglas. Legend has it that he rode his horse to the top of the grand staircase and back down. There are chips in the marble stairs from his horse’s hoofs, allegedly.
On the way home we saw a couple of rattlesnakes stretched out on the highway, looking for warmth from the asphalt. One appeared to be a red diamondback about 6 feet long. I think I was able to straddle it. About a 1/4 mile up the road there was a black diamondback. It was big enough that Eric could identify it as a black one from his seat in the back of the truck. This one probably did not fare as well as the red one. It was huge. It stretched almost all the way across the lane. There was no way to miss it at highway speed. At least it didn’t get wrapped around the suspension. When I was in military training at Fort Polk, LA in the early 70’s as a driver, we were told that if we saw a rattler in the road to stomp the brakes and skid the snake to be sure to kill it because if they don’t die, and get wrapped around the open suspension structure on a Jeep it can be bad for someone who gets near the wheel later. There was one time when I saw one caught up on the tie rods of a front wheel, but, luckily it was dead. Something to be wary of when driving in snake country.
From the vineyard we headed to Sun City to stay with my brother and get together with Cathy’s cousins that live in the valley. Didn’t take a lot of photos there since it’s a “standard” stop. We did drive out to the speedway, though, in order to keep up with our practice on this trip. The speedway is under reconstruction so we could ‘t get any closer than the construction entry gate for long distance shots.
And the yahoo with the racist flag still flying, in an insult to the US flag, still lives down the block. I had hoped that this clown had died by now, but no luck. Again, as I said a couple years ago, I’m surprised no local minorities have put holes in his house yet.
From Phoenix, we headed to Manhattan Beach, CA to see our great-nephew and his fiance. Charlie and Brittany made it here for her birthday just after we were in San Francisco. We were unable to catch them in town two years ago on our Burning Bridges Tour but made it this time. More on that in the next edition.
Ciao for now.