SABINO CANYON NOVEMBER, 2008

We drove from Benson to Tucson, AZ to visit Sabino Canyon. Several people told us that we should really go up and hike into the Canyon and check it out. They all said it was worth seeing. And they were right.

We got to Sabino Canyon early and no one was at the gate entrance so we drove on in. The parking lot was fairly full with a lot of day walkers. We checked-in and bought tickets for the tram at the museum. Sabino Canyon is a desert oasis where over twelve thousand years ago Columbian mammoth roamed. About 1,200 A.D., irrigation dams were placed in the creek by Hohokam Indians. In the 1870’s pony soldiers from Fort Lowell enjoyed horseback excursions to the “ol’ swimmin’ hole” still in use today. In the 1930’s, 180 C.C.C. workers built bridges and 3.8 miles of road up into the Santa Catalina Mountains. Many varieties of birds, deer and other animals make their home here in the Coronado National Forest. Hiking trails and picnic areas abound in the canyon.



This deer walked right out in front of us and didn't give us a second thought. Do you think he might have seen a few humans before?








The shuttle bus operates 365 days a year. A narrated round trip is 45 minutes and travels the most camera worthy scenery in the Tucson area. Moonlight rides three nights per month are available by reservation.


We enjoyed the bus ride into the canyon with the guide giving us details of the park. There were nine stop-off points along the ride up to the top of Sabino Canyon. We could have gotten off at any point and walked up or gone to the restrooms. Note: Only a few stops have restrooms.

We made the decision to ride all the way up to the top of the canyon and then on the way down we got off at stop seven and walked the rest of the way back to the museum and the truck. This gave us numerous opportunities to take photos.

This Saguaro Cactus is growing right out of the top of the boulder in very little soil. It's so amazing, I had to have a its photo.

From stop seven, it was over a 3-mile walk back. It was mostly down hill BUT right before you get to the museum, there is a steady incline that sneaks up on you. It didn’t look that bad but it was tough on me. I thought I’d never make it up! But I did and the truck never looked so good.

CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS 2008 AT BENSON, AZ

Christmas Eve was a blast! There was a brown bag gift exchange at the clubhouse with lots of food, drinks and laughs. Participants were to bring appetizers and a $10.00 item wrapped or put in a brown paper bag with a label of M=Male, F=Female or U=Universal. We call this Dirty Santa back home. Anyway, once the item is taken for the third time it’s found its final home. Here are some of our favorite pics:

Stella dyed her hair with red food coloring just for this special night! She was the "gift caller". What a gal! Here is another pic:

Christmas came into Benson with snow flying and the wind howling. It was really cold! I think it was warmer back home in Bella Vista, AR than it was here. But it didn’t keep the festivities from commencing in the clubhouse as we had a 10:00 A.M. table decoration planned and then our Christmas Dinner started at 2:00 P.M.

Everything came together as planned and our table was decorated beautifully.

And then at dinner, everyone brought tasty covered dishes and our turkey was so good and it was hand carved at the table by our host. Our host and hostess did an excellent job

After eating, we all visited and enjoyed being with each other.

DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS-LEFTOVERS CELEBRATION

Everyone brought their leftovers from our Christmas Dinner. The turkey was so good that very little was left for leftovers but what was left our hostess combined with the stuffing and it made a great dish. Thanks again to our hostess for being such a great cook. I know everyone enjoyed it as much as we did. After eating, we all visited for a while and then helped cleanup.

GHOST TOWNS RATTLESNAKE CRAFTS & TOMBSTONE, ARIZONIA

It was a week or so before Christmas and we were still at Benson, AZ., when Sam and Carolyn Kidd asked us to go ghost towning with them. We drove out East on I-10 Highway to Exit 331 and then took US Highway 191 through Sursites, Pearce and over to the ghost town of Gleeson, AZ where we found Rattlesnake Crafts & Rocks.

Rattlesnake Crafts & Rocks is owned by John and Sandy Weber and is open every day from dawn to dusk. It is located at 10630 North Double U Ranch Road, Gleeson, AZ.

Over 150 rattlesnake items are for sale in the Weber’s vintage trailer which is surrounded by an acre of over 5,000 primitive and western collectibles on display. Many of these relics were found in or near the ghost town of Gleeson.

They say that nearly every part of the rattlesnake is used in making the crafts including the vertebrae, ribs, fangs, skin and rattles. Even the meat is made into jerky.

After our rattlesnake exhibits, we were starting to get hungry so we headed to Tombstone where we ate lunch and shopped until we got cold and decided it was time to head back to Benson.

OUR WINTER ESCAPE 2008

Dear friends, family and interested parties visiting my blog, this is my first attempt at blogging. So, readers are warned.

At this point in our lives, we are just snowbirds. Ken would like to be a fulltimer but I still have to have my house so we are compromising and traveling four or five months this year.

Thanks to meeting our new friends Jerry and Suzy LeRoy here at the Saguaro SKP Co-Op Park in Benson, AZ., I am blogging. Jerry and Suzy were nice enough to share their knowledge of blogging with me over happy hour and pizza. We had a nice evening getting to know each other and it was great for me to learn how to setup our "Kings on the Road" blog page. Jerry and Suzy are great teachers.

Jerry and Suzy were also co-chairs and hosts of our table #7 for the Thanksgiving Day Dinner which was held in the clubhouse here at the Benson SKP Co-Op Park. They did an excellent job and made everyone feel right at home, even to a couple of "snowbirds".

Of all of the tables that were setup, which I think were about 10 tables seating approximately 200 people, I think that our table was the most decorated and festive. But of course, I could be prejudice.

The food was wonderful! Everyone brought covered dishes with ham and turkey being provided by a couple of ladies with excellent cooking skills and then we all made a small donation for the meat. We had a great assortment of food to select from. Oh my gosh did we eat! You know us...food is us.

Okay, to tell you a little bit about our trip and get everyone up-to-date with our travels. We left Bella Vista, AR, on November 11, 2008. Our first major stop-over was in Corsicana, TX. Ken had to visit a jobsite in Frost, TX, which is near Corsicana, so we stayed there for a few days. It was cold and windy. We didn't get to do any sightseeing; however, we did find a bakery that everyone should stop at if they are in town, so I am making a special note here in my blog.

NOTE: A great place to stop when in Corsicana is the COLLIN STREET BAKERY established in 1896. They had the best pastries I've ever eaten! And they had a large assortment of cakes, pies, cookies and just about anything you could want. They have a small coffee shop with limited seating and a menu offering sandwiches. The bakery will also ship their bakery products. I could definitely stop here again.

Heading west, we stopped at the SKP Rainbow Park in Deming, NM. While we were there, we met Roger and Sue Bell from Westminster, CA. The Bells are New Horizon owners like us. They are very active in and with the New Horizon owners' group. We hope to correspond with the Bells and are going to try to attend one of the groups' meetings. They are supposed to be very informative and fun.


Finally, we arrived in Benson, AZ, tp://www.cityofbenson.com/ on November 17th. We really enjoy this area and this park so we have decided to stay here through the end of December. The weather here has really been nice. The mornings and evenings are a little cool (jacket/sweater) but the days heat up in the 70's. The mountains around Benson are beautiful and the sunsets are awesome.


We try to walk around the park at least once a day. Ken does walk more than me. I knew I had to put this statement in before he reads this and says he walks more than I do. So, here I've confessed.


I took this picture one evening when we were walking around the park together after dinner. It's not the best pic because I took it with my phone but in future blogs; I hope to have some better photos of the area.


Since Ken does most of his work during the week, we do most of our sightseeing on the weekends. One of the neat places that we've visited is the town of Tubac, AZ. It's a town south of Tucson, featuring over 120 local merchants showing arts, crafts, neat shops of all kinds and restaurants. It's really neat.

Ken liked this old Hudson Hornet which was out in front of one of the neat shops. Plus he also enjoyed holding down the benches-lots of benches. And we both enjoyed an ice cream cone at a neat sweet shop in the center of the town. He did enjoy some of the shops, once he got off the phone. Here is the website if anyone wants to see more info on Tubac: http://www.tubacaz.com/ .






Here is our favorite pic for the day at Tubac and we took it because we have a friend back home that just loves armadillos - NOT. Glenn this one's for you.

We have been staying busy. The park has a monthly Calendar of Events and there is something to do every day. It's up to us to decide what we want to do each day. This is really the best park we have stayed at, thus far. Some of the activities that we are participating in are:

• I do beading on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
  
• Movie Nights-(They sell hot dogs & popcorn what a cheap date!)
  
• Fish Fry’s-(I don't have to cook and the food is good.
  
• Genealogy-Which I hope to get to the next class.

The activities here are numerous. All are welcome which is what is so nice and everyone is willing to show you how to participate. I think we are going to try our hand at "Pickle Ball". Will update later on how we do. That is, if we survive.

Also, for our good friends back in Bella Vista, Glenn and Clara, they have LINE DANCING here. However, I have not even suggested to Ken that we try this class-Ha.

On Sunday, 12/7/08, we visited the Benson Assembly of God Church and enjoyed meeting the minister and a few couples in the church. We will try attending again while we are here in town.

After church, we drove to Tucson and visited with my cousin, Don Crow. He is my cousin on my Father's side of the family. Don is retired and has lived in Tucson all of his life. Don's parents moved him to Arizona from Arkansas when he was a baby. He had really bad breathing (allergy) problems and his doctors suggested that they move him to Arizona, and he has been living here every since. We really enjoyed our visit and we will be visiting with him again right after Christmas.

I think we will leave you guys for this month but we both wish everyone peace, love, good health and a very Merry Christmas.