Old Timers Gathering (Say hi before you die!)

Friday, Jan 31.    

We're headed out for Glendale, Arizona. It's time for the annual mini reunion of folks Larry (Steve) worked with back in the 1970's, before we moved to Oregon.  It's a great time for them to catch up, as well as re-telling stories and remembering some of the events they were all involved in the Orange County Sherriff's Department "back in the day".  

It's also an excellent excuse for us to take a short road trip. 

Our last post  on Stephen F. Austin State Park mentioned that we had lost Shiner and unfortunately, four days after that trip we learned that Watch had cancer that could not be treated, so he has gone over that rainbow bridge to be with his best buddy. After Shiner was gone, Watch had become my best walking buddy, and he loved to snuggle with Steve on the sofa in the evenings, so we really miss him. 

It's weird being "dogless", and it does impact our traveling style to some extent. For this trip we decided to make it strictly auto/hotel with no RV involved.  We can travel much faster, and we had budgeted a short time, so it worked out well. 

 It's a rarity these days, even in law enforcement, for people who have worked together for many years still stay connected even long after retirement. The group that meets in Arizona varies from year to year, as many, like us and our hosts, have moved out of the Orange County, CA area. 

We stayed overnight in Clint, TX, just a short hop outside El Paso, then up early to be on our way to our next stop

We arrived at the hotel in Tolleson, near Glendale, by 3:30, quickly got settled in and hopped over to our host's house only a short distance from the hotel. 

Two days filled with catching up on friends, health and families, of stories reliving their crazy and sometime humorous experiences kept everyone laughing and enjoying the comradery. Our hosts kept us well fed too!

Feb. 3, Sierra Vista, AZ

We'd planned a bit of touring on our route home, and our first scheduled stop was the infamous Tombstone. 

Our first stop was the OK Corral, where the famous gunfight took place. It's hard to envision anything like that now. Early birds that we are, at 10 AM many of the shops aren't open yet, and the wide main street is practically empty. A few resident reenactors, looking like they were all ready for that gunfight greeted visitors and answered questions. 

There are now three locations in town where that famous gunfight can be seen, but we passed on that and instead visited the history museum in the county courthouse. The museum is really well done, and profiled some interesting local personalities. 

 One of the most famous is  Sarah Herring Sorin, the first woman lawyer in Arizona, also became the first female lawyer from Arizona admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court in April of 1906. 

Another noteworthy resident was Ed Schieffelin, who founded the town of Tombstone in 1877. Ed was apparently wealthy enough as a result of successful previous mining exploits, but he loved the hunt, so to speak, and discovered rich veins here. 

He had been warned he'd "only find his tombstone" when he went in search of minerals near the Huachuca mountains, thus the name of the town he settled. This history of the town's growth and prosperity is interesting, and mirrors many come-and-gone mining settlements. 

For a fun dip into a blend of history and modern times, visit the Tombstone Times, a little newspaper that is hand out free when you visit. It's online, free if you wait a bit for the month's edition to come out, or by subscription. They also have a collection of some of their featured articles online.        Tombstone photo album

Feb. 4  

First stop of the day is nearby Bisbee, a historic copper mining town only a few miles from the border. Much like Nevada's Virginia City. This historic town is built in a valley with steep incline on both sides, so the buildings form a sort of random staircase leading up the mountain sides. 

The visitor center is cleverly situated at the opening of one of the original mine tunnels, and you can take a hard-hat required tour if you like. We just browsed the offerings, picked up a map, and headed out to explore. 

At it's peak Bisbee was a bustling metropolis with a large population and beautiful architecture. Now, with a much smaller population and less mining activity, tourism is one of the major industries. 

The town is beautifully restored and maintained, with many modern touches like murals, statues, ornate wrought iron, and plenty of shops, restaurants and galleries.  (see the photo album for examples.

In modern times, copper mines are no longer tunnels, they are wide open pits, and there are many still in operation. The multicolored soils of the surrounding hillsides are a clue as to how rich this area is in mineral content. 

The Bisbee Historical and Mining Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate - so members can take advantage of their discount in the gift shop. The museum is beautifully done, with large graphics setting the mood. They have a short video on their website that includes a few dramatic scenes of the town, a few of the museum displays, and historic photos.  One of my favorite parts of the mining section was the prominent placement of several small signs with some of the "Miners' Ten Commandments".      

The original  Miners' Ten Commandments were actually written in 1853 by James M. Hutchings (1818-1902), and first published in the Placerville Herald newspaper. The signs posted around the Bisbee museum are rather humorous take-offs, the text being much shorter than the original, but still conveying some truths that only a hard rock miner can truly appreciate. The full text of the original work can be seen here, but be ready to enlarge the font as it's very dense text. 

The museum displays are all extremely well done, and very informative, but we were especially impressed by the dioramas. This one, in great detail, shows the process of obtaining water from a well in Zacatecas Canyon and carrying it back to the settlement. Bisbee's first water pipes were not installed until 1908.

After a quick lunch we went back toward Sierra Vista, to Fort Huachuca, where our daughter had some of her training while in the Army. Checking in at the entrance was a real experience, including being photographed and providing all our credentials. We were provided with a pass bearing our portrait, which the guard preparing it assured me, was "like all government photos", meaning not especially flattering. 

The fort has been in existence since 1877, when it was home to cavalry protecting settlers, and a base for the famed Buffalo Soldiers. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and has served many purposes through out our nation's history. The fort museums do a beautiful job of presenting the long history, Currently the fort is home to the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School and the world’s largest unmanned aerial systems training center. More about the fort here. 

With our brains full of historic facts, but with a hearty appetite, we ended our tour for the day and headed back to our hotel in Las Cruces for dinner and to pack for departure. 

Bisbee photo album

Feb. 5

We're headed for home, and we have one scenic spot to tour on our route . . . Chiricahua National Monument. Called "the land of Standing up Rocks" by the resident Chiricahua Apache, this is a geologic treasure. The amazing pinnacles originated 27 million years ago when the Turkey Creek volcano blew ash over thousands of square miles. This ash formed rhyolite, which cracked as it cooled, and then erosion took over and created these amazing shapes. Erosion and gravity of course continue to shape the landscape, softening edges, moving boulders, and shaping the cliffs. 

If only these formations could talk! In days past these pillars and canyons provided refuge and escape for Chief Cochise and Geronimo and their warriors. The Chiricahua Apache were the last tribe to surrender, and they were then remove to reservations in Oklahoma and New Mexico.

This national monument celebrated it's 100th anniversary in 2024. Although there are few man-made structures here, those in existence represent a lot of history. 

In 1888 homesteaders from Sweden Neil and Emma Erickson settled here, raised a family, and eventually turned the homestead into a guest ranch which hosted visitors until 1973. 

The family built trails, led guests on horseback rides, and lobbied for the area's protection. They eventually had their wish recognized 1924.

The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) was established in 1933 and they completed many of the restoration and conservation projects in this area. The visitor center has displays with details on all this history, local wildlife, and more.

Although automobile access here is limited, this is a perfect place for those who love to hike, as there are miles of trails of all levels of difficulty, and a variety of wildlife to watch. The thick, mixed tree forest is a beautiful contrast to the geology.  It's a definite "must see" park. 

Chiricahua National Monument album

This marks the end of our tour for this trip. We'll be home tomorrow. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

 (please note, if you are viewing this on your phone, it's best if you rotate it to horizontal)

Season's Greetings!!

We hope you and your family are enjoying the holiday season. 

I seem to have lost a few parts of the year, having a bit of brain fog will do that. I think back over the year and it feels like we didn’t do much traveling at all, but in reviewing the calendar I find we actually did quite a bit, but it was primarily early in the year. 

For one thing, it seems we’ve entered into the age of healthcare taking priority over other issues, for ourselves as well as the dogs and Kendra. Looking back over the calendar there are a lot of appointments! That seemed to occupy most of the summer months, which worked out alright as it was too hot this year to do anything else! 

 In Jan- Feb we took a trip of about 5 weeks to Arizona for mini reunion and a brief visit with some of the relatives in southern California. 

We met up with Steve’s youngest brother for a couple of days camping in the Anza Borrego desert. Dale camps there frequently and he’s a great tour guide.   He took us to an area where a local sculptor, Ricardo Breceda, has placed several amazing, huge metal sculptures. There are dinosaurs, human figures, and some fantasy figures.

Somehow the sculptor managed to make them look at home in the wide open spaces of sagebrush and cactus, right next to paved roads! 

One such sculpture starts on one side of the highway and appears again on the other side, as if it had burrowed under the road. 

The trip also included a stop in Fort Davis, a Texas location we’ve been wanting to visit. 

The University of Texas observatory is located there, and they have wonderful public programs. There's a nature conservancy attraction with wonderful plant collections, the restored fort, and more to visit.

In March we flew to California for memorial service for Steve’s mother, who passed away last November. It was a really nice service and enabled us to see distant relatives we hadn’t connected with for several years. 

Kendra and the boys accompanied us, and so the boys had the opportunity to experience the Pacific Ocean for the first time. They enjoyed the waves and of course digging in the sand! 

Based on the boys’ interests we visited as many of the California tourism sites as energy and time would allow, including a dinosaur related museum and the battleship USS Iowa, so it was a great trip!

In late April we took a short trip to north Texas to visit Palo Duro Canyon (known as the Grand Canyon of Texas) We also visited Ft. Richardson, which figured largely in the early history of the state and is well restored. It was all fascinating, and the scenery was wonderful – and very different from our part of Texas. 

In reviewing the calendar I also note the primary reason we didn’t travel much in the summer…..most of the notations were for physical therapy appointments, some leading up to my knee replacement at the end of July and others after the surgery to get back in shape. The anesthetic for the surgery accounts for some of my brain fog I think, at least that’s my theory for the moment! They say it can take up to a year to recover. 

I had lots of entertainment during the first days following the surgery. We have a few Ring security cameras that aren’t installed so we can move them around the yard. We put some near bird feeders and some under the house where we’d been hearing odd noises. Every morning when I got up I’d check the camera displays on my computer. 

I watched raccoons, foxes and armadillos milling around the back yard almost every night. That was fun but not really surprising. Here's a photo of one of the foxes watching a raccoon eat the bird seed on the ground. They seem to coexist pretty well. The cameras we put under the house were a bit of a surprise – we learned we were being visited by opossums, skunks, rodents, and neighborhood cats. We’ve taken steps to close off their access, at least until someone digs another tunnel! 

December has been a busy month. First, we celebrate our 51st anniversary!!! 

Steve spent lots of time and energy upgrading and repairing some systems on the RV as well as trip planning – his favorite hobby. To celebrate we tried out all the RV improvements on this most recent trip. Our destination, near Houston, was the Stephen F. Austin State Park. The park is historically the site of the birth of Texas, as it was the land grant from Mexico that eventually became the state of Texas. We had a great time and enjoyed walking the trails and enjoying the early winter scenery. 

Unfortunately during this year we lost both our dogs. Shiner passed away in early October of age related issues. 

Watch left us 3 days after we returned home from this last trip from cancer that was fast moving and not treatable. We often found them resting together like this, touching paws. 

They really were buddies, and their passing leaves a giant hole in the family. We miss them both, but vowed to take our time about getting another one. 

We of course had birthday celebrations to spice things up – Raylan is now 10 years old, and Jaxen is 13 (yikes!) It seems just yesterday that we were announcing their arrival. They are still being homeschooled and seem to be thriving, finding plenty of time to pursue their art projects, video games, and swimming in the backyard pool when it’s warm enough. Kendra and Scott share teaching duties and that seems to be working out well. 

Early this month we visited with Kendra and the boys and watched them decorate their tree. It seemed like a good opportunity to take a photo. In this family it’s usually difficult to get more than two people to stand still long enough to take a group photo so this is a rare exception in this family! 

We do hope you and your family have had a good year. I know as we all get older (hard to believe it happens to our children too, isn’t it?) we develop health and other concerns that can become all consuming and cast and unwelcome light over everything. Your close bonds as a family are something you can really lean on and be thankful for. We wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year!

The Worshams

Stephen F. Austin State Park

This park's location is important not because of the landscape, but because of it's historic significance. Stephen F. Austin chose this area as home base for es­tab­lishing Anglo-American colonies in Texas. The historic plaque commemorating the site of Austin's colony explains the details. 

The place to start for a background on Texas's birth and fight for independence is the museum, known officially as San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site. This is the location, on the highway just outside the park entrance, is where Steven F. Austin first established his colony in 1823. The colony grew to become the social, economic, and political center of American immigration to Texas before independence. 

This life-size sculpture greeted us at the entrance to the museum

The museum includes a variety of period artifacts, murals and other artwork that provide an overview of life at the time. The gift shop has a variety of the usual items for sale, and the staff are readily available to answer questions. 

Outside the walls of the museum one enters into a small village of log buildings, all well maintained and often populated with volunteers dressed in period clothing and going about their daily chores. On the day we visited there was only one, a blacksmith. He happily explained his tools and the project he was working on. 

The campground here in the park is situated in a mixed forest of cedar elm, water hickory, Osage orange, sugar hackberry, pecan, Mexican plum and western soapberry.  We're visiting in early winter, so most of the branches are bare, and the only wildflowers are a few Turk's Cap blossoms still hanging on. The native holly, also common here in the campground, is still covered with red berries. The birds will do away with those soon as the weather turns colder. 

We planned only a short trip, as we're approaching Christmas and there's a lot to do to prepare for Santa's visit, so we only had time for one more site visit. The Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge is only a 30 minute drive (19 mi.) northeast of the campground. It's a great place to get an overview of the amazing natural history in this coastal plains environment. 

The center moved into a new facility not too long ago and they are still getting organized so they weren't officially "open" when we visited. There was an employee in the building however, and when she saw us watching the video of the Prairie Chicken Dance in the entrance area she happily opened the door so we could visit inside. The collections and displays are all focused on explaining the importance of protecting the species, their traits and the overall ecology of the area. 

The displays in the visitor center include an extensive taxidermy bird exhibit and some lovely artwork by students. The activities the staff plan for busy seasons are clever and entertaining for everyone, but especially suited for school age children. 

Browse the photos in our photo album for this visit to get  better idea of the scenery and the museum itself. The center's official grand opening is expected to be in the spring for their "Boom and Bloom" festival (The 2023 Attwater's Prairie-Chicken Festival, Booming and Blooming Festival will take place on the second weekend of April, unless it falls on Easter weekend, in which case it will be the previous weekend.) 

The "boom" is the male performance during mating season, and the video in the entrance lobby shows staff members and visitors demonstrating the steps to this "dance" ritual. It's a really entertaining way to introduce some rather interesting animal behavior! Here is a short but amusing video explaining the purpose for the "boom" dance, and a more scientific  8-minute video exploring the issues around the survival of this species as well as the steps being taken to assist in their survival. 

There are several bird blinds around the nearby pond and a short trail so it's easy to get good viewing angles, also a nice place to set up your easel or camera.

The town nearest the campground is Sealy. It's a small town, but necessary services like groceries are available, there's a Walmart so you can pick up whatever you forgot, and there are several choices for restaurants, auto parts, etc. We drove around in town on the first day in the park just to get our bearings. There are a few interesting shops in the old original downtown area too. . . including a quilt shop! If you're a quilter, look for the Wooden Spool.

The park gift shop has an extensive collection of T-shirts, hats, stuffed toys, games and collectables. Sites are all pull-thru, nicely spaced in the wooded area. Many have large grassy areas that are perfect for kids or campers with pets.  

Restrooms are nice, clean, well designed with shower accommodations for individuals using wheelchairs in all - men's, women's, two family and one "handicapped" restroom.

The campground is surrounded by multiple walking/biking trails that all seem well maintained. 

We really enjoyed wandering through the woods, especially since the weather was mild. The birds were fairly active, and we found a few stray wildflowers still blooming here and there. The low-lying portions of trails that get flooded frequently often have some sort of bridge or boardwalk over them. A local bicycle club has helped to put in and maintain many of the trails sections. 

Time to head for home. This was a nice respite in a busy season. 

photo album for this trip