Wednesday, April 18, 2007
SKP Saguaro Co-Op, Benson, AZ - March 17-April 17
Early in our visit here, we spent two days in Tucson helping Gayle who was having cataract surgery on his second eye. The first eye had gone so well, he didn't expect to need our help, but that turned out not to be the case. The surgery was a bit more complicated which caused Gayle to feel dizzy and be unable to do much for almost 24 hours. After the follow-up appointment the next day, he was seeing, and feeling, much better in general, so we were able to go back to Benson.
While in Tucson, we decided to visit a nearby gallery that was showing drawings & paintings by John Lennon. This was quite interesting to see and brought back good memories. It made us long for the "good old days"! Many of the drawings were for sale at prices ranging from $650 to $15,000. We were happy just looking!
Back in Benson, we were treated to a visit to Kartchner Caverns by our friend Becky Ruttenberg from Boulder. Along with her friend Brian, we spent the morning at the caverns on one of their guided tours. The caverns were discovered in 1974 by two cavers who kept their discovery secret until 1988, when they completed negotiations with Arizona State Parks to purchase the land. The caverns are still "live", and extraordinary precautions have been taken to protect the cave's natural environment. We passed through six metal doors going in and three going out, all designed to keep the humidity at least 95%. The only way you can view the caverns is by guided tour, and you are not allowed to take any photographs. We enjoyed seeing the caverns but did not find them to be superior to other caverns we have visited. We think the no-photography policy is just an attempt to preserve the "mystique" of the place so others are forced to spend money to see what they're like. It also feels quite restricting to be on a guided tour, because you don't get to linger and admire. There are a lot of detailed formations, and it would be nice to have a longer time to view them.
Since the weather was cloudy with intermittent showers, we canceled our plans for afternoon hiking and drove south to tour the grounds of Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista. This is an active military base, but, due in part to the excellent birding habitat, it is usually quite open for visitors. You just need to show photo id and car insurance information to get in. We drove around and walked a bit. We were surprised at how run down the public areas were. The museum had interesting information on the early days of the fort. Fort Huachuca was made permanent in 1882 and was instrumental in national defense against the Apaches, and has remained key in national defense due to its role in Army Intelligence. There is also an Army Intelligence Museum which we decided to bypass.
Brian and Becky have been playing duplicate bridge, so we spent the evening at our trailer playing bridge with them. They are good competitors, and we look forward to getting together with them when we are in the Boulder area.
While at Chaco last summer we met Bonnie, who works for the BLM office in Sierra Vista. She contacted us about possibly hosting at a site near Benson, and we made plans to meet her there during the March 31 grand opening of the museum. The Grand Opening was indeed grand -- well attended with good food, good music, and an interesting look at the grounds. The historic town of Fairbank is located near the San Pedro River within the boundaries of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA), managed by the BLM. The town was an important transportation hub (railroad & stagecoach) in the 1880s, the peak of the silver boom in nearby Tombstone, which at that time was one of the largest towns in the Old West. But with no railway access and insufficient water to process the ore, Tombstone sent countless wagonloads of ore to Fairbank. The mercantile remained in operation until around 1974, and is the next restoration project. There are several standing buildings, lots of foundations, and many hiking trails with good birding. The schoolhouse was built around 1920, replacing the original wooden one that burned down. Classes were held until 1944. Its restoration was completed in 2007, and it is now open as a museum, bookstore and gift shop, operated by volunteers. We made arrangements to spend about 4 weeks here as site hosts when we left Benson.
Doug's brother Rodger & family (all but daughter Kerry who is now in college at Emory) visited Gayle for Easter weekend. We drove up on Sunday and spent an enjoyable day on the golf course (playing golf would sound too serious for what this outing actually was!). Seven of us rode around in 3 carts (with the seventh one usually walking) and 4-5 sometimes hitting a ball. Three actually played all nine holes. We started in the afternoon so there weren't many people for us to slow down. Afterwards, we had a great dinner together. It was wonderful seeing them again. It happens way too infrequently.
Back at Benson the following day we discovered there were two spaces available on an outing to the Astronomer's Inn, just outside Benson. This is a bed & breakfast which also has several telescopes ranging from 12 to 20 inches. They offer pre-arranged programs for people not staying at the inn. We had been missing the stargazing that we usually do at Chaco and had been wanting to see Saturn while it was in position for such excellent viewing, so we jumped at the chance. The view of Saturn was SPECTACULAR, and we also saw a number of other interesting objects visible only in the winter, and thus not visible to us at Chaco. But it was strange to pay over $16 each for what is free to all visitors at the Chaco astronomy programs.
On April 4, Willie got word that her mother, Ann Haynes, had become unable to eat and was generally taking a turn for the worst. She was admitted to the hospital that night and her condition worsened steadily until she passed away at 9:30 pm on Saturday, April 7. While we were quite sad and will miss her greatly, we were glad her life at the nursing home was not extended overly long. It was not the most pleasant environment, despite the fact that they provided quite adequate care. She was visited frequently by friends and relatives up to her last day, and we are thankful for that. Willie made plans to go to MS the following week to take care of details there. After Willie returned from MS, we spent our time in Benson doing our "usual" activities -- line dancing, playing bridge, and socializing for a few more days.
While in Tucson, we decided to visit a nearby gallery that was showing drawings & paintings by John Lennon. This was quite interesting to see and brought back good memories. It made us long for the "good old days"! Many of the drawings were for sale at prices ranging from $650 to $15,000. We were happy just looking!
Back in Benson, we were treated to a visit to Kartchner Caverns by our friend Becky Ruttenberg from Boulder. Along with her friend Brian, we spent the morning at the caverns on one of their guided tours. The caverns were discovered in 1974 by two cavers who kept their discovery secret until 1988, when they completed negotiations with Arizona State Parks to purchase the land. The caverns are still "live", and extraordinary precautions have been taken to protect the cave's natural environment. We passed through six metal doors going in and three going out, all designed to keep the humidity at least 95%. The only way you can view the caverns is by guided tour, and you are not allowed to take any photographs. We enjoyed seeing the caverns but did not find them to be superior to other caverns we have visited. We think the no-photography policy is just an attempt to preserve the "mystique" of the place so others are forced to spend money to see what they're like. It also feels quite restricting to be on a guided tour, because you don't get to linger and admire. There are a lot of detailed formations, and it would be nice to have a longer time to view them.
Since the weather was cloudy with intermittent showers, we canceled our plans for afternoon hiking and drove south to tour the grounds of Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista. This is an active military base, but, due in part to the excellent birding habitat, it is usually quite open for visitors. You just need to show photo id and car insurance information to get in. We drove around and walked a bit. We were surprised at how run down the public areas were. The museum had interesting information on the early days of the fort. Fort Huachuca was made permanent in 1882 and was instrumental in national defense against the Apaches, and has remained key in national defense due to its role in Army Intelligence. There is also an Army Intelligence Museum which we decided to bypass.Brian and Becky have been playing duplicate bridge, so we spent the evening at our trailer playing bridge with them. They are good competitors, and we look forward to getting together with them when we are in the Boulder area.
While at Chaco last summer we met Bonnie, who works for the BLM office in Sierra Vista. She contacted us about possibly hosting at a site near Benson, and we made plans to meet her there during the March 31 grand opening of the museum. The Grand Opening was indeed grand -- well attended with good food, good music, and an interesting look at the grounds. The historic town of Fairbank is located near the San Pedro River within the boundaries of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA), managed by the BLM. The town was an important transportation hub (railroad & stagecoach) in the 1880s, the peak of the silver boom in nearby Tombstone, which at that time was one of the largest towns in the Old West. But with no railway access and insufficient water to process the ore, Tombstone sent countless wagonloads of ore to Fairbank. The mercantile remained in operation until around 1974, and is the next restoration project. There are several standing buildings, lots of foundations, and many hiking trails with good birding. The schoolhouse was built around 1920, replacing the original wooden one that burned down. Classes were held until 1944. Its restoration was completed in 2007, and it is now open as a museum, bookstore and gift shop, operated by volunteers. We made arrangements to spend about 4 weeks here as site hosts when we left Benson.
Doug's brother Rodger & family (all but daughter Kerry who is now in college at Emory) visited Gayle for Easter weekend. We drove up on Sunday and spent an enjoyable day on the golf course (playing golf would sound too serious for what this outing actually was!). Seven of us rode around in 3 carts (with the seventh one usually walking) and 4-5 sometimes hitting a ball. Three actually played all nine holes. We started in the afternoon so there weren't many people for us to slow down. Afterwards, we had a great dinner together. It was wonderful seeing them again. It happens way too infrequently.Back at Benson the following day we discovered there were two spaces available on an outing to the Astronomer's Inn, just outside Benson. This is a bed & breakfast which also has several telescopes ranging from 12 to 20 inches. They offer pre-arranged programs for people not staying at the inn. We had been missing the stargazing that we usually do at Chaco and had been wanting to see Saturn while it was in position for such excellent viewing, so we jumped at the chance. The view of Saturn was SPECTACULAR, and we also saw a number of other interesting objects visible only in the winter, and thus not visible to us at Chaco. But it was strange to pay over $16 each for what is free to all visitors at the Chaco astronomy programs.
On April 4, Willie got word that her mother, Ann Haynes, had become unable to eat and was generally taking a turn for the worst. She was admitted to the hospital that night and her condition worsened steadily until she passed away at 9:30 pm on Saturday, April 7. While we were quite sad and will miss her greatly, we were glad her life at the nursing home was not extended overly long. It was not the most pleasant environment, despite the fact that they provided quite adequate care. She was visited frequently by friends and relatives up to her last day, and we are thankful for that. Willie made plans to go to MS the following week to take care of details there. After Willie returned from MS, we spent our time in Benson doing our "usual" activities -- line dancing, playing bridge, and socializing for a few more days.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 11:08 PM 
