CAMP VERDE, ARIZONA – MONTEZUMA’S WELL

Montezuma’s Well, like the Castle, is a remnant from the ancient Sinagua Indians.  It is basically a small lake in the middle of the desert.  The well is a limestone sink formed long ago by the collapse of an immense underground cavern.  The springs that feed it flow continuously and the water is 76 degrees year round.  The ancient indians lived in the rocks above the well (see picture) and used the water to irrigate their farm lands.  Also, like the Castle, the well in reality has nothing to do with Montezuma.  The well is a National Monument.

CAMP VERDE, ARIZONA - MONTEZUMA'S CASTLE

Montezuma's castle is a five-story, 20 room structure built into the side of a limestone cliff 100 feet above the valley.  It was started around 1100 and was the home to about 50 Sinagu indians.  Early settlers marveled at the structure and assumed that it was Aztec in origin, hence the name Montezuma's Castle, which was totally wrong.  The indians who lived here were farmers and used the nearby valley for their crops.

The castle is now a National Monument and is a nice short, flat stroll from the nearby Welcome Center.

CAMP VERDE, ARIZONA - JEROME

We've left Phoenix and are now staying in Camp Verde, which is a small town about 25 miles south of Sedona on I17.  We'll be here a few days and then we'll move to Sedona for the 4th of July weekend.

Jerome is a small town west of Camp Verde that was created in the late 1880s when copper was discovered.  At one time the population of the town reached 15,000 but it became a virtual ghost town when the copper mine closed in 1953.  Today the town is a tourist attraction because of the many quait shops that line Main Street and the fact that the town is on the side of a mountain at almost a mile high elevation.  The drive to get there is very nice also.

PHOENIX, ARIXONA - ANNIVERSARY

Janie and I celebrated our 35th anniversary together by having dinner at Giuseppe's on 28th, which is a great Italian restaurant.  The restaurant was featured on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive Ins & Dives" featuring Guy Fieri (that's him in the poster behind us).  I had seen the program online before we left home and we looked it up when we got to Phoenix.  It's a very small restaurant, seating only about 20, but the food is excellent.  We had a wonderful anniversary dinner and a great bottle of wine too.  We're happy we looked it up!

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - FRED HARVEY

The Arizona capital also had an exhibit on Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls that we found extremely interesting.  The only problem is that we never figured out what Fred Harvey had to do with Arizona, except that he was involved with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad that came to Arizona.

Fred Harvey was a failed restaurant owner from St. Louis who convinced the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe that good food was the key to attracting passengers to travel on the railroad.  In return for providing quality eating houses along the routes, the railroad provided Harvey's restaurants with free coal, free freight for food and employees and anything else his establishments needed.  To deliver on his promises, Harvey created the waitresses that became the symbol of quality for the next century, "The Harvey Girls".

To be a Harvey Girl you had to be good looking, slim and between 18 & 30 years old.  You also had to sign a contract for a year and agree not to date any customers or get married.  One of the things they were most famous for was their system wide "cup code" which delivered quick service.  When a customer was seated by a Harvey Girl a beverage order was taken and the cup was adjusted to show what had been ordered.  A waitress follwed and could tell what beverage to serve by the position of the cup.

Well I guess you can tell we were impressed by the whole story.  I can remember as a boy eating at Fred Harvey restaurants in St. Louis and Kansas City.  They were excellent family restaurants.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - STATE CAPITAL

We read that Arizona had built a new capital (pictured) and turned the old capital into a museum.  We thought it might be interesting and so we went to see it.  Much of the exhibits were about the capital itself and were of minimal interest but they had an entire wing on the USS Arizona, which was sank at Pearl Harbor in 1941.  

The battleship Arizona recieved major improvements between 1929 and 1931 and returned to service in time to host President Herbert Hoover on his vacation in March of 1931.  The ship never saw any war action but was in Pearl Harbor getting ready for any eventual action.  It never had a chance.  There were 1177 men killed on 12/7/41.  Today they have the anchor displayed in a park outside the capital and it is 1177 feet from the anchor to the center of the state emblem on the floor of the old capital.

We were surprised to see the silver service from the ship that was on display.  It was fantastic!  It has very intricate engravings on it and is in perfect condition.  While it went down with the ship, it was recovered very quickly and was not harmed by the sea waters.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA

We made the drive from Tucson to Phoenix.  It's a horrible 100 mile drive through the desert in what seems to be bumper to bumper traffic.  The scenery is nothing but flat, ugly desert.  In any case, we've made it to Phoenix and are staying at the Tempe Elks.  This is the nicest Elks RV parking that we've encountered.  They have 26 RV sites with full hookups.  They have a sign that reads "The Friendliest Lodge In America" and I think they try to live up to it.

While in Phoenix, we spent quite a bit of time with our friend and ex-employee, Bobby Scott.  He has lived in Phoenix for many years now but used to be one of our store managers in Denver.  He is currently working for P.F. Changs in their corporate offices.  It was great fun being with him.

TUCSON, ARIZONA - MISSION SAN XAVIER

The Mission San Xavier is an old Mexican style mission that was founded in 1692.  The current mission building was built in 1783 and is one of the oldest structures in Arizona.  It is beautiful inside and out.  The interior of the building is like stepping back in time. 

While the interior has much art work on the walls and ceilings, little is known about who did the work because at the time it was done there was very little record keeping.

Over the years the mission has been owned by the Spanish, the Mexicans and the US.  It is now a non-profit corporation and a National  Historic Landmark.  The mission now sits on an indian reservation just south of Tucson.

TUCSON, ARIZONA - OLD TUCSON STUDIOS

The Old Tucson Studios is an old western town outside Tucson in the desert that was built to be used to make movies.  It has been there since the late 1930's and has hosted over 300 film and television productions.  Some are film classics like, Rio Bravo, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gunfight At OK Corral (shouldn't they have made that in Tombstone?) and many more.  Some of the many stars that have shot movies here include John Wayne (He made 4 movies there and they have a movie that shows some of his behind the scenes times there), Clint Eastwood, Dean Martin, Steve Martin, Elizabeth Taylor, Maureen O'Hara and many, many more. 

While taking the tour, it's fun to walk the streets and listen the stories about the various movies that were filmed there and hear the "inside" stories about the film making as well.  It's neat to see how film makers can change the way something looks in a movie just by shooting it from a different angle.  One of the stories they told us was about how because the sun is so bright in the desert they built some of the buildings without roofs so they wouldn't have to light the set.  We were surprised that they even used the inside of the buildings versus sound stages in Hollywood.

One of the best remembered TV shows that was filmed there was The High Chaparral.

What would a western town be without a dead horse thief or two?

TUCSON, ARIZONA - ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM

Tucson is surrounded by the Sonora desert.  Just to the west of the city is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and it is like no other museum you have ever seen.  Most of your visit is spent walking out in the actual desert on paths (paved for ease of walking).  They have done an excellent job of building and maintaining the desert areas to show you all of the different kinds of things you might expect to see if you were actually out in the desert.  They claim to be "a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden all in one place."  I would agree.

The zoo portion of the museum has big horn sheep, coyotes, wolves, javelina (boars), mountain lions, snakes and birds all displayed in their natural habitat to the point you would almost think they were free to roam at will.  The numerous botanical gardens display every type of cactus or other type of desert plant in natural settings.  A real highlight for me was the hummingbird aviary where you walk around with hundreds of hummingbirds flying around you.  It was neat!

We had heard this museum was a true GEM and we didn't want to miss it so we got up at 6am and were at the museum before 8am in order to beat the heat while walking in th desert.  It was the smart way to do it, although by the time we were done the temperature was almost up to 100 degrees and it was not quite 11am. A note......if you plan on visiting this area, do it in the winter!  Remember, I told you that!

TRAVEL COMMENTS

As we drove across Texas (880 miles from one side to the other), New Mexico and Arizona and saw the vast open areas that seem to go on forever, it was hard not to think about the cowboys and other pioneers that traveled these lands.  To think about getting on a horse and taking off across these lands by yourself boggles the mind.  How long did it take?  How did they carry enough food and water?  Why did they travel back and forth when they knew what to expect on their travels?  There are just so many questions to wonder about.

I guess we should all be glad they did what they did or our world would be totally different today.  The era of the cowboy was only 130 years ago.  Just think how far we've come in that relatively short period.

TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA TERRITORY

On our way to Tucson, we found ourselves in Benson, Arizona which is on I10 but only 22 miles north of Tombstone.  We thought this was a town that should not be missed because of all of it's history.  So we spent the night in Benson and went to Tombstone first thing in the morning.  The town looks and feels just like an old western town upgraded to include anything a tourist would need (or not need).  Today there are only about 1,000 people who call Tombstone their home and they would have to drive to Benson to go to the grocery.

Of course, we all know that Tombstone is most famous for the "Gunfight at OK Corral" on October 26, 1881 between the Earp's and the Clanton's.  What I didn't know about it was that it was a political fight.  The Clanton's were backed by the Democratic ranchers and the Earp's were backed by the Republican bankers and business owners.  The gunfight was the end of a long running feud between the two factions.  The Earp's were far from hero's, as portrayed in the movies, and had actually been told that the Clanton's were unarmed (only partially true).  The gunfight lasted 30 seconds and, when it was over, three Clanton's were dead and Virgil and Morgan Earp were seriously injured but would recover.  The dead men were all buried at Boothill.  All of this was written up the next morning in the Tombstone Epitaph, a paper which is still being printed today.

We had a wonderful day.  The town is a joy to visit and all the "facts" were great to hear.  It's one of those places that everyone should see once but you don't need to go back again.

Don't forget that you can click on the below pictures to enlarge them.  Positioning pictures in my posts is the hardest part of posting to our blog (as you can see from the below).

KERRVILLE TO TUCSON - TRAVEL

Today we left Kerrville headed for Tucson.  Somehow I miss judged the distance.  I thought it was 1125 miles and, at the speed we travel, it would take us 3 days.  Today we drove 387 miles and now only have 449 left to Tucson. 

I know it may not seem like a lot to you but 387 miles are the most miles we have ever driven the RV in a single day.  Driving a big box down the road, pulling a car, in the wind is not on the top of the fun meter.

In any case, we now have to figure something out to make 449 miles last for 2 days.  That's our job tomorrow because we don't want to drive all the way in one day.

BANDERA, TEXAS

Bandera is a town 25 miles south of Kerrville.  It is known for it's western flavor and gunfights (for tourists).  The Macosko's and us went down for a nice lunch and a walk around.  There was a Cowboy Store so we went in and shopped for a new hat and Janie just couldn't stay out of trouble with the locals.  We were lucky to get her out of there before she hurt someone (See pictures below).

It was a fun final day with our friends.

Tomorrow we hit the road again.

FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS

Fredericksburg is a small German town about 30 miles from Kerrville.  It's kind of a tourist town with lots of little shops but it's also the home town of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz from the World War II era and, in his honor, they have the National Museum of the Pacific War.  It’s a phenomenal museum that explains all phases of what happened in the Pacific during World War II.  They give details of each and every big battle with the Japanese that took place in the Pacific and what the outcome was and how it effected the overall war in the Pacific.  We spent quite a while going through the museum and could have easily spent more time there.  It’s an excellent museum!  Janie is seen standing next to an exact replica of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki to end the war.  After the museum, we did a little shopping and had a wonderful lunch.

 

KERRVILLE, TEXAS - MACOSKO'S

We haven’t been posting lately because we’ve been spending time with our friends, Bob & Gerry Macosko in Kerrville, which is just 65 miles up Interstate 10 from San Antonio.  Kerrville is a small town (20,000) in the hill country of Texas, situated right on the Guadalupe river.  The area is very beautiful with rolling hills and lots of green foliage. 

The Macosko’s are good friends from Venice who moved here in January to be closer to one of their kids.  For those of you who know them, let me tell you that their new home (shown below) is beautiful and is just about the same size as what they had in Pelican Pointe.  They live on a beautiful 27 hole golf course (Comanche Trace) in what appears to me to be the nicest development in Kerrville.  We spent four days with them and they have really shown us the entire area.  This seems to be a wonderful area to live, if you’re into small towns.  The weather is nice, with four seasons but no snow.  Bob plays golf on the local golf course and loves it.  They both seem very comfortable here and Bailey is very happy with his fenced back yard.

 

Another couple from Venice, Don & Judy Coombs also moved here.  Don is a member of Comanche Trace and invited Bob & I to play with him.  The course is beautiful but very difficult, primarily because of it's super quick greens.  I don't think I've ever played a course with faster greens!  The six of us went to the club for a wonderful dinner and then back to Don's beautiful house on the golf course for a nightcap.  Below is a picture of the clubhouse which sits on the pinnacle of a hill.  The other picture is of the three girls (Judy, Janie & Gerry) at the club.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

San Antonio is a beautiful city.  While it’s known as the home of the Alamo, it’s also noted for it’s River Walk.  The River Walk is an area situated along the San Antonio River.  It’s 2 1/2 miles long as it meanders through downtown.  It’s full of all kinds of different restaurants and hotels.  It’s a lot of fun to take the boat ride and just watch all the people or stroll along the river.  San Antonio was the location of the 1968 Worlds Fair and there are a lot of amenities left over from that time.  It’s a neat place to spend a few days.

HOUSTON, TX - PORT CRUISE

We've been to Houston before and there wasn't anything we really wanted to do here (How many times can you see NASA?) but on our way here Janie discovered that there is a free cruise of the port and we decided to take it.  What a nice find, unfortunately they don't allow cameras so there are no pictures.

The cruise took us through the port and there was very good narrative.  The port of Houston is the #1 port in the US for domestic imports/exports and services 8,000 ships per year (almost 23 per day, 7 days a week) and it's #10 in the world.  Not bad for a city that's 55 miles from the Gulf.

What we saw was a lot of oil refineries, scrap yards, gypsum plants and grain storage.  We feel that we must not have seen everything because we didn't see any warehouse able goods.  There was no explanation for that but there has to be one.  It was a great cruise, for the price.

BEAUMONT, TX - BABE DIDRIKSON ZAHARIAS

Beaumont is the home of Mildred Didrikson Zaharias and they have a museum in her honor.  It's very small but also very informative. 

The "Babe" was born in 1911 and only lived until 1956 (44) but she sure was busy during her few short years.  She won 3 gold medals in the 1932 Olympics and, of course, we all know her for her golf.  But she was also know for track, baseball and basketball.  There seemed to be nothing she couldn't do.  She was awarded the honor of being the "Best Athlete Of The First Half Of The 20th Century" (Not best woman but best overall athlete).  Her overall accomplishments during her short life are so many that I can't start to list them here.  It seems that she never touched anything that she didn't excel in. 

She died in 1951 of colon cancer and is buried in Beaumont.

AVERY ISLAND, LA - TABASCO

Avery Island is about 12 miles from New Iberia and is the home of Tabasco.  I was amazed by some of the things we learned today about Tabasco.

Tabasco was founded by Edmund MelLhenny shortly after the Civil War and today is still privately owned by the same family.  Avery Island is the only place Tabasco is made.

They exclusively use capsicum peppers and grow the seeds on Avery Island.  Then they send them to Central America where they oversee the growth and harvest of the peppers.  They are very picky about their peppers.  The harvest would remind you of the care taken to pick perfect wine grapes.  After the harvest, they send the ground up peppers back in barrels (bought from Jack Daniels) where they stay for up to three years while they ferment. 

I found this to be staggering but they produce 700,000 bottles of Tabasco per day, 5 days a week and they ship them to 110 countries world wide.  Of course, today they don't just produce one "flavor" of Tabasco.  They have many different flavors for any kind of taste (Soy, Chipote, green pepper, teriyaki are just a few).

Avery Island is also the home to one of the largest salt mines in the world (also owned by the same family).  It is said to be as deep as Mount Everest is high and today they are only down 1500 feet.

This all just goes to prove that you are never too old to learn.  I never had any idea that Tabasco was such a large company.  Honestly, I didn't even know it was made in Louisiana.

NEW IBERIA, LA - KONRIKO RICE MILL

The Konriko Rice Mill is the oldest operating rice mill in the U.S.  The actual mill looks like a run down metal building from the early 1900's but it's still in operation and produces many products, all made from rice.  They grind the rice, shell the rice and anything else that can be done to rice.  The tour was interesting and the store was filled with more rice products than I knew existed.

LOUISIANA CREOLE PLANTATIONS

West of New Orleans, along the Mississippi river, are many plantations that were built in the early 1800's and have been maintained for tourist today.  We drove along the road that many of them are on and stopped to see two that we were told were the best. 

The plantation to the left is called "Laura" and was built in 1805.  It is named after one of the residents from the mid-1800's who happened to write her memoirs about living there.  The stories that are told are very interesting.  Back then the business and the plantation itself was not willed to the oldest son but was willed to the smartest child.  Over the course of many years, Laura was owned and run by four different women and no men.  Laura, the woman, was married to a Frenchman and as a result, on top of sugar cane, she had the exclusive rights to import Bordeaux wine to the region.  Needless to say, she was very rich.  All of the many plantations were worked by slaves.

The second picture is a plantation called "Oak Alley" and was built in 1839.  As you can see, it has a beautiful "alley" of giant live oak trees on both sides making a beautiful canopy for the entrance.  There are 28 of them evenly spaced.  I wasn't aware that the reason a "live oak" tree is so named is because although it sheds it's leaves in the fall, it has other leaves that replace them and so it appears to always be full of leaves (live).   This plantation is the most photographed in Louisiana.  I'm not surprised!

Both plantations have been designated National Historic Landmarks.  It was a very nice day!

NEW ORLEANS - WWII MUSEUM

Today we spent almost 5 hours in the World War II Museum.  It's located in the Warehouse District of New Orleans and is in two buildings.  You start out with an hour long movie, produced by Tom Hanks, called "Beyond All Boundries"  The movie and the way it's presented is fantastic.  It gives a very easy to understand overview of the war and how/why the U.S. got involved, even though we tried to stay neutral.

After the movie you go into the museum, which takes you through the war in Europe and then through the war in the Pacific.  It's all done very well and it is tremendously interesting. 

It's impossible to take any pictures that would do the museum justice but if you're ever in New Orleans, trust me, it's worth your time to visit this museum.

BILOXI - SHRIMP SEASON BLESSINGS

The shrimping season just opened on Friday.  They have a tradition where on the first Sunday of the shrimping season they decorate their boats and then they line up and they all pass by a boat with a priest on board and the priest "blesses the fleet".  He does this one boat at a time. 

This year they opened the shrimping season a little early because of the oil and not knowing how long they will be able to catch shrimp that will be good to eat.  We wish them luck!!!

BILOXI - BEAUVOIR

Beauvoir (Beautiful View) is the name of the house that was the home of Jefferson Davis for the last 10 years of his life and the place where he penned his memiors.  The house was built in 1852 and is beautiful today, even though it has been substantially rebuilt to original specifications because of hurricane Katrina damage.

Jefferson Davis was the ONLY President of the Confederate States during the Civil War and was the ONLY person not to be returned to full citizenship after the war.  He died as a man without a country.

Beauvoir is also the location of the tomb of the unknown soldier of the Confederate States of America.  There are over 150 Civil War soldiers buried in the cemetery adjacent to the tomb.

There are 51 acres to the estate and the house faces the Gulf with a beautiful view.  They are in the process of rebuilding the Presidential Museum of the Confederacy and it should be done in 2012.