February 11 to 13, 2015 Benson, Bisbee, and Friends

Early this morning, we began our slow trek east. We made it as far as Benson, Arizona and stayed for three days – .

We arrived around lunch time and got a spot almost right across from Sue and Bruce.  We spent the rest of the day getting caught up with each other and then enjoying the park’s social hour.

On Thursday, 12th, we were up early and headed to Bisbee.  Bisbee is this quaint little mining town built mostly on hills surrounding the copper mine (now closed).  Our first stop was the Bisbee Breakfast Club which is located in the historic Rexall Drug building in the neighborhood of Lowell:

We had a great breakfast – YUM!:

The Lowell neighborhood has some interesting old buildings – reminded me so much of my dad’s garage:

After breakfast, we made a stop at the Lavender Pit lookout.  The Lavender Pit is a former open pit copper mine located near the famous Copper Queen Mine.

Then headed into town where we walked thru many of the neat little shops.

Stairs – LOTS of stairs:

Susan standing by a display that was patented by her great uncle:

More information can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee,_Arizona

Our last stop of the day was Shady Dell – a really interesting place to stay in Bisbee.  More information can be found here - http://www.theshadydell.com/:

Someday, we hope to do a week or so trip by spending a few days in Tombstone, checking out the history, the tours and the saloons, of course, and then coming down to Bisbee for a few more days to do the mine tour, ghost tour, and history tour.  Hmmm, maybe next fall.

On Friday, 13th, we had a wonderful afternoon with Sue and Bruce, Mike and Mary, Larry and Cheryl – getting caught up with each other – what a great time.  Sue treated us to a great supper and we even had a small campfire.  All of those folks are heading east this summer so hopefully we will cross paths again.

Tomorrow we will continue our journey east so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for the 11th: Casa Grande to Benson

Miles Traveled: 120 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arizona: Montgomery Road; I-8; I-10; SR-80