A short trip from Las Cruces took us to Deming, NM and a stop at the Escapees RV Park. We’ve stayed here before and used it as a base to explore Columbus, where in 1916 the country’s invasion by a foreign power occurred when Pancho Villa’s men raided the town. There’s not much to Columbus except for a great museum that has interesting exhibits from the battle and General Pershing’ pursuit into Mexico. Although Pancho Villa was not part of this force that invaded, he was blamed for it which started his downfall.
Columbus made headlines when in 2011 the police department was dissolved and the mayor, a village trustee, the police chief, and nine others were arrested for smuggling guns into Mexico to be used by a cartel. So much for thinking that Columbus is a sleepy border town.
From Deming, we made past visits to Silver City, a historic town with an interesting history of mining, devastating floods, and of course, Billy the Kid, known then as Henry Antrim. We visited during the annual Blues Fest, explored the Gila Wilderness of the Mogollon Mountains, and sampled the
dining, from gourmet to biker bar. We found that the RV park was located next to the town cemetery, and contained the gravesite of Kathrine Antrim, mother of Billy the Kid. Silver City is an interesting mix of local culture, academia, upscale restaurants and biker bars.
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| Downtown Silver City |
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| Silver City Blues |
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| Gila Wilderness |
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| Gila Wilderness Fire Tower with Grazing Flamingos |
From Silver City, the highway leads back to the interstate and Lordsburg, a dying town where the downtown looks the setting from a zombie apocalypse movie. But just up the interstate is the highway down to Rusty’s RV Park, where we’ve been frequent visitors over the years. Rusty’s has been our base to explore the Chiricahua Mountains, one of Arizona’s “sky islands” that rise to nearly 10,000’.
The eastern side of the Chiricahuas has become one of our all time favorite places to visit. A short drive from Rusty’s will take you to Portal, the entrance to the mountains and a cute little village with a store, café with six tables, motel, and the start of some world-class birding. Feeders and benches are set up behind the café for a relaxing break after one of the café’s green-chili cheeseburgers. Further into the mountains are picnic areas, a park visitor center, and Cave Creek, where we first saw one of our “life” birds, the Elegant Trogon. Continuing up into the forest, we always made a stop at “the porch”, the home of Jackie and Winston who own the Walker House B&B next door. Here, you’re welcome to sit on their porch and watch the birds at their extensive system of feeders, and if Jackie is available, she’ll sit with you and describe the birds you’re seeing. We always make a stop at their “bird seed contribution” box to thank them for their generosity. Continuing up the road, you have the choice of turning on the road to Rustler Park campground or continuing over the saddle down the western side and into the national monument.
On an exploration trip on the southern flank of the Chiricahuas, I searched for the remains of Camp Rucker, an 1880s army post mentioned in documentation but without maps or location. I searched on Google Earth and found ruins, and after a long search up and down forest roads, found an unmarked trail to the site. We were surprised that hidden in the forest there were restored and stabilized ruins with interpretive markers complete with historic photos.
Leaving the mountains, we stopped at the Escapees Park in Benson, where our good friends Don and Betty had a spot waiting for us. We first met them 15 years ago in Oregon, enjoyed an oyster or two together (Brenda had a hot dog) and have been close friends ever since.
Finally, we checked into the Cactus Country RV Resort on the eastern edge of Tucson. We arrived at Davis-Monthan AFB here in 1971 shortly after being married, and 55 years later we made the decision to leave the motorhome and look for a place to settle down.
We’ve found the place we’d been looking for, an upscale one-story “casita” apartment in beautiful Oro Valley, a northern suburb of Tucson at the base of the Catalina Mountains. It’s with more than a touch of sadness that we gave up the motor home and our life of travel, but we knew that it was time to settle down with good medical care, good weather, and lots and lots of restaurants….and a couple of casinos! If you’re ever in our area, please drop us a line – we’d enjoy getting together!
And quoting the Bob Hope signature song, Thanks for the Memories!
