Friday 5/11, we left Caballo Lake State Park near Truth
or Consequences, NM and headed to Arizona.
We took I-25 South about 20 miles, then at Hatch, NM we cut across on a two-lane
red road (Hwy 26) to Deming. Hatch is
known as the Chili Pepper Capital of the World! The shortcut across Hwy 26
saved a little over 50 miles and put us onto I-10 headed west. We went through
Lordsburg, NM before crossing into Arizona.
Crossing into Arizona put us another hour behind the
folks at home – now 3 hours. Arizona is
in the Mountain Time Zone (same as New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming), but they
don’t observe Daylight Saving Time. When
New Mexico and the other Mountain time states did the “Spring Forward” thing,
Arizona didn’t do it, so basically, they are now the same as California.
One of the most scenic areas on I-10 going across eastern
Arizona is the Texas Canyon – the highway doesn’t go through the canyon, but
over the pass with the canyon down below.
We pulled into the rest area at the top of the pass - lots of beautiful
huge rocks (for those of you that are into rocks like LaVerne).
It was only a 250-mile drive to our destination for the
weekend – Kartchner Caverns State Park about 10 miles south of Benson. The campground is roomy with lots of Mesquite
trees and mountains for the backdrop. We
had stopped at Walmart in Benson and bought a couple of new hummingbird
feeders. Arizona is home to 16 different
species of hummingbirds (one of the main reasons we like it here) and we were
looking forward to putting out the new feeders.
While we were getting camp set up, the camp host came by and informed us
that they DON’T ALLOW BIRD FEEDERS!
AARRRGGG!! Needless to say,
LaVerne is not a happy camper!
Saturday (yesterday) we went about 20 miles south to
Sierra Vista. After breakfast at a
Vietnamese restaurant (and some of you are saying, “WHAT??”), then it was off
to a location well known in the area for hummingbird viewing.
About 9 miles south of Sierra Vista is Miller Canyon and
at the end of the narrow dirt road into the canyon is Beatty’s Guest Ranch and
Orchards. Still lots of cacti – we like the Agave with the long stalks.
This is one of many places in Arizona where land/homeowners
set up bird viewing stations (for hummingbirds as well as others) for all the
birders to come and see the birds. We’ve
been knowing about Beatty’s for many years and have been here a few times in
the past. We climbed up the steep trail
to the viewing stands and stayed awhile.
Thomas Beatty has really put in a nice facility – bleacher style seating
with stadium chairs and about 8 hummingbird feeders scattered around in the
trees. LaVerne likes the Manzanita tree with the red bark!
Here’s just a few of the birds we saw (sorry, the lighting isn't the best on a couple of them).
Today (Sunday, 5/13) we went to church at the First
Baptist Church in Benson – about 10 miles north. It was more of a contemporary style service
rather than traditional, with an 11-member praise & worship team. Not quite
what we’re used to, but the worship service was good and we enjoyed it. Afterwards,
we found Magaly’s Mexican Restaurant. It was crowded and noisy, but we had a
very good lunch (LaVerne with her Combination #6 and me with my Taco Salad). HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
The last two days have been hot, but not as hot as back
in New Mexico. Yesterday it was in the
low 90’s in mid-afternoon but cooled off a little later. Today it was in the mid 80’s. The only
drawback has been the wind – it has been blowing around 20-mph since we’ve been
here. It’s beautiful & sunny though –
no rain in sight.
Tomorrow we’re moving again – this time a short drive over
to Patagonia Lake State Park near the town of Patagonia. We’ve been
there several times over the years and it’s one of our favorite places. We will be there all next week. So, again, until next time ----
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