Belle Starr’s Silverado Ranch, Arizona – Part 2

After a three-day stay, we left Belle Starr’s Silverado ranch, 13 miles west of Douglas, Arizona yesterday morning. If you missed Part 1, click this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-3Om

i thought I’d share some more photos from the ranch with you…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

Belle is a distant relative for the famous 1800′s female outlaw. A number of years back she had her name legally changed to Belle Starr. If you want to know about the outlaw Belle Starr, click this link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Starr

Belle is a cheerful 85 years old. She is feisty and still has a twinkle in her eye. She was born in Kentucky and transplanted to Arizona some 20+ years ago. She has led a very interesting life and is more than happy to share many of her stories with you. In spite of her age, she is still sharp as a tack. Despite some unhappy times in her life, she remains upbeat and full of life. it was our pleasure to share our three days visiting her.

I’m not one to write life stories about the people we meet. I tend to tell my stories with photographs. Here’s a link by someone who visited with Belle a while back and will share some more of Belle’s story with you. Click this link…

http://www.frugal-rv-travel.com/Belle-Starr.html

If you are an RVer and in the area, I urge you to stop and spend a night or two. If you enjoy the unusual, you’ll enjoy your visit to Belle Starr’s Silverado Ranch.

In other news…

Yesterday we drove the motorhome the about 165 miles to Pancho Villa New Mexico State Park in Columbus, Mexico. The current weather forecast for the next couple of days is very windy and cold nights. We’re currently paid for two nights. Watching the weather forecast will help us decide our next move.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Dougles, Arizona (five Blogs for the price of one!)

Our motorhome home is still parked at Belle Starr’s Silverado Ranch…13 miles west of Douglas, Arizona.

Yesterday was a busy  day for us. So today you get five Blog entries for the price of one!

Blog #1 – John Slaughter Ranch

Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a cattle baron in Arizona in the late 1800′s? We did…so we went to find out.

To  read all about the Slaughter Ranch, click this link…
http://www.slaughterranch.com

First we drove the 13 miles to Douglas, Arizona. Then we continued on this dirt road for another 16 miles. Since we were so close to the Mexico Border…we saw a  Border Patrol vehicle about every one mile along the way…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

Here’s a Google Earth image of the ranch house area where we visited.The Mexican Border is only 600 feet away…

Here are five other photos. Whenever you can see a brown-poled fence…that’s the Mexico Border…

To see the other 43 photos that I took, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/JohnSlaughterRanch

We spent a very enjoyable 2.5 hours wandering the grounds.

Then we once again drove the 16 dusty miles back to Douglas, Arizona for…

Blog #2 – The Gadsden Hotel

To read about the Gadsden Hotel, click this link…
http://hotelgadsden.com/

Here are some photos that I took….

To see the other 22 photos that I took, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/TheGadsdenHotelDouglasArizona

We spent an enjoyable hour wandering the hotel and eating lunch in their fancy dining room.

Then a few blocks away to

Blog #3 – It’s The Only Place In The World That You Will See this!

At least according to the visitors brochure for Douglas, Arizona. Church Square is the only block in the World that has a church on each corner! Here’s a Google Earth view…

E is for Episcopalian……

B is for Baptist…

M is for Methodist…

P is for Presbyterian…

It’s always fun to see a one in the world thing!

Then a few blocks to…

Blog #4 – The Big Disappointment…

In 2004, at the end on my 16,000+ mile RV trip through Mexico and Central America…we re-entered the United States at Douglas, Arizona. We went to the local Safeway to shop for groceries and quite by accident parked under the Safeway sign which we took as a blessing that we had managed such a long journey without any major mishaps and returned safely to the United States. We asked a passing woman to take our photo…

Since we plan to depart Douglas tomorrow morning…I thought it would be fun to park our current motorhome under the Safeway sign and take a similar photo. But surprise…the sign and Safeway are gone! Something that was not there in 2004, across the street,  A WalMart SuperCemter, has apparently run them out of business. So much for nostalgia!.

Here’s an interesting aside. The way the crow flies…presumably in a straight line…it’s a little more than 2,500 miles to Portebello, Panama…the furthest southern point reached during our journey. By road the most direct route…add about another 1,000 miles. Here’s a Google Earth image to give you some perspective…

Then just five blocks away to…

Blog #5 – Agua Prienta, Sonora, Mexico...

Mary wanted to add to her list of border crossings into Mexico. So we walked across the border and down a few blocks of the main drag and we were back in the United States in 25 minutes. Not much going on a Sunday afternoon in this rather lackluster border town. Here are some photos that I took…

Another full and fun day in the RVing lifestyle!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Bell Starr’s Silverado Ranch, Arizona – Part 1

Yesterday Mary and I drove the motorhome the about 35 miles from Sierra Vista to Belle Starr’s Silverado Ranch about one-half way between Bisbee and Douglas, Arizona.  The way the crow flies…presumably in a straight line…we are only four miles from Mexico. Bisbee is about 5,500 feet and Douglas is about 4,000 feet in elevation. Being about one-half way between the two…I’m guessing we’re at about 4,750 feet in elevation.The below Google Earth images show our location…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view...

Here’s a closer view of the ranch. We’re parked where I’ve marked in yellow…

Looking in from the entrance gate you can see our motorhome in the distance…

Once inside the gate you see this sign…

And the donation box…

A closer view of our parking spot where we have an electrical hookup…

Here’s the view from our dining room window…

This 40 acre unique property is owned by an 85-year-old woman every bit as unique as the property she owns.

I’m going to save telling you and showing pictures of her and her unique property for a very near future Blog. Enough for now…

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust