I’VE LOST TRACK OF THE DAYS!

It’s been over a week since we left Paws and Hooves ranch – where has the time gone?  We whiled it away on the Mexico border, at Turquoise Valley Golf and RV Park (click here to read our review and see photos) in Naco, AZ, 5 miles south of Bisbee.  I was exceptionally lazy… what the heck did I manage to get done?  Walked through Bisbee to see what had changed since our last visit; bought myself a new pair of Ariat boots for hiking, this time with a thicker, knobbier sole for more protection on the rocky trails of Arizona; went for a hike with Odel at Fairbank, an interesting ghost town not far from Tombstone.  Hung around inside, hiding from the wind.

Odel, on the other hand, was busy.  Turquoise Valley golf course, Arizona’s oldest, is just across the street from their RV park.  When Odel wasn’t actually playing golf (did he play two or three times in five days?) , he was over on the putting green or practicing his chipping.  Mostly this was for the fun of the game… but with a tee time scheduled on Friday with our friend Alex, shaving a few strokes off his score might have been in the back of his mind.  :)

It’s been a couple of years since we were in Bisbee, and we’ve seen changes.  The biggest?  Activity around the mine tailings.  Mine tailings in Bisbee would be considered hills or even mountains in some areas – huge heaps of rock removed from both the deep, deep Lavender pit mine and the underground Queen mine.  According to the guide on the new Bisbee Trolley Tour ($6 per adult for an entertaining and educational tour of Old Bisbee on a trolley), the tailings are being reworked to reclaim minerals using newer, more cost effective technology. 

And big news about the Bisbee Breakfast Club:  They are going to be open Friday nights, serving burgers!  I had recently noticed that the BBC opened in Tucson (on Ina Road), and I remember that the BBC had been for sale the last time we were in town, so I asked our waitress about it while we enjoyed breakfast before our hike.  The scoop?  the BBC changed hands about a year ago, expanded by adding the Tucson location, and will experiment with the Friday night opening.  The food and service at the Bisbee location is as good as always, with the same generous portions.  I wish them all the best with their expansion plans.

While Alex and Odel played golf on a very windy Friday, Ellen and I explored Bisbee.  Alex and Ellen have not visited here before, so we began with the new trolley tour.  The highly recognizable trolley is based at the main parking lot near the Copper Queen Hotel at the foot of Brewery Gulch, and I recommend it if you’d like an entertaining overview of the history of Bisbee and its buildings. 

After our 50 minute trolley tour, we wandered through town.  I noticed the usual ebb and flow of shops, some gone, others changed hands (the new-ish owner of Chocolate plans to stay open 10 months of the year, rather than 4-5), and a few new (a tea shop – YAY!).

Odel and I had been longing for the Italian food at Rosa’s Little Italy and the stars aligned for us.  Rosa’s is open only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and reservations are a must.  Alex and Ellen were arriving on Thursday, while Odel and I were departing on Saturday… so I called a week ahead for a reservation on Friday night.  After warning Alex and Ellen not to snack before dinner, we all met at Rosa’s at 6:30, each couple toting a bottle of wine – BYO here, with no corkage fee.  A delicious meal with wonderful friends… it was the perfect way to end our short stay in Bisbee.