Thursday, April 1 to Wednesday, April 14, 2021: April Sunshine and Bisbee Getaway

It is April and the weather is exceptional. Jamie and Kelsey spent some time sunning on the side of the house.

In the afternoon, Kelsey had an acupuncture appointment with Dr. Amstutz at Canyon Pet Hospital.

Governor Ducey signed an Executive Order to eliminate any mandatory mask wearing in the state of Arizona. But, the Flagstaff City Council voted to keep Flagstaff under a mask mandate. Stupid liberals!

Friday morning, there was no pickleball play. So, Tom and I went for a nice walk in the woods off of Spring Valley Road.

Unfortunately, it began to sprinkle and we took refuge under a Pinon Pine.

The sprinkles did not last long, but we cut our walk short. Later that afternoon, the weather cleared up and it was nice enough that Tom and I had adult beverages on the patio. Yeah!

I had a hair cut and color appointment Saturday afternoon in Flagstaff. I came home early enough to see Jamie and Kelsey enjoying the sunny day.

Sunday was Easter. My sister Carrie and her husband Brent headed up to Bend, Oregon. They live in Coto de Caza, California, but are building a second home in Bend.

That evening, Tom and I had a date night. We went to DJ's Wild West Junction to listen to music by Rick Remender.

It was a very nice venue --- sitting on the outside patio.

The restaurant serves BBQ. I had beef ribs! They were delicious --- but full of calories. 😮😮😮

Monday afternoon, I had a manicure and pedicure appointment at 66 Nails Spa. Will gave me a pedicure and Jennifer did my nails.

Tuesday evening, Tom and I met up with Penny Tidwell and Gene Galloway at the Red Raven Restaurant. Penny and Gene live in Las Vegas, but they were taking daughter-in-law Diane and granddaughter Kelly to the Grand Canyon the next morning. We had a nice visit.

Wednesday afternoon, Tom wanted to find a hidden canyon near Cedar Mountain. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the location. The canyon was surprisingly beautiful --- with pine trees and lava-based rock formations.

I have never seen this kind of beauty in the woods north of Williams.

We only had to do one rock scramble --- heading in and out of the canyon.

Before leaving the canyon, we noticed an Eagle's Nest. It was lodged in the rock formation and was huge! Later, we found out that our pickleball friend Chris Peterson calls that canyon Eagle's Nest Canyon. Very appropriate!

Thursday afternoon, I had a facial appointment in Flagstaff and Tom had a barber appointment in Williams. Since we did not play pickleball that day, I later took the dogs on a long walk by Cataract Lake. It was a beautiful spring day!     

On Friday, Tom talked to his son Jon. Jon and his hiking partner, Dana Phillips, had started their long-distance hike in Alabama and Georgia. The first section was the Pinhoti Trail.

Dana's husband, Rick, is supporting Jon and Dana on the trail. Dana had a serious bout of breast cancer several years ago. So, Jon and Dana are hiking just ten miles a day until Dana gets acclimated to being back on the long-distance trail.

On Saturday, I dropped the dogs off at the Grand Canyon Railway Kennel. Then, Tom and I hopped into my truck and we started the drive to Bisbee, Arizona. We took a picturesque route, so it was going to take eight hours. With this, we made motel reservations in Globe, Arizona. I have never been on this route past Payson. Our route took us by Roosevelt Lake and we stopped at a scenic lookout.

It was very windy. The bridge is quite magnificent.

We arrived at our Globe motel at around 3pm. The motel sits on top of a small hill.

For dinner, we went to a local sushi restaurant in Historic Globe. The restaurant was Bloom, an Asian Concept. Globe is not a large city, but it has a nice variety of good restaurants. The sushi was very good.

The next morning, we checked out of our motel and we went down the road to Judie's Cook House for breakfast. It was an old fashion diner.

The drive down to Bisbee was three and one-half hours. We rented a darling 1905 cottage through Airbnb. Check-in was a front door lockbox with keys inside.

The front porch had two rocking chairs --- right on the main street, Tombstone Canyon Drive. There home had a barbecue in the side yard. So, we decided to go to the local Safeway for steaks, potatoes, and mushrooms. Tom and I had adult beverages on the front porch and we watched the world go by.

After our adult beverages, Tom prepared the potatoes and mushrooms and then he began to barbecue the steaks.

On Monday, I walked all over the town. Bisbee is an old mining town. We were fortunate to fine a place to stay right in the Historic District of Bisbee.

The town of Bisbee was built on many hills. There are many outdoor staircases connecting various streets. At the third weekend in October, there is a famous stair climb attraction.

The mayor of Bisbee is a liberal Canadian. The town of Bisbee has a strict mask mandate. The mask mandate includes indoors and outdoor. I complied with wearing a mask inside public buildings, but no way would I wear a mask outdoors! Crazy!!!

 

Tom joined me for some walking around the town. We visited the historic Copper Queen Hotel. Unfortunately, the dining room has not yet opened for the season.

For dinner, we went to a highly rated restaurant called Bisbee's Table. We had a very nice meal. I had steamed mussels and Tom had BBQ pork ribs.

 

Tuesday morning, we had tour reservations at the Queen Mine. It was easy to walk from our cottage.

We arrived early and explored the facility.

Ten minutes before the tour, we had to put on vests, hard hats, and lights.

The tour involved getting on small train cars to enter in the mine.

The tour was about 1 1/2 hours long. We had a tour guide for the twenty of us. At various sections, we got off of the train and walked to certain sites. It was very informative!

The mine was active until the mid-1970s. Throughout its history, there were six ores mined --- including gold, silver, and copper.

After the tour --- and before turning in my hat, vest, and light --- I posed for a photo.

After the mine tour, we had lunch at a highly rated restaurant called Cafe Cornucopia. It was a small restaurant with good food.

After lunch, I took our lunch leftovers back to the cottage. Tom went across the street to a Gelato store for a small ice cream.

Tom and I met back up at the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum for a 1:30 pm reservation. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to go through the museum exhibits. Then, we walked back to the cottage.

That evening, we had adult beverages on the porch and consumed some leftovers from dinner and lunch. This was our final night in Bisbee.

The next morning, we had some breakfast and then we departed the cottage. It was time to head back to Williams. We decided to take the fastest route home --- through Tucson and Phoenix. At lunchtime, we stopped in Black Canyon City for a meal at Chilleen's on 17. Tom had never been to this restaurant. It had been over five years since I dined there.

I was first introduced to this restaurant on an episode of Bar Rescue with Jon Taffer. Richard and I went to Chilleen's on 17 for lunch several times. Good barbecue for sure!

We arrived home at about 3:30 pm. Tom and I went to the kennel to pick up the dogs. All is right with the world.