It is a long, long way to the Sea..

The internet did not work at Bashford's either but old fashion maps made us decide we needed to knuckle down and get some miles behind us.  Only desert awaits which included Yuma and Phoenix, which we visited last year.  None of our friends are currently in either city so a plan has been made to stick to the Interstate and take advantage of driving at 65mph.

Kaye dug into the books and we found a place on the other side of Tucson called Willcox which sounded most interesting.  A quick Magic Jack phone call from a McDonald's free HotSpot Wifi in Yuma and we were booked for the night.  6+hrs of driving at 65.  Boring driving but we did stop in Dateland and this time we bought a World Famous Date Shake.  Very sweet taste.  Worth the adventure.

Willcox, Az is right off the I10.  We came in from the West entrance and the first impression was; 'ghost town', thankfully we could see McDonald's and Fuel Station signs high in the sky further along so there had to be life somewhere.  Our RV park was everything it said it was.  This is desert, so no trees etc, but gravel footing, full hook ups, pool, hot tub, exercise facility, cable and WiFi.  For the whopping sum of $27.50 per night, taxes in. 

Kaye had been reading the history of the town while on the freeway and after driving through old main street and seeing the board walk we were convinced to stay an extra day right at check-in.

This is the birthplace of Rex Allen, the Country and Western singer, movie star and legendary voice of over 100 Walt Disney nature films. (Rex Allen Link).  The old town is rebuilding itself as a tourist destination with the restoration of buildings, many museums and thrift shops.  The Marty Robbins tribute museum has also relocated to Willcox.  There are wineries in the area with established tasting galleries on the old main street along with art galleries.

Several hours were spent in the local town museum learning the real story of Geronimo, not the Hollywood movie version.  He was from this area along with the towns and legends of Apache Pass, Tombstone, the Earp family and Boot Hill.

A late lunch was taken at Rodney's where you order at the cook shack and then sit in the building next door. You can ask Kaye in person about the posing pictures of half naked men on the wall.  We could not have a beer (in the beer garden) because the saloon on the corner was being reworked after a water pipe burst and it was their liquor license not Rodney's. Share and share alike.

We found ourselves donating entrance fee money at the Rex Allen museum with a local curator sporting a real gun on his hip and a love to tell the story of Rex. We could not escape him!  As soon as you looked at a picture, portrait, anything he broke out into a prerecorded story.  Hours passed and then there was the gift shop!

It gets very cool quickly once the sun sets in the desert.  We soaked in the hot tub, enjoyed a 'tail gate' BBQ of ribs and chicken and decided to stay yet another day.  Kyle got to chase jack rabbits in the scag bush behind the RV Park and might just be getting the hang of being a sniffer dog. I wanted to catch up on our writing and photos and we had been too late to get into the Marty Robbins museum so we had to go back to town!

We took Kyle with us on our walk of town, he does not seem to mind being the centre of attention.  We bought some souvenirs from the lady's shop that we met in the pool last night and I picked out another walking stick.  If you like American Pickers, you could spend a lot of time in this town.  Walking home, we passed the outdoor Saturday Auction.  The Auctioneer could be heard saying; "Sold" for $5.60...Kaye picked up the pace as I peered between the pick-up trucks and wire fencing.

We will definitely pass back through this area, likely taking the lesser roads South of here (Highway 80) to visit Tombstone and several of the other famous western towns.  This place is one to keep on the map.  ps. The Rex Allen days are 4-6 Oct 2013.