One of the reasons we checked on the possibility of a Grand Canyon hike was because we wanted an excuse to go see our niece and nephew and their family that live in Arizona. Each evening we got to spend with the Kelly Klan--Beth, Brian, Max and Camryn. Beth took these pictures of us and posted them on facebook with the caption, "We are thrilled with our surprise guests!!! Being retired and living in an RV certainly has its perks!!" We couldn't agree with that more!
We got to spend time with them every evening we were in town, and they hosted us for some great meals at their house. We really appreciated them making time for us in their busy lives with such short notice! We had a great time playing with Max and Camryn, and visiting with Beth and Brian. We were also entertained by "concerts" when Max practiced his piano lessons and Camryn sang.
They live in Sierra Vista because Brian works at Fort Huachuca. That gave us a unique option for lodging because Brian could sponsor us into the military campground on base. As civilians, this would be our only opportunity to stay in one of these campgrounds that we have heard about. It's a very nice and quiet place to spend several days.
We had an unusual welcoming committee when we first pulled into the campground. We were still hooking up the utilities, and had the door of the motorhome open. A hummingbird flew right through the open doorway, and then couldn't understand why she couldn't get out through that big windshield. The picture was taken from the outside, showing the bird hovering at the top of the windshield. It took just a little bit of coaching for her to find the open door again. So once again, we should note that no wildlife was injured in the making of this blog.
There is also hiking available without even leaving Fort Huachuca. This picture was taken while we were on a trail in Huachuca Canyon, so you can see some of the mountains that surround the base. On this hike we heard many birds, we smelled a javelina, and we saw this young deer. We have pictures of the fawn, but you will just have to imagine the sounds and smells of this hike for yourself.
We also saw a touch of nature in Beth and Brian's back yard. It seems that a mother bird determined that their gas cooker made a nice protected place to raise her babies. If you look closely to the right of the briquettes, you can see a nest with six tiny eggs under the grate.
Beth and Brian gave us great advice for hiking options, because this is a family of hikers and bikers. Their first suggestion was a hike to Coronado Peak in the Coronado National Park. The visitor's center is a couple miles from the Mexican border, and we hiked south from there.
From the peak we could see the very tall fence that separates the two countries. That's the very straight line that you can see heading from the top left corner of the picture down towards the mountain.
The strangest thing happened on this hike. We heard a faint buzz that got louder and louder until we could see a group of thousands of bees that looked like a black cloud that stretched for around 50 feet. It was one of the scariest experiences considering that we were three miles away from the trailhead, and didn't see anyone on that trail the entire day. Later while we were on Coronado peak, we had the same experience. We have no idea if that was the same group of bees or not. We asked the ranger about our bee sightings. Best guess is that it could have been a colony of bees looking for somewhere to relocate, or it could have been a huge group of Africanized bees. Denisa was more spooked by thousands of bees than the rattlesnake encounter. No pictures of the bees because she was ready to run down the mountain instead of focusing a camera on clouds of bees.
We are ready to head north because temperatures are heating up in southern Arizona. But Sierra Vista is at a higher altitude and enjoys a more temperate climate. While on the hike, when we stopped in the shade the breeze almost felt like air-conditioning. It was a cool hike in more ways than one! This is a picture of Mark doing some international spying from Coronado Peak.
Another highlight of our days here was getting a special tour of Brian's job as an air traffic controller on base. Brian has spent two tours in Iraq, and is now a Department of Defense employee at Fort Huachuca airport. We got to see the radar room, and got lots of explanations from the guys that work inside with no windows. Then we climbed the six flights of steps to the control tower, for the birds eye view of the airport and incoming planes. This airport serves civilian plus military plus different agencies' aircraft. We got to see Air Force planes, a Border Guard helicopter, unmanned drones . . . We thought it was a great "factory tour."
But of course the highlight of our time in Sierra Vista was spending time with family. Denisa's sister and brother-in-law arrived on Wednesday--a few days before celebrating Camryn's 4th birthday. When Connie and Joe picked us up to drive out to Kartchner Caverns, the two sisters had unknowingly dressed alike. The crazy thing is that this isn't the first time it has happened.
They delivered a quilt that Beth had started and Connie finished. The quilt is made of Brian's old army uniforms, fashioned into a flag, and he really liked the finished product.
It was great getting to see relatives while we are on the road, experiencing part of their lives while we wander this great country! As we left Sierra Vista, there were two Air Force planes practicing approaches to Brian's airport so they were flying low over our highway. It was a nice good-bye salute to our time at Fort Huachuca!
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