We Are Off Again

 AJ, AZ - High 81  Low 52

 First of all I want to discuss this winter's weather. It's just plain messed up. The Midwest, Southeast, and East Coast are buried in snow with absolutely frigid temperatures. Meanwhile The West and Southwest are breaking heat records. I am not complaining because I am in the Southwest enjoying 80 degree days. But I do worry about what the summer will bring.

Now back to the fun stuff. The Three Musketeers (Marilyn, Pat and I) were ready to roll again. This time we are headed to Sierra Vista in southern Arizona. Our first stop was at the Tom Mix Memorial - The End of a Legend.

Tom Mix was a cowboy hero back in the 20s and 30s and quite the ladies man (had five wives). He and his horse, Tony, performed their own stunts. Kind of like an old timey Tom Cruise. He performed in 291 movies but could not make the transition from silent movies to talkies.

The Memorial we stopped at is located on Highway 79 south of Florence, AZ where he died.

His death is an interesting story. He was driving a yellow Cord Phaeton sports car as he came down the highway, and he did not see or failed to heed the signs warning of a bridge washed out. The car swing into a gully and Tom was hit in the back of the head by a heavy aluminum suitcase that was in the back seat. The impact broke the actor's neck and he died instantly. 

From there we headed on down to Sierra Vista, grabbed some lunch and checked into the hotel. We didn't have much time before our next adventure, so we headed right back out after checking our rooms. 

We climbed into the car and headed north to Benson and beyond.  I had discovered a donkey rescue a few miles north of Benson. If you have ever been to Gammon's Gulch you were almost next door to the donkeys. 

Forever Home Donkey Rescue and Sanctuary takes in donkeys who need rehabilitation and hopefully they are able to rehome the donkeys. Those that are too sick or not able to be rehabilitated will live their life out at the Sanctuary. 

They offer free tours (by appointment) because they believe education is key to ending donkey cruelty. An all volunteer organization with some of the most dedicated people I've ever met.

His ears are a little wonkie but he's such a sweetie.

 Our tour was a little different then other tours. The volunteers had been dealing with a donkey who had choked that morning and had gotten behind in their chores. Normally when people arrive for the tour, the animals are in their own stalls and ready to receive treats from the tourists. Well, because they were so far behind, the donkeys were wandering around loose all over the area. That meant we got to actually mingle with them and give them hugs.

 Had to be careful though, because they are like dogs and cats and they love to rub up against you. Which means us "older" women needed to be careful not to get knocked over. But it was so worth it. They finally rounded them up and we were able to take the tour. We were the only people there so we got to take the golf cart. The treats we were given to hand out to all the donkeys were animal crackers. They loved them.

 

The tours are usually about an hour long - ours was over two hours. We had such a great time. But we were getting hungry and it was an hour drive back to our hotel in Sierra Vista. We found a restaurant that was still open which was ok but we won't return. So on to the next part of our day.

The hotel we stayed in had only one access door to the elevators which was in the lobby. We were parked way back in the rear because it was late when we pulled in. They also tell you that you must back in to several parking spots. I don't like to back in during the day but especially not late at night. There was a door back there but it was access to stairs only. I do not do stairs especially not with luggage. But up we started to climb. Marilyn carried my luggage and Pat's luggage up for us or we wouldn't have made it. Needless to say, we were exhausted and headed straight to our beds. 

 The end of our first day. Next post - Day Two