Cascabel Road and other adventures

We have had a house guest since the end of September.  Armando, Artur's old work buddy came to stay for a month.  This area of the country is like home to him since he's originally from Mexico and grew up in Texas.  Armando is still suffering some of the effects of brain surgery that he had years ago for a tumor which almost killed him but generally by now he is able to get around pretty well.  We just decided not to take him on any lengthy hikes so our sightseeing is limited to driving, which of course Artur doesn't mind.

We are obviously still newbies in Arizona because we took off for a drive on Cascabel Road which runs north from Benson along the San Pedro River and meanders all the way to Tucson.  After about 36 miles down the road, we realized the with half a tank of gas and only my cup of water we better make sure that there's a gas station or town around if we continue.  My phone GPS showed about another 75 miles to any paved road so we decided to get back to Benson and take gas and water with us next time around.  Still there were amazing sites just along those 30 some miles.  Artur and I decided that this would be a great place to come back to in the winter.

Our first stop was Gammons Gulch, an old movie town that has some really great building and lots of old rusted stuff!  Fun place to walk around and explore.  Not a single person around so it was really great!

Poor Armando is such a good sport!

Here are the cement quails that I had just purchased in Tucson for my front entrance.  I just love them!

I think they look better on my porch.....

After Gammons Gulch we headed North on Cascabel Rd.  The San Pedro Valley was so amazing and beautiful on this October Day....

The River Valley has amazing earth formations that look like ancient ruins but are totally out of clay molded by the river.  There are also organic farms along the river with so much variety of animals and crops.  We really do need to explore this area in greater detail.  So close to Benson.....no need to drive so far to see such interesting wonders.