For the most part, our Airbnb’s on this trip have been great. We have stayed in a range of places from good to amazing and this was our first strike out! I know, as much as we tried to like it, it just wasn’t happening. The place was cave-like, not super clean and just really dingy. It was livable and always good for all of us to experience the not so perfect side of the world so we stuck it out but it didn’t create the best atmosphere for enjoying this quirky Southern Arizona town of Bisbee.
A Glimpse of Bisbee
Copper Mines
Bisbee sits in the mountains surrounding the Queen Mine where massive amounts of copper were mined. The mine is closed now but the pit remains and it is so enormous you can’t even see to the bottom from most vantage points. The town is very eclectic and it’s hard to tell the hipsters from the people who have lived this fad their entire life. Needless to say, it’s a cool place to visit despite being way off the beaten path.
Queen Mine Tour
A journey back in time and 2000 feet into the deep recesses of the earth. That’s how Matt and the girls spent their morning, exploring the old Queen mine. Lennox was too young to go so this was a daddy/daughter excursion. Colette and Sienna were both a bit nervous to go into the cave. After having watched Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom, I think they had a screwed up perspective of the “mine ride”. The actual tour was fantastic. Our guide played the tour like everyone was a new miner coming to work. He went over everything from safety, explosives, transportation, and ways to find the ore itself. They saw drilling tools, a mine elevator and even a bike modified to ride on the mine rails. A very fun way to spend a couple of hours and if you find yourself in this neck of the woods, definitely stop by. The kids really enjoyed riding the little train into the mine but I think for them the most fun part was picking out some dollar rocks from the gift shop!
Devil’s Claw Wash
We were lucky to visit Aunt Suzie and Uncle Jeff while in Arizona and even luckier to go on a great hike with our trekking guide Aunt Susie and her dog Bonita. Bonita was not so lucky as 8 devil’s claws (the biggest, gnarliest burrs I’ve ever seen) stuck to her fur. We hiked along a wash which was relatively dry and the kids loved the challenge of navigating through water and uncharted land. It was a lot of fun. Uncle Jeff didn’t join us because he was cooking a delicious meal which we all enjoyed following our hike. It is always great to meet up with family on the road and we really enjoyed our time together.
Tombstone
Just a half hour drive from Bisbee is what my kids have deemed the “OLD OLD WEST” I guess it makes sense, if it was the Old West to me it must be the really old west to them. Yes, Tombstone is a real town, and it was the center of cowboy fighting, saloon swinging ruckus for quite some time. I never watched many old westerns but Matt did and he knows all the characters from Doc Holiday to Billy the Kid who roamed the streets of Tombstone. It’s a tourist destination for sure but we bought into the stagecoaches, saloons, old time photos and ice cream shops creating our own Western adventure.
Chiricahua National Monument
On our last day in Arizona before heading west to California we debated if we should make the 2-hour drive to Chiricahua National Monument. We decided to go for it and we’re so thankful we did. After driving miles and miles through flat barren desert land we came upon some trees, wound through some mountains and were faced with enormous rock formations. The rocks seem to be stacked and balanced on top of each other as far as the eye can see. Looking out at the formations is spectacular but we were lucky to find a hike which wound us down through the rocks and ended at a grotto we could climb into and explore. Climbing within the balanced rocks was even more thrilling than being surrounded by them. We have found whenever a hike involves scaling giant rocks the kids love it, and we do too, it was a great hike. The day was extremely windy which made for some interesting moments but thankfully our only windblown loss was a Junior Ranger book.