Gammon's Gulch Old West Town

This morning another one of our neighbors told us about Gammon's Gulch Old West Town. We decided to drive over there and check it out. We were pleasantly surprised at how interesting and entertaining it was. Jay Gammon and his wife own the place and Jay has collected buildings and artifacts from all over Arizona. Several movies have been filmed here and Jay's father was one of John Wayne's personal security members. It is obvious that this place is a true labor of love for Jay! He is quite a character and his personal tours are great. He does not advertise and yet he had 3,600 people tour there last year. He wants to keep it small and uncomplicated. If you're ever in this area, this is a great place to visit!



The saloon

Jay playing the banjo for us.
He also played the piano.

One of several antique vehicles.
They all run.


Check out the roadrunner
walking in front of the church.


The Town Hall.

Another one of his treasured

autos at the filling station.

Triangle T Guest Ranch - Dragoon, AZ

Yesterday one of our neighbors here in St. David told us about the Triangle T Guest Ranch in Dragoon, which is very close to St. David. Dragoon is in the "Texas Canyon" area, which has hundreds of huge boulders which make the most interesting scenery. We drove over there and checked it out. We were going to have lunch at the saloon, but it wasn't open. On their website they have pictures of the casitas that they rent out and they are furnished in beautiful old west furniture. There were a couple of RVs camping there.

The entrance to Triangle T.

A stagecoach at the ranch.

The entrance to the saloon.

Our neighbor says they have

great steaks and barbecue.

We may have to go back here...

later in the day next time.

One of many interesting rock

formations.

Mt. Lemmon - Tucson, AZ

We made our trek up to Mt. Lemmon yesterday afternoon and it was so picturesque! It was about 24 miles to reach the top, which meant there were many, many curves. As Bob said at one point, "Around every curve there is a totally different scene". It was a beautiful day for a beautiful drive. I'm still amazed that Bob drove all the way up and back without the slightest hint of the jitters. I still don't know what got into him, but I'm liking it a lot! I took over 300 pictures going up & down Mt. Lemmon, so it was very difficult to choose just a few to post here.

Interesting rock formations

Beautiful vista

The Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley

at the top.

The sun hitting this formation.

I loved how the setting sun cast

a reddish gold shadow on this area.

Sunset on our way back down.

Another sunset shot.

Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse at Trail Dust Town

We made it back to Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse at around 6:30 last night. They have fantastic steaks that are cooked on a mesquite wood fire and they are excellent! Bob ordered the "Big Cowboy", which is a 30 oz. Porterhouse and he ate it and all the trimmings (and part of mine) and didn't leave one morsel on his plate. He loves this restaurant! It's a neat atmosphere...no neckties are allowed and if you wear one in, they will cut it off and hang it from the ceiling. Coincidentally, one of the gift shops in Trail Dust Town sells ugly old ties for a couple of bucks. :-) At Trail Dust Town there are several shops, a carousel, shooting gallery and an old west gunfight show. If you're ever in the Tucson area, visit Pinnacle Peak...you won't be disappointed!

Definitely a "Cowboy Cadillac".

Check out the rifles mounted

on the fenders.

Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse...

this picture is deceiving...

this place is very big inside.

Sabino Canyon in Tucson, AZ

We had a great day yesterday. We went to Tucson to visit the Sabino Canyon in the Coronado National Forest. We took the tram tour through the canyon and it was nice. When we left there we went to Bob's favorite restaurant in Arizona - Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse at Trail Dust Town. It was 3:30 when we arrived and they didn't open until 4:30, so Bob suggested we drive up to Mt. Lemmon while we waited. I could have fainted! Mt. Lemmon is 9,157 ft. above sea level and Mr. Flatlander decides he'll drive up there. It's 24 miles from the base to the ski lodge at the top. So...up we went and it was a beautiful drive and Bob did fine. We're both still in shock that he did so well. The following 2 posts will show Trail Dust Town & Mt. Lemmon. The photos below are of Sabino Canyon.





This formation is called "The
Mask" or "Winking Tiki"...it looks
like a mask winking at you.

Casa Grande Area

Today we took a picturesque drive to Florence, AZ. We had been through there a couple of years ago and passed a "Prison Store" where they sell things made by the prisoners. They were just closing when we went there 2 years ago, so we decided to go back there today. It was quite interesting and they had some nice items, but we felt that everything was way overpriced. Oh, well...it was a nice drive!


A saguaro in the mountains


Another saguaro


A load of cotton being hauled
from the field


The Prison Store

An interesting building in Florence

More saguaros

Loved this multi-armed

saguaro

Today Bob found a couple in our campground that make really nice items from PVC pipe. They have copyrights for them and have some technique that they use to create birds, etc. from one piece of PVC. Then they paint them and mount them. They are so whimsical and beautiful! We stopped back by their campsite and I purchased the 2 items below.

This eagle is made to mount on a

wall with a hook or on the outside

of the RV with 2 suction cups. It

is on our 5th wheel in this picture.

These are my Egrets. Aren't

they adorable???

Casa Grande, Arizona

Yesterday we moved from St. David, AZ to Casa Grande. We have been trying to get into this park for years. We did have reservations 2 years ago, but had to cancel them when my mother was in the hospital and we had to rush back to Michigan. This park is very nice and they have plenty of activities. Vivian (my first mother-in-law) lives right next door to this park, so we will be visiting with her this week. Here's a few pictures I took yesterday:



Driving through Tucson


Picacho Peak, between Tucson
and Casa Grande


These 3 pictures were taken
out of the back window of our
5th wheel. The sunset last
night was spectacular!