The Outpost at the South Pohl

We spent a couple of nights at the Clarks near Sunsite and then it was time to move on to the South Pohl. Ken and Verna have a nice spot in the shadow of Cochise's Stronghold and we moved into a little piece of heaven they have just down the road. Our friends Mike and Shaunna Lewis have a place right next door so we took advantage of having access to two great dog trainers to work on a few things with Max and Maya. I don't think they are going to head over to the police dog academy anytime soon but a few of their more annoying behaviours are less noticeable now anyway.

The view from the Outpost at the South Pohl

The weather here is a little different than down around Why, not long underwear cool but close, and if you were hanging around outside once the sun went down at 4:22PM, here in the shade of the Stronghold, you would probably rethink that statement pretty quickly.

One day we took a run down to Bisbee for a look around and stopped in at the Bisbee Breakfast Club in old Bisbee for a late breakfast. It is an interesting place with a lot of character. Pete Hanson suggested I read a series of books about a fictional sheriff in Cochise County by J.A. Jance and I took his advice so as we drove around Bisbee and the rest of the County it almost seemed familiar. Brenda was thinking I was going to drive into say hello to some of my fictional folks.

Another day I took a drive up to the actual Stronghold for visit. Interesting rock formations and easy to see how a whole band of Apache's could make themselves hard to find in there.

If those walls could talk I am sure they would have some tales to tell.

Cochise Stronghold

Another day Blue II and I took a run through the Dragoons and over Middlemarch Pass. We got far enough over that we could see Tombstone and the west side of the range. Lots of old mining trails and diggings in there and a pile of trails still to be explored.

A look back from the Pass across the valley towards the Chiricahua's

A big Century Plant 

I wasn't the only one out for a look around.

I made a trip into Wilcox to pick up a few baking supplies for Brenda and she whipped up two kinds of tarts and a couple batches of shortbread cookies so we enjoyed Christmas baking. Christmas Eve we gathered at the Big House and shared a plethora of appetizers including Natcho's, Chili Dip, ribs, sauteed shrimp, jalapeno poppers, and some of that baking then Verna treated us to a movie night.

Christmas Day we chilled around the campfire, and then it was back to the feed trough at the South Pohl for a Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings with Verna, Shaunna, Mike and new friends Micki, and Zach.

This morning we loaded Blue II after our morning fire and headed west. We had a supply stop at Costco in Tucson and then moved on to Gila Bend for the night. We are spending the night at the KOA here and I have to say, over the years we have stayed in a bunch of KOA's and this is far and away to nicest of the lot. Great Wifi, landscaping, dog parks, laundry, pool, showers and clubhouse, all top shelf facilities. We will flush our tanks, empty those that are full, fill those that are empty and then head further west into California tomorrow.

Sunrise from the Outpost of the South Pohl this morning.