Patagonia to Las Cienegas

Friday morning we headed out early to a boondocking site mentioned by the Bayfield Bunch (thanks once again to Al and Kelly!). It was 14C when we started out, cooling further to 9C by Sonoita.

We got settled in a spot in an area called Las Cienegas. It's in a grasslands reserve area, Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. 
We'll be staying Friday and Saturday nights here, partly because of March break and partly because it's just a beautiful shortgrass area, still a somewhat-working cattle ranch with historic headquarters buildings being rescued and restored. 

Later Friday morning we set out for a day trip to Bisbee. Before we left, we set up our little red shelter to mark our spot as occupied, then headed out on a very enjoyable day trip.

We headed south on #83, east on #82, then south and east on #90 thru Huachuca City to Bisbee. Bisbee is amazing; there is hardly any level land so the houses are built up and down wherever there was room. Al has lots of Bisbee pictures on his Bayfield Bunch blog site; it's a very picturesque village. At 5,300 ft elevation, it claims a climate much more temperate than Tucson through the summer. 

It has also achieved some fame due to books by J. A. Jance set in the area. 

Amazingly, we managed to get parked for free right in Bisbee. If the van was any bigger, it would have cost us $10 to park in a nearby lot. 

When we were ready for lunch, we left the main tourist area 
and had a lovely lunch at Anna’s Seasonal Kitchen. It closes at 2pm but luckily we got there about 1:30. We had good lemonade with lunch, and got a couple of banana muffins to take with us. 

Cath stopped in to a Vintage Shop and got a Coldwater Creek cardigan for $12. 

After leaving Bisbee we stopped by Tombstone, a very touristy place trading on the famous (or infamous) gunfight at the OK Corral, involving Wyatt Earp and his gang vs the Clantons. 
Recreations of the event are held daily, for a fee.

We had a good walk around. It’s a real tourist town but fun, with lots of shops with souvenirs. We picked out a t-shirt for Donna, then headed back to camp. There is still snow on some of the high peaks and vineyards around Sonoita. On the way in to the BLM Empire Ranch land (our boondock area) we saw 7 antelope.