Having left the friendly confines of Casa Weldon, I toured south and east to Tubac, Nogales, Patagonia, and Tombstone. All of which inspired nothing more than a good nap. It started with me waiting in Tubac for about fifty minutes so I could get a few cigars from The Grumpy Gringo Cigar Store when he opened at 10. Of course that turned out to be the morning he wandered into work about 10:30. His Grumpiness wasn’t even apologetic. I doubt I’ll be going back.

So let me say right up front that there won’t be any more cave pictures. But that’s mostly because Kartchner Caverns takes a rather strict approach to cave preservation, as opposed to Carlsbad for example. You literally can only enter the caves with the clothes you are wearing. No cameras, purses, backpacks, cell phones, or anything.

As you enter the caverns you are “misted” to reduce lint and skin cells from sloughing off your body. The only parts of your body allowed to touch anything are your feet on the walkway which is washed down to collection points every night. At Kartchner they are fond of telling you that at Carlsbad Caverns, every year, they have a lint picking project that involves teams of people with black lights and tweezers picking hairs and lint off the rocks along the walkway. They collect about 50 lbs. of lint. The preservation of the delicate cave environments and the minimization of human impact is serious business. The unique formations that you see in caves and the time they take to form are pretty much the same.  The history of the discovery and preservation of the Kartchner caves is really quite moving but is way to long and involved for me to write about.  So, you guessed it, google it if you’re interested.

I have to say the best part of Kartchner Campgrounds was meeting up with my fellow retired Applied Power Products vet Phil and his wife Nancy. They in turn introduced me to some new friends, Mark and Kay, who hail originally from Wisconsin and now live full time “on the road”.

Not surprising, the two couples met at a campground, in southern Texas, and have kept in touch and travel together. Meeting Phil and Nancy was no accident. Phil and I talked about our winter plans in general last summer and have kept in touch. Phil was watching my whereabouts on my blog and when he knew I was getting close emailed me their location plans. It was fun reconnecting, and the five of us shared a traditional St. Patty’s Day meal of corn beef, cabbage, and taters. It was my second one of the week ‘cause I shared the same meal with Ro and Tim before I left. Both were wonderful meals shared with friends. What could be better.