Whether or not you’ve gone exploring yourself, you may know of somebody who has gone exploring caves and discovered some of the delights they offer. “Cavers” look for living caves that continue to grow interesting geological formations underground.
Years ago my wife and I had the opportunity of visiting the Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky. It was truly amazing. Even with my claustophobia, I discovered once your in the cave in the “big rooms” it is more about the unusual things you see and discover than about your own fears.
Today we experienced something truly amazing – one of the most interesting caves ever, right here in Benson, Arizona. Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson, Arizona. It has some of the most amazing cave rooms and formations. What was really unique was the way the park came to be, how the founders protected the findings from being damaged, and how the park was developed to consider the needs of the public coming to see it. It is the first cave park to be wheelchair accessible. Incredible.
Check out their website. You really need to visit this place! They have a variety of tours, depending on your interests. For example, we went on the the tour for the big rooms. Visitors could not do photography for a variety of reasons (kids climbing over railings to take pictures). However, one of their tours is for age-appropriate photographers. It is absolutely amazing.
When I visit some place like this, I make sure to wear comfortable shoes (I like my Merrill hiking boots) and layered clothes in case it is cold or hot. My motto is “be prepared”.
If you’ve never been to Tombstone, Arizona, it is worth the trip, particularly if you, like me, grew up on a good ration of cowboy TV shows with gunslingers and bandits, gamblers, and heroes like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. Personally, I am not usually interested in shopping, I’d rather look at the history and what remains of the town. However, in Tombstone, you can find whatever floats your boat.
From Saloons and Gambling Halls to Theaters and Brothels
Tombstone is loaded with historical and shopping opportunities. Walk through the old town and you will quickly get a good flavor of the wild West way of living back in the 1800s. There are many original buildings, a variety of tours, as well as shops for everything western you might want to purchase.
There are several people in period dress that hawk their wares or announce upcoming tours and events, such as The Bird Cage Theater (opened 1881), one of the local mines, and the Tombstone Court House.
Bird Cage TheaterAbout the Bird Cage Theater
There are also staged gunfights in the streets. Amazingly, along the boardwalk of one of the saloons the town lists the demise of many real-life gunfighters.
I stopped by the Epitaph Newspaper museum, which includes a lot of historical printing equipment and photos. The docent there provided interesting history about the paper and times. The Epitaph is the longest running newspaper in Arizona (they still publish a newspaper once a month to which you can subscribe to read historical accounts of one of the West’s wildest mining towns).
Docent Bert Webster at the Epitaph Newspaper Museum
Stop by and experience some history of what the West was like over a century ago and send us your thoughts about this historical town. Or, tell us what’s your favorite Western factoid, or who you would’ve loved to meet and why?
If you’ve ever experienced a wintry Nor’easter in NewEngland, you can understand why so many people connected with the “Mamas and Papas” singing California Dreamin, “On a winter’s day I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.” Travelling through the state in our RV with our dog, we liked the warmer weather. But it wasn’t always that dreamy.
Dreamy and No-So-Dreamy
Things we liked were tempered with a few things we didn’t.
Like: Fun beaches for dog are accessible. Lots of socializing, chasing each other, and catching frizbees and tennis balls.
Dislike: Dog beaches often require walking further beyond the people-only beach for the privilege of frocklicking with your pet on the beach. They also include more rules, such picking up after your dog (understandable) and keeping the dog on a 6 ft. leash (more than half of the visitors ignore this one).
Like: There are lots of scenic roads with beautiful vistas and sites unseen if you don’t venture beyond the highways.
Dislike: Hairpin turns, ridiculous speed limits (mostly on the high side) and obnoxious drivers in lambroghinis honking mad at you for being cautious on the hairpins.
Like: Smooth highways.
Dislike: bumpy highways, narrow bridges, low bridges, and drivers who prefer to run you off the road rather than let you in.
If you have a dog and haven’t been to a dog beach, you need to go. Dog parks are fun, but beaches are incredible!
We have experienced multiple dog beaches along California’s coast, and I have to tell you they are fun – not only for the dogs who love to socialize and meet new friends, but also for their owners who get to see their companions frolic around the sand meeting and chasing all sorts of dogs from big to small – all excited to play.
My introduction to dog beaches was during a visit to see our son and his dog in San Diego. We went to the Coronado Dog Beach . It was huge. Easily 100 dogs chasing frisbees, sniffing and chasing other dogs across the sand and through the in-coming surf.
On Leash or Off?
The last few weeks, we’ve been to multiple beaches along the California southern coast. Some require dogs be on leash, other no leash. The expectation is that the owner will ensure good behavior and pickup.
However, as probably expected there seems to either complete ignorance of the “dogs on leash” symbol or when walking with multiple dogs, one is on leash and the rest are off. Hmmm, interesting.
My take is that people simply hate rules, especially when it comes to the beach. Of course, there is the contrast. For example, we went to on Del Mar Beach (Del Mar, CA), BTW a fantastic fun spot for dogs (and people). I had one person immediately alerting me to the fact that my dog had shat! She didn’t see me pulling out the plastic blue bag! Then there are those who walk lachsadaiscally cross the cool sand or sit on a rock soaking in the sun with with no tracking on where their dogs have gone or what mischief they have found. Frankly, I don’t care. It simply shows who you are. Either a rule-abiding citizen or what ever. Well, I suppose it depends on your mood for the day.
Name Those Beaches
Here are comments about some dog beaches we visited. Please add comments about other beaches worth visiting with your dog. (This is a work in progress… adding more pictures from the trip and comments.)
Requirements: Dogs on leash, pick up after. Actually, almost all dogs we saw were off leash having a BLAST of a time running around through the water, sniffing out smells and saying “hi” to all the other dogs.
Condition of beach: Great shape. We would certainly go back.
Condition of beach: Hard to get to. We were staying in the Leo Corillo State Park south (probs 1/2 mile) and dogs were not allowed on the nearer South beach. The beach was changed off except at the furthest end (quite a walk) and the embankment was eroded by previous storms. Unfortunately, we didn’t see other dogs. What good is that for dog play time?
We drove by pristine beaches in Biloxi, MS. However, a search online indicated pet friendliness along the Mississippi Gulf Coast depends on the county you are in.
We are on the road travelling, and needed repair work done on our RV in Barkersfield, CA. So, a few questions come to mind: where do we stay in the meantime and how do we get to and from, particularly with our go bags and our dog?
We located several nearby hotels that were pet friendly. However, several had sketchy ratings and almost all charged $50 per nite for the dog. I figured that price was a bit much. Fortunately we found the Vagabond Inn, which had raving reviews and a more reasonable dog rate.
For getting to the hotel, there was no problem. CampingWorld had a staff member drive us to the hotel which only a 1 1/2 away. That was nice. We got their and spent the night.
The next day, we were told the repairs were going to be completed and we could check out. We inquired about a ride back but had to wait a few hours. I thought I would check to what other options there are if we did not have friendly transportation by CampingWorld. Here is what we discovered:
Walking – Although the distance between CampiingWorld and the hotel was a little over a mile, there was a ton of traffic and the road noise would scare our dog.
Uber – only service animals can be transported
Taxi – Jesse (owner) answered our call to Azteca Taxi Cab in Bakersfield. He adds a pet fee based on size: $10 for up to 12 pounds and $15 for over 12 lb. Seems reasonable to me!
As this situation turned out, our friend Tiffiany at the hotel offerred to let us stay in our room after the check out time to wait for our ride from our friends at CampingWorld in a few hours. Nice! It that hadn’t happened we would certainly would have set up a transport with Jesse!
Thank heavens there are options and friendly and undertanding service people!
