Bisbee Loop
February 17 - February 20, 2006

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Started in Tucson and headed for our first stop, Vail.  In the group, from the left, we have Alicia, Juanita, Tom, Marlene, and Karen. 
Alicia and Juanita (aka the Juanita Sisters) stayed with us for only the first leg of the tour, as they had to get ready to ride around the world to raise money for charity through Aspire to Inspire.



Here are the sisters, leaving us in Vail.  Interesting to note...Juanita, the Stoker, is blind, yet they were brave enough to ride around the world.  Goodbye Sisters.



The three remaining members of the team continued on and the weather took a turn for the worse.  The winds were so strong that we had to stop at an I-10 overpass between Vail and Benson and take shelter....



While we waited for someone to come and give us a ride the rest of the way.  :-) 
By the time we went to eat and got to the observatory (our first night's lodging), it was already getting dark.




We had a restful night at the observatory but I guess we were feeling a little blurry in the morning as Kathleen, our cook, served us breakfast in the enclosed viewing deck.



The observatory itself is very impressive, it has several telescopes, and a roof that slides open for indoor/outdoor viewing.  And its location makes it ideal for stargazing.



Here are Karen and Marlene trying to use some telescopes to look into people's living rooms.



Here are Tom and Marlene at the Horseshoe Cafe, where we had dinner the night before.  This is in fabulous downtown Benson, and on our way out of town.



We couldn't leave without having our picture taken in front of the mural at the Saddle and Blanket Company.
I wonder if we can join in the wagon train with our bicycles?  Hmmm.




Our next stop was the beautiful Holy Trinity Monastery.  If you are ever in the area, it's really worth stopping in. 
Here, Marlene and Karen are pretending this statue is the wooden Mary statue from The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.



Another interesting sight at the monastery...



By the time we reached our destination for the day, Bisbee, it was getting dark, so we walked to a store closeby where they sell ready-made dinners and had a delicious hot meal. 
The name of that store is the Mimosa Market.




Day three began beautifully, as you can see from this picture.