Small Town Saturday Night!

    

                      I am really working on greatly expanding the reader base for this very page.  This is going slowly but surely.  My last Exploring post has already had 85 views!  And no, my views to the sight do not show up on the tally.   Please share this page if you enjoy it.  And keep checking back for tons of new features, pictures, and Exploring!   For even more Exploring please check out my first and longest running blog page at www.wyomingjack.blogspot.com    But only if you have a strong stomach!      
         Next month we will have lived in the Benson area --and enjoyed the people and all that the area has to offer, for two full years.   I plan on doing a picture filled post on the best the town has to offer.  Tonight I talk about some fun in Benson a few months back.   For awhile work was giving me weekend days off work  and I had time to check out some of the happenings and sights I would usually be working through.   If you check this very blog page I have several great experiences while at the local Arena Bar.   The evening I discuss tonight was also a great night.    I also wish to bring back to this sight my business of the day feature.   Any place that I or my family and I have visited that has given beyond amazing service.  This is very rare in this day and age it seems----and I make sure that the local business has no clue that I am naming them great.   As in they have not asked me to feature them in any way  nor do they officially  endorse my recommendations in any way.   This type of service is so rare it seems, that I have not used this feature in months.  This will be a rare short post from me- simply because I do not have that many pictures to share.  I am sure the next post will make up for it in length.  

So on this particular and rare Saturday off work I decided it was 

beyond past time to check out the new   actual coffee shop in Benson. 

I have lived in Washington state and Oregon for so long that I have become greatly spoiled 

with an abundance of amazing coffee places.   In fact my other sight has pages where all I do is critique new coffee joints I have visited in the area.  

I like to people watch and type my blogs.   

And than I moved here.

I have found a few decent coffee places in Tucson and at least one in Bisbee.

One day at the Safeway Starbucks in Benson I asked for a drip coffee---and 

it took three employees to determine just what I was ordering. 

Please note here--drip  is Starbucks own lingo

so at first I thought the workers were joking, and than was just beyond disappointed.

So I was more than excited to finally visit the new joint in Benson!

I first heard about the place on the first of April, and my wife and I tried to drive by 

and take a look----most of there signage was not yet up, and we did not see 

a coffee place at all.   And I thought the web sight and even thought of a coffee joint here 

was some cruel April fools joke. 

Several days later I actually spotted the place and had the honor to visit. 

Interesting name---amazing coffee and service!

I did find several things lacking on my visit---but

the owners seem VERY knowledgeable and I believe they are working on everything 

that I might complain about.  Case and point---I drove by today  and saw signs ---every where leading people to the great beverages and baked goods.  

                 Having free Wi-Fi is also a huge draw for me---few places offer this in Benson  and I am defiantly not a fan of any of the other places.  

My temporary office on this fine day.

I really like the large covered picnic tables  complete with chalk board table tops.

Each table also has a bucket of chalk for notes to the next coffee drinker or your fine barista. 

The large tables also make it easy to meet other coffee drinkers.  

Benson residents---please support this business so that it will last and continue to grow. 

We as a town have so few fine places of business that we need to support this gem.

That evening we all ventured to The Arena Bar for a series of free concerts.

From some home grown bands that have been traveling this great country.

Some of the locals in the safety of the bar where the band sound was muffled a little bit. 

Needless to say they were not fans of the bands on this night.

As I roamed between bands waiting for the sun to fully set. 

We try to support anything local   especially if it is free or 

supports a good cause. 

Another feature I wish to bring back is my pictures with coffee cups in the back ground. 

Above was before a hike in Benson.

I have many such pictures   and want to add MANY more. 

   

Nogales Arizona

    So for some time now I have been thinking about taking the short trip to Nogales  and been not doing so.  Mostly because I have not heard to many good reports about this boarder town.  And I am very sure that I can not out run bullets!   About a week back I decided I really was bored, I really was now a single man-after ten years, and that I really did not have much more to loose.  So I grabbed my camera and my fake bullet proof vest and set off!  I have posted from near the boarder several times before.  And on another page of mine talk about being near the Canadian boarder many a time.  But the security and safety is much different up north for sure.   For many more pictures and much more Exploring Please check out my first blog page   at www.wyomingjack.blogspot.com   You know you want too!

Next post or two on this very page

will be about our long hike through The 

Grand Canyon!

It is hard to miss this proud sign as you enter the fine town. 

And defiantly a good and recent claim to fame. 

Large rest area on the way down. 

A little bit of time to check out the rest area. 

The sign behind this flowering cactus warns of snakes and biting insects in the area. 

As in most adventures in this area   I was soon surrounded by amazing mountains. 

Another greater to the town

Near the library 

I found fountains all over the town. 

I soon found it easiest to park and Explore.  

And parked in a fast food joint near the old city hall. 

Just around the corner from here where many shops with 

a huge mixture of bargain items from both countries.  

None of the shops had anything I desperately needed though.

Just down from the shops was the boarder. 

Old building especially churches always catch my eye.

Construction zone like I have never seen before.  

I am not sure this place is as quick any more. 

My walk proved a quiet town full of sights   far from what I was expecting.

This was the only wall art I could find though. 

In front of the fire and police stations.

I really enjoy this motel sign topper.

In the same  motel parking lot. 

Not sure if the trolley still gives tours. 

Another motel further down the trail   

that does not look as nice by far. 

I am going to do a post soon about many of the run down motels in the greater Tucson area. 

Room with a view, cheap rent, and free air conditioning through all the 

broken windows.

My feet were beginning to ache so it was time to get back on the trail and head back North.

Several of the towns along the way looked very interesting, but they would be stops for further Exploring trips.  I did make a quick stop at the Titan Missile Museum but did not take the tour on this day. 

Found just in front of the museum. 

I also managed to make a stop at the other Desert Diamond Casino location about 25 miles out of Tucson. 

I had never been by this location before.  And as many times is the case, I just seemed to donate to more little flashing lights over the slot machines! 

Last note--the new hospital they are building out that way  is huge!