Nestled into our spot for a couple of nights
We arrived at the Stronghold Ranch about noon on Saturday the 23rd. The Stronghold Ranch is the home to our installer Dennis and his family. They settled there about a year ago and have been working hard to ‘make it there own’ ever since.
The view…
It’s in a gorgeous location at the foothills the Cochise Stronghold…beautiful views abound! They installed 2 RV sites so that customers can come to their location to have an install down and also enjoy the surrounding area.
You should how awesome the inside of this little place is…Dennis did ALL the work!
They full-timed in their class A motorhome until they got their casita built and livable. Now their motorhome serves as an Airbnb destination! What a couple of entrepreneurs! Here’s a link to their listing Click HERE.
We had such a wonderful stay at their ranch. They were perfect tour guides…sending out out on a couple of scenic drives that we awesome. One nearly giggled me right out of my skin.
We settled in easily, visited with Dennis and Mavis for a couple of hours and then set out to get some lunch and take a drive through the area.
Sandy’s
Sandy’s Restaurant & RV Park was what Dennis & Mavis recommended so that’s where we headed first. A small place with a homey atmosphere…just our kind of place. We both ordered burgers & soup. Food was very good and the service was excellent. Tony, our server, was awesome….friendly and fun.
Sandy’s homemade pastries were highly recommended so we each picked out a couple to take home for later.
One of several structures we came across on our first drive.
After our late lunch we headed out for a scenic drive on the Ghost Town Trail which was beautiful. We saw quite a bit of wildlife as well as remains of buildings. We took our time, stopping to view certain things, etc. It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon…especially after the crazy busy week we’d been through.
The following morning we headed out fairly early so that we could go back to Sandy’s for breakfast…just as good as the previous days ‘lupper’. Service was just as good as the previous day as, Sandy, the owner, waited on us. The place was quite busy but she still took the time to give us friendly, personal service.
The Cochise Stronghold
After breakfast we headed to the Cochise Stronghold Campground where we were expecting a better view of the Cochise Stronghold and possibly some more information than what we could find online. Unfortunately, we didn’t find it. (Click HERE for the online version) We just figured with such a historic past we’d get more information. Oh well…it’s a beautiful area nonetheless.
It was a fun drive too…we drove through at least half a dozen washes…some fairly deep…others not so much.
Came across several of these and were a bit shocked by the first one but we just opened it up…closed after we went through and continued on our way.
We also took Dennis’ advice and took another scenic drive…this one along the base of the mountains. Apparently, he meant for us to only drive so far down the road and then turn around…however, we missed that part and kept going. We drove the entire 8.5 miles and let me tell you…it was crazy in spots! The entire drive was fairly rough…some much more rough than others. Most of the drive the road/path/trail was plenty ride…however, the last couple of miles it got pretty narrow!
At one point I laughed so hard, Michael stopped the truck and just stared at me to make sure I was ok. While I cursed Dennis a few times during the really crazy part….we really had a lot of fun. LOL The views were stunning and the terrain magnificent. We didn’t see many animals at all…though we did see ‘evidence’ of cows having been around.
How awesome is that?
At one of the very narrow parts of the pathy/trail we rounded a corner to find two cows in the middle of the road and a small pond to the right where there were several other cows hanging out. It was actually a very pretty scene…of course I had to take some pictures to share.
Just chillin’ with Dennis and Maddie
We got back home by mid-afternoon and did some work before heading over to Dennis & Mavis’ place where we had a cookout. Nothing fancy…just good old burgers & dogs with some side dishes. The weather was gorgeous so we sat outside visiting and sharing stories.
Visitors
After a while we had a group of about eleven javelinas join us. Apparently they stop by each evening to graze on the grass in the yard. Mavis has name most of them and can tell you about their habits…two are twins, one baby not very old, a couple always get down on their front knees where foraging, etc.
We didn’t bother them…they didn’t bother us. Mutual respect.
About the time that it really started to cool off we all headed into the house to enjoy a bowl of ice cream. We had such a great time and we treated like royalty by these two humble and gracious folks. Now we just have to talk our kids into joining us next time! 
Dennis hard at work install a set of disc brakes
While we were there…one of our recent customer came for a three night stay to have his disc brakes installed. Since we do a good portion of our sales online or by phone we both really enjoy getting to meet our customers in person.
Bob & Carla did pretty much the same thing we did while they were there…took a couple of drives but they also visited Tombstone which isn’t much of a drive either. We enjoyed getting to know them and wish them safe travels.