Willcox, AZ - Day 1

Wednesday, December 3

First HAPPY Birthday Chase!  Our grandson is 9 years old today.

Today we move from Deming, NM to Willcox, AZ.  It is only a little over 2 hours down the road.  Since hitting the road today, we are exploring new territory. 

We have just crossed into Arizona.

A little later as we were driving down the highway, Tic noticed this big cloud over the mountain.  It reminded him of Moses going up Mt. Sinai in Exodus 24:15-16.


We arrived at Sagebrush RV Park in Willcox, AZ  about noon and are staying 2 nights.  This is a mobile home park with about 12 spaces available in the front for RV'ers traveling through.  With our Coast to Coast membership this place is $18/night plus tax for 50 amp.  We have full hookups.  The park is located on the western edge of town and is very quiet.

Once we set up and had lunch we decided to go to the Visitor's Center and get information on the area.

It is a little overcast now.  This is the view looking one direction from the Visitor's Center parking lot.

This is the other direction from the Visitor's Center parking lot.  The 2 little peaks at the top are called Dos Cabezas.

We picked up a flyer on a walking tour of historic Willcox.  We decided we would do that today.

This historic house was the first stop.

After being donated to the Historical Society they refurbished it and it has been kept up.  Inside was a lot of antiques for sale.

These beautiful trees were at one of the main intersections in the historic area of town.

This cute antique shop was on another corner.  Lots of antique shops here.

This mural adorned the whole side of a building downtown.  Each tile on the ground had peoples' names.  Probably each donated money for the renovation of downtown.

This is such a magnificent tree. we had to have a picture. The massiveness of it shows well without its leaves.

One of the main attractions in town is the Rex Allen Museum.  Anyone remember Rex Allen? He was almost as famous as Gene Autry.  His horse was even famous.  Rex Allen did a lot of voices for Disney also.

This statue of Rex Allen was right across the street from the museum.

Unlike Roy Rogers' horse Silver, Rex Allen's horse Ko Ko was buried.  This plaque is just a few feet in front of the Rex Allen statue.

And to our surprise the Friends of Marty Robbins Museum was here in Willcox also.  Marty Robbins was born in Glendale, AZ.  Apparently this museum was originally there in Glendale but moved here.

Here is the Willcox train station.  Willcox first boomed because of the train coming to and through town.  Now I-10 is about 5 miles north of town and the town is not thriving anymore.

We thought this old telephone booth just outside the train station looked like a time capsule.  What do you think?

We had to walk right under this tree so Tic got a cool picture looking up through the tree.

The Chiricahua Regional Museum is the main attraction in town.  Geronimo and Cochise Apache chiefs are highlighted here.  We plan to drive a scenic route tomorrow, and will include the Chiricahua National Monument.

This old railroad car has been turned into a restaurant called Big Tex Bar-B-Q.  As we walked by, it smelled so good, that we decided we would come back for dinner. 

This is the inside of the red train car.  We are back for dinner.  We both had BBQ sandwiches.  Tic had brisket sandwich and I had pulled pork.  Both were excellent!

This was on the table at the Big Tex Bar-B-Q.  It gives a little history about the town of Willcox.  Tomorrow we plan a loop drive through the close-by mountain ranges.