Ice Storm!!?? We didn't sign up for this!!

Hi all, we haven't been able to update the blog for the last few days, as we have been in some remote State parks. I'll tell you more about that later… OK, so we arrived at Balmorhea State park, Texas on Tuesday to beautiful warm temperatures! I sat outside in my shorts happily writing Christmas cards! We heard an Arctic Blast was heading our way, but we really didn't know what to expect. I mean how bad can it get?? We're in the south, and were Canadian! The next morning we woke up to freezing rain. Shorts weather to long johns?! Crazy!!! Well, we carried on with our day oblivious to the fact that a colossal ice storm was heading our way. Woke up this morning to ice covering our car and trailer. We've never seen anything like it before. It was FREEZING! -10 degrees fahrenheit!!! Fahrenheit people!!! That's -23 degrees celsius!!! We are hunkered down at the moment waiting for this insane weather to move on. What's happening? Global warming or mother nature?? Today we give thanks to our heater, duvet, and flannel sheets! Nothing like living in a 15 foot trailer with paper thin walls in the midst of one of the worst storms to hit the south in years! Excellent!! P.S. Florida is looking pretty good right now….

Down at the OK Corral!

On our way back from Bisbee we decided we should stop in and see the town of Tombstone. One of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. The town prospered from about 1877 to 1890, having some of the largest productive silver mines in Arizona. Unfortunately the town had some bad luck. Two major fires hit the town, destroying many of the old buildings. Each time the residents rebuilt right away. The historic district of the town has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. There is quite a bit of cool history here. If you enjoy westerns, rent the movie "Tombstone" and you can learn a little bit about the famous gun fights which took place there! Currently, tourism and western memorabilia are the main draws, and daily performances help preserve the wild west image. Here are a few photos we snapped.

Bisbee, Arizona

On our final day in Cave Creek Park a little old woman in the campground told us we must visit "Bisbee"! After we saw how excited she was about this little town, we decided to go check it out. We only had an afternoon to wander, but around every corner we oohed and ahhhed! Bisbee was founded as a copper, gold, and silver mining town in 1880. The mining industry was up and down for many years until the 70's when it finally came to and end. The history of the town is quite interesting, and fortunately lives on thanks to the many people that believed in it's charm. Do yourself a favour and next time you visit the South West go to Bisbee! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee,_Arizona 

A final note… In 2000 the town was voted the most alive place to retire in the U.S. It was also runner up as one of the "Quirkiest" towns in America, as you can tell by the photos below! Enjoy!