Exploring Some History Of Congress, A Diamond In The Rough and Amazon Juggling.

Our Location today is North Ranch, Congress, Arizona, U.S.A.

With the “Early to Bed, Early to Rise” saying in mind last night that was what we did, we went to bed early. We’ve been sleeping with the windows open for the last couple of nights and want to continue doing so until the Temperatures start to tumble. All that fresh air suited me just fine but Kathy was having a problem with Congestion and spent nearly half the night in her Recliner before getting back to sleep in bed. (I think she was just too anxious for today’s planned exploring. Don’t tell her that I said so.) It was nearly an hour after I’d opened the Window Shades in the living area and gotten things ready for breakfast that she finally came downstairs. 

Clear Blue Skies just the way you remembered them Al.

As usual we finished our Coffee/Tea at the Computers while doing our morning reading. Not exactly knowing what the rest of our day was going to be like we packed water along with snacks before heading out the door. 

A Familiar looking house.

As mentioned in yesterday’s Blog we were going exploring in a different direction. Our destination was the small community of Congress. Since we’ve been faithful followers of Travels with the Bayfield Bunch for nearly Ten Years and read of their many trips into the desert and some of the remarkable things they did find. Using the location of their Ghost Town Road home that they purchased in 2012 and sold last December we started searching for some of these Natural Treasures. 

Kathy exploring the Pioneer Cemetery.

The Barrier is there but you can't read the Markers.

After going around the block and past the local School we headed up Ghost Town Road in the direction of the Pioneer Cemetery. Taking our time driving through BLM Land we bounced along going by RVs already enjoying the feeling of being “Off the Grid”. Off in the distance we could see what appeared to be Flag Poles but the Trail also went further east towards the base of the mountains so we followed that. The worst that could happen is that we would have to turn around. Looking in the Rearview Mirror we suddenly had guests that were following us in a Jeep. After a few more curves in the Single Lane wide trail and we arrived at the Old Congress Pioneer Cemetery Established in 1887. The Jeep parked on the opposite side of the Trail by the gate. 

2 years, 10 Months and 13 Days old.

One gentleman who had been here over Forty Years ago was showing his friend around. Walking through the Gated Fence used to protect the area from Javelinas, it was a somber moment for all of us because most of the Headstones were now unreadable probably from the blowing sands that had worn them smooth. It was also sad that there seemed to be nobody to care for this Historic Place as the growth of Desert Scrub Brush and Cactus showed. One thing that was very evident was that if you were born in that era under the harsh desert climate your chances of survival were not what they are today. 

Kathy exploring the Congress Cemetery.

We all seemed to be leaving at the same time and the men from the Jeep told us of a few more things to look at in the area. By the time we started the truck they had disappeared in a cloud of dust. Seeing that ahead of us gave us another reason to travel slow heading back towards Congress. 

Even here not all Family Plots are clean

When we got to another road near the distant Flag Poles we headed in their direction which brought us to the Congress Cemetery. At this location like the other there was a Gated Fence to keep the Wildlife from entering. The Headstones were much newer and easier to read with many being for Veterans that had served in many of the Recent Foreign Wars. There were Family Sections as well with the latest visible Burial being in 2014. This Cemetery was slightly better kept but it’s surprising that Families would not care about their Ancestors.

 

We finished bouncing our way back to Ghost Town Road and started exploring other back roads. It was around that time we started feeling hungry and noticed it was past lunch time. Seeing cars coming and going at Nichols West Restaurant we thought we’d give it a try. Inside the place was super clean and it had a nice atmosphere to it. There were pictures on the wall showing Congress over many generations. With only two people waiting and cleaning tables along with a single person cooking we still had our Sandwiches in less then Ten Minutes. They were as Tasty as they looked. We must have arrived just at the right time because when we left the lot had even more vehicles in it and there were Three RVs parked on the other side of the road. Kathy calls Nichols West a “Diamond in the Rough”.

We continued looking around Congress before slowly getting back on Highway 89. Even with a reduced Speed Limit going through Congress many of the motorists were flying through. We looked at the small shops along the way until we reached Congress Depot Old Mercantile where we thought it was an Old Time Hardware Store. Imagine our surprise when we walked in to find that it was in fact a Restaurant. 

Kathy's BLT.

My Philly Cheese Steak

It was past 2:00 when we finally arrived Home and with the Hot Dry Temperatures we sat back to cool down. That was when we realized there were a number of things from Al and Kelly’s Blog that we hadn’t found so that sounds like we’ve got more exploring to do. 

Checking our E-mails we found out that our Amazon Delivery for today got delayed until Monday and the other part of the order that would have arrived next Friday will arrive on Wednesday. I guess you could say things are “Balancing Out”. Thanks for following along, feel free to leave a comment and click on the pictures to enlarge them. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

The World's Great Proverbs

The devil finds work for idle hands to do.