Tucson, AZ
Naco is a small town a hundred miles southeast of Tucson located right on the Mexican border, less than ten miles from the former mining town of Bisbee. While Bisbee is now a neat town filled with former hippies and a couple of nice restaurants, Naco has one thing of interest, a golf course!
We originally planned to spend two weeks in Naco with Dave and Sue, but cold, rainy (and snowy) weather caused us to delay the trip and cut the visit down to a week. That turned out to be a good move as the day we arrived was the first day the course was open due to snow. But during our week long visit the skies were clear and the afternoon temperature was around sixty degrees.
When not on the golf course we were in downtown Bisbee, either for coffee in the morning at the funky Bisbee Coffee Company or in the evening at one of the many nice restaurants.
Tombstone Canyon Road through downtown Bisbee
One evening we enjoyed some great food at the Screaming Banshee Pizza Company. The food was good but the paintings on the walls around us (all by local artists and available for purchase) were a bit strange.
Dave has a guardian angel looking over his shoulder
We also dined at the “upscale” Cafe Roka one evening. If you enjoy great food, this is a “must visit” stop if you are ever in Bisbee.
Cafe Roka on the left
Since Naco is at a higher elevation than Tucson (and Bisbee is even higher) the temperatures were a bit cooler, especially at night. So after a week it was nice to return to the more moderate temperatures of Tucson. We’ll be staying here in Lazydays KOA for at least a month, giving us plenty of time to do some routine maintenance on the motorhome.
One item that has been at the top (no pun intended) of our to-do lists is the replacement of our slide toppers. Slide toppers are pieces of canvas mounted on spring-loaded rollers. When a slide is extended, the topper covers the top of the slide out, keeping dirt, water, and debris off. Ours were original equipment and were beginning to show their age. Our plan was to pay an RV repair shop to replace them. But when our friends Steve and Joan (FOSJ) posted a blog on how Steve had replaced his (with the help of a friend) with no problems, John decided he could tackle the job, especially since he knew Dave and Sue would be staying nearby so Dave could help with the installation. Our friends Steve (a different Steve) and Mona Liza (Lowe’s RV Adventures) are also in this park and need to replace the slide toppers on their motorhome, so Steve was eager to help with our installation and decide if this was a job he was able to tackle.
Dave and Steve remove an old slide topper (John is on the ground supervising)
The installation crew complete final adjustments on a slide topper
The installation went very smoothly (thanks to the extra help) and was completed by lunchtime. Pam fixed a great meal and Sue and Mona Liza joined the installation crew as they basked in the the glow of a job well done! Steve has ordered new toppers for their motorhome so the crew will be getting back together for another installation next week.
I can hear all the male grunting going on. Good group of people to hang with and always nice completing a major task.
Yes, it is a wonderful group of people and great helpers:)
Hmmmm, I remember a yummy meal at Cafe Roka!
Nice job boys!
So glad we decided to have our last meal at Cafe Roka. The food was outstanding and the restaurant is so cute inside:)
How nice that you can help each other install the new awnings. Bet it would cost quite a bit if you had to take it to an RV place.
We understand the most expensive part of getting new toppers is the labor. The job was rather quick and easy with great help.
Good thing OSA wasn’t around. Standing on top of ladder isn’t the safest thing to do. But does save money.
John said he was holding on and very stable, Dick. Thanks for the concern:) And it did save a lot of money.
How great that the guys got the job done! I always like saving money on repairs so that there’s more money for fun stuff, like eating out at Cafe Roka, our favorite restaurant in Bisbee. 🙂 Glad you ended up with a week of good golfing weather in Naco. I’m sure you guys are all having a blast in Tucson!
Both Sue and I remembered you saying how wonderful Cafe Roka was and you were right. We had a great dinner. We will be returning on our next visit:)
We are having a fun time in Tucson:)
Oh good, I’m so glad you enjoyed Cafe Roka! :-))
Uhhh…is no one going to mention that the one ladder is too short? You’re scarin’ me guys! 🙂
John says he was hanging on, Jim:) Luckily, all went well:)
The snow-covered mountains look awesome. We really enjoyed Bisbee.
Great job, guys. Amazing what teamwork can accomplish. Saved a ton of $$$$.
Bisbee is such a unique place. Neat town!
Yes, we saved a ton on labor with all our help. Thanks goodness for Youtube videos!
Oh we need to do that, too! Maybe it’ll wait until next January. We’ll try to find y’all and the Lowe’s. Bill could do some buffing in exchange of labor! He’s been having fun with his buffer! He sure gets the comments from our neighbors!
Fun post! We’re looking forward to getting out to the SW!
Sounds like a plan, Debbie:) Handy friends are a good thing.
Job well done guys!
We will be arriving at Lazydays on Feb. 1…can’t wait to meet you!
See you at the beginning of February:)
Yeah, another one off the list. The crew will be busy sometime soon once our toppers arrived.
I think we do need to revisit Bisbee…one day soon.
Good the crew got to practice on our toppers. Yours will move right along:)
How absolutely wonderful to have knowledgeable friends to help with a big money saving task. We sadly did not, had to pay and they were put on too tight or something and since they are unfortunately white, have a scrape scar.
Sorry to hear about your toppers. We did bring the slides in and out to make sure all worked well. We hired excellent help:) Thank goodness for youtube videos!
Good post. We have been to Bisbee (and Benson and Tombstone) but not Naco. We were in Tucson in Nov. and Dec. at Whispering Palms ($349 per month).
Now we are at Imperial Dam BLM LTVA on the CA/AZ border between Yuma and Quartzite on 95. We are in our 6th year of full time RVing. Check out our first year in our book, “Hawk and Red Fox-Modern Day Gypsies” at http://nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk or on Amazon.
You didn’t miss anything by skipping Naco. There is nothing there but the RV Park/Golf course and a Safeway. We go to Bisbee for all of our other activities. Enjoy your time at the Imperial Dam.
I went to 2nd grade just down the road in Palominos… a two room school house at the time. Our family would go to Naco for “authentic” Mexican food once a month or so. I remember dirt streets and the first time putting so much hot sauce on my meal I couldn’t finish it. It was a “male” right of passage to eat hot peppers and the like without complaint, sweat pouring off, sipping ice water (which only makes it worse). Fond memories, I think….
Box Canyon Mark
That was an interesting experience for you in the two room schoolhouse! I don’t think Naco has probably changed since you went there except for the addition of the Safeway:)
Glad you got your week of golf after all. It’s still hard for me to get used to how high the elevation is “down there”. Bisbee is such a great little town, we may have to give Cafe Roka a try when we’re there the end of the month – or perhaps a pizza with the banshees! Love the ladder dance, obviously not a first performance for these guys 🙂
Great job replacing the slide toppers! Hard to imagine that there would be snow the close to the border. We stopped by Bisbee last year and did the copper mine tour but we did not get a chance to spend any time in town. We will have to get back there some day.
Fun! Fun! And looks like the Men did a fine job! I have got to get to Bisbee again. I loved that little town!
By any chance have you been to Tupac? If you go… Dine at Elviras! One of the prettiest restaurants I have ever been too. And the food was delicious!
By any chance… are you coming by Phoenix ? Would be fun to get together with you and Ingrid.
We have not been to Tupac, Nancy, but it is on the plan for this visit since we will be here so long. Thanks for the restaurant recommendation. We’ll definitely check it out. We are making a brief visit to your area. We are staying at Lake Pleasant for four nights at the beginning of March than moving to Cave Creek for the weekend. I’ve wanted to hike that area for awhile now so we decided to spend a few days and hike as much as we could:) From there…who knows!