Adjust Your Elevation

 Bisbee, Arizona has an elevation of about 5500 feet.  Oro Valley has an elevation of about 2620 feet. That doesn't seem like a big difference, but on a 100 degree day in late September, it was the difference between 100 degrees and 82 degrees.  

Most hot days, we are up early here in Oro Valley, taking our morning walk at sunrise, playing pickleball, and then back home by 10 a.m. when it starts getting warmish.  Then we are back outside in the early evening to take advantage of the cooling temperatures, although sunrise is as cool as it gets.

This week, we took a road trip in search of cooler temps in the higher elevations.  The first stop was Tombstone, which is the western equivalent of Wisconsin Dells, mostly a place where the locals extract dollars from the tourists.  

There are all sorts of creative methods to do this:  gunfights in corrals, tours of buildings previously housing bordellos or saloons, stagecoach rides, etc.  

The most interesting one that I saw was to rent a gun (a rig, they called it) to walk around town, armed.  If I recall correctly, that was a $50 extraction.  

We walked up and down the streets for thirty minutes or so while keeping our wallets intact. Then it was on to Bisbee, the planned destination to leave a few dollars behind.

Thuy's Noodle Shop

We were last in Bisbee several years ago. Our favorite Vietnamese “pho” shop was still here and just as good. Then it was a short walk downhill to the brewery where we had spent several afternoons on the patio, looking up at the mountains all around us and enjoying the Bisbee vibe. 

Old Bisbee Brewery

I had a double hopped IPA, not to be confused with the much stronger double IPA. Double hopped simply means introducing a second load of hops after the initial boil (dry hopped). It was malty and well balanced.  My favorite stout here is now seasonal, so it was not available.  That's a good excuse to return in the winter.  

Then there was time for walking around town in the early afternoon when temps were quite pleasant even in the sun.

An interesting truck camper

Bisbee is another place that I could live if granted several lifetimes. A quirkiness is present here  that I enjoy and haven’t experienced in many towns. There’s tourism here but the vibe is real with a dose of wishful thinking and escapism that many of us could use during these "interesting times."