NKK Rally and More Benson

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Fellow Newmar owners started to trickle in a few days prior to the rally. Some forty rigs were expected for this rally. The presidents of the FullTimers Chapter held informal happy hour gatherings at their site each night until things officially started. This left us with a few days to continue our exploring the Benson area.

We had seen info in our Benson travel guide about many wineries that are in the surrounding area. Coming from the Finger Lakes region of New York, we thought we knew wineries. We might not be wine connoisseurs but we found it hard to believe vineyards could actually grow grapes in this desert environment. The bulk of these wineries are in the Elgin and Sonoita area, southwest of Benson. We headed down late in the morning with the plan of doing one winery before lunch and another after.

Our first stop was at Sonoita Vineyards. When we got there, no other customers were present so we got very good service from the winemaker, Lori. Tastings were $10 each including the wine glasses. All the wineries in this region have an arrangement that if you bring along local wine glasses to another winery, your tasting is a couple bucks cheaper. The five wines we tasted were good and by the time we picked up a bottle and headed out, a few other couples were arriving. We took a look out over the vineyard adjacent to the parking, they do look out of place here, but the higher elevation of this region keeps the temperatures lower than in the valleys.

Grape Vines in Southern Arizona!

We had gotten a few recommendations for lunch in the little town of Sonoita from Lori. Admittedly, there are only a few choices to be had. The Cafe turned out to be quite a busy place for lunch but the food was good and it was nice to sit outside enjoying the fresh air. Being a weekday, not all the wineries were open for tastings but we picked out a second one - Kief Joshua Winery. There was a lot more going on at this place. The main reason for this was a bicycle tour group was here for a break. There were probably about 15 cyclists here from Canada all with French accents. Turned out that they were missing 2 of the group - lost somewhere along the route from the last winery. One of the two was found before we left but we never discovered the fate of the other one.

Cattle Resting Near Winery

At this winery, the tasting room and residence are all in the same building. At one point during our tasting, the owner went back to check on her elderly mother and a basset hound came wandering out. It was young but quite friendly and well behaved. Next came two greyhounds with one of them being extremely timid. As the mother rolled out in her wheelchair, a wallaby followed her! That's not something you see everyday as a pet. When asked, the owner commented that she had gone to buy a goat and the place had this cute wallaby and decided to get it as well. We never did see the goat. Before we left, we asked if we could walk her dogs back through the vineyard. We put a leash on one of them and the other two more or less followed us for our short walk.

Chris and Her Pack

Closeup of Grape Vines

One last day trip was to Ramsey Canyon Preserve. It is due south of Benson between Sierra Vista and Coronado National Monument. It is part of the Nature Conservancy and is adjacent to Coronado National Forest. The place was busy when we got there snagging the last legal parking spot. It turned out the $6 each to get in was well worth it. Having spent the last 3 months in southern Arizona, we had become accustomed to the desert environment. This place looks nothing like that. The canyon has a small stream running through the center of it with all sorts of "real" trees. The biggest ones were the sycamores. Many with trunks nearly 6 feet in diameter. There are all sorts of benches near several hummingbird feeders along the path. Interpretive signs described the history of this canyon and many of the old foundations or buildings still left standing.

Old Cabin with a View

Closeup of Cabin

This Cabin Needs Much TLC

Bush in Bloom

At the end of the Preserve, the trail continues up into Coronado National Forest land. It's a short additional walk but it is steep. We rose over 500 feet in around 1/2 mile of trail. We came across several others attempting to get up to the view over Ramsey Canyon. We weren't the only one huffing and puffing on the way up.

View Over Ramsey Canyon from Above

Flower in Bloom

Lizard at Nature Conservancy

The rally kicked off with a Thursday night dinner. This campground worked out quite well for holding a rally. The "Barn" has kitchen facilities, a stage and room for a dozen large tables, seating 6-8 people each. We didn't know most of the 80 to 90 people, but there were a few of them that had been at the Newmar rally in Quartzsite back in January so it was nice to catch up with them. One of the optional day trips was to Kartchner Caverns. We had skipped this one and I spent the day washing the motorhome - roof and all. That was a tiring job but needed to be done.

One of the southern Arizona RV dealers brought in 4 new Newmar motorhomes for all of us to tour. Fortunately, we did not find one we liked better than what we have! Another thing we are finding common with all Newmar rallies is the large amount of food. The organizers we smart and split the attendees in two groups with one group bringing a dish to pass for one evening meal and the other group doing the same on a different night. Even so, we seemed to have way more food than was needed.

We got to experience egg in a bag for breakfast one morning. You are given a heavy plastic zip lock bag. After writing your name on the bag, a helper will crack however many eggs you want and plop them in your bag. Next you go down the line adding ground sausage, crumbled bacon, cheese, peppers and a few other standard omelet ingredients. Then you are told to mush all the ingredients and eggs until it is all blended together. Next you evacuate most the air and seal the bag. Outside the building were three large pots with boiling water. The time would be written on the bag and were told to come back in 15 to 20 minutes. Chris' cooked in about 15 minutes but with all the extras I added,  mine took 20. They turned out quite good and was a unique way to prepare your own breakfast.

There was evening entertainment some nights too. A couple Benson historians came in one evening to tell us about how the town came to be. The real hit was the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez movie, The Long Long Trailer, shown one night. The movie is about the couple getting a huge travel trailer and hitting the road. We had seen the movie already but it was much more entertaining when a group of 50 or more fellow travelers were watching with us.

Sitting Around Campfire at Rally

Listening to Historian

Just a bit north of Benson is a place called Gammons Gulch. It is a western movie set that has been used for many movies over the years. The owner also has a large collection of period pieces that fill up most of the dozen or so buildings from a tavern and barbershop and metal working shop to name a few. With so many of us going there for tours, we needed to break up into 4 groups. The owner, Jay, had two helpers dressed in true cowboy garb. He would take us from one building to another and tell stories about the movies and actors that he has worked with be the last 50+ years. To say he is opinionated and has colorful stories would be an understatement. After the tour, we were permitted to wander around and check the place out.

Entrance to Movie Set

Looking Down Main Street at Gammons Gulch

Old Car

Cowboy Watches Tour Group

Gallows and Church

Chris Finds Hiding Spot

We definitely had a nice time at the rally. It was a joint rally held by a Newmar group call the Arizona Suncatchers and those of us part of the FullTimers chapter. We met a lot of new friends, compared travel notes and ate too much food. What's not to like?