JULY 2008
DOS CABEZAS SPIRIT AND NATURE RETREAT NEWSLETTER
The monsoon season is in full swing here and the mountains are shrouded in the most mystical cloud cover. Close your eyes, use your imagination, and you're in the Himalayas. The temperatures are cool - in the 60's at night -and will perhaps reach into the mid-80's during the day. Today we had moisture and rain all day and the temp never went above the mid-70's. The moisture feels so good on the skin!
It really is a well-kept secret that our part of southeastern Arizona has the most heavenly weather during the moonsoon season beginning in July. It's great for all outdoor activities like birding and hiking - in between the thunderstorms - and lends a certain ambiance for meditation. The mountains are booming with thunder as I write, and sheets of dark clouds are traveling at a fast clip over the Dos Cabezas Mountains. The rain pours, then stops, then pours. It's very beautiful and I wish you were all here to see it!
We have had some javelinas on the prowl at night and it looks like the hummers are beginning their Fall migration early, at least the Rufous. Interesting birding patterns this year as there has recently been a white Pelican at Twin Lakes just 10 minutes from here. We went down to see it, but forgot the camera. For you photography buffs, there is a lot of gorgeous scenery to capture when you come for a visit.
There are lots of events happening in our area now. Apple Annie's Orchard (www.AppleAnnies.com) is opening this Saturday selling sweet corn, pumpkins, and produce. I visited them a couple of days ago and they said they will have 'U Pick 'Em' Peaches in a couple of weeks. There are many other orchards here that will be opening in the next week.
Also, the Willcox Chamber (www.willcoxchamber.com) is sponsoring the Western Heritage Days this weekend with entertainment, pie-baking contests, re-enactments, and lots of food and fun. Coronado Vineyards is having a 'Fun summer beach Luau' on Saturday. Check out their events at www.coronadovineyards.com.
There more events in the next couple of months and I will let you know about them.
We are just starting this e-newsletter, and we are aware that not everyone wants to be included, so please, don't hesitate to send me back an email if you want to be excluded from the e-newsletter. But if you like it, and think your friends would also, please forward this to them and ask them to go to our website and subscribe, or just reply back to cpsamuelson@msn.com, or to IWantToStay@doscabezasretreat.com.
I have included below a part of the blurb on our new website. If you haven't checked it out yet, take a look at www.doscabezasretreat.com.
We hope to see all of you soon and in the meantime, may you walk in Light, Peace and Beauty.
Charmayne and Jon Samuelson
DOS CABEZAS SPIRIT AND NATURE RETREAT
www.doscabezasretreat.com
520-384-6474
Here's the promised 'advertising!'
The serene Dos Cabezas Mountains 14 miles southeast of Willcox, Arizona, and twenty minutes along Hwy. 186 to the mystical Chiricahua Mountains, are the home of the Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat guest lodging in the historic ghost town of Dos Cabezas. The village was named after the striking twin-peaked mountains (the English translation is two heads) that rise above the village. The Retreat's setting is secluded and private, and we border thousands of acres of State land.
The Retreat's private guest house is furnished with comfy sleeping accommodations, housekeeping facilities and self-serve continental breakfast supplies. You will enjoy complete privacy, as we host only one party at a time at the retreat. The country guest house, casita, and the owner's residence are authentic and historical adobe homes from the late 1800's and are your home base for premier birding and nature viewing, peaceful meditation, astronomy, hiking, photography, picking fruit at local peach and apple orchards and vegetable farms, and ghost towning. Our elevation is about 5,100 feet, just right for picture-perfect spring and fall weather, moderate summers and winters, and for your geo-tourism and eco-tourism adventures. The guest house shown above is dated from the mid-1800's and is rich in history. Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat is commited to the ongoing preservation of the historical integrity of these priceless adobe homes.
Today, Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat is a great home base from which to explore and experience the historical and contemporary treasures of the area. A short 10-minute drive takes you to the famous Willcox Twin Lakes birding site, and home of Wings over Willcox Birding Festival. It's a gorgeous 20-minute drive to the Chiricahua National Monument on the west side of the Chiricahua Mountains, and it's only about a 25-minute drive to the trailhead of historic Fort Bowie. Portal, Arizona, and Paradise, Arizona, known for world-class birding, are just about an hour and a half drive over Onion Saddle to the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains. And 15 minutes into Willcox you will find the rich history of the Rex Allen Museum, the Marty Robbins Museum, the National Day of the Cowboy Museum, and the Chiricahua Regional Museum which document local pre-history, history and the cowboy and ranching way of life. It is also an easy drive to famous Tombstone and Bisbee.
Willcox has become known as the best place in southern Arizona for 'pick your own' fruit and nut orchards and vegetable farms, and is rapidly establishing a reputation for quality vineyards and wine tasting.
All this and much more await your visit! As you browse our website, you will find additional information, birding lists, and tourist attractions. If you are looking for peace, nature, and the opportunity to experience the Old West the way it really was in a rustic setting, you will like our Retreat. We look forward to meeting you and hope that you will have a wonderful stay at Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat!
Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat 1-520-384-6474
