BOUSE, AZ ~ February 9-10, 2007

When Rich got home from work on Friday the 9th, we had some quick subs for supper while we loaded up the car, and we took off to get a head start on our weekend road trip. We drove through Wickenburg and past Salome on Hwy. 60. We weren’t sure how far we were going to get that night, but we made it all the way to Bouse on Hwy. 72. We got off on a dirt road that crossed the Bouse wash, but we didn’t get too far from the highway because it got real sandy and we were afraid we’d get stuck. So we had to listen to highway sounds all night, surprised at how much truck traffic was traveling back and forth between Parker and Bouse. Hwy. 72 also paralleled a railroad track, and in the middle of the night I was awakened by the sound of a passing train that was so loud, I could hear the squeaking and groaning of each freight car as it went by. The next morning we took down our tent as the sun was just appearing from behind the mountains, explored the sandy wash for a bit, and headed in to Bouse where we had seen a sign that said “$2.99 Breakfasts.” Sure enough, at Coachman’s Café we were able to order either pancakes, scrambled eggs and diced ham, or French toast for only $2.99 each. The food was good and it was a nice restaurant, too, apparently popular with the locals because everyone else seemed to know everyone there. The customers were mostly senior citizens, with some cowboy-looking characters and a group of men wearing WWII hats.




It just so happens that we were in Bouse on the second weekend of February, at which time they hold an annual WWII Camp Bouse dedication and reunion. Camp Bouse was a secret army base located 20 miles east of Bouse in the remote Butler Valley, where men were trained to use a special new tank designed for night warfare. There is a Camp Bouse memorial monument located on Hwy. 72, across from the A & C Mercantile Co. It’s a great memorial with real tanks and other army vehicles on display, and several bronze plaques to read. The people were setting up for their festivities while we were there, so we also got to peek into a canvas tent where they had exhibits of WWII uniforms and other artifacts on display. I would have liked to have seen the old Camp Bouse where they were going to be having tours, but we had to be getting on our way if we were going to get to all of the other places we had planned on.