Texas to Arizona

Tuesday - Sunday, January 27-February 1, 2009 Tombstone, Arizona, “The town too tough to die”

This town is named as “The town too tough to die” since it has survived 3 fires and many down economic times. We have named Tombstone “the town too tough to leave” because we are still here after planning to stay a day and we stayed almost a week.
On Tuesday morning we awoke early in Tombstone on a busy street and proceeded to the Arizona State Tombstone Court house where we parked under a lonely tree. The southwest’s most colourful and historic western town. We think this is the friendliness town on the planet.
Here we experienced an authentic western town from the 1800’s. Lunch at “Big Nose” Kate’s Saloon (Doc Holiday’s girlfriend’s establishment) commenced by being escorted to our table by a cowboy who claimed he had “the biggest one in town” gun that is...later lounging on the piano and contemplating getting into the casket that was marked “I got laid in Tombstone, Arizona”,....we decided to take some photos with lunch and come back tomorrow for the piano and caskett.

After lunch we proceeded to the OK Corral where we happened upon the re-enactment of the shootout between the Earp’s and the Clayton Gang. There the cutest little boy in the audience was at first disturbed by the idea of the fighting but when he was convinced that it was pretend he told his mother “it was a good story” and it was. Next to the re-enactment there was the original photographic studio of C.S. Fly showing many of his photographs of Tombstone but the most exciting find was the photographs of Geronimo, his life and his people. These are the most interesting photographs we have had the pleasure of viewing. Geronimo was born in 1832 and died in 1909 after being held prisoner for more than 27 years. It was very interesting to see photographs of the young white children mixed into the Apache tribe.

Later we shopped till we dropped in most of the stores in town. Yes, we finally succumbed to our shopping urges and purchased denim cow girl skirts.

At an RV park, Stampede RV Park, we caught up on the “work” of laundry, showers, and electric recharging... but the park was very quiet by 10:00 pm so we went for a walk. We lucked out! Found a local jam night at the 4 Deuces Saloon, just a block and a bit from the RV Park. Oh well, we will walk tomorrow. This had to be our reward, since we had experience a laundry disaster! A stray full lipstick jumped into our jean load (at least 7 pairs) and proceeded to redesign the fabric....not nice. We are still working on removing these unwanted designs, tomorrow is another day. At the jam we met some very nice people. Tombstone, AZ is a place with great locals. One authentic cowboy seriously decided that Marilyn was a potential spouse. He proposed right on the spot! We were very impressed and went home with a wink and a smile. He thought she might want “to be an American” and live in Arizona! Marilyn was more interested in knowing what cowboys actually do for their living!

Wednesday we awoke at the RV park and we went for a cowboy skillet breakfast and fixed the laundry. Before heading out the Kartchner Caverns, we took a Trolley Tour of the historic buildings in Tombstone. The Caverns rival Luray caverns in beauty but the State has worked very hard to keep the public and the dryness of Arizona from affecting this active cave. Marilyn received a “cave kiss” a drop of water that falls from formations and his said to be very lucky. The cave contains more types of formations than other cave systems. True to form most of the Tombstone locals we speak too have not taken the time to visit the caves. They just don’t know what they are missing. We applaud Arizona State for the care and concern they have taken to keep this cave system active and unaffected by the public tours. We topped off the day with Marilyn and cowboy called “Billie” playing guitar accompanied by comic rhetoric.

Thursday we rose at noon and proceed to go to the Ghost Town Tour but unfortunately we took too long locating propane which we desperately needed as the furnace is a necessity when the low temperature at night dips to 20 F. It was on the Karoke at the Six Gun Saloon. Marilyn sang and Patsy danced.

Friday we were going to leave but since it was the weekend traffic and we needed to drive 800 miles to San Diego with no large town providing weekend entertainment we were convinced Tombstone was a better bet. Friday afternoon Marilyn held a real pistol and did a session of target practice. The locals were extremely impressed with the shooting skills. Of course, Patsy took a rain check. We proceed to the Tombstone library which is housed in the original train station.

Friday night we went to the Crystal Palace Saloon for a New Orleans Funk band. Interesting music, although the local cowgirls and cowboys in Tombstone did not seem to appreciate this style of music and the bar was very empty so we moved on to the Silver Nugget for Karoke “date night” and traded this venue for a walk over to the Six Guns. We went to bed very tired.

Saturday we toured the Court House Museum which was built in 1882 and hosted the Ok Corral Trial and solved many serious water disputes in the area until 1940’s. The town attempted to renovate it as a hotel in the 50’s but this did not work so they restored it and opened as a museum and Arizona State. Park. We went for a ghost tour in the Birdcage Theatre Museum . The most notorious scandalous theatre in the west. Over 16 persons including one woman died there and the bullet holes are left to prove it. The Birdcage was kept almost complete intact as it was closed and unused for over 50 years and all the original furnishings and pictures as well as the last gold gilded Moriah worth more than $2 million today.

Monday, January 26. 2009: Arizona

We awoke at the Arizona Welcome Centre late in the day. How disappointing, the Arizona Welcome Centre lacked information and maps as well as pamphlets for Arizona. All the states so far had provided great volunteer ladies with lots of information on what their state had to offer....why not Arizona? We plan to spend significant time in this state.
We drove to Bisbee, even though the weather forecast for the low was 33 degrees F. On the way we travelled to the Cochise Stronghold. This side road was very straight with many dips and many signs about flash flooding. The sunset over the mountains was breathtaking. The community lived in the side of the mountain.

In Bisbee, there is a new town with a new copper mine and a very historic town with an old copper mine. The community sits in the mountains with the houses arranged like stairs up to the stars. There is a huge peace sign lit on the side of the mountain hovering over the main village. Many of the village store window displays were unique but unfortunately most stores were closed. A short walk brought us to a quaint restaurant where we enjoyed some amazing Mexican food. We left Bisbee late at night to travel to Tombstone and parked on the main highway.

Sunday, January 25, 2009, New Mexico

The morning was spent securing our bikes with a new lock and new positions higher off the road. Believe me it is not easy to find a small lock in El Paso!

We left El Paso on Sunday afternoon around 3:00 pm and entered New Mexico after 20 miles of driving. The roadway was lined with cattle pens and the accompanying smell caused Marilyn to ask if we had a sewage issue in the RV. Ooops! Nope it was the aroma of New Mexico. We had to slow down for a US Border Patrol Inspection Station. They are very serious about not having illegal immigration from Mexico. This region is very close to the Mexican border. Many signs warn against picking up hitchhikers as there are also correction facilities in the vicinity. Along the road we saw vast groves of trees. This area’s economy is support agriculturally by pecans, walnuts, cotton, alfalfa and chillies. Finally we called a halt to our day at the Welcome Centre on the border of Arizona and New Mexico. We needed Arizona tourist information so we would wait and sleep until the centre opened.

Saturday, January 24, 2009, El Paso, Texas

Upon arriving just east of El Paso we toured through the mission trail to see the native reservation. On returning to I-10 we found the Texas State Park where the Wyler Aerial Tramway takes you to Ranger Peak (el. 5,653 ft). The view from the peak includes 3 states and two countries. Our timing was superb for a stunning sunset over 7,000 square miles of view. In East El Paso is the Fort Bliss military reservation. Here we were surprised to see a barbed wire fence around the military YMCA - a small reminder that this country is at war.
We were ready for some down time but a passing drive alerted us to an issue with our bicycles. They were falling off. It seems that the bolt was bent and loose. A very nice service representative at an auto parts store assisted us in finding tools...yes men tools....and we are using them.

Then we went dancing! After visiting Club 101 and two other recommended locations we finally found late in the evening a live band performing Spanish alternative rock! The band was very good and the people very friendly. We closed the venue and slept in the parking lot.

Friday, January 23, 2009, San Antonio to Van Horn

Texas is a big state. We drove on from San Antonio to Van Horn. Every rest area throughout Texas and New Mexico warns against leaving pathways due to poisonous snakes.

Thursday, January 22, 2009 Corpus Christi to San Antonio

We left the serenity of Padre Island beaches and took the ferry back from Mustang Island to the mainland. The ferry held only a dozen vehicles and was free, but the state had more than 5 operating that day. It took no time. It was good to see the dolphins that love to accompany these ferries from one side to the other all day long. They were very cute. We arrived in Port Aransas and decided to purchase a few pounds of fresh shrimp at a nautical shop. The shrimp cleaning was a chore but worth it...hummmmmmmmmm. Drove back to Corpus Christi and headed out on the road again. Drove from Corpus Christi to San Antonio (300 miles) and stayed the night.

Tuesday and Wednesday January 21-22, 2009 Mustang Island State Park

Marilyn spent a few quiet easy days on the beach, riding the bike, watching the birds, combing the beach and reading while Patsy diligently completed her book keeping until the sunsets captivated us for an hour or so.