TOMBSTONE - "The town too tough to die."

Just south of us is the historical town of Tombstone.  It was founded in 1880, when silver was discovered in the area.  Many of the buildings are original, but now they house a lot of gift shops, souvenir shops, jewelry stores and saloons. 

It kind of has the feel of an amusement park - people in western costumes, shoot outs- a little like a cross between Disneyland & the Renaissance Festival. 

There are Stagecoach rides

 

and street performers -

this guy danced for hours.  All of the kids

loved him.

Reinactments of the shootout at the OK Corral are very popular.

But, despite the overpriced dreamcatchers, turquoise jewelry & Minnetonka moccasins (!), the buildings have been kept intact and are what I liked best about Tombstone (okay-I did drool over some of the turquoise & the Kachina dolls) was the old buildings.

The Main Street Mercantile & Soda Fountain

City Hall

Tombstone Court House which is now a State Park with a museum.

 

Big Nose Kates was a great old bar with lots of authentic décor, but it was such a zoo inside that I couldn't get any good pictures.

We walked down to Doc's, which was more sane, to have a beer.  Ron was pretty done with the souvenir shops.  Our last stop was the Bird Cage Theater.

The Bird Cage was open from 1881-1889 and was a combination

theater, saloon, gambling parlour and brothel.

A few fun facts about the Bird Cage Theater:

-there were 14 "cages" on two balconies on either side of the main hall where the prostitutes "entertained" their clients. (They must have been REALLY SMALL!)

-it operated continuously, 24/7-365 days for eight years.

- the longest running poker game in history took place in the basement poker room. Poker was played continuously 24/7 for eight years, five months & 3 days.  $10,000,000 changed hands. Players included Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Diamond Jim Brady & George Hearst.

-there are more than 120 bullet holes in the building. Legend says that 26 people were killed there.

- famous performers include Lillian Russell, Lily Langtree and Fatima (1st bellydancer).

- it was closed in 1889 and not opened until 1934, so everything is as it was in the 1880's.

On our way out of town, we passed Boothill Graveyard.  We will have to make a trip back and check it out.

Yippy hi-yey!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heading West to Arizona

After more than 2 months exploring New Mexico, Ron & I set out for Benson, Arizona on a cool but sunny morning.  Where is Benson, Arizona - you ask - well it is about 40 miles east of Tucson.  We are staying in another of the parks affiliated with the Escapees (SKP) RV Club.  This one is the Saguaro SKP Co-op.

Here are a couple of shots of our space.  Both of the SKP parks we have stayed in have huge sites.  They also have a club house, activities, work out area, laundry and Happy Hour!

This is the view from our patio area. 

This park is a pretty active park.  There are people walking, running, riding bikes and, especially, hiking the great trails that are in the hills behind the park.

The hills are pretty challenging -

One of the trails.

Someone has taken the time to make some interesting rock stacks along the way!

Lots of pretty views everywhere you look -

You can also walk on these dry "washes" where the water runs down during the "monsoon" season.  The deep sand can make them as challenging as the hills.

My faithful companion - he's figured out that he shouldn't get too close to the cactus.

I've been trying to learn the names of some of the native desert plants.  Someone in the RV park has taken the time to put name plates out by a lot of the plants in the park.

Red Yucca

Jumping Cholla

Cane Cholla

Spineless Prickly Pear

Santa Rita Prickly Pear

Century Plant

Golden Barrel Cactus

So, there are a couple of side trips that we plan to do.  Tombstone is not far away, and there are several state parks that look like fun.  Plus, the bird migration should be starting soon, so I will be trying to add a few more birds to my Life List.

Keep in touch - we love your comments!  I probably shouldn't say, and I won't rub it in, but our temps have been in the upper 60's and 70's - we aren't missing winter!

Revisiting Silver City & Farewell to New Mexico

Over 35 years ago, my college roommate and I took what I always refer to as our "Thelma & Louise" trip (except we didn't kill anyone and we looked at the Grand Canyon instead of driving into it).

 One of the stops on our trip was the Buffalo Bar in Silver City, where the owner offered us jobs as card dealers in his casino.  Didn't take the job, but I did want to see Silver City again since we were so close.
It is a pretty drive up into the foothills.  Ron & I stopped at the Visitors Center where an enthusiastic volunteer resident told us places not to miss.  She was a third or fourth generation Silver City resident - it is always fun to talk to someone who loves their town. 

The old town is full of buildings that show the Hispanic influence of the area.

Loved the painted niches with ceramic plate decor!

 It is now a thriving little arts community and we enjoyed looking around the galleries & talking to the artists.  One, a man that carves incredible things out of wood, bone & horn told us to check out the trailway up into the abandoned mines on top of the hill.

We had to watch where we walked as there were sink holes all over!

Didn't want to lose Ron in one!

The view from the hill was spectacular.

Cholla cacti all over the place.

We have enjoyed our time at the Temperate Zone RV Park.  Vicki couldn't have been more accommodating, letting us use their heated hose when the nights got cold, making the clubhouse warm and available.

We certainly had our privacy!  I always enjoy the wildlife of the areas we've been at and, even though it is winter, we did see some critters!

There were two quail varieties - the Scaled (above) and the Gambrels (below).

They are funny birds that scramble around in groups, running everywhere.  Check out the feathers on top of their heads!

There were also huge flocks of Sandhill Cranes flying back and forth across the sky every morning and every evening.  All we could figure is there must have been two water sources that they flew between. 

Guido & I got a big scare one morning when we were walking.  All of a sudden the brush next to the road started rattling and two large javelinas ran out in front of us!!!! They are the wild pigs of the region and I have been told that they can be vicious - but they were both running away from us as fast as they could.

 

Probably my favorite critter to see was the Jackrabbit!  Their ears are huge & can they ever run!

Sorry for the stock photo, but they really run fast - all my attempts were pretty lame!

Anyway, before we left we had one last beautiful sunset  -

Next stop - Benson, Arizona.

 

 

A Trip Across the Border

Deming is only 35 miles away from the Mexican border & we were told "The Pink Store" is worth the trip!

So this is what the border looks like!  No problem walking into Mexico...

I love the bright colors of the buildings in Palomas!

Some of the doorways & décor are so beautiful!

Pancho Villa supposedly raised holy hell in this area & there are several statues of him in Palomas plus a state park named for him just across the border in Columbus, NM.

I swear that 50% of the businesses in Palomas were dentists, vision centers and pharmacies where Americans come to have work done at much cheaper prices.

Then, there it was, The Pink Store, with this Mexican greeter outside...

you can see how it got its name! 

Inside there are room after room of Mexican made goods.  It is hard to see everything, but so much fun to shop with the complementary Margarita in hand!