Our USA Adventure - Days 14 to 19 - Tucson, Tombstone & Bisbee

Our first snake seen in the wild. While walking round isolated Empire Heritage Ranch we saw this slithering quietly by a doorway. At this point it's head was round the corner and it was unaware of our presence. As we rounded the corner it spied us and shot off at great speed under one of the buildings. It was shocking how fast it moved, so quick I didn't get a photo but it was in the order of 2m (6 feet) long

Monday brought us new brake discs and pads and labour for $350 not too bad we thought, and a chilled day. We went out to breakfast (first time, so first pancakes) dropped the car off and joined the Monday Club boys for their evening chat, at lunchtime! Why did we have a ‘spare’ day in Tucson? B had planned an airplane museum. I wasn’t sad to miss it!

This is Empire Heritage Ranch. It's fully open and free to roam around and has some furniture and tools still there. Last used as a ranch in the 1980's it's now owned by the state. The posters told us John Wayne starred in a movie here in 1946 (Red River was the name of the film)

Tuesday we set off for Tombstone, only an hour and a half, we had planned on visiting Kartchner Caverns, but they were fully booked, so we went the scenic route, via the Empire Heritage Ranch. Out in the middle of nowhere, completely empty and open to the public to walk around. It was quite creepy, in a Marie Celeste way. Stepping from the inside corridor to the outside courtyard, “is that a piece of hosepipe? No, it’s moving “ I did get to see the head as the snake whipped off under the building we were about to go into. B only got pictures of the body, and no rattle.

It just felt a bit wrong walking round with no-one else around, but very interesting

Another quick stop for a hotdog, B was having a hungry day, and a chat with a guy while waiting. I think we could have sold your car Fred, his wife has one the same that has done about 450000 miles, about 10x more than this one, and she still loves it. While chatting we’d been aware of a helicopter circling, and then a fire engine going past, but didn’t think anymore of it till we set off, rounded a bend, to a big holdup. Didn’t take us long to be waved past the car in the ditch, surrounded by fire engine, Sherriff and multiple Border Force trucks! We are very close to the Mexican Border.

We went on a little walk through the grounds, keeping a sharp lookout for rattlesnakes and saw this very pretty bird in a tree. It's another challenge for Helen S! Both Tim and Helen have confirmed it's a Vermillion Flycatcher. Thank you both 

Another unscheduled stop, at Rune, for a wine tasting. Beautiful setting, fine wines and an interesting hostess. She said our snake was probably either a coral snake or a red racer. She then got buzzed by something she thought was harmless, till she realised it was a tarantula hawk moth. Not harmful, to us, but one of the three most painful stings in the world. To a tarantula however it is paralysis so the moth can drag the still live tarantula to a specially prepared burrow (she had some video she’d taken of this, outside her house recently). One egg will be laid on the abdomen and the burrow sealed up. The larva hatches, chews a hole into the abdomen, and feeds. Avoiding the internal organs, so as not to kill its fresh food!

And, on another tree, this vulture that I'm pretty confident in saying is a Turkey Vulture

With that we set off for Tombstone. Home of the OK corral, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and the Clantons and McLowerys (see: history). We arrived just in time for the last show of the afternoon, so we thought we’d go in. It was touristy and kitch, we had to boo the baddies and cheer the goodies (though actually which were which is maybe open to debate), but the story was told, in a very entertaining way.

The very pleasant surroundings of Rune wine tasting. There were several canopies like the one there scattered around the hillside in the middle of nowhere. But, actually it was quite busy.

The whole town is about the ‘Wild West’ in an almost theme park way, but it kept us occupied for the whole of Wednesday. Trying not to spend a fortune was the biggest problem!

Here's the wine tasting menu. We tried one of each of those. Our favourites were the Rose and the Graciano and we ended up buying a bottle of Graciano

Thursday we ventured to the little ex mining town of Bisbee where we did a trip down the Queen Copper Mine, led by a guy who had worked there till its closure in 1975. We love the way everywhere seems to try to employ people with first hand experience, it does make for a great tour. Bisbee was a great town. Once the mine closed down the artists moved in. Interesting buildings, built round and over the hill. Not American at all. Glad we didn’t try and go this weekend though, it’s the annual 1000 stair climb. 1500 people, 1000 stairs and 4.5 miles at about $100 each....

Outside the OK Corral in Tombstone

Today we are back past Tucson (in fact there’s our hotel) for an overnight in Gila Bend. The weekend at Lake Havasu before meeting up with Victor (who we met on our repositioning cruise) and his husband Greg.

The climax of our family show. Doc Holliday (with his gun in the air) has just shot Frank McLowery in the centre. Billy Clanton and Tom McLawery lie dead on the floor behind Doc and Virgil and Morgan Earp are both wounded. The only person to come through with no injuries were Wyatt Earp (just out of shot in this photo) and Ike Clanton who ran away

Just outside the little theatre we'd just been in is the actual gunfight site. These models show exactly where each person stood (as retold by Wyatt Earp later). The gates were open and the fight spilled out onto Fremont Street on the other side of that wall (location here)

This is a map. The yellow area is the OK Corral and there's a marker showing the gunfight site, not actually in the OK Corral. Apparently the McLowery's and Clantons had stabled their horses at Dexters Livery (near the bottom of the map), bought guns from a gunsmiths on Fourth Street then headed down Fremont Street. The Earp brothers and Doc Holliday were looking for them and encountered them at the gunfight. Who fired the first shot is open to debate, Morgan Earp was the Marshal and had sworn in Virgil and Wyatt that day. Although the McLowery's and Clantons were petty thieves, having been convicted of cattle rustling, they were not at that moment, murderers, although the Earps had been told they were out to get them (and they had bought guns). Were the Earps and Holliday right to kill them or were they murderers? It's very much open to debate, but the whole town closed around them to protect them

The town is fabulous and they really live off the history that's attached to it. Some of the buildings are originals, still with the original furniture, but others are recreations. We couldn't quite decide whether it had got a bit too disneyfied, but on balance they probably have got it about right. It's a proper family entertainment venue, good for adults who like the history and good for kids too.

This is the top end of Allen Street, the OK Corral is way down on the right at the bottom but on the left here is probably the most important building, The Birdcage Theatre and a visit here should not be missed. It's the original building and contains all the original furniture inside. The town was almost finished when a big flood in 1889 destroyed the main mine pump causing extensive damage that caused the mine to permanently close. The town only survived on the silver mine, so when that happened the town quickly emptied. The Birdcage Theatre was the centre of entertainment in the town, it was open 24 hours a day, 365 days per year for 9 years. It's entertainment, poker playing and prostitution were legendary, in fact the longest poker game in history was being played here when it finally closed in 1889. It had been playing for over 8 years non-stop! When it closed it was boarded up until 1934, when someone bought it and opened it as a museum. What was in there was history captured in time. The card tables on which that poker game was being played are all still in position, the table Doc Holliday played at still there and the piano still there. It's fascinating

In the entrance hall. The poster above was an original advertising the last show that they put on there. The stairs on the right gave access to prostitutes and the girls would parade on the balcony above the clock 

Jackie in front of the stage and you can see the boxes to view performances either side. The piano is the original

Apparently Doc Holliday played the card game Faro at this very table

If, like me, you've never heard of the card game Faro, here's how you play it. The West's most played casino card game

Up on the stage they had this funeral carriage, one of only 8 ever built

Next to it was this poster advertising their funeral business

This is the where the worlds longest poker game was being played when the Birdcage closed. These are the original tables and chairs

One of several rooms off the card room where clients could get some relief with a prostitute

We had the most amazing steaks in this original bar/restaurant, the Longhorn

Inside another bar/restaurant we had a drink in, The Crystal Palace, complete with a guy singing Country and Western music (yes I did type Country and Western correctly if you remember the disco joke!)

Some street musicians performing and that young lad in the foreground, unconnected with the band, was dressed as Doc Holliday. Doesn't he look fabulous!

This is the next day when we drove to Bisbee, a little town 25 miles south of Tombstone, just 10 miles from the border with Mexico. It's in the middle of the Mule Mountains and is only here because of copper found by someone searching for Apache's hiding in the hills. It caused a rush of people here seeking their fortune and the town grew up around them. This is the now abandoned open cast copper mine that closed in 1975. It is huge! 850 feet deep, 4000 feet wide one way, 5000 feet the other

We'd booked a tour down the Queen mine

And here we are at level three (the two levels below are now completely flooded), having been driven there on old quarry carts

How they would have arranged explosives in a new face. Starting at the centre the blasts worked out at half second intervals. This would blast a hole seven feet deep

This was how the miners went to the loo! It was being shown by our guide who asked not to be photographed. He's in his 70's and worked down this mine until it closed in 1975. He's had his legs crushed and all sorts, but still gets around. Apparently he never wanted to set foot in the mine again, but his wife died in March of this year and, rather than sit at home on his own he decided to become a guide and show people what he used to do. Lovely old guy!

Of course photos never show it as it really is, but you can get an idea of the vivid colours in the rocks here. It's really striking

Then we went for a walk round the lovely old Bisbee town. Had a great visit to the museum that's well worth a look and had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant (cause Jackie was missing her Pho)

Lovely old buildings, unlike anywhere else we've seen in the US

Someone obviously has a sense of humour!

Being in the middle of mountains it's got a lot of hills and rocks and, us being us, we had to climb this rock in the centre of town called Castle Rock

Nice views from up here. That's looking out towards that huge open cast mine we saw when we first arrived

And the other way looks towards where we had lunch. There's the courthouse and a church down there

Being so  close to the border with Mexico we just had to drive down to see the frontier wall. So, here it is

Its at a town called Naco, which has the same name on both sides of the border. We didn't actually go to the border gate, Jackie didn't want to. This photo doesn't look much, but if you zoom in you can see the wall going off to the left right into the distance and over that far hill. It's very long and in the middle of nowhere

Those mountains are in Mexico and the road leading to the gate apparently gives easy access into Mexico with a minimum of fuss. Getting back onto this side in the US is a whole different story! 

So we've left Tombstone now and we're on our way to Havasu City to have a look at London Bridge. To break up the journey we've stopped midway at a place called Gila Bend which is a tiny town in the middle of the desert. It has a few restaurants and a couple of parks that we're about to go out and explore. We're just waiting for the temperature to drop a little, the car recorded a temperature of 99F (37C) when we arrived. Nice and cool in our airconditioned room though - and there is a swimming pool here, might have to have a dip!