Middle of nowhere
We had a great night’s sleep at the Lost Dutchman and then headed south to the San Tan Valley area to play some disc golf. After being home for the holidays for several weeks in the cold, snowy weather and being couped up in a car for three days we were ready to spend some time outside throwing some discs! The sun was out, the temperature was in the mid-60’s and our first throws off the tee felt great! I think I’ve mentioned before that we travel with our beloved furry friend, Ninja. He was with us on the disc golf course – he loves the grass and often rolls around on his back in utter joy, so thought nothing of him rolling around…until he finished we smelled that he had been rolling in more than the grass. His entire left side was covered in dog poo. And he stunk! After playing a few more holes, we made our way back to the van and promptly bathed our poo-smothered dog! Oh the adventures we have – some are fabulous and some are poopy!
After Ninja’s bath and grocery shopping, we headed to I-10 and went south just beyond the Picacho Peak State Park but north of Tucson and boondocked in the dessert with a few other fellow travelers on BLM land. We really appreciate and enjoy dispersed camping on BLM land and want to ensure our future generations can also enjoy the benefits. We respect these lands, use existing sites to minimize land disturbances and we pack out everything we pack in.
Middle of a shootout - tombstone, AZ
The next morning we headed in to Tucson and got some fabulous donuts at the Donut King – it’s not in a great area of town, but the donuts….yum! We hopped back on I-10 and exited at Benson to follow AZ-80 East to Tombstone. Tombstone Arizona – home of the historical wild, wild west and great shootout at the O.K. Corral!
Tombstone began as a mining town. In the mid-1800’s Edward Schieffelin traveled to the area with Army scouts and would go out looking for signs of silver. The scouts would tease him and say all he would find out there is his tombstone, so when he found silver and filed his first claim, he named it Tombstone. The mining operation grew and as word spread about the silver, the tent community quickly expanded, and the town of ‘Tombstone’ was established in Spring of 1879. In late 1879, the two best mines were producing $50k per month and this continued for at least two years.
The Tombstone of today has a restored historic district and an awesome 1882 Victorian-style Courthouse museum with wild west artifacts and town history. Allen Street is a trip back in time when Tombstone was bustling with theaters, watering holes like Big Nose Kates Saloon, stables, brothels and the local newspaper. You can catch a show replicating the famous shoot-out at the O.K. Corral between the Earps, Doc Holiday and the rebel cowboys. It was a different time back then and it’s interesting to think how life was rough and untamed but also progressive and adventurous.
Phil downloaded the Tombstone 1886 Sanborne fire insurance maps from the Library of Congress that show the town layout at that time. It was interesting to walk the streets of Tombstone today and compare it to the historical maps and see which buildings are still standing.
Middle of the 50's - Bisbee, AZ
The next morning we took a daytrip south of Tombstone to Bisbee to visit Erie Street which is a 1950’s street lined with old cars, gas stations and store fronts. On the way we read more about Bisbee. It’s a community tucked into the Mule Mountains and was established due to the rich minerals in the area. The first mining claim was issued in 1877 and the eventual open pit mine became one of the richest mineral sites in the world. Mining continued for almost a century and eventually closed in the mid-70’s.
Today, Bisbee is a thriving, eclectic community committed to maintaining its history and historic architecture. We were completely smitten with this beautiful town and wish we had more time to explore the galleries, shops and restaurants.
Outside the historic downtown area is the mining pit. We can’t even begin to describe its vastness. And the destruction of such a beautiful area. The pit consumed part of the Lowell community and the 1950’s preserved Erie Street is most of what’s left of the original town. Erie street is cool – it’s amazing what the local community has done to keep this snapshot in time in place.
This is the best part of travelling – finding unexpected gems like Bisbee, learning about the history and experiencing the current culture.
