The Adventure Begins ...
We (Mike, his son Erik and myself) left Wednesday morning around 9:00 a.m. I guess it was and stopped for gas in Blythe. It was a ridiculous 102° and I started to work up a sweat just standing in the parking lot. So we fueled, picked up some Aquafina and a Mountain Dew Code Red and hit the road again. Saw some interesting machines at the wind farm on the way out. Couldn't believe how many of those energy generating contraptions they had on the hills out by San Gorgonia Pass. I mean thousands of ‘em. Quite a sight if you’ve never seen them before.
Went through Phoenix pretty quickly and took note of how big and sprawling the area really is. Chandler is just past Phoenix and is also growing pretty quickly. Joe here at work was looking into buying some property in that area and having a Mgt. company find some tenants for him. Housing prices are still somewhat reasonable out there. Then it was off down the road and into Tucson. Stopped in at the Nimbus Brewery for some beer sampling. I liked the Red Ale. You can buy a sampler tray with six little glasses on it that contain about 3 gulps. Pretty neat set up. It’s the largest Micro Brewery in the state. Check out their website here.
It was only another 70 or 80 miles to Sierra Vista. Mona, (Mike’s Sister) lives outside of the main town. We made a left turn off of Hwy 90 onto this dirt road and drove about a mile in to her place. Simple little doublewide with skirts. Looked like any other home from the outside. Very tastefully decorated with a great back porch area. We pulled in with plenty of daylight left and of course her three hounds came halfway up the drive to meet us. Calvin (Rat Terrier) is the father of the brood that I dog sit when Mike and his wife are out of town. Grunt, (Mixed Breed) a female who she found abandoned out in the middle of the desert as a pup, and Blue (Mixed Breed) who’s origin I don’t really know but is really needy. He has to have someone petting him all the time. They were a blast to take on walks. We walked everyday but one in the morning. The best one was along the dried up wash. Must have been a 3 mile trek with the hounds chasing rabbits and anything else in the bush real or imagined. At one point Calvin disappeared for about 15 minutes but it turned out he was paralleling us in the bushes and actually popped out in front of us on the return route. He had a run in with a rattlesnake awhile back but is still undeterred by the unseen. Most mornings consisted of a light breakfast, then some chores and a road trip. We fed and groomed the 4 horses at about 6 am, then cleaned up where ever they left road apples. Had to unload some hay bales from Mona’s truck too. Not too heavy, but awkward. She needs a quad with a little trailer or something to minimize the lifting.
Anyway, first days excursion was to the town of Tombstone. The former 1880’s mining camp immortalized in so many Hollywood westerns. We started out at The Old Tombstone Courthouse which has many displays and artifacts from the wilder days of the Earp Family, The Clantons and McLaury boys. The building is nicely preserved and they even have a gallows in the adjoining courtyard. Pretty interesting stuff as we spent about an hour slowing walking every room in the building. Had a wall in one room with old photos of every sheriff to hold office since way back when. Also a display case with the tools belonging to the surgeon of the day. Believe me, you didn’t want to be sick back then if you could possibly avoid it. The bone saw for instance was a hand cranked bit and brace type tool. I would imagine they used Opium at the very least for pain killer and mild sedation. There was also a pretty good collection of mining tools including some of the big stuff like an Ore cart, a giant Ore bucket, and a compressed air drill. One section of the upstairs area was a local lawyers office and the back half was the original courtroom. Looked pretty good for it’s age but I didn’t really get close enough to some of the stuff to authenticate. For instance there were two doors against the back wall, one on either side of the judges podium. Since that was the back of the room I’m not sure if they really went anywhere. One was marked “Judge’s Chambers” and the other “Court Reporter”. I’ll have to study the pictures a little closer to decide if they were real or just for show. The courthouse if definitely worth a look if you ever get out there.
From there we jumped over to Allen Street which was the main drag back in the town’s heyday. It holds all the famous and historic Saloons and such. First stop was Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. Big Nose Kate was said to be Doc Holliday’s girlfriend. We of course had a couple of beers here and some peanuts. The wait staff are all dressed in period costume so the atmosphere was great. And of course the walls have a ton of old photos documenting the history of the Saloon and Allen street in general. Really funny men’s room too. The urinal was one big through style unit and it was filled to brim with ice. There was a very ornate sign on the wall above it that read “The ice in this bathroom is hardly ever used in the making of our drinks” Had to whip out the camera of course. You’ll see it in the webshots album. Very friendly staff and live music, all in all a very nice place and a preferred watering hole. Most of the businesses up and down the street are gift shops and stuff with an occasional leather goods store but we were more interested in the historic stuff. Crystal Palace Saloon was a good one, and although the “Bird Cage Theatre” is still standing, it isn’t really open. Just a little shop in the front with old pictures and such. There is a staircase as you enter but I’m not sure it’s authentic. The OK Corral is still there but we didn’t stick around for the reenactment of the Earp Clanton gunfight but I did want to at least walk by the place. Makes you want to do a bunch of research on the likes of Wyatt, Doc, Johnny Ringo, Ike Clanton and the rest of the parties involved. We hit another Micro Brewery on the outskirts of town afterward and sampled some more of the local brewmeisters work. Not bad at all.
Before leaving for the afternoon I insisted on stopping by the old Boothill Graveyard. They take pretty good care of the facility and don’t charge anything to get in. Donations are accepted however. I dropped some cash in the box out of respect to the residents. You get a pamphlet in the reception are that shows the plot numbers and the folks buried there. In some cases a brief description of how they met their demise. Very interesting stuff.
That's enough for this first installment. More to follow in the days ahead..
-Scott
1 comment:
Sounds like you had a blast, dude... wish I was there...
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