21 March ‘08 Friday
About 25 miles south of our campground here in St. George is the town of Tombstone, a spot in Wild West infamy and we were going to check it out today. Main street Tombstone has been kept as close to original as possible, including having a light dirt spray put over the asphalt. The only wheeled vehicles that are allowed on main street are 3 or 4 stage coach and mounted and un-mounted horses.
About 25 miles south of our campground here in St. George is the town of Tombstone, a spot in Wild West infamy and we were going to check it out today. Main street Tombstone has been kept as close to original as possible, including having a light dirt spray put over the asphalt. The only wheeled vehicles that are allowed on main street are 3 or 4 stage coach and mounted and un-mounted horses.
You could almost feel some of those who graced the OK Corral, Big Nose Kate’s Saloon, and other places like the Bird Cage Theater were Doc Holliday played some of his best poker. The OK Corral still has the re-enactment of the famous “gunfight”, but today it costs $7 per person to watch it… I wonder if they charged admittance in 1881?
After walking the town, sharing a steak hoagie sandwich, we headed off to Sierra Vista and then Fort Huachuca. Sierra Vista looks like new and is growing leaps and bounds. It also sits right next door to Fort Huachuca which is not only a historical site that is said to have been the location that was instrumental to the surrender of Geronimo in August 1886 but is still a very active military base for the Army. We were able to drive through the base, as we wanted to go to Parker Canyon Lake, and taking that route saved us about 50 miles or travel time of an hour or more.
Driving through the base and then through Parker Canyon proved to be stunning. The roads were very narrow and winding
and the mountains, hills, and vegetation outstanding…it was well worth taking the ride today. The unfortunate thing about Parker Canyon Lake, it’s too far away to give us a day of good kayaking.