We camped overnight at the WellsFargo campground right in the heart of Tombstone AZ. Yes the famous tombstone. Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday tombstone. Kevin Costner as Wyatt Earp. The campground was literally right in the middle of town. Which is perhaps not saying all that much as there is not much to Tombstone. It seems that it really was an actual ghost town at one time after all the gold and silver mining dried up after the last mines flooded. People opened it back up and started a tourist trap err... I mean tourist area. Amazing, everything they do in this town has a fee except breathe. We got up and the showers were good even if the building was a bit cold. ( Desert Hot in day Cold at night ) Ate breakfast at a really nice local ma and pa place next to the campground. Tucker managed to spill two full glasses in a half hour and squirt the ketchup bottle on the floor while we were cleaning up the water. Off to explore the town. Found a shop where you could shoot the iron that shot the lead that won the west as they put it. Fired Paint, no kick. Even Cooper fired one. Only $3 bucks, Last cheap thing we would do in this town. Man I seem to really be into guns on this trip don’t I? Wind was biting cold almost felt like leaving, kids were miserable. We’re almost on the Mexican border who would guess It’d be this cold. We decided to “warm up” by taking a ride in a stage coach. didin’t not work fun experience I think. Went into several old saloons and hotels, interesting. Saw the OK Corral and the Alley behind it where the gunfight actually took place. They had this worn out life size diorama badly in need of replacing with arms that raised up and the hands would nearly fall off when the arms moved. Funny but gave you an idea of who did what. The bright spot, a total surprise was an old theater called the Birdcage. It was shuttered when the town became a ghost town in the 1880’s, boarded up and forgotten. When it was reopened it was like a time capsule. Nothing or very little has been touched or moved since it first was closed in the 1880’s. there are over 140 bullet holes in the building from all the different gunfights that took place there. It was part bar, part theater, part brothel, part gambling house. Definitely for me the highlight of our trip to Tombstone. Then on the road to Mesa. Got there before dark, Unlocked house, water on, power on, eat, let’s go to sleep.
Tucker is mesmerized by Boz the Bear as we head down I-10 in Az.
Cooper takes dead aim with real steel that only shoots paint in Tombstone.
Bullet holes in the stage at the Birdcage
Original setup table and chairs for the world’s longest running poker game at the Birdcage over 9 years! Doc Holliday gambled here and Wyatt Earp met one of his two prostitute wives here.
Obligatory OK Corral photo
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