Desert and Tombstones

Today was definitely a mixed day of great and not so great experiences.  It started  with a genuine crazy pallet load, with two stacks held on with some pretty thin looking straps and not the best balance.

I passed him just after this so I wouldn’t collect the load when it came off.

The first stop of the day was the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum that held a huge range of dry climate plants and some cool animals, apparently not all secured away from the innocent tourist.

Once again any slightly rattling noise had me on edge

The walkways around the Desert Museum is about 2 miles, or 3.5 km for normal people which is a fair ask in the middle of summer.  Added to that is the challenge of avoiding the docents who are hidden around the park and corner you with facts about their specific area of interest.  I did get caught out by John who gave me a overly detailed explanation of the cochineal insect who eventually got to the point of why it was in the desert museum (it lives on the prickly pear cactus) but furnished me with extensive information on the dying of the British soldiers uniforms during the war of Independence.  He was also the second person on my holiday who asked about our Prime Minister dancing and her partying. Despite both people being fully supportive of a leader who is capable of dancing I had to break it to them that it was Finland, kind of on the other side of the world from New Zealand.

There is a cougar somewhere here.

This Black Bear was a little hot, but they have plenty of water, cool shade and ice to lick.  

So cool to see one in real life and not be at risk of being eaten.

Grey Wolf

This guy was not happy to see me

Some squeaking thing just hanging out.

Prairie Dogs, like furry slippers with eyes

I hope Mr Birch appreciates the irony

Mr Beaver happily hiding away until some twat comes along and turns on the light

Hummingbird – these things are TINY and they belt around the place like crazy.  I went around the enclosure once thinking there wasn’t any there.  Then I realised there were a bunch and they were flying past so fast that I didn’t notice them.  I finally got a photo of one sitting on a branch.

Sign on the way out.  Information that there are coyotes just wandering about would have been better on the way in.

After this I headed about an hour and a half further East and South to Tombstone, the location of the shootout at the OK Corral, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. They seem to disapprove of the movie Tombstone as it is a stain on the history of the place, yet they’ll happily sell you merchandise based on the same movie. America.

My first stop into town was the Boothill Cemetery that has the graves of the Clanton clan plus many other names.  I’d read somewhere that a lot of the bodies aren’t buried here, but in another cemetery nearby.  Without asking I was told in no uncertain terms by the man at the entrance that there were all buried here so there’s obviously some feudin’ with the local graveyards. It didn’t really matter because it was a cool place to visit and you get a booklet telling who was buried where and what they died of.

Now it’s the police shooting them

Names from the OK Corral shootout, namely those whose aim wasn’t the best or fastest.

Not much has changed in the US Judicial system then

Their Vivid marker must have run out.

Those damn Bisbee jackasses

Famous Arizona skies

“The Old West”, and by old I mean run down and tatty. To the left was a shabby collection of themed shacks, a mini golf course of two holes and a closed museum which seemed to hold the only interesting things in the whole place.

I would have walked where they fell but I was 2 minutes late for the start of the show (which started off with a 20 minute video on the town) so they wouldn’t let me past the gift shop.

More a site of boozin’ and a-whorin’ that the theatrical arts if the stories are to be taken seriously 

This street was mostly shops selling old western clothing that smelled musty and saloons that had very surly looking locals in. I went into one for a drink, was ignored by the barman and scowled at by a local so I left. In fact the friendliest people in the actual town were a couple of very tattooed and hairy bikers who asked me if the OK Corral was any good.

This is the site of the first time I drove on the wrong (correct) side of the road, and probably gave a local one hell of a fright as he came around the corner.  It was fixed in seconds and involved me turning out of the supermarket across the road and heading into this car park – but my pulse was raised at least.

Dinner was at Jack in the Box – a repeat visit but I was starving and there wasn’t anything else around.

Unlike Popeyes, this burger looks like it tasted, pretty average – although the fries were bloody good.

I tried their French Toast because why not.  It was bland, that’s why not.

Tomorrow I move North to Flagstaff via Phoenix with a drive to the Grand Canyon on Wednesday.  Looking forward to some mountains and trees!