Day 9 - April 27th

Ah, Douglas, Arizona.   What can I say?  There was a Big Money Rally bonus site here, so off to find it and one for the Tour of Honor.  A twofor. 

 

Oh yes, and Pritleville – sort of a suburb of Douglas

I usually find some reason for the selection of a particular location – interesting architecture, fun location, great roads, etc. – but I haven’t a clue why this one was chosen.

Before leaving this thriving metropolis, I came across a cool Homeland Security officer and one very cool machine.  It runs a mile a minute flat out and does not have to stop for much other than diesel.

Off to more interesting and scenic places.  First on the list is Bisbee, Arizona.

On the way in to town, it is apparent that this is a mining community.

Bisbee is home to the famous Lavender open pit mine.

Right next to the plaque, was this memorial to WWII fallen heroes from the area.

This museum looked fascinating, but I was a bit low on time to explore it or take the mine tour.  Those will have to wait for another day.

Back to Highway 80 and on toward Tombstone.

Tombstone, Arizona is a tourist trap.  A nice tourist trap, but a tourist trap none the less.

I spent some time talking to a couple of the local wranglers (as opposed to cowboys, ranchers, farmers, or other town folk) to get some history of the town rather than more of the hype.  Quite interesting.  I knew Wyatt Earp was not the nice guy as shown in almost every movie or TV series (although Hugh O’Brian personally is a very nice Marine) but had no idea just what a rotten bunch the whole Earp clan was.  The famous gunfight at the OK corral should have more properly been called the bushwhacking on Frontier Street, but somehow that doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Anyhow, it was a fun visit to a revised frontier town.  I’ll probably stop back next time I’m in the area as the food was good and I enjoyed visiting with people whose families had been there for generations.

Next stop, Tucson, Arizona and Davis Monthan Air Force Base and some nice inexpensive gas (no sales tax on base and I think there was also no Federal tax, but I’m not sure on that one, but it was easily 30¢ cheaper per gallon than off base).  Of course the primary reason I stopped there was to go take a look at the storage and dis-assembly facility.  I was offered a tour, but again, time precluded me playing, but I will be back to walk through the facility.

If you look carefully on the enlarged version of this photo, you might find the remnants of a A/B-26

Off to Yuma for the night…

I sort of wish I had had the big Canon along with me for this ride as once the sun went down the sky was filled with stars and the little guy I was carrying could not capture the night sky.  I could easily have pulled over, lain on the ground and just enjoyed the night sky.  I’m sure Arizona has stars we don’t have in LA.