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Old 25 Oct 07, 10:11 PM  
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grantasmic
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Wild West Adventure - Cowboys and Canyons Day 9

Day 9, 2 October : Bisbee and Tombstone

Slept right through til 0500 – a personal best! Anyway, we’d decided we’d give breakfast a miss this morning and get something at Bisbee. Our fellow Titans were beginning to gather and one was telling us that on the news this morning was an item about a rock fall at Lake Powell. It had come down on a boat and one woman was killed and her husband is missing! I don’t think anyone was surprised – we’d all seen for ourselves how unstable the cliffs are and also how close the boats go to them! It was a bit of a sobering thought though.

Our first visit today was to the Lavender Mine just outside of Bisbee where they used to mine copper. All there is now, of course, is a very big hole in the ground!



Then it was on to Bisbee itself to visit the Copper Queen Mining Corporation Museum. The building used to be the Mining Corporation offices and they’ve done a very good job of preserving it and creating the exhibits that tell the history of Bisbee and copper mining. There is also a display of various minerals and a section depicting one of the ‘crystal caves’. If this is typical of the type of cave that is found in and around copper mines, it’s not hard to see why legend has it that Merlin lived in a crystal cave! I wouldn’t mind living in one – it was so beautiful! Having studied all the other exhibits and seen how grim their lives must have been, we said our goodbyes and went in search of breakfast! We decided to try the Copper Queen Hotel – one of the original buildings where the miners were put up when they first arrived. It’s a lovely old building and hasn’t been ‘messed’ with.



It was very warm so we chose to sit on the veranda where there was at least a breeze. As time was getting on, we thought we might as well call this brunch. John and I had mango chutney chicken salad; Pete had 3-egg omelette with bacon and mushrooms and Rose had a chicken burrito. We shared a piece of Key Lime pie Refillable coffees all round and we were done! The meal was very good and also very reasonable.

Back on the coach again and heading for Tombstone and the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Once again, the scenery was amazing and the cloudscapes even more beautiful!



I really wasn’t sure what I was expecting at Tombstone. Of course, it’s become very tourist-trap but the essence of the original town is still lurking there somewhere! There seem to be just a handful of buildings that bear plaques authenticating them, with the majority being replicas and glorified gift shops! There’s a stagecoach giving rides up and down a dusty Main Street and a Saloon complete with saloon gals!

It was very hot and humid by now and there were one or two spots of rain. Dana had warned us that there was limited seating and if we wanted to make sure we got a spot in the shade to get there early. While we waited someone pressed the button to start the commentary and animatronics version of the shoot-out. It’s hard to believe that this took place in such a really tiny area! How the hell weren’t they all killed? They must have been shooting pretty much at point blank range! But, as John pointed out, the guns they used weren’t known for their accuracy!



The arena opened and we filed in and straight across to sit in the tiny patch of shade. In front of us is a replica of the buildings involved and eventually the characters appear. These are the ‘world famous, award winning, Boothill gunfighters’ Before the start of the story, there’s a demonstration of the damage that can be inflicted by even a ‘blank’ bullet and then the inevitable kid (a teenage boy from Idaho) is picked out of the audience and asked what would he do if he found a gun. Well this lad said he’d pick it up! Doh! Wrong answer bud! There then follows the ‘educational spiel’ about having nothing to do with guns, if you see one do NOT pick it up, always call the cops, blah, blah. The stooge kid is then presented with the shot-to-bits Coke can, looks suitably bored and goes back to his seat!

OK! Here we go! After much 'drinking', shouting, fighting and shooting, the story of the assassination attempt on Virgil Earp, the enactment finished and then there was the chance for a photo opportunity with the cast (woo hoo!) – except Wyatt Earp who had dashed back to sell tickets for the next performance



Needless to say, we passed on this offer and figured it was time for an ice cream! Well, the woman didn’t seem to understand ‘just one scoop’ and kept piling it on and on! By the time we’d got back outside the shop it was beginning to melt and I was already hideously sticky! We crossed the street and sat in a ‘bandstand’ type building in a grassy area to demolish our ice creams. Rose and I had to make the inevitable visit to the loo – it was disgusting and there was no lock on the door, so we had to hold the door shut for each other. It’s dreadful to think that with the amount of money the tourists bring in to Tombstone, they can’t even provide clean toilets!

We strolled back towards the coach and browsed the shops as we went. Most of them are same old, same old, but there was one that had the most beautiful item in the window. It was of an Indian in feathered headdress, holding a bow and arrow and riding on his horse. The whole sculpture was made out of silver coloured wire and was the most incredible work of art! There was no price tag, so I guess it’s a case of ‘if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it’!

Back on board the coach, we headed out to Boothill Cemetary. We recognised some of the names on the 'graves'; whether their mortal remains are still here – well, who knows! But if they are, it’s a pleasant spot to spend eternity.



Lots of graves are marked ‘unknown’ and some had added information like 'found on trail' – I wonder who they all were. There’s also quite a few marked as ‘suicide’. Tombstone is known as 'the town too tough to die' but maybe it was just too tough for some of them out there.

This, however, was a bit out of place at Boothill Cemetary ... !



Then it was back on the coach for the hour and a half drive back to Tuscon. This evening we’d decided that we’d eat at the Cactus Rose, the other restaurant in the hotel. On the way in, John sawthe manager of the Javelina Cantina who came over and apologised again for last night! Anyway, we had a lovely meal tonight! Rose and I had the NY steak with caramelised onions, risotto and mixed veg. John had the same but with mashed potatoes and Pete had duck. The entrée came with a salad starter with Italian dressing.

Totally full, we headed back to our rooms for an early-ish night.
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Villas 2002, 2003, Buena Vista Palace Resort & Spa 2004, 2006, Arizona (& 2007) California, including Disneyland!, Nevada 2005, BCV, HRH & SSR 2008

Our 'Right Down the Middle of Main Street, USA' 2006 Visit
Wild West Adventure - Cowboys and Canyons 2007
We should have gone home years ago!

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Old 26 Oct 07, 07:52 AM  
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Fantastic photos.
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Old 30 Oct 07, 02:37 PM  
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highlander447's Reviews
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A good day, and at last a good meal before bed
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Old 30 Oct 07, 02:37 PM  
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