Tombstone to Lordsburg NEW MEXICO

Track. Apache - The Shadows.
"Fast is fine but accurate is final -Wyatt Earp

Day 23.

 After a short drive we arrived in Tombstone and made our first stop off at Boothill Cemetry

 The cemetry shows how rough life must have been as little as a hundred years ago in this area. Every gravestone had an inscription detailing the circumstances of the death of the departed which included shot, murdered, killed by indians and hung by mistake. The most significant residents were the 3 young men shot by Wyatt Earp at the OK Corral. The moment was shattered however when dylan walked into a cactus and we made a sharp exit.

He had another fitting injury that day when his finger got trapped in his toy gun. Like we say, life is tough when you're a cowboy

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 We then headed to the Courthouse/ museum,  where you could see Tombstones history and the sobering gallows.  Next was a re-enactment of the gun fight in the exact spot of the O.K Corral itself. It was actually very good and they played Wyatt Earp as a heavy handed bully which is apparently more realistic than how Hollywood portrays him. Solomon sat through the performance with his headphones on, his eyes occasionally reacting to the gunshots.

Finally we visited Big Nosed Kates saloon and had an authentic western experience, complete with stetson wearing contry singer, US Marines (we clapped them several times) and a letter from George W Bush himself thanking the owner for his contribution to the Republican party.

 We missed the turnoff for the campsite and so headed onto nearby Bisbee, the polar opposite of Tombstone.

We stopped at a health food supermarket run by a hippy and there was a street full of old Greyhound buses and motorbikes. Our RV campsite was overlooking the huge open cast mine.







   Day 24.

The next town along from Bisbee is Douglas. It is quite a typical American town with all the usual stores and well maintained houses, roads and tourist information centre. It is divided down the middle by the Mexican border and the Mexican side is known as Agua Prieta.  We had heard that it was possible to walk accross the border for a look and some shopping and that this particular border town was one of the less dodgy places to do so, so we parked up on a street and did just that.  We walked straight into Mexico and within several metres were struck with the difference in the roads, rubbish and facilities.  There was no real attempt to entice visitors, and in our 2 hour visit we saw no other tourists.

There were numerous barbours and a short back and sides, with a cut throat razor, seemed to be a reason for the US citizens in Douglas to cross the border. They were reminded to leave their weapons on the US side.  It did not feel at all unsafe, but reminded us of previous travels to other developing nations. There were people sat around, plastic flowers in all the shop windows and the smell of bad drains.

We had some great food in a cantina and then, as there didnt seem tobe anything else to do, we walked back again. Another stark contrast in entering the states and it reaffirmed our privileged status and right to pass freely.  There were no other vehicles on the 90 minute drive to Lordsberg along the border than US border Patrols and a few motorbikes.

We stopped at the Geronimo monument before passing into New Mexico. A quick look at the ghostown in Shakespeare and then onto ourcampsite for the night in Lordsburg.