Tripometer – 12,863 mi
Gas Gauge – 963.196 gal
Location – Tombstone RV Park & Campground, AZ
Lodging – $37
Cans of OFF – 4
Halloween!
After getting ahead on her work yesterday, Kelly was able to get away from work a little early today. We went back into Tombstone to hit a couple of the attractions that we missed over the first two days. We were also hoping for a spooky time given the fact that we are in a town called Tombstone on Halloween.
Tombstone was founded in 1879 by prospector Ed Schieffelin after finding what was to become the largest silver strike in Arizona’s history. According to some estimates, over the course of mining operations in Tombstone, Ed Schieffelin’s mines would bring in $40 to $80 million dollars or $1.1 to $2.3 billion dollars in today’s money. Our first stop was the ‘Good Enough Mine,’ the most accessible of the original Tombstone silver mines. We took a 30 minute tour of the silver mine with a very authentic looking miner and enjoyed hearing how hard rock mining was done 150 years ago (by hand with a lot of hard work).
On the way out of the mine, Ranger spotted his first donkey just outside of the mine’s entrance. Thinking this would be a good opportunity to introduce Ranger to farm animals, Paul allowed Ranger to get too close and the donkey took offence (immediately following the picture above). The donkey (Jenny) lowered her head and started advancing on both Paul and Ranger with obvious ill intent. If it weren’t for the quick action of Kelly and the tour guide, we think either Paul or Ranger would have received a rather nasty donkey bite.
After hitting a few different shops in town not on the main street, we topped off Halloween in Tombstone by visiting the Boot Hill Cemetery to walk amongst the gravestones as the sun set. Our first stop in the cemetery was to the graves of Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and Billy Clanton — the three men killed in the gunfight at the OK Corral. Much to our delight, there was a wedding ceremony going on at the back of the graveyard. We didn’t want to be obnoxious so we grabbed a shot of the happy couple, elderly officiant dressed in 1880’s top and tails and what must have been the officiant’s wife dressed as a ghostly bride. We’re not quite sure what type of people get married on Halloween in the Boot Hill cemetery, but we think they’re guaranteed to be interesting people.
We honestly expected that Tombstone would have bloomed a bit on Halloween. We thought we’d see a lot more people in town celebrating the day. Sadly, the town was just as dead on Halloween as on any other weekday. Maybe last weekend was crazy busy? Or maybe we’re just weird, thinking this makes a neat destination for Halloween.
Special Note: Where are all of the old horse-drawn wagons and carriages on the East Coast? In the west we see pre-automobile wagons, coaches, and other equipment constantly. Frequently we’ve seen these types of vehicles decaying in fields and behind houses rather than being used for whatever purpose. We can recall being excited as kids to see something so old at home. Perhaps the weather preserves them better than the tropical jungle-like weather that we have in Maryland?