Tombstone - Bisbee - Sierra Vista Loop

Daddy here...We pulled into the Tombstone Territories RV Park on Friday (2/8), got parked, and headed 8 miles back east to visit the (in)famous "town that wouldn't die." We walked the streets of Wyatt Earp and toured the very site of the shootout at the OK Corral (really just a back alley behind the stables). It's a bit of a tourist trap, but I'd recommend the diorama because it tells the whole story of Tombstone, its founding, growth, and its role in how the west was settled.

We got a little bit hungry, so we decided not to compete with the crowds and head towards Bisbee. During World War II and Vietnam, this area was considered a national strategic asset for its copper mine. There is a HUGE crater caused by the strip-mining technique used to extract the copper ore. At the bottom is a pool of black liquid, fringed with sulfur and the area really stinks.

Ironic by today's eco-friendly standards, there's a memorial to the man who developed the technique and made the mines profitable.

Men seeking deferrment from the military draft chose mining rather than fighting, so over the years this quaint town has evolved as a hippie area, attracting all sorts of eccentrics and artists.

When I was stationed at Ft. Huachuca (1985-88), I used to love coming to Bisbee. I still think it looks like a "model railroad town" because of the cool, old-timey architecture with gingerbread porches and little houses perched in the steep hills and mountainside that rings the village.

I used to run on a relay team for the annual "Mule Mountain Marathon" from Bisbee to Sierra Vista, which is the home of the fort. Wow, to be in shape like that again!

As the evening approached, we head back up the mountain, chasing the sunset towards Sierra Vista. Another glorious day on the road!