We finally set out on the road again March 5. We got to spend a few nights with my parents on the way out at Gordon's Well, where we played in the dunes and spent some last few precious moments with family.
We took our trusty truck out into the sand with Papa and his friends, and while we weren't playing in the sand, the girls were spending time in Mema's motor home with her, piling in the last quality time we'd see with them for a while.
After a tearful farewell from Gordon's Well, we traced the fence separating Mexico and America along the highway for some time, and then headed north to post ourselves for two nights in the desert in Quartzite, again enjoying family who drove out to stay and play with us. We visited some local shops and ate at Silly Al's, but we mainly sat at camp and enjoyed the company in the unbridled desert. We were lucky enough to get some rain and find gray cover from clouds, rescuing me from the worry of enduring 85 degree weather in the desert without hook-ups!
On our way out from Quartzite, we took advantage of an RV resort's luxuries and posted ourselves in Buckeye for a few nights. We all enjoyed the heated pool! Shopping is close-by there, as well, so we ventured in to run some errands at Walmart one day, where we ran into a friend we had met while camping in the desert in Quartzite in December! That was a really nice treat for Evelyn, to run into one of her road-family friends! Our stay in Buckeye offered us another coincidental surprise: our good friends from Washington were visiting their parents in Goodyear, AZ, only 20 miles away! So, we enjoyed a desert evening with friends!
Leaving Buckeye, we aimed to scoot past Tuscon as far as our patience would take us. We took up on $25/per night camping in our first fairground camping experience yet. We stayed at Pima Fairgrounds in Tuscon, AZ, where they were hosting a free RV Show. We browsed the new homes and realized again how much we love our own carefully selected home. Brent took the girls to watch scale planes fly nearby one morning and took Kailyn with him to see if he could sneak a peek at the nearby races.
Leaving Tuscon, we figured for a long day of travel, aiming to reach as close to El Paso as possible. An hour down the highway, though, I spotted the turn off for Tombstone and I pulled over to call Brent. We were re-routing. How could we not?? So, we followed a curvy desert road toward our new destination and arrived at Tombstone RV Park and Campground around 2 pm. We hadn't planned to stay there, but it turned out to be a highlight of our unplanned over-night, so I'm glad we did!
The owner escorted us to our (admittedly rather tiny but very well groomed) site by golf cart. He graciously gestured over to a smaller site across the campground road where he would let me park my extra vehicle for free. He helped Brent get situated and smiled as he drove off.
Evelyn, Kailyn, and I spotted horses corralled nearby in the campground, so while Brent set up the trailer, we took a few steps toward the corrals. Two young girls were riding horses through the campground, and when they saw Kailyn smile and point at them, they beamed right back with friendly eyes and guided their reins in our direction. They introduced their horses and smiled continuously as Kailyn and Evelyn both pet their horses. They courteously bid adieu and galloped off toward the wash behind the campground, tailed by their brother on his quad.
We walked past two ladies chatting amicably, one of whom turned out to be a live-on-site employee originally from Illinois. She welcomed us into her conversation and then offered us a tour of the horse area. Mary nibbled on her plate of food while she enthusiastically led us toward the corrals. Three of the animals belonged to her: a friendly white donkey named Snowflake, a mighty black horse named Mac, and a cute fuzzy brown pony named . She told us how Snowflake likes to be talked to and how Mac has a blackbird friend who walks his back, neck, and head pecking at bugs in his coat. True enough, as we watched, Mac's pal flew in and landed on his back, walking the length of his mane just pecking away!
Mary explained how the girls we had seen on horseback were from Oklahoma. She had just helped them park their family's luxury motor home and get their horse trailer parked and horses corralled. It turns out the family of five was traveling with their four horses and one pony, and they had fit all of them (and the boy's small quad!) in the horse trailer parked over by the corrals. Mary marveled along with us as we watched the two girls gracefully and happily fly along the wash bed on their sienna coated horses, trailed by their brother on his quad.
Mary went on to explain how another full-timing resident on site owns on of the ponies, and she pointed over in its direction. She said that the woman, Vickey, is training the pony to give rides to children with disabilities and that she was sure we would like it if Evelyn would help her train Tia the Pony by riding her during our stay. She escorted us to Vickey's motor home and knocked on the door, introducing us and excitedly offering Evelyn's "services" for her pony. Vickey was warm and inviting, and we visited her and Tia the next morning for that promised ride.
We were there to visit Tombstone, though, and we wanted to get there before sundown. We were only planning to stay on night in Tombstone, so we had to ride!
Downtown Historic Allen Street was only a mile or so away from the RV park. We cruised the neighboring streets for a few minutes before finding an open space to park and soon found ourselves on the dirt road of Allen Street. Old-West-clad locals welcomed visitors and announced the upcoming gun-fight. Stage coaches rattled along the road after the clip-clopping hooves of great horses. History surrounded us, left largely in tact and personality respected. Shops selling Old Western-wear and mustaches lined the wooden walk-ways. Saloons, smoke shops, and the Bird Cage Theater stood waiting to be explored.
There was also promise of ghostly experience up and down the row: a Haunted Hotel and the evening Haunted Tour beckoned to the paranormal investigators in the crowd. One employee explained how the Haunted Tour was "kid-friendly", while explaining how we would stand where "the bodies dropped" and each bloody murder took place. I winced through his description and looked over at Evelyn, who looked as if most of what he's said went right over her head (thank goodness). But, afterall, that's what Tombstone is known for, so the once-Western-fanatic kid in me was jumping up and down at the thought of the tour I knew we wouldn't be taking. It turns out our neighbors back at the RV park took the tour and snapped two pictures of scenery along the way that captured entities! One shot captured a face; the other captured the image of a man with an ax!
We didn't explore the more gory details of Tombstone's past with the kids in tow, though. Evelyn and I did take a stagecoach ride. Coincidence enough, our coach driver turned out to be from Rancho Cucamonga! It had been twenty years since he left the Inland Empire, but he was ear-to-ear smiles to chat with us about what he remembers of Rancho Cucamonga. When I tipped him later, I included an In n Out hat that had somehow made it into the storage area of our stroller, and it made his day. We saw sights along the stagecoach tour that included original homes of the resident Doc, the courthouse, complete with original gallows, and we passed the continuously operating original Butterfield Stage Coach along the route!
We also took plenty of pictures along Allen Street and made our way to the gun-fight area. We poked around the miniature golf course and tried our hand at roping a cow.
Alas, the sun was setting and it was getting chilly. While we would have loved to grab a bite and a beer at the saloon, we opted instead to return to the comforts of home after a long moving day-turned-adventure.
The next morning, Evelyn got herself up and ready in record time to take up her appointment with Tia the Pony. It was cold and windy, but Vickey braved the weather to gear Tia up, all while narrating and teaching the process to our young helper. She walked Evelyn round and round for a good twenty minutes or so, explaining, teaching, and making conversation all the while. She had Evelyn do some balance exercises atop the pony and taught her to dismount like a pro. Grateful for the pony ride, we had Evelyn offer to help with chores. There wasn't much left to do, so Brent showed her how to roll up the water hose. Evelyn gave Vickey another huge hug, and we returned to the trailer to hitch up and head toward El Paso.
Tombstone was an unexpected treat and adventure. The
staff at Tombstone RV Park and Campground were half the treat; I would highly recommend staying there if you're ever in the area! And despite its gory past, the tone at Allen Street is jovial and inviting. It's a place we all should see!
We drove off that day into the rural desert and past the neighboring mining town of Brisbee, and then later past the spot where Geronimo surrendered, my mind bursting with ideas of what it was like to live in the late 1800s in the Wild West. The area is still largely untouched; it's not difficult to imagine its original state. How outlaws, miners, and citizens made their way through the untamed desert and found settlement; how they lived, ate, and traveled; how they entertained and employed all stampeded through my mind as we rode off into our own desert sunset.