Tombstone, The Town Too Tough To Die!
That is its favourite mission statement, you see it everywhere.
This weekend they had a celebration (also St Patricks Day) of the USO, American Armed Forces with all sorts of activities and demonstrations on Saturday but culminating in a parade down Allan Street on Sunday morning. Not wanting to miss w parade we hitched up the trailer, took a lawn chair and found ourselves a nice place at the side of the road, just outside Big Nose Kates Saloon Bar and settle in to wait for the parade.
At 11.00 a rendition of the National Anthem was sung and the parade started. It consisted mostly of motor cycles driven by ex service men, some people riding ponies and a number of locals dressed in 1880's costumes. There was also a monster truck and the local fire department brought up the rear with all lights blazing.
It was great fun to watch (though not in the same league as the Dade City Christmas parade) and this left us in good humour to move on.
We drove a short distance to Sierra Vista, where we stopped for food at Fry's and lunch at Denny's. Sierra Vista is the town which is beside Fort Huachaca, still an army base. However it dates back to the 1860's when the U.S. was at war with the Cochise Indians, this is the era of the Apaches and Geronimo. From Tombstone you could look to the North across the prairy to Cochise Stronghold where Geronimo held out against the army for many years. You could also look South West to Fort Huachaca, where the Army were based and could easily imagine how the two forces would watch each other. The cavalry too strong for Geronimo to defeat. The Indians mountain fortress too impregnable to be taken - stalemate. Finally ended when the honourable and respectable army took all the indian women and children into captivity and held them hostage until the Indians surrendered. Three cheers for the good guys.
We then drove up into the mountains to find the lovely Patagonia Lake State Park, just near the border with Mexico. Very peaceful, even though it is full with families on Spring Break Vacation.
Great journey from Tombstone, in AZ, to the Napa Valley, in CA...............................................Including Jim and Connie's Party!
What we did!
This is the blog of our 12th Trip to the U.S.A.
On this trip we arrived in March and spent a week with our friends Connie NA Jim at their Bluegrass Party, in Florida.
We then flew to Phoenix, where we collected our rig and then explored Southern Arizona, from the cowboy city of Tombstone in the East, to the desert City of Yuma in the West.
Travelling north along the course of the Colorado river we visited the London Bridge at Lake Havasu before exploring the Mojave Desert, including some more of Rout 66 and Calico Ghost Town.
Moving North West through California we shared in the CBA Bluegrass Campout in Turlock, before visiting Bodega Bay to follow The Birds. After sampling the delights of the Napa Valley we joined in The Fiddle Convention at Cloverdale before storing our rig and returning home after seeing some friends in San Leandro, near San Francisco.
This blog gives a day to day record of many of the things we did on this trip.
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