On the Road Again

I've got so much to tell you I don't know where to start - I suppose the logical place is the beginning, okay?

Last time I talked to you we had just arrived in Tombstone - I think that was last Friday. You know when you're retired you lose track of what day it is, so don't hold me to it, okay. It's a good thing we have one of those atomic clocks hanging on the wall in the RV. Not only does it tell you what time it is, it gives you the month, date and year. Folks like Ole and I depend on that.

Anyway - Saturday morning we started our tour of Tombstone - we decided to be smart and instead of walking all over we took a trolley tour with a tour guide that explained all the high points of the area. Save a lot on the knees and the shoe leather as it lasted an hour and a half. I think we truly got our money's worth.

Tombstone has a lot of interesting places -one of the more interesting to me at least was The World's Biggest Rose Bush/Tree. Of course Ole and Big Brother weren't real interested, but I paid my five bucks and toured the museum and saw the tree. It was phenomenal. It came from a cutting from Scotland in 1885 and has never been pruned - thus the humongous size. The main trunk is gnarled and twisted and the branches are spread so far that there has to be supports throughout the courtyard to hold the branches up. It was just beginning to bloom - white blossoms that aren't more than an inch in diameter. The fragrance was beautiful.

Of course there was the famous Birdcage Theater, but we didn't tour that during the day. They offered a nightly ghost tour so we opted to go back for that in the evening. This was not only a theater with dancing girls, etc., but also a house of ill repute. It was called the birdcage because a number of the cribs were suspended from the ceiling. They were seven on each side if I remember correctly, and very small. Small enough that it made you wonder how any business could be accomplished in them, (if you know what I mean - snicker). There were also larger crib rooms in the basement - still holding all the original furnishings. Beds, clothing, carpets, etc. Not placed there by the museum curators - but left just as they were when the people left the building. It was quite the place. You'll see the pictures in the montage attached. By the way, we didn't see any ghosts that evening.

We went into Big Nose Kate's to have a drink and get some supper, but it was so full and so loud we opted to go elsewhere. Also tried the Crystal Palace, but that was the same. I guess they were the two most famous places in Tombstone, other than the Birdcage.

The next day we drove down to Bisbee, about 25 miles. Bisbee is an old copper mining town, famous for the Queen copper mine. It's also the home to a lot of leftover hippies from the 60s and 70s who have never managed to come into the 21st century. As Ole says, it was a pretty artsy-fartsy town and very difficult to get around in. It's built into the side of a mountain with streets layed out like a pile of spaghetti that are two lane but barely wide enough for one car, let alone meeting a car. If you meet a car you have to back up to a wide spot in the road and pass that way.

The main reason we went to Bisbee was to tour the Queen copper mine. Ole's interested in things like that, you know. We rode a little train 900 feet into the mountain and listened to the tour guide. I must admit it was kind of interesting, but a bit on the chilly side down there. I thought our tour guide was even more interesting than the mine itself. He was a little Mexican, born and raised in Bisbee on the next mountain over. He went to work in the Queen mine when he was 20 in 1948. He's now 81 years old and giving tours as the mine hasn't been operational since the 30s when it became so expensive to do the mining. I couldn't believe he was 81 - he looked more like he was 60. He attributed his spryness to all the rice and beans that he eats. And a little splash of tequila now and then.

We left Tombstone on Monday morning and spent last night at a place called Lake Caballo, headed for Albuquerque. Ole took the doggers for a long walk this morning - about a mile - down to the beach on the lake and let them go for a swim. They loved it and chased sticks as long as Ole would throw them. And it got some of the dust and sand washed out of their fur. You can sure tell they haven't had their usual amount of exercise this winter as Daisy has kind of plumped up. Isn't that just the way it is for us women - always the first to put on the pounds. Beau on the other hand, looks good as we normally have trouble keeping weight on him.

Well, I'm not going to bore you anymore. I'll attach the montage I put together so you can see some pictures. Enjoy.

I'll write more when we land in Albuquerque.

Love Lena

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