Day 5

Today started on the way to Tombstone, AZ, home of the famous Gunfight At OK Corral.  We also visited Boot Hill Cemetery where some of the participants in said gunfight ended up.  It turns out that the gunfight didn't actually take place at the OK Corral, but nearby.  We enjoyed buffalo burgers at the OK Cafe before heading off to the Desert Museum near Tuscon.  This museum is largely outside, with species of cactus, wildflowers and other plants, as well as some desert critters.  There were also displays inside with different snakes, iguanas, tarantulas and other fun wildlife.  After looking at these you became more watchful as you walked around the outside area.  Then we went down the road a short distance to the Saguaro National Park where we saw mountainsides full of the  huge saguaro cactus.  They grow to as much as 30 feet tall and can weigh up to 8,000 pounds!  Late afternoon saw us on the way to Pinnacle Peak for dinner.  Afterwards there was a staged, humorous gunfight in the street outside the restaurant.  We are spending the night in Tuscon, AZ.

Boot Hill Graveyard where participants in the Gunfight At OK Corral as well as many others are buried.

These  fellows were killed in the famous Gunfight At OK Corral.

Main Street, Tombstone AZ.  Tombstone was a very prosperous mining town and not the wild place that Hollywood has portrayed it to be.  Today, for a mere $20 you can ride this 150 year old stage coach.

These figures are arranged at exactly the spot where the gunfight took place.  As close as they were to each other,  it's a miracle that only three of them were killed.

Wildflower at the Desert Museum

An Iguana at the Desert Museum

Saguaro National Park.  It's hard to see in this picture, but the cactus go all the way to the top of the mountain in the background.  There were literally thousands of them in the park.

A huge Saguaro.  These things do not grow the arms on the sides until they are at least  60 years old and they live to be as much as 200 years old.

This is a rock face beside a rest area where we stopped on Interstate 10 between Willcox and Tuscon.