Cacti and desert

OK, we have two nights in Tucson so let’s head towards the Mexican border near Nogales. On the way we looked at the San Xavier mission building. But as it was raining, we didn’t get out of the car as we had to go over roads that could end up being flooded.

Miss W had been warned not to stay long in Nogales so we followed the route outside the town to head toward Patagonia. This was another highway and we hoped none of it would be flooded. This was beautiful forest type country we were travelling through when suddenly, over another hill, we were back into more desert like country with lots of yucca and saguaro.

Wyatt Earp's old Tombstone

Still raining heavily, we finally arrived at Tombstone and took a drive around the town. Lots of cowboys and others dressed in costume appropriate to the old western town. Miss W looked for anything relating to the name Wyatt and found a building from Wyatt Earp as well as a school named after John Wyatt. Maybe they were relatives at some time.

Next day, we headed to Apache Junction via the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, west of Tucson. The drive there was fantastic, through a mountain pass with lots of flooded area warnings.

Instead of spending an hour at the museum, we were there for three hours walking along the tracks, listening to the docents explain about their particular passions, checking out the flora, fauna as well as minerals and fossils.

It was here that Miss W found out about the geology of the Mountains we had been travelling over during the last few days. One of the docents had a display about the uplifting and creation of the mountains and valleys.

We finally headed out after lunch to meet Tracy and her family in Apache Junction. We followed the Pinal Parkway through Florence then onto Superstition Highway. Booked into a motel in Apache Junction, rang Tracy to find out what our schedule was for the next three days and where we had to meet her the next day.

Have you ever been to a town where everyone dresses up in costume of that era?

Are there any special activities they do in that town?