Wednesday, November 23, around 1 p.m. we crossed the California/Arizona border into Yuma. We decided since we may be camping at a dispersed site with no amenities it would be a good idea to top up with fuel, propane, and buy groceries. We already had plenty of water in the tank plus four extra jugs full. We spent a few hours in the afternoon running our errands and then as the sun began setting earlier than we anticipated because of our hour of time lost, we felt anxious to figure out our next camping location before night fall. When night comes, it is pitch black making it very difficult to see anything! With our Free and Low-Cost Campgrounds book in hand, we found a BLM site fairly close to Yuma, 7 miles East and 9.5 miles North at Mittry Lake Wildlife Area. There were sites off the road with views of the lake. Choosing one, we pulled in and set up for the night. The lake was crowded with ducks and other birds and as night fell quickly we had our first encounter with mosquitoes since the start of our journey.
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| Panoramic view of Lake Mittry towards boat launch |
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| Panoramic view of Lake Mittry area from parking lot |
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| View at our campsite |
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| Lots of ducks around |
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| Our campsite |
Thursday, November 24, (U.S. Thanksgiving) we were awakened by gun shots around 6:00 a.m. that sounded closer than we would have liked them to be. Duck hunters getting their early morning trophies and perhaps their Thanksgiving feast? This startled us out of our sleep at first, but then we realized what the noise was and we had read there is duck hunting allowed on this lake.
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| Another view of the Lake Mittry area, tall hill we climbed for cell reception in the distance |
There always seems to be a lot to do on the days that we choose not to travel so I never mind getting up early. Catching up with writing, exercising, exploring the area, and figuring out where we are going next normally fills the better part of the day. Camping in these no charge areas is wonderful, but there are no services here. We climb hills and drive miles sometimes so we can connect with our loved ones by phone call or text. This particular day, we were able to get reception at the top of the tall hill near us to send out a couple of text messages. It’s strange too, because sometimes we have a bar of reception in the trailer and all of a sudden we will get a text message come through and for that brief moment we are able to respond on one bar of reception and then boom, “No Service” again.
After achieving some of the things in camp that we have been wanting to do for awhile, we decided to drive down the road to see where it went and what was near us. We found the Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVA). These areas were established by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and become home to many, many people who want to live in their RV for the winter (October 1 to May 31). A LTVA permit is required to be purchased for $180 U.S. for the full 7 months or $40 U.S. for 2 weeks. There are a number of LTVAs to choose from located in the California desert and along the lower Colorado River. (Wright, Don. The Wright Guide to Free and Low-Cost Campgrounds. Elkhart, IN: The Wright Guide, 15th Edition, 2015, pg 4)
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| Long Term Visitor Area |
Some of these areas have no services at all, some have limited services, but most of the time there is access to drinking water and dumping services fairly close by. As we drove along looking at the area, we were trying to understand what the attraction was to spend your entire winter in one barren place with no trees, in sand and dust, with no amenities. We saw a couple of people flying kites, a couple of spots had fitness equipment outside of their RV, and there were a couple people walking their dogs. This is what we thought we were going to do with some of our winter down here, but after witnessing it first hand, we have decided to keep exploring our options.
We enjoyed the beautiful day and decided we would stay here for a few more days over the weekend to hopefully avoid peak traffic from people returning from their Thanksgiving holidays.
Friday, November 25, Saturday, November 26 and Sunday, November 27
Dan and I used the last few days to have down time and enjoy our surroundings. We spent Saturday afternoon in town running errands and getting the laundry done. We found a coffee and WIFI at Starbucks to get the first blog about California done and published. We have agreed on a route now that hopefully we’ll stick to; we are going to make our way across Arizona and then through part of New Mexico and then down into Texas. Dan wants to visit Corpus Christi. He was there as a child and wants to see it again. We will be looking into setting up “camp” hopefully near a beach in the Gulf of Mexico and spending the better part of our winter there. That is our plan for now anyway.
Monday, November 28
Deciding to head East across Arizona on the I-8 we had chosen to spend this night at a spot near Gila Bend called Painted Rock/Petroglyph, another Bureau of Land Management (BLM) area. This spot was $8 a night. There are tables, toilets and grills but no drinking water. Again, we were topped up with water as on the way, we stopped at a Shell gas station that had dump and potable water.
On the way, the landscape is mostly sandy and flat with beautiful hills/mountains in the far off distance. There are many cacti of all
kinds and they seemed to become more numerous the further East we traveled. As there is not a lot of water out this way to harness hydro power, there is evidence everywhere that Arizona is harnessing their power from wind generators, rows and rows of solar panels, and even solar steam (taking sun energy and converting water into steam to run electric generators - this is our take on it - panels look like large mirrors).
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| "Mirror" system |
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| Rows and rows of solar panels |
After getting to the campground and setting up, we paid the $8 and talked to the host about firewood. They said any wood (mesquite dominates this area) we found on the ground we were allowed to burn. Then, they pointed us over to one of the vacant group sites and told us to get what was left there. They were very kind and even later, they brought us a little kindling that they found at another campsite.
Dan built an amazing fire that looked beautiful against the setting sun. Mesquite burns very hot and as the evening cooled, it provided us with warmth to sit outside and enjoy the night. We really enjoyed this evening by firelight.
Tuesday, November 29
Thankfully the day before we got a hold of our friends Bill and Hazel that have a home in Eloy which is located near the junction of I-8 and I-10 and they invited us for supper that night. We were very excited to see them.
We took our time that morning, I enjoyed using the picnic table by incorporating it into my exercises. After breakfast and a shower, Dan and I went to check out the petroglyphs.
There is a hill of rocks sitting alone in the massive area of sand and cacti. There is a walking path with explanation of the area and the petroglyphs. There are so many of rocks covered by these ancient writings it made me wonder if they used the area like a school and instead of a chalkboard, they had these rocks. They were fairly simple symbols, grids, animals, man, snakes, and probably most complex, mazes. After we were done looking at the petroglyphs we had some lunch and got the trailer hitched up and we were on the road again.
Heading East on I-8 toward Eloy. It was interesting how the landscape of nothingness and never ending sand seemed to fill up with cactus. Beautiful in its own right. We crossed the Santa Cruz River a few times in a number of spots, it must wind around for miles and miles, but the most we saw of any water in it was at one spot we crossed it was the size of a tiny creek running under the bridge, otherwise it was dried up completely and even growing grass! I have never seen that before.
We arrived at our friends’, Bill’s and Hazel’s before 5 p.m. Bill gave us a tour of the little gated community they live in and it was awesome, especially the gym and pools (one indoor and two outdoor)! The community boasts a Spanish flare like most places around Arizona, beautiful architecture and impeccable landscaping surround. We returned to their beautiful home for a delicious dinner and had a wonderful time visiting. We said our goodbyes that night as they were leaving early in the morning and we decided we would just get up early as well and go for breakfast.
Wednesday, November 30
We were up and on the move before 8:00 a.m. We headed to the Iron Skillet Restaurant for breakfast (recommended by Bill). It was a great way to start our day and the breakfast and coffee was really good. (Thanks Bill) After breakfast, we headed towards Green Valley and into Madera Canyon situated in the Santa Rita Mountains, Coronado National Forest. We decided to stay in Bog Springs Campground in Madera Canyon at just $10 a night and there was drinking water available. This is another site we found using our book The Wright Guide to Free and Low-Cost Campgrounds.
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| Another one of Dan's wonderful fires. Notice the first star of the night and the moon just over the range |
While we had only moved into this area in hopes to visit with other friends in Green Valley (whom we never could get a hold of), we discovered this amazing area that we never would have looked at if it were not for the book. The area is similar to Kananaskis in Alberta. Big hills even extending into high enough peaks further out to be called mountains. There are bear, deer, cougar, tons of birds, and all sorts of critters out here. Thankfully, most commonly all we see are birds and deer who seem very calm around humans.
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| Madera Canyon |
Our camping spot was tiered. The higher part was paved for parking the trailer and a little hill below it took you to the garbage (bear proof), fire pit, and picnic table. We drove the road of the area up and down and checked out the trail signs to see many different trails and the ability to make hikes short or long. We decided a hike was in our near future and possibly mountain biking too.
Thursday, December 1
We were camped at 5040 feet above sea level and the nights get cold. There is snow in the higher elevations. But, we were content on dealing with the colder nights to stay in this beautiful location. We decided to use the day to go into town, find WIFI to check on banking stuff and pick up a few groceries. Dan had gone around the campground and collected any firewood he found at sites that were vacant and brought it back to our site. Dan built a big, roaring fire that night and we sat by it, embracing and enjoying its warmth as night fell to near 0 degrees Celsius.
Friday, December 2
Deciding the day before that today was going to be our hiking day, after a hardy breakfast, we got our backpacks ready complete with plenty of water, snacks (dried fruit and nuts), first aid kit, and various other useful things we have for survival and hit the trail by our campsite. Looking at the map at the beginning of the trail, we decided we would do a loop. We hiked Sylvester Springs, to Kent Springs, and then coming back towards the campground, Bog Springs. I knew from the map that if we continued on from Kent Springs we would be walking for miles and miles through mountainous territory, so it was my goal to not miss the turn. Guess what? I read the sign wrong and continued up hill and ended up on that trail that goes on forever that I wanted to avoid! Dan just went along with my decision to do this, but then I questioned him why we were still gaining elevation? It didn't seem right.
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| We watched a beautiful woodpecker peck at this tree for awhile |
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| We stumbled upon this very calm deer |
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How clear the spring water is |
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| Break time |
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| Our little hiker |
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| Kent Springs |
Soon after, we encountered a pack of hikers and they asked us where we were going and we told them Bog Springs Campground. The one fellow says, “Woah, did you say, you are going to the campground or coming from it?” We said “we are going to it.” He said, “you missed the trail, you need to go back down to Kent Springs and continue to the right of there or go back the way you came up.” That was so kind of him to clue us in like that! Dan wanted to hike a little further up before turning around first. So, a little further we went and then we turned around and went back down the trail to Kent Springs where I missed the trail we were supposed to take.
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| Hiking above Kent Springs |
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| Amazing views |
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| A little cool with patches of snow around us over 7000 feet above sea level here |
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| Another gorgeous view on descent |
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| Bog Springs |
Anyway, now on the correct trail, we descended to Bog Springs, and then to Bog Springs Campground to the trailer. Piper knew where she was going. She is such a little trooper and she seems to love hiking, but just like us, she was tired and muscle sore too.
Our GPS showed we went a distance of almost 10 km and hiked for 2 and a half hours plus an hour and a half of down or stopped time for a total of four hours on the hill. Stopped time is when we stop to take photos and we did have one break on the top of a large boulder where we ate our snack. Total elevation gain 2,000 feet putting us at over 7,000 feet above sea level and yes, hiking in some snow. It’s a really cool thing to see cactus growing in the snow!
We spent time that evening visiting at our camp neighbour’s trailer. Jan and Don are from Pennsylvania and they spend their winters out this way to stay warm too. Although we all agreed we didn’t pick the warmest spot, but maybe the most scenic in Arizona that we have seen thus far. Jan and Don have been married for 55 years, have done some amazing things in their lives and they have traveled extensively. They even sailed all over the world for four years and lived on their boat full time when they were in their late 40s. Sailing has always been something Dan would like to do.
Saturday, December 3
Even though the nights are cold, the days can be quite warm although not too hot and this makes for ideal weather for hiking and biking. Biking was on today’s agenda. It always seems to take so long to get everything ready to go, but once we were finally ready, we headed down the road with the bikes on the truck. this time leaving Piper in the trailer. Getting some information from a Ranger about the biking, he told us where the biking trail was. We drove down a long, bumpy gravel road and parked the truck. From here we rode the bikes further down the road and got onto what we thought was the bike trail as the Ranger said it was an old jeep trail. The path was covered with huge rocks and cactus and prickly trees lined the sides of the path. Certainly not somewhere you would want to veer off the path or fall off your bike! It was all up hill from here. It was extremely difficult and Dan did awesome at getting proficient at getting momentum to get biking. I struggled with this, but managed to figure it out a couple of times. Once you get riding, it is really tough and very strenuous. We walked our bikes up in the worst spots (which was most of it for me).
We finally got to a point where we decided we should ride back and being it was all downhill, we both managed to ride down all the way except in one spot where giant rocks made riding impossible. When we got back to where we had started the actual bike trail, we realized that again, we had taken the wrong path. The actual bike path was behind a gate beside the old road path we had taken. We had a look at it. This path is extremely narrow and not well used so even a greater chance at getting chewed up by the various prickly plants. Deciding it would likely be a bad decision to take it, we continued on the gravel road back to our truck. This proved to be a good workout in itself.
Our GPS showed we traveled only 4 km in one hour and half of the hour was stopped time because of the difficulty of the hill. We felt we had a good bike ride despite not achieving quite what we wanted to do. We revelled in the idea that it was December 3rd and here we were riding our bikes, the sun was shining and there was no snow! We played Christmas music, windows down, smiles on our faces, and drove the bumpy gravel road back out to the main road and back to camp.
I made lunch for us and then we headed to Tubac, AZ for the later part of the day into the evening. The Tourist Information lady we spoke with in Green Valley recommended we see it. Tubac is a cute little town nestled along the Santa Cruz River. Known as the town “Where Art & History Meet”, renowned as a haven for artists. Here you will find the work of artisans, artists, and crafters, making it the ideal place to find that unique creation for your home or to give as a gift. Your imagination can run wild here as you get absorbed into your surroundings and lose yourself in the beautiful art pieces. Quaint shops and restaurants line the streets, there is even a pilates studio and fitness centre, all in walking distance. So, once you park, you can visit all the little shops on foot, one weaving into another. They were set up for their Luminaries night. Every establishment was decorated for Christmas and bags with lit candles in them outlined the shop’s walkways. We got there in the later afternoon and walked through the various shops and streets. We were very impressed with the spiritual ambience of this little town and the quality of workmanship in the various art pieces. (Dan’s Mom would appreciate this town).
We sat on the patio so Piper could dine with us (she loved it) and shared dinner of a full rack of ribs at Tubac Jack’s. They had heat lamps on so it was tolerable to sit outside. As mentioned before, the nights get very chilly. After dinner, we made our way back out into the streets that now in the darkness were lit up with Christmas lights everywhere. It looked absolutely beautiful. As we walked around, we came upon a bonfire where you could roast a marshmallow, so Dan cooked himself one and indulged. He really enjoyed being able to do this and thought it was an awesome idea! The town was very busy with people now, there was Christmas music playing or musicians performing, and there was a wonderful feeling of happiness all around us. For the first time out here we could feel the Spirit of Christmas. It was a wonderful and happy ending to another fantastic day!
Sunday, December 4
We moved North West today to Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson Mountain Park located West of the City of Tucson. It seemed like the ideal location to choose as it sits between Old Tucson and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Both of these attractions we would like to see. There are many, many attractions in Southern Arizona and while we are not on any time limit really, we still have to pick and choose what we want to do. The Pima Air and Space Museum and the Titan Missile Museum are also near Tucson, both of which Dan has gone to in the past and recalls them as both being excellent and willing to go again if I would like to. However, museums are not really a great interest of mine. I will do a few and I have already been to two wonderful aviation museums this trip, but also, there are so many other things to choose from, it makes sense to pick something that is new to both of us.
It took the better part of the day to pack up, hitch up, and drive to our new location although it was only about 37 miles away from where we were. Once we got parked in Gilbert Ray Campground, there was a knock at our trailer door and a fellow Albertan came by to let us know that the park has a rodent problem and to warn us that their truck wires got nibbled on. It was super that she let us know that so we could be proactive that evening.
Old Tucson (www.OldTucson.com) looks like an old western town and some visit believing it was Tucson in the old days, but truth be known, its all fake. This “town” was originally built to serve as a movie set complete with all the buildings necessary to make it appear to be an operating town such as a Saloon, Town Hall (bank and courthouse), the OK Corral and Stagecoach area, Sheriff’s Office (jail), Stables, Drs. Office, Church with graveyard, and a few shops. Old Tucson has been host to the making of over 300 films and television productions since 1939. Some of our personal favourites include Tombstone (1993), Young Guns II (1990), The Quick and The Dead (1993) The Three Amigos (1996), Wild Wild West, and some of Little House on the Prairie (TV Series). John Wayne was a big name on the big screen in his day and he was in movies Rio Lobo (1970), McLinTock, along with two other films that were filmed at Old Tucson.
Dan was especially fond of the TV series “Little House on the Prairie” when he was a child starring and directed by Michael Landon. There were clothes on display that had been worn by the actors in the show and many newspaper clippings about the filming of this famous prairie show in the desert. Michael Landon was a very talented actor, but he was great behind the scenes too. He was able to work in Old Tucson to portray it as a prairie town and never let the audience see otherwise. The real surroundings of Old Tucson are mountains, many cacti, dry desert and yet, “Little House on the Prairie” seemed like it was in the prairies because of the talent in filming it, and cutting the background where it didn’t fit into the story. Old Tucson was apparently one of 9 film locations where "Little House on the Prairie" was filmed. We learned from our tour guide, Theresa, that the only reason they had the little museum with a few items of clothing and things on display in Old Tucson now is because they were out on display in a different location. If they had been in their original outlet, they would have been lost to a fire that burned 40% of Old Tucson a few years ago. The fire is said to have been set by an arsonist. So sad.
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| Costumes from Little House on the Prairie |
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| Costumes from Little House on the Prairie |
We spent the afternoon touring through the “old” town and enjoyed learning some history about it and seeing the old buildings. We took a historic tour to begin our afternoon and attended a comedy show in the Saloon. We then listened to history of how important the cook was to the wagon train when it came to traveling and moving herds. Basically, if you were going to work for someone you wanted to know how good the cook was before you took the job. A lot laid on the shoulders of the cook besides providing the hungry men (sometimes women) with excellent food after a hard day of riding. It was very important that the cook made awesome meals, but the cook was also educated in reading and writing and would help those who could not read or write. The cook would help the wranglers by reading to them (especially if they got a letter from home and needed help reading it) and sometimes teaching them how to spell their own name for signing purposes rather than the standard “X”. On top of that, the cook was also the Preacher on Sundays.
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| The Cook's Wagon |
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| Old covered wagon |
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| Church and cemetary |
We took a train ride all around the perimeter of the town and then toured through the catacombs. Out of the over 300 films and tv shows that were filmed in Old Tucson there was only one movie that incorporated the catacombs, “Wild Wild West” with Will Smith. The catacombs are spooky with wind noises, skeletons, skulls, “dead” workers, strobe and dark light, and fog effects. We had a tour guide take us through and this was helpful as the guide triggered all the scary effects before I got there!
Shortly after the catacombs, we sought out the shooting range. Dan fired off six rounds into targets from a 45 caliber Rueger similar to the Colt 45. I recorded his shooting on video. On the fourth shot the “blank” bounced back out of the shooting range and hit me in the stomach! It stung a little, thankfully only leaving a red spot behind. It just reinforces how fast accidents can happen and how quick guns are.
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| Court room |
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| The bank |
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| Dan checks out the fake town set for Chapparel |
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| Stagecoach platform |
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| School house |
To end our fantastic day we watched a Hollywood Stunt Demonstration show. Three actors showed various effects used in film like punches, shooting, falling off buildings and ladders, “zip” lining from the building, and even explosions. It was fun and funny to watch. Yet again, I have to add, Piper is a trouper and she handled the loud noises and effects better than most dogs would have.
We returned to our tiny home, had a stew I made and left cooking in the slow cooker, played checkers, and watched some old episodes of the Andy Griffith show on TV. We opened the hood of the truck, left lights all around the trailer on, and laid out dryer sheets as mice are suppose to hate them, and went to sleep. Another great day!
Monday, December 5
We woke up to a beautiful morning and even the more so since the rodents had not targeted us in the night. The Sonora Desert Museum was the highlight of today. Once we had breakfast and pulled out of Gilbert Ray Campground, we traveled not far from where we had been camped to Sonora Desert Museum.
Although it is called a museum, it is more like a zoo and desert garden. We were blown away by all the different species of cacti there are and they all have one thing in common, they are prickly!
The museum was mostly outside, but had some inside displays too. The Sonora Desert also incorporates the top part of the Baja California peninsula and the aquarium display showed some of the different types of fish found in that area.
Outside, there were signs and information about the insects of the desert like bees, wasps, ants, butterflies, and spiders to name a few.
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| Hummingbirds |
The museum was quite expansive and had coyotes, javelinas, lizards, bats, tarantulas, snakes, mountain sheep, mountain lion, black bear, otter, bobcat, grey fox, ocelot, and the list goes on.
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| Mountain Sheep |
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| Otter |
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| Ocelot |
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| Grey Fox |
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| Bobcat |
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| Lizard |
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| Javelinas |
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| Coyote |
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| Black Bear |
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| Cougar/Mountain Lion |
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| Elf Owl |
We had lunch there and Piper spent her time in the coolness of the trailer, although it was a cooler day and actually made the day tolerable as we were in the sun for most of it. If you would like to read more about the museum please look at their website: https://www.desertmuseum.org
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| Panoramic of museum area |
Dan and I enjoyed the day spending about 3 1/2 hours there. Then, as the day was getting away on us and the sun was going down, we drove to Catalina State Park on the East side of Tucson to spend the night.
Tuesday, December 6
We were very unpleased by the cost of Catalina State Park ($30!) as we were forced into a utility site that we didn’t use at all. We thought because we didn’t use the services that night we could pay $20, but the fellow working there caught us in the morning and insisted we had to pay $30. We were there for about 13 hours total and didn’t hook up! Ridiculous…rant over.
We didn’t stay long as we wanted to get an early start on the day. We traveled further North to Biosphere 2, University of Arizona. We had breakfast and coffee in the parking lot there before going in. Time-Life Books named Biosphere 2 “one of the must-see wonders of the world!”.
Biosphere 2 was built originally as a scientific experiment in 1986 to research and develop a “self-sustaining space-colonization technology”. Eight people (four women, four men) spent two years in the Biosphere sealed off from direct contact with the outside world and had to live and work in an environment designed to sustain life without outside “help”. Unfortunately, not far into the experiment, Oxygen levels started to decrease to dangerously low levels as Carbon Dioxide levels increased. Oxygen was added from outside the Biosphere and the experiment was viewed as a failure by public and media because of the outside interaction into an environment that was built to be self-sustaining. However, the scientific information and gain from that experiment was immense. Biosphere 2, now under the care and ownership of University of Arizona, continues to be used as a research facility because of its ability to simulate the Earth’s biosphere. “Biosphere 2 serves as a unique large-scale experimental apparatus housing seven model ecosystems with active research by teams of multidisciplinary scientists.” (biosphere2.org)
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| Biosphere 2 |
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| Biosphere 2 has many, many windows! |
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| Tropical plant life |
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| The "Ocean" in Biosphere 2 |
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| Aquaponics, how plant life is grown with recirculating water using lava rocks |
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| Desert in Biosphere 2 |
Dan and I were amazed by this facility and it was a remarkable experience to be able to see where these original eight people lived and worked for two years. One really unique feature of the biosphere that amazed us is the “lungs” that were built to control atmospheric pressure within the tightly sealed building.
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| The Lungs, the ceiling raises up and down with expansion and contraction of the pressure in the building. The black part around the middle circle expands and contracts like lungs would. The legs touch the ground when lung is fully collapsed. |
Moving forward with the day, we needed to stop to get a few items and our bikes needed a tune-up. Thankfully, the fellows at Ben’s Bikes fit us into their day and fixed up the bikes while we did our grocery shopping. Onward, we traveled further East and then South to Tombstone and checked into our reserved site at Tombstone RV Park and Campground.
Wednesday, December 7
We decided being that we had internet and I needed to work on the blog and the laundry needed to be done, we stayed at camp today.
Thursday, December 8
Checking out of Tombstone RV at 11:00 a.m., we ventured just a little further South into the Town of Tombstone. To see Tombstone’s main street with rows of buildings, it would have been considered a bustling little town in its day with every amenity one could need. Silver found in the area brought people to Tombstone from all around in hopes they may find their fortune too. Tombstone, in a sense, became famously known as the town where Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday had a gunfight that started at the O.K. Corral and ended in the deaths of Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury, and Billy Clanton, all members of The Cowboys gang.
For more information, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombstone,_Arizona
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| Main Street Tombstone |
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| Historic Town Hall |
The movie “Tombstone” (1993) with Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, and Bill Paxton encapsulate the story of this famous gunfight and the history surrounding the event. It is one of our favourite western movies.
While we thought it would be great to see the gunfight reenacted and see Doc Holliday’s room, we opted for the self tour of the Bird Cage Theatre. It is the only building in Tombstone that has not been changed or altered from its original state other than to meet modern building codes to include a furnace, plumbing and upgraded electrical. When disaster hit the area by the flooding of the mines in 1889, the Bird Cage Theatre was left boarded up and abandoned for almost 50 years. What was the Bird Cage Theatre in its day? It was the raunchiest, wildest night spot in the area from 1881 to 1889. Essentially it was a bar, a casino, a whore house, and a theatre for live performances all rolled into one.
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| The Infamous 4 Earp Brothers |
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| Game table |
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| Piper and me by Black Moriah Hearse |
There were poker tables in the basement where the longest poker game in western history took place. Buying in with a minimum of $1,000 minimum in chips (equivalent of $30,000 today) for a seat in the game, when one player was out of luck, someone else was waiting to take his seat. This game played continuously for eight years, 5 months, and 3 days. The poker room definitely looks like everyone left suddenly, even with a chair leaned against the table, gives us an inkling that this player thought he would be back.
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| Poker game left as found almost 50 years later |
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| Grand piano in front of stage |
It was really neat to step back in time and see this place first hand. Original furnishings, tables, craps table, coin operated juke box (still works), grand piano, light fixtures, old photos, many knick knacks of that time, and in the back of the building behind the stage, Tombstone’s most valuable individual antique called the “Black Moriah”. This was the original Boothill hearse, trimmed in 24K gold and sterling silver.
In 1934 the Birdcage was designated a “Historic Landmark of the American West” and was opened for the public to visit. It was a great experience to see this old building and its contents.
We walked the rest of main street, took a look at a few historic places in town including the courthouse. We were satisfied that we had seen all that we needed to and hopped in the truck to head back North to I-10 and head East into New Mexico.
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| Scenery on the way out of Arizona |
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