Wild Wild West

Alisha says: In an effort to get the most out of any place we live we try to be tourists and explore our surroundings at any chance we get. This last weekend was no exception, we had a marathon of fun while never being more than 2 1/2 hours from our house. Our first stop was Chiricahua National Monument. I was a little nervous driving there because well, there really isn't much to see but once  we arrived I realized that the Chiricahua's are a gem. We set up at the campground and set out on our mtn bikes for a little ride. The next morning we boarded the hikers shuttle that took us up the mountain where we hiked about 10 miles back down the canyon through really cool rock formations. Unfortunately a there are a lot of burned areas from a fire last year but it was still pretty.

The next day we did a long mountain bike ride. We rode up to Onion Saddle which turned out to be quite the uphill grind. We came across a very cross rattlesnake who coiled right up and rattled to let us know that he was not happy. This was actually a good thing because Dave might have ran him over if he hadn't rattled. We waited for him to move so we could get by and then when we went by he coiled up again.

We then went to Bisbee, an old mining town that is only about 5 miles from the Mexican border. The town is very interesting. Everything is built terraced on the hillsides basically on top of each other. We walked around exploring the town with its' many staircase alleys that randomly go places. We spent the night at the School House Inn which was a school house built in 1918 that has been remodeled into a cute bed and breakfast (a deal I scored on groupon). We stayed in the Library room.

On our return to Tucson we stopped in Tombstone, the town to tough to die. This is where stories and legends of the wild west come from. We visited the Courthouse museum to learn about the town's history. Tombstone is the site of the famous gun fight at the O.K. Corral between Wyatt Erp and Doc Holliday with the outlaw brothers gang of Clanton's and McLaury's that left three dead. We stopped at Boothill Graveyard (which refers to the number of men who died with their boots on) where many the towns outlaws and a few others are buried. Several of the markers include a little humor including the one for Lester Moore. A customer was unhappy when a mail package he received was damaged. He argued with Lester and then shot him four times, hence his famous tombstone epitaph that reads, HERE LIES LESTER MOORE, FOUR SLUGS FROM A 44, NO LES NO MORE.

Our last stop was at Kartchner Caverns. The cave is very impressive and has a lot of great cave formations. The cave is warm and has about 99% humidity which is very interesting for it being located in the very dry Arizona desert.