Tucson North

Arrived north of Tucson Thursday afternoon. We stayed at Catalina State Park (bottom picture) located at the base of the Catalina Mountains. Nice park with the mountains visible from all angles. We visited Mel, Kathy and Delores for the three days we were around. We had high winds on Friday, rain on Saturday (with snow, YES, snow) in the higher elevation where we were. We went to the Oracle Inn for dinner Saturday night and there was 5 to 6 inches of white stuff on cars sitting in the parking lot. All around on the ground and trees was a white, cold covering of snow. Luckily it didn't stick on the roads and we were not stranded. Sunday morning we took a jaunt south of Tucson to Bisbee and Tombstone. Bisbee is an old mining town with an operating copper mine (second from bottom picture on the right) still in existence today. It is built in a canyon and all the residents seem to live on a hill. Everyone has heard of Tombstone, home of the gunfight at the OK Corral. They have people and actors in period clothing all over the town. (Top center, left center picture). The boardwalks and old western buildings do much to convey the message one has 'stepped back in time'. There is an authentic Butterfield stage coach (top left picture) pulled by mules doing tours of the city. We splurged and took the stagecoach on a short ride through the streets of Tombstone. We stopped by 'Boothill' (top right picture) on our way out of town. There we viewed some old graves from Tombstone's historical past. Clantons, McClaurys, "China" Mary and other noted people. Well worth the visit, but back to Tucson.