Jen’s Journal – November 20, 2019

Day 144: Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson, AZ

Cloudy and cool.

We finally drove east from the Sonoran desert, about an hour and a half, to Tombstone, Arizona.

Tombstone is famous for the “Gunfight at the OK Corral.” On our trip I have seen a few western mining towns that have been burned down a few times, rebuilt, abandoned, then later made into historical spots. Tombstone had a silver mine. However, this town has more going on than the others I have seen.

According to “Joker” at the Tombstone Brewing Company, the town really got going after the movie “Tombstone” was made here in 1993.

The gunfight really did occur, in 1881. Four businesses re-enact the gunfight daily. In the gunfight, three Earp brothers and Doc Holliday stood together against two Clanton brothers and two McLauray brothers.

We attended one of the gunfights then saw an old diaorama about the history of Tombstone, narrated by Vincent Price in 1964. I loved all the history.

When Kim was little I read her a Muppets book where a line in the book read, “Looks like Wyatt Earp.” I never understood that line. Was it Wyatt, burp? In the late 80s we didn’t Google these things, and it wasn’t that critical to know. Since then I learned that Wyatt was a western figure. Now I understand who Wyatt Earp was.

The wind picked up today and it began to rain towards the end of the gunfight. I think there weren’t many people in town because of the wind and rain. When the sun peeked through I saw this beautiful rainbow.

We found a parking lot behind the main road with overnight parking for $10.

We hooked up the Apple TV that Kim gave us and figured out how to stream the movie, “Tombstone.” Now I am an expert on the gunfight incident – haha!