Tombstone/Tucson

As a Christmas present Derrick took us to southern Az to visit the Tombstone area. We camped at Parker Canyon Lake for a few days while sight-seeing Tombstone.

The lake is VERY close to the Mexican border.

She earned another Jr Ranger Badge
We toured the town of Tombstone on an authentic stagecoach.

After Tombstone we headed to Bisbee. We camped on a ranch owned by Belle Star (relative of the infamous outlaw Belle Starr). She owns 40 acres and invites campers to come stay with her. She has a variety of animals on the ranch that you can pet. Horses, mini donkeys, peacocks, chickens, dogs, birds, and more.

Petting one of the horses

We spent a day in the town of Bisbee. The museum there was very nicely done and we learned a lot there. We also did the Queen Mine Tour. It is a very large copper mine. They suit you up in hard hats, rain slickers, and lights then take you into the mine on a narrow mine train. Well worth the time and money to see.

The next day was spent in Douglas, then exploring area ghost towns such as Gleeson and Pearce.16 miles east of Douglas is the ranch of Texas John Slaughter. We drove out there and spent a few hours walking around. The historical society has done a great job of preserving the ranch. The house is full of antiques, toys, clothing, and more that belonged to John and his family as well as tons of old photographs from his life in Douglas.

From the property you can see the Mexican border clearly. At one time 75% of his ranch was in Mexico.

From there we headed north to Tucson. We went to the visitor center and bought a Tucson Passport for $15. It was well worth it!! It is loaded with 2 for 1 admissions to all major attractions in the area. We saw so much!!

On the first day we visited Old Tucson Studios and the Titan II Missile Museum. No pics from the missile sorry, but it was one of the best places we have been. We got to go down in the missile silo and see the missile, see the equipment, and even simulate a launch (Michaela was the lucky one to get to do it!).

Tucson Studios was a blast!! It is still used as a movie studio where tons of western films are filmed each year. Most of John Wayne's movies were filmed there as well as the tv show High Chapperal We rode the mini train several times as well as the merry go round. We saw a few shows in the Saloon, a gunshow outside and a really good comedy stunt show at the mission (the mission was in the movie Tombstone).

Michaela and daddy on the merry-go-round

Michaela

We saw a Christmas musical in the Saloon. "Trixie" came and danced with Derrick. The girls really got a kick out of it.The next few days were spent at the Arizona-Sonora Dessert Museum (a must see!!), the San Xavier Mission, The International Wildlife Museum (headquarters for Safari Club Internnational), the postage history museum (where they gave stamps and stamp albums to the girls), the Reid Zoo (for holiday lights), and the T-Rex Museum.