Phoenix

Route

Phoenix - Casa Grande NM - Gila Bend - Ajo Travel distance 243 miles Map

After picking up the rental car at Phoenix Airport, I left Phoenix to travel south. My first stop was at Casa Grande National Monument. After visiting this National Monument, I traveled East on Interstate 10 to Gila Bend, where I left the freeway to drive to Ajo, where I found a nice little motel to spend the night.

Casa Grande NM

Ajo	Population	4,000
	Elevation	1,798 ft 548 m)
	Links	Visitor Guide to Ajo Puerto Penasco's Ajo site Mexican Visitor guide

Ajo, the birthplace of copper mining in Arizona, has a rich history dating back over 150 years. Today it is a popular tourist destination and retirement mecca offering an affordable lifestyle. Located in western Pima County, this ethnically diverse town is on State Highway 85, north of the junction with State Highway 86 and south of I-8. Ajo is unincorporated. Mountains and the Sonoran desert surround the region.

Accommodation

Marine Motel 1966 North 2nd Avenue Ajo AZ 85324 USD 40.85 per night

Phone (520) 387 76 26

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Route

Ajo - Organ Pipes NM - Tucson Travel distance 238 miles Map Departing from Ajo, AZ 8:00 am Arriving at Tucson, AZ 3:30 pm Travel time 7:30 hrs

After visiting Organ Pipes National Monument, I left Ajo on Highway 86 eastbound. When I arrived at the turn off to Kitt Peak National Observatory in the afternoon, I decided to visit this site the next day since I would probably arrive too late to join one of the guided tours today. So I drove straight to Tucson.

Organ Pipes NM

Thursday, August 31, 2000 Day 4

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Tucson - Kitt Peak National Observatory - Tucson - Oracle - Tucson - Tombstone Travel distance 251 miles Map Departing from Tucson, AZ 8:00 am Arriving at Kitt Peak Observatory 9:20 am Departing from Kitt Peak Observatory 11:05 am Back in Tucson, AZ (passing thru) 12:10 am Arriving at Biosphere II 1:00 pm Departing from Biosphere II 1:00 pm Back in Tucson, AZ again (passing thru) 2:20 pm Arriving in Tombstone, AZ 3:30 pm Travel time 7:30 hrs

After exploring the natural beauty of the region yesterday, this was to be a day of science. First, I drove to back west on highway 80 to visit Kitt Peak National Observatory Before you even get to the observatory, you will experience a great view of the Southern Arizona Desert as you drive the winding mountain road up to Kitt Peak. To learn more about my visit to Kitt Peak, click here.

After leaving Kitt Peak, I headed east again, straight thru Tucson and on to Oracle, where the Biosphere 2 research lab is located. Since admission to Biosphere 2 is rather expensive, I decided not to visit the facility and just to take a few pictures from outside instead. Unfortunately, this turned out to be impossible since you can't even see any of the buildings without getting in. Therefore, I don't even have a picture to show you. However, since I gathered some information about Biosphere 2 while I was planning this trip, I will not withhold this information from you. Please check out my fact sheet of Biosphere 2, just keep in mind that I can't give any personal advice about this site because I didn't actually visit it.

So, after not seeing Biosphere 2, I drove back to Tucson, and because I had spent considerably less time at Biosphere 2 than I had planned, I had plenty of time left. Therefore, I went right to Tombstone, which is only about an hour's drive from Tucson.

Kitt Peak National Observatory

Biosphere 2

Tombstone - the place where one of the most famous gun fights of the Old West took place. First, I want to explore the vicinity of the town to get the right desert feeling. So I do a short round trip to Sierra Vista, Bisbee and back to Tombstone. After returning, I enjoy the gunfight show at the OK Corral that is held daily at 2 pm. After that, I start exploring the historic downtown district.

Tombstone

Today, participants of the Rendezvous of Gunfighters and visitors keep pouring into Tombstone. No one wants to miss this annual event taking place on Labor Day Weekend. One cowboy tells me that hotel reservations up to a year in advance are necessary to secure accommodation for this weekend. And here I am, staying at the motel with the best view you can get, just getting a room for all weekend long with no advance reservation whatsoever.

A lot of historic clubs are here to re-enact the famous Gun fight at the OK corral and other events from the Old West and/or to participate in Sundays Parade of Gun fighters. As I'm walking down Allen Street, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday and their friends start shouting at the Clantons. Soon, a verbal fight is going on. This looks like more physical action is going to follow before long. And yes, both parties make their way to the original OK Corral to settle their argument once and for all. Everyone's invited to witness the event - after paying the admission fee of USD 4.50, of course. After reaching the open air stage, the Arizona Gun fighters, the club to which all of the disputing characters belong, stars a one hour show re-enacting scenes from Tombstones past. The highlight of the show, is, of course, the Gunfight at the OK Corral.

Thruout the day, many other clubs perform at the OK corral. And, of course, the town is full of Old West characters. Many of the residents dress up in historic costumes even if they have no intend to participate in the parade.

Tombstone

Sunday, September 3, 2000 Day 7

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Tombstone - Tucson Travel distance 116 miles Map Departing from Tombstone, AZ 1:00 pm Arriving at Tucson, AZ 2:45 pm Travel time 1:45 hrs

Today's main event was the parade of the gun fighters in which fully dressed up characters from the Old West present themselves to the spectators and, more important, the jury. There are not only gun fighters but a variety of different categories, such as Madams, Working girls (working for the Madams, that is), Cowboys, Gamblers and many more. The parade starts at 12:00 pm (High Noon, of course). The participants slowly walk down Allen street, one by one. Therefore, the parade takes quite a while.

After the end of the parade, I leave this historic town to head back to Tucson.

Tombstone

After enjoing a taste of the Old West for the last few days, it was now time to take a look at parts of more recent history. So, I first visited the only remaining Titan II launch complex. These strategic nuclear missiles have been taken out of order in compliance with SMART (Strategic Missile Arms Reduction Treaty).

In the afternoon, I visited the Pima Air and Space Museum. Since airplanes, by definition, need a lot of space even if they just sit in one place, the museum's exhibition area is huge and it takes quite some time just to walk around and view some of the historic aircrafts on display.

After spending a few hours at the Air and Space Museum, there was just enough time to visit the Eastern district of Saguaro National Park which is located just east of Tucson.

Tucson

Titan II Museum

The Pima Air and Space Museum

Saguaro National Park

Tuesday, September 5, 2000 Day 9

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Tucson AZ - Lordsburg NM Travel distance 197 miles Map Departing from Tucson, AZ 1:40 pm Arriving at Lordsburg, NM 5:40 pm Travel time 3:00 hrs1 1Unlike Arizona, New Mexico does observe daylight saving time, so I lost an hour when crossing the state line.

Before finally leaving Tucson, there was one more thing to do - visit the Old Tucson studio where so many great movies have been made. It turned out that this was the perfect day to go there. As I was told by a guide at the studio, the place had been extremely crowded during Labor Day Weekend, but at this Tuesday, when all the locals had to get back to work, the studio's main street looked almost abandoned, which of course was quite nice since I actually got the chance to take some photographs of the buildings without some annoying tourists spoiling the pictures.

After about 3:30 hours, I had pretty much seen everything that I wanted to see, including a few of the shows. So I left and was finally on my way out of Tucson.

While driving towards El Paso on Interstate 10, my only wish was that these annoying Speed Limit 75 (120 km/h) signs would vanish and that I could trade this sluggish Dodge for a sporty BMW. The endless Arizona desert just gave me the feeling that I wasn't getting anywhere. Since I had spent the morning in Tucson, there was simply no way to make it all the way to El Paso today. So I stopped at some small town named Lordsburg in New Mexico to stay for the night.

Old Tucson

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