1 - Along the way |
2 - Along the way |
3 - Boot Hill |
4 - Along the way |
5 - Along the way |
6 - Main Street |
7 - Boot Hill |
8 - Boot Hill |
9 - The Boardwalk |
10 - The Silver Nugget |
11 - In the saloon |
12 - In the saloon |
13 - In the saloon |
14 - In the saloon |
15 - In the saloon |
16 - Tuscon Studios |
17 - Tuscon Studios |
18 - The Boardwalk |
19 - High Chaperral |
20 - Tuscon Studios |
| 1 - 2 | Along the way I drove down from Phoenix in a 1.1 litre Kia Pride ( yes it had air con - I believe the model without aircon is called the Kia Shame), anyway I was flat out, on the freeway. After I left the main road to head over to Tombstone I passed these trees which were worth a picture, but then, you turn a bend on the empty road and you get a view like photo 2. Breath taking! |
| 3 - 5 7/8 |
Boot Hill This is the real Boot Hill. Accept no substitutes. There are other western towns in places like Utah that also have a Boot Hill, but this is the real thing. This is where Doc Halliday and all his mates ended up. So, if you have been to the US and you visited Boot Hill, and it wasn't here, then you didn't. |
| 6 | The OK Corral Well here it is, in the Main Street of Tombstone, which, as far as possible, is preserved as it was. Those who died here ended up in Boot Hill. You buy a ticket and get to see a yard with cardboard figures where they all stood for the shoot-out. Bit of a let down really, but the rest of the town more than makes up for it. |
| 10 - 15 | The Silver Nugget They say that the inside of this saloon is just as it was and that the peeling wallpaper is the very same paper that hung on the wall the day they shot it out up the stree a piece. Well it does look authentic. I can't remember if there was a charge to go in, but I do know I did not need to spend much in the town, and even if I did pay, it was worth it. Is that a Colt 45 in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me ? |
| 16/17/19/20 | Tuscon Studios Just about every great Western was filmed here and in the desert around. Just walking through you can recognise so much that has been on the big screen. A big fire wiped out a lot of the really classic sets, but there is plenty left and lots of work going on to rebuild the damaged parts. Absolute magic. "Fill you hands with iron you sons of bitches", which for me is John Wayne's best line ( True Grit). |
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Armageddon It so nearly could have been. Near to Tuscon is the last ICBM silo, intact. This is the technology that guarded against nuclear devastation. My PDA has more power than you see here. The guide told me that when a new shift arrived they were given a password at the main gate ( on a piece of paper), and a clock was started. If the crew did not reach the silo door in time an alert was sounded (and all hell breaks loose). If they do get there, the password must be burned in a tin can nailed next to the door. If you do not know what an ICBM is, it is a missile that could hit Russia, at the press of a button. |
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...and finally What can I say ? They liked me so much I got my very own road. For a change I decided to drive back to Phoenix on the back roads across the desert. So there I was in this heap of rubbish Kia, 90mph flat out, in the desert, no spare water or anything girly like that, and I thought, "If I break down out here, I'm dead". But I didn't, and I'm not. Great car. |
