San Diego to Tombstone

On Sunday, April 27, we leave La Mesa and head up HWY 94 winding through a fabulous valley right on the border of .   We are guided by Boyd and Kim Richardson, our San Diego hosts.  We ride through Jamul, then right along the border near Tecate and then through Campo.  The ride is gorgeous with sweeping turns and wide open spaces.  Homes range from simple and rural farms  to megamansions. We ride right next to the Mexico border and Kim, points out the Border Control fence.  It's rusty red and must be at least 20 feet high and goes on for miles.  There's a road below it and along our ride we see several white and green US Border Patrol vehicles. It's odd seeing the fence in it the hillside.  I didn't take a photo and I've posted one from the Internet to give you an idea of what it looks like.  

We ride for about an hour and it is really cold!  We arrive at the Golden Acorn Casino, in Campo, California and we're frozen.  We need HOT coffee and we need it fast.  We have a yummy breakfast and unfortunately, must go our separate ways.  It was fun to hang out with Kim and Boyd and we look forward to more adventures with them.  We should have taken a picture all together but we didn't!  Here's a great photo of Boyd and Kim and she looks really cute in her helmet!

Leaving the Casino, we pop on HWY 8 East and we dropped from the high elevation to the desert floor we went through a huge boulder field which in it's own way was quite beautiful.  

After leaving California, perhaps in Arizona, we went through our first Border Check Point and saw lots of US Border Patrol Officers.  They are everywhere. 

Dateland

Upon Boyd's recommendation we stopped at the famous "Dateland" for a date shake.  We decided to go against convention and had date ice cream instead.  Interesting, tastes a little like chocolate and strawberry mixed together.  Date shakes were quite the hit with many people in line.  Date trees are beautiful and they also sold dates stuffed with walnuts.  Reminded me of my Grandma Holmes because she always made these.

They also cater to pets with outdoor kennels with water and misters to keep the pups cool in the hot Arizona sun.  We thought it was cool.

Tombstone AKA Helldorado 

The ride to Tombstone was long, boring, windy and cold. We arrive in Tombstone before sundown with anticipation of a gun fight at the OK Corral and Wyatt Earp's ghost.  What we found was a ghost town - not a real ghost town, but a town that truly rolls up their sidewalks.  Everything was closed.

We stayed at the Trail Riders Inn a cute motel that was in so-so shape but the pool and hot tub are nice.  The hot tub is called the "Tiki Love Shack"  doesn't quite fit the western theme but it's cute.  I thought the motel was ok until the next morning when I discovered a 3" cockroach in our room. EEK!!!!!

  

After a quick dip we ventured out into the town for some vittles and a brew.  That's when we discovered that Tombstone closes up at dark!  Everything is closed and there's no lights making the town feel creepy.  We found the only town bar that was open (you knew we would) and ordered an Amber Bock (other choices were Bud, Bud Light & Coors) and pondered the extensive menu of hot dogs, burgers, chilli and lots of fried veggies.  We decided to go vegetarian and ordered fried mushrooms, zucchini and onion rings. The bars's name is Vogan's  which is similar to Vegan so we ate healthy...right? 

Vogan's was founded in 1879 as a Saloon and Bowling Alley.  The nicest part of Tombstone was meeting Felina, our bartender.  She's a  fifth generation Tombstone native and had just moved back to Tombstone.  She had great stories about her great-great-great grandfather Clanton who owned the cemetery and donated to the city as long as his entire family could be buried there forever.   Amazing to have such a history tied to Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clanton family.  Google them... interesting. 

Tombstone was disappointing at best. Luckily we found Felina & Vogan's and ended up having a good time. However,  a town that boasts the name 'Helldorado" doesn't have the right to say that when they close restaurants and saloons at 8:00 pm.  

A gunfighter in town after a hot ride can't even get a sasparilla in notorious Tombstone AKA  Helldorado!