Tucson, September 12-13, 2015

 Saturday was another 90+ degree day, and we planned to drive about 55 miles to Tombstone, AZ.  We arrived about 11 a.m., and our first visit was to the historical courthouse which has become a historical museum.  With tickets to view the enactment of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, we took a step back into the wild west of the 1800's and watched Doc Holliday, Morgan, Wyatt, and Virgil Earp take on Frank and Tom McLaury, and Billy and Ike Clanton.   Both Virgil and Morgan Earp were badly wounded, and Doc Holliday suffered a superficial hip wound.   Only Wyatt Earp walked away unhurt.   As a side note, the gunfight did not occur in the O.K. Corral, but in the 18-foot-wide lot BEHIND the O.K. Corral.  After the reenactment we had tickets for the Tombstone Historama, which gave a good history of the Town Too Tough To Die.  As a final activity for the day, we took a tour of the town's important sites in a stagecoach.   It was a fun day.

Sunday was our last day in Tucson.   Judy Conway came over after lunch and visited and we gave her a tour of the Far Horizon club house.   Later in the afternoon we drove to the Saguaro National Park (east location).   The saguaro has been called monarch of the Sonoran Desert, a symbol of the American Southwest, and a plant with personality.   Since 1933 this giant cactus has been protected within Saguaro National Park.   Preserved within the park are other members of the Sonoran Desert community:  other cacti, desert trees and shrubs, and animals.   It is one of the hottest and driest regions on the continent.  Summer midday temps commonly climb above 100 degrees; less than 12 inches of rain falls in a typical year.  

Saguaros grow very slowly, a seedling may measure only 1/4 inch.   After 15 years it may be barely 12 inches tall;   At 30 years they begin to flower and produce seeds.   At 50 years they can be as tall as seven feet.   At 75 years it may sprout its first branches or arms which begin as prickly balls and then extend out and up.   By 100 years the saguaro may reach 25 feet.   Saguaros that live 150 years or more attain the grandest sizes, towering 50 feet and weithing 16,000 pounds.

The park has 7 hiking trails of varying length and the visitor's center has 2 movies about the park.
It was a very enjoyable end to our stay in Tucson.