Jan. 16-17. Tuscon to California

Jan. 16
Tombstone, AZ
   We took a day trip to Tombstone, AZ an historic city in Cochise County.  It is alive with 1880 stores, merchandise, and cowboys, real ones and actors.(It can be hard to tell the difference). There are stagecoach rides with bandit hold-ups and of course the re-enactment of the OK Corral shoot-out with Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp, the deputy Sheriff of Pima County and town marshal of Tombstone.  The sidewalks are wooden just as they were back in the late 1800.  The stores sold everything western from saddles, to cowboy hats, buckles and belts.  The stagecoach ride through town was a fun way to see the homes of the notorious cowboys of the Wild West.  When I about 7 my dad bought me a pair of red cowgirl boots and to this day they were one of the best gifts he got for me.  I was Annie Oakley for a long time whenever I wore those boots.  Later, when I was teaching, I was in a play and had the part of Annie Oakley’s sister in Annie Get Your Gun.  Tombstone brought back so many good memories of childhood games.
   The Pima Air and Space Museum is another Tuscon attraction that we visited.  It is a private museum of hundreds of airplanes from around the world.  It also houses many planes from World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War.  There was a display of women in flight that was particular interesting.  Many more women have made their mark in flying history than I had ever been aware of.
 
Jan. 17,
   We left Tuscon, Arizona in a very cold windstorm heading toward California.  The drive across south west Arizon and into California is desert land.  As we drove toward the mountains, we could see an immense haze that appeared to be a fog.  It was a windstorm blowing up sand.  Thankfully, it was not  a heavy sandstorm.  We drove through the Imperial Desert, an area of huge sand dunes.  We arrived in El Centro California, checked into a nice RV park with a heated pool.  What a treat to swim in warm water after traveling in dust and sand for way too many days.
  We plan to drive to Indio tomorrow and spend a few days at Joshua Tree National Park.   On the 23rd we will visit our former neighbors in Florida who have moved to Temecula, CA.  They have told us that Temecula is known for its wineries!