Tombstone Arizona's Helldorado Days

The day started in the Arizona border town of Douglas, across from Aqua Prieta, Mexico. Heading west on Highway 80 the main destination for the day was Tombstone.

About 22 miles prior to Tombstone we came upon an unexpected little pleasure named Bisbee. Bisbee is an old mining town, with a big open pit mine named the Lavender Pit. Bisbee is now known as an artist's colony.

Bisbee is in very hilly territory, with its quaint Victorian houses built on steep slopes. Bisbee reminded me of Lead, South Dakota, another mining town with a big open pit mine.

From Bisbee it was north towards Tombstone. Arriving in the fabled Wild West town, the first surprise was all the cars. And people.

We had unwittingly arrived in Tombstone during Helldorado Days.

In July of 1881 a luckless miner sent a letter to the editor of the Tombstone Nuggest complaining that rather than find their Eldorado of riches, many men ended up broke, washing dishes or other menial jobs, find their life in Tombstone to be Helldorado, not Eldorado.

The name stuck. Helldorado Days started in 1929, making it the oldest festival in Tombstone.

If you attend Helldorado Days, which this year takes place October 15 -17, and you want to attend in western garb, keep in mind that handguns, even toy ones, are not allowed in any of the saloons or other liquor purveyors. You can check your gun in at the smoke shop before hitting the saloons. In Tombstone you can bring your kids with you in the saloons during daylight hours.

About 2 hours after our arrival in Tombstone, after finding the OK Corral and after having a good late breakfast in a hotel's dining room, the Helldorado Days Parade started up.

This is one of the most unusual and wild parades I have ever seen. Lawmen (or where they outlaws?) marched in the parade, along with saloon girls. The lawmen (or outlaws) would fire their guns into the air as they walked along. You are looking a pair of shooters reloading in the photo at the top.

I found the gunfire very jarring. It was loud and concussive. I'd never heard such a thing in a parade before.

As you can see with the Red, White & Blue float, being in authentic Wild West garb is not a requirement for the Helldorado Days Parade. Unless I'm remembering my history wrong and bikinis were worn in the 1880s.

The Manual Monument Valley View

New Year's Eve, 1994. I was Roadtripping from Flagstaff, Arizona to Moab, Utah. I'd spent the day before at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The day before that I was in Las Vegas. Before that Southern California.

I was driving my, then new, GMC Safari Van. As I drove along, enjoying the Painted Desert I looked up to see a scene that seemed real familiar. I pulled off the road and got out my van's manual.

The cover of the manual was the view I was looking at through my windshield, which you are looking at in the photo.

This was south of the turn off from Highway 163 that takes you to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.

New Year's Eve, 1994 started off on Highway 89 out of Flagstaff. Then east on Highway 160. About 10 miles on to Highway 160 I got off the highway in Tuba City and went to one of the most unique McDonald's I've seen. Since I was in the Navajo Nation it should have come as no surprise to find the McDonald's Navajo themed.

Back on the road the next stop was in Kayenta at a Burger King. I'm sounding like a fast food addict. I had a good reason to stop at the Kayenta Burger King. I'd read there was an interesting museum there. And there was. It was dedicated to the Navajo Code Talkers. A story that had not been widely told at that point in time. This lapse has since been fixed. It was the first I'd learned of how the Navajo Nation had helped America win WWII .

At Kayenta I left Highway 160 behind and head north on 163. It was on 163 I saw my van's manual cover staring at me.

Shortly after leaving the Navajo Nation I came to a bridge across the San Juan River and saw the San Juan Inn in Mexican Hat for the first time. I wished I'd stayed there for the night, rather than continuing on to Moab. I didn't make that mistake the next time I was in the area, staying at the San Juan Inn the day I got off a Lake Powell Houseboat.

Getting Dounts, Coffee, Haircuts and Viagra in Algondones, Baja California, Mexico

You are looking south at the border crossing from California to Algodones, Baja California, Mexico.

Algodones is a short distance from Yuma, Arizona, which makes this Mexican border town a big shopping destination for the army of retired people who populate the area.

There are countless pharmacies in Algodones, with pharmacy hawkers trying to direct you inside. I remember a memorable visit, with my mom and dad, when a pharmacy hawker said to me, "You sir, you look like you could use the Viagra, bargain prices."

Most of the streets are not paved in Algodones. You explore a big labyrinth of shops, like a maze, finding all sorts of good stuff. And things to eat. My mom and dad had a favorite bakery, where they'd go for donuts and coffee after getting dental work or a haircut in Algodones. My mom and dad being so free-spirited surprised me.

I've not crossed the border into Mexico at Algodones since 2000. I do not know if passports are now required, like is now mandatory to cross into Canada. I hope it is still easy to walk across the border to Algodones.

Houseboating On Utah's Lake Powell

UPDATE: Winter Lake Powell fishing info below.

I did not think I would like Houseboating. Being stuck in what I thought would amount to being in a travel trailer on water seemed like it would be claustrophobic to me. I was wrong. I have gone Houseboating twice on Lake Powell.

Lake Powell was formed when Glen Canyon Dam backed up the Colorado River by the town of Page, Arizona. Flooding Glen Canyon was and continues to be controversial. Lake Powell forever altered some extremely beautiful scenery. But, the lake made what remained of that scenery way more accessible to way more people.

Prior to Lake Powell, not all that many people saw Rainbow Bridge, it being the world's biggest natural arch. Now you can take a boat up a side canyon and dock your boat a short distance from Rainbow Bridge. The Rainbow Bridge side canyon is rather narrow. This makes for some big wakes and some rock and roll boating. We're heading towards Rainbow Bridge in the picture directly above.

The National Park Service authorizes Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas as the concessioner in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah and Arizona. There are 5 marinas on Lake Powell. Wahweap Marina, Bullfrog Marina, Halls Crossing Marina, Hite Marina and Dangling Rope Marina.

My two times Houseboating we sailed out of Bullfrog Marina. You can stay in a motel at Bullfrog or rent a house-keeping unit. We opted for the housekeeping unit, which is basically a large mobile home type place with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and, on the last Houseboating trip, TV had come to Bullfrog. I didn't like that. Now the TV option has even been added to some of the houseboats.

If Houseboating does not sound fun, you can opt to stay at a Marina's lodging and rent a power boat to zip around the lake. I think if I go to Lake Powell again that is what I would do.

This fishing is good on Lake Powell, if that's your thing. The water was crystal clear the first time I was on Lake Powell, as in you could see deep into the water. The second time the lake was almost overflowing and a bit murky due to all the runoff. It was spectacular, though, that time, to see a big rainstorm, with little waterfalls running down the canyon walls.

Depending on which marina you launch from you are close to other Utah and Arizona attractions. From Bullfrog Basin you can take a ferry to the south side of Lake Powell and continue on to the Moki Dugway, the scariest road I have ever driven, it twists and turns down an escarpment. Monument Valley is visible to your south, the Valley of the Gods is below you. Once you've made it down the Moki Dugway you are a short distance from Mexican Hat and the San Juan Inn. The San Juan Inn may be my favorite place I have ever stayed. (I've now blogged more details about the San Juan Inn)

Go here to see more Lake Powell pictures, including Rainbow Bridge. And a Moki Dugway picture.

Go here to read Big Ed's tale of catching a fish in Moki Canyon on Lake Powell.

Lake Powell's fishing season is drawing to a close. It has been a banner year for all species. Habitat, food/forage and fish numbers have peaked to near perfect conditions. Great fishing will continue into the winter months. Currently shad are still in the shallows, with bass and stripers in close proximity. But a winter storm will drop water temperature into the 50s. Soon winter fishing patterns will be in place. That means top water fishing is almost over for the year. It is wise to have a surface lure hooked up during November, just in case, but the real catching will be done deep.

London Bridge & Lake Havasu

On this Roadtripping Blog I am jumping back and forth between Roadtrips and Time. The Roadtrip that took me to London Bridge on Lake Havasu has us going way back in the time machine to the longest Roadtrip I've ever driven.

Over 10,000 miles, running through Utah, then to Colorado to drive through Rocky Mountain National Park, then on to the top of Pikes Peak, then across Royal Gorge's incredibly high suspension bridge, then south to Carlsbad Caverns, then on to Texas, before starting to head west, eventually reaching the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for a hike down to the Colorado River on the Bright Angel Trail, then continuing west to where I'm sitting in a cowboy hat in the picture, looking at the London Bridge on Lake Havasu.

London Bridge is in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. London Bridge was originally in London, hence the name. It was built there in 1831. In London the bridge deteriorated to the point that, by 1962, it was no longer sound enough to support traffic. So, London sold it to Robert McCulloch, the founder of Lake Havasu City. He figured the bridge would make a good tourist attraction for the retirement town he was planning to build. The plan worked.

The bridge was deconstructed, carefully, in London, each piece numbered, then carefully reassembled in Arizona, beginning in 1968. The reconstruction was completed in 1971. When I visited London Bridge there was a shopping zone done in quaint Old England fashion. It seemed way wrong for the Arizona desert. Over the years the English Village gradually was replaced with new tourist development. London Bridge and Lake Havasu remain a big tourist attraction, though some of the locals do not like the changes.

Swimming and boating on Lake Havasu is very popular. When I was there it was late September. I wanted to go swimming. Paying the fee to enter the swimming beach area the money taker advised that swimming season was over, that the water was cold. She did not know I am a Pacific Northwest Polar Bear who likes to swim in cold water. I remember it as a refreshing swim.

After Lake Havasu it was on to Las Vegas for a short stop and a buffet, then on to Los Angeles and Disneyland, then a trek north with stops in Kings Canyon, Sequoia & Yosemite National Parks, followed by a logging road from Redding, leading to the Pacific Coast and Eureka. Scariest mountain logging road I've ever driven on.

I'll be coming back to this Roadtrip on subsequent Roadtrippings.