Tacoma2012: Virginia Beach, VA -to- The Alamo -to- Tombstone, AZ

Re-enactment gunshots sound a block away... We are in Tombstone, AZ and have walked East Allen Street already today. We left Virginia three days ago. Since then we have visited Hot Springs, AR, The Alamo in San Antonio, TX, and arrived in Tombstone, AZ late last night.

Maxie living it up in a Virginia Beach house....he loved all of the space to walk around.

Of course he did a great job staying off of the furniture.

We installed a new rear view camera on the RV. It is not compatible with the old monitor so it is not a mirror image - that is slightly problematic.

Leaving Virginia Beach

The HRBT

Paper mill in West Point, VA

Route 14, King and Queen, VA

The King and Queen site

Back on the road....Maxie knows it time to head back west

On the way to Roanoke

Checking out the Virginia Tech Carilion Campus in Roanoke

Beautiful Norfolk Southern train

Salem, VA

Into Tennessee

Into Arkansas

The water heater stopped working. Got it fixed in Little Rock, AR (gummed up ignitor and bad thermostat). Camping World of Little Rock did a nice job getting us right in for service and the quick fix.

Rainy, rainy days in Arkansas

Downtown Hot Springs, AR

Hot Springs is located deep within the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is named. The center of Hot Springs is the oldest federal reserve in the U.S., today preserved as Hot Springs National Park.

Traffic outside of Dallas, TX

Gas station tree bird nest

Into San Antonio, TX

Downtown San Antonio, TX

The Alamo Wall

The Alamo began as the San Antonio de Valero, a Spanish Mission, in 1718, one of the first in Texas. The establishment of this mission played a crucial role in the settlement of Texas and the Southwest.

Alamo Plaza

Alamo Monument

Parking near the Alamo was easy (at 2am)

Into the high plains through Texas and New Mexico

Miles and miles and miles on Interstate 10

That is Mexico on the left - just over the Rio Grande

Border Patrol is active in the area all around El Paso, TX

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico is known as the Paso del Norte (Northern Pass).

Ciudad Juárez and El Paso comprise the second largest bi-national metropolitan area on the Mexico-United States border (after San Diego-Tijuana), with a combined population of over 2.7 million people. Ciudad Juárez is one of the fastest growing cities in the world despite being called "the most violent zone in the world outside of declared war zones" in 2009.

The other side of the border/wall is Ciudad Juarez (Mexico)

Into New Mexico

Into Arizona

Into Tombstone just after midnight

Tombstone, AZ

Main drag of Tombstone, AZ

Wild West re-enactment

I recommend you just watch the 1993 movie Tombstone

Stagecoaches lined up

Proclaimed as "The Best Cowboy Bar in the West". Big Nose Kate is believed to have been the first prostitute in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. However, her biggest claim to fame was the fact that she was also Doc Holliday's girlfriend. Big Nose Kate's Saloon, in Tombstone, AZ, was once the Grand Hotel (the original building was built in 1881). On October 25, 1881, the night before the Gunfight at the OK Corral, the Clantons and the McLaurys were guests here.

The Longhorn Restaurant is the oldest continually operated restaurant in Tombstone. An historical building, The Longhorn Restaurant is located in what used to be the Bucket of Blood Saloon, the Holiday Water Company, and the Owl Cafe and Hotel. Virgil Earp was shot from the second floor.

When seated for lunch at the Longhorn Restaurant, Kimberly Caron stated, "I don't know what it is about the Wild West that gives me a hankerin' for barbecue sauce."

The edge of town

Joseph Isaac (Ike) Clanton was a member of a loosely associated group of outlaws known as the The Cowboys that had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday. On October 26, 1881, Ike was present at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, but was unarmed and ran from the gunfight. His 19-year-old brother Billy was killed in the gunfight.

According to Guinness, the world's largest rosebush was planted in Tombstone in 1885 and still flourishes today in the city's sunny climate. This rose bush now covers 8,000 square feet of the roof on an inn, and has a 12-foot circumference trunk.