Bisbee, Tombstone, and the Southern Arizona Desert

Heading west in southern Arizona, we stop in the hill town of Bisbee, once a mining town, now transformed into a quaint,  tourist destination and artists' mecca.  Exploring the city we stumble upon  part of a street transformed by outsider art.

We stop to gawk and wonder.

Tombstone, Arizona, is a real place with many of its original buildings remaining from its brief heyday in the 1880s.   It was famously named  by it's founder, a prospector, who was told that "the only stone you'll find out there is your own tombstone."  When he discovered silver, and founded the town, he named it appropriately, Tombstone.  The OK Corral gunfight took place right here and they now  have campy but good spirited re-enactments daily.

Both Bisbee and Tombstone rest among southern Arizona's mountains, seen here.

This woman seems to have brought this herd animal into the middle of Tombstone, just so kids could pet it.  Gwen, of course, was fascinated.

The haze and heat as we move west intensifies.  We are in the far southwest of Arizona, here, among the Castle Dome Mountains.

Flowers at a desert oasis. While Canada and the northern US are cold, snow birds, including many Canadians, come to this area.  Flowers, palm trees and pools abound.

There are some farms and crop dusters located nearby.  You can get a sense of the heat and haze at days end. 

The best place to be is in the pool when the temperature
 reaches record breaking mid-90's every day.  Phillip is loving the warm water.