The Town Too Tough To Die

March 24th
Tombstone, AZ

Long drive today. I saw the most beautiful desert. Got off the I-10—way too much traffic. Dropped down to Hwy 85 and saw Border Patrol pick-ups going up and down the highway. They use the same sort of vehicles that dog catchers use. It gave me the shivers. It also strikes me as ludicrous—all that time spent on the road looking for runners when if they just shut down any random Wal-Mart for 1 hour they’d round up 10 times the numbers of illegals. All the same, it has made me more sympathetic to the risks the illegal aliens take when crossing the border.

I spotted a recently crossed over young family in MacDonald’s at Quartzsite. They looked pure Indian, not Hispanic. I could feel the terror coming from the young mother. The daddy held the baby—lots of black hair and wearing very new pajamas. They spoke no English and couldn’t even understand about cream or sugar for the coffee. I thought about how the baby would be so much better off here than wherever he was before his parents brought him here. For all I know he was a border baby. Very conflicting thoughts. Obviously someone had helped them out somewhere along the line with clothes for the baby and very used clothes for them. I hope I am never that afraid in my life.

I stopped so often to take pictures that I was running very late. Also, my thumb was hurting so much. I couldn't even start up the ignition with it and starting an engine using one’s left hand is awkward at best. In spite of Roxie’s nasal directions, I got lost in Tucson when I ran into unexpected road work. The drivers were badly in need of “drive friendly” advice! Tucson is a beautiful area—the mountains and elevation and vegetation were prettier than our own desert but oy vey! the people are pouring in there. (By the way, does anyone know why it is pronounced 'TWO-sahn'??) Once again I was in stop and go traffic and it was on a Saturday!!!! I finally got off the I-10 once again and dropped down into Tombstone. The RV Park is right in the middle of town so I am getting used to all the staged gunfights, stagecoaches and 19th century folks wandering about—and those are just the tourists!

Sunday, March 25, 2007
Tombstone, AZ

Despite my good intentions of going to the one mass at the Catholic Church I slept through the alarm. While it was too late to make mass, Byrdie needed her morning outing so off we went. I was in a lot of pain from the thumb. By now, it was swollen, black, sore and numb at the same time. Typing was almost impossible. On the way back to the rig, I met this very nice fellow traveler named Linda. We began talking and let our dogs play together. She saw my thumb and said I really needed to get to a doctor. Sensing my reluctance (“What???? Unhook all those cables and hoses and drive to some desert clinic 16 miles away???? Not in this lifetime!!!) she told me she was a retired traveling nurse!!! She was certainly an angel sent from God for me. She had all the supplies necessary in her rig to take care of the thumb. She let me drill the holes in the nail myself which did the yucky drain job it needed. What a relief! Then she sanitized it all and bandaged it up for me. The drop in pain was wonderful although there is still not much feeling. It is always amazing to be the beneficiary of the kindness of strangers.

I’m going to be sticking around Tombstone for an extra day to rest and watch the thumb. Of course my cyber-friends are predicting the most dire consequences—gangrene and amputation before midnight is the general consensus—but I feel that this is a wonderful place to hunker down for awhile.

Byrdie has made quite a sensation in the town. It seems no one has ever heard of a Labradoodle much less seen one. She accepts all the attention as her due. Unfortunately, Byrdie got arrested, thrown in jail, and sentenced to hang for peeing on the local sidewalk.

We had our pictures taken at Sadie Jo’s Old West Photo Studio. The owner, photographer Jo Bannister, had a great time photographing Byrdie in the local pokey and then with the noose around her neck. The Sheriff decided to let her off with just a warning and granted her a reprieve at the last minute.