Featured Rideout A Steel Horse Ride To The Wild West On Independence Day

Well, I guess it's not quite the "wild" west these days, but the town of Tombstone, Arizona certainly feels like you've stepped back in time! On the Fourth of July, two riding buddies and I "saddled up" and rode the 100 miles down to this little town whose motto is still "The Town Too Tough to Die". I've reported on Tombstone on this forum in the past so if this place captures your attention you can find those threads. I think the last time I did a Tombstone rideout report was back in 2019.



The "excuse" for this particular ride was that one of my two buddies had purchased a new touring bike about five or six weeks ago and he wanted to get enough miles to be due for his 1K service. And the hurry for that is that he's one of six of us who are riding to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally three weeks from today. So the other buddy and I thought we'd help him rack up some miles. New bike buddy typically works on Tuesdays but had the day off for Independence Day. (I'm sure you guys from Great Britain might have a different view of this holiday. ) So the three of us met up at 7:00am and headed off into the not-so-wild west.



We arrived just after 9:00am and the streets were nearly empty. We quickly realized that it was a bit early for action as most placed didn't open until 10:00am. That was ok with us since we didn't really have anyplace we needed to be...





The Longhorn Restaurant was open for breakfast so we moseyed on in because we had a hankerin' for some chow. My buddy in the white shirt used to be part of The Gunslingers group some years back. They were the group that reenacted the Shootout at the OK Corral. He was that this building is pretty much the way it was back when the real shootout happened and that Virgil Earp was shot by a guy who was on the balcony.



My breakfast--the Spinach Skillet which was eggs with spinach, cream cheese, and avocado on hash browns served with an English muffin and a wedge of watermelon. Something tells me this was not a typical breakfast back in the 1800's.



After breakfast we strolled along the boardwalk which flanks both sides of Main Street. Main Street is a gravel/dirt road and no traffic, save the horse drawn wagon, is allowed on it. That goes for motorcycles, too!









Continued in my next post......

 

Wandering around Tombstone generally involves wandering into "Big Nose Kate's Saloon" at some point. This visit was no exception. The temperatures were starting to rise, so spending a bit of time in Kate's was not only cooler...it's always a hoot!



Our buddy was immersed in memories from his time living and working in Tombstone which was fun for us. He had told us that a particular gentleman had and still owned most of the buildings in town and that guy happened to be in Kate's today! So after I was introduced, I was also taken by the hand by the building owner (in the blue Arizona Veteran cap) and instructed to sit up on the bar. Yahoo!



Then I was handed a couple of props.... I told the guy snapping pics for us that I figured it wasn't his first rodeo.



The OK Corral Shootouts are still popular in Tombstone which is also still a town that is quite "gun friendly".



Our buddy took us into a store that sells vintage guns and he pointed out one like he used to use when he was part of The Gunslingers. He said that he originally played the part of a guy who was just a cowboy but when the actor who was Doc Holiday retired, he was cast into that role.



This interesting piece of "art" was hanging in the same store.



And one last stop had to be made at the Harley-Davidson shop. It's a "satellite store" which means they sell only tee-shirts, caps, and souvenirs. My hubby had asked me to purchase a Tombstone H-D tee-shirt for his sister.



This bike is on permanent display inside the H-D store. This photo I posted is a picture of a postcard and it displays the bike in front of the bar in Big Nose Kate's when it was brought there one day....probably for this photo op.



By this time it was about 1:30pm and the ride home promised to be very hot. And, no surprise, it was. But I'd prepped my cooling vest to put on under my mesh riding jacket for the ride home. I had it already wet in a baggie with ice cubes and stored it an insulated bag in my saddlebag. Both my riding buddies were pretty envious of my setup as they hadn't really planned in advance. And when we hit the road I was VERY happy I had the cooling vest on.

All told, we helped get new bike buddy a little over 200 more miles on his bike towards his goal. We're always happy to help---and it was a great excuse to ride!

 

Another great write up Sandi with the usual excellent photos to accompany it.
This does show the difference between our culture and climate! Of course, we're all familiar with the Wild West as people my age grew up watching The Lone Ranger

 

Lovely write-up as always, Sandi - and what an amazing place to visit. Those temperatures, though... presumably you all take some chilled water with you in your saddlebags?

 

Thank you for asking, @Dawsy - pain subsiding a little more each day although it's still quite sore if I put any strain on my back. All things considered I think I was incredibly lucky, though.

 

Yeeehaaa! Great post Sandi. Being a big Western fan this is right up my street. This will be on my visit list if/when I ever get across the pond, along with Dodge City and a few others. The iconic Monument Valley, featured in umpteen Westerns, will also be a must see. I wouldn't mind being an extra in one of those gun fight re-enactments either, even if it does mean getting "shot"!

 

Awesome pics! Enjoyed reading this post. But too damn hot for me!

 

Realistically we'd all be inside turning up the aircon

 

@steve lovatt

I'm pretty sure I'm "people your age", Steve! Perhaps even older?! Check out this photo I took in the Tombstone Stetson store--upper right corner--for a Lone Ranger sighting. And his buddy, Tonto, of course.

 

Thanks, Tony! Yes, I do take chilled water with me in my left saddlebag in a nice, big, very well insulated Thermos. But funny thing was, on this day the guys were in such a hurry to get on the road (after meandering all over the main street boardwalk!) that I was focused on getting my cooling vest on, my earplugs in, etc. and forgot to take a big drink before we mounted up for the v-e-r-y hot ride home. When that fact dawned on me about two miles out of town along with the realization that I hadn't had a drop to drink since our breakfast three hours before, I was pretty concerned knowing the temperature was well over 100ºF. And, of course, I was immediately consumed with thirst (in my head anyway). So....I tried something I'd never done before. I called my buddy who was leading our trio on his phone via my Sena using the "Hi Siri!" method. And lo and behold, it actually worked! Well, on the second try. So I asked him to please stop at the gas station known as Mustang Corners 10 miles up the road. He answered my call and gave me the thumbs up. I don't think I was ever so happy to drink an ice cold Gatorade!

 

Hey, @Pegscraper, cool that you're a big Western fan. If you do get across the pond you'll have to look Steve and me up and we can give you some suggestions or even take you on a guided tour! Monument Valley is incredible, particularly from the seat of a motorcycle. Interestingly, the west side of the Tucson Mountains (about 15 miles from our house) has been the backdrop for many a Western movie. And Old Tucson, which was used for movie shoots then as a tourist venue then closed for business around Covid time, was purchased recently by the same guy that owns and runs the Durango-Silverton Railroad. When we ride by there we can see lots of construction and restoration work going on.

You might want to think twice about being an extra in the gun fight re-enactments, though. Check out this article from back in 2015. Ouch! Thankfully no one died.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...s-reenactment-uses-live-bullets-a6699856.html

 

That's what I do...when I get home from riding. Seriously, if you're willing to get up early, you can do outdoor things year round here. We walk Ellie, the Boxer, around 6:00-6:30 am (which is pushing it). And our Sunday ride started at 7:30am this morning plus we went up Mt. Lemmon to beat the heat for a nice chunk of the ride. Adaptation. I prefer it to Minnesota where I grew up because there are large chunks of the year where you really don't want to do ANYTHING outside...including outdoor sports. It's just too darned cold.

 

It is pretty darned hot, @Woodtickgreg. But as "they" always say, it's a dry heat! And so's an oven.

 

"Hi ho Silver away! "
(or is it Hi yo?)

 

Whenever I hear that or the name Lone Ranger I think of Ken Boon on his BSA Lightningin the 80's/,90's TV series, Boon......

 

Yikes, that is scary and worrying! I like guns and had several, along with all the reloading gear, some years ago before our gun laws were tightened even further and a huge part of owning and using them was gun safety and etiquette. I can remember a club member being thrown out and banned for pointing an unloaded pistol at someone in jest. I fully understand (and support) the " Right to bear arms" in the American constitution which I guess makes owning them as much a part of everyday life as owning a vehicle is over here. Maybe their widespread availability can make people blasé when using them. Gun crime by someone intent on killing is one thing but causing an injury or death through negligence, "I forgot to check", I find almost unbelievable and unforgivable.

 

Just an FYI...John Henry Holliday, aka "Doc," was born in Griffin Gawga, later moving to Valdosta, as the "invaders" got closer tp Gawga. I met his great, great, great nephew at a Cowboy Action Shoot years ago. Bill Dunn still lived in Griffin. Doc's true love, his cousin Mattie, became a nun, and worked at Piedmont hospital in Atlanta. The Mad Mongoose....OUT!

 

Definitely Hi Ho! Or maybe it was Hi Hoe. I think there were a lot of those back in the wild west days. I'm sure Silver wasn't a hoe, though. Just a hard working horse trying to get through each day.

 

I've never heard of this TV series, @Pegscraper. Is it still available these days? Interesting intro.

 

I've not seen it broadcast for years. It ran for 90 episodes over 7 series so was quite popular at the time. The main character, Ken Boon is a retired fireman turned PI. He's also a keen biker and Western fan so it pushed two of my buttons immediately. There's a rundown on it on Wikipedia. It's available on DVD apparently but other than the clips on Youtube I'm not sure where you could watch it.