Roadtrip #4 - Tombstone, AZ

"Tombstone: The Town Too Tough To Die"  Say the word "Tombstone" and everyone usually thinks of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the shootout at the OK Corral.  The town of Tombstone started as a mining camp and grew into one of the most infamous towns in the West and it's still alive today.  You can walk down Allen street and see Wyatt and his brothers keeping an eye on the "bad elements," enjoy the history that has been left and preserved through the years, witness the legendary shootout at the OK Corral between the Earps, Doc Holliday and the McLeary's, visit Boothill, spend a day in the Old West and eat some delicious fudge.

Wyatt and Morgan Earp:

Boothill:

Enjoying some good, old fashioned sasparilla:

The evil chicken that was giving us the stink-eye:

The crosses that are always following up, letting us know we're on the right path:

Found the pineapple!

I love going to Tombstone and being able to step back in time.  Not only is it a fun place to visit but it's also a great place for inspiration!  While we were there we came up with an idea for a book.  We've got the characters and the storyline fleshed out.  Now we just have to find the time to write it all out and have some fun "Falling Into History."

What do ostriches, lizard nuts, and men in skirts have in common?

The Chandler Ostrich Festival! Duh!

Also, there was a sea lion show but we missed that part. Needless to say, I think this is the most random event in the valley. You pay ten bucks, you wander through the vendor and food stands, sample some lizard nuts (peanut brittle), and maybe ogle the hot bicycle cops a little. No go ahead and ogle them a lot, they are real pretty and deserve the adoration. Eventually you make it to the "Live Ostrich Viewing."

Ostriches are weird, I would not like to get on their bad side. Here I am trying to make nice:

Or maybe I'm cowering in fear. There's really no way to tell.

From there you move on to the Ostrich Races. The Ostrich Races were a bit ridiculous. They weren't so much races as "let the ostriches out and flee for you lives." The camel races went a little better though.

The highlight of the evening was the "MudEEvil" Knights. Sir Michael, Sir Thomas, and Sir Anthony put on quite a show. The sun was going down and the lighting wasn't great so the pictures didn't turn out very good but it was fun!

This is Sir Michael, the master of arms, he did have nice arms... And a mohawk, and a skirt, kind of a leather kilt thing. He was delightful:

Siiiiigh....

Aaaand this is Sir Anthony. He was the good knight and his horse was HUGE! Cheryl thought he was pretty, I was too busy drooling over Sir Michael to notice but I'll take her word for it. The people in the stands were supposed to cheer for Sir Michael and the people standing on the other side were cheering for the Black Knight Sir Thomas. Cheryl and I were cheering for the bad guy, of course.

And the Black Knight won!! WooHoo!!! The fight was pretty great. There were swords, and maces, and axes, and Sir Thomas fought dirty (he kicked Sir Anthony in the lizard nuts). Sir Anthony did his best but apparently age defeats beauty.

There you have it. The Ostrich Festival. Wacky fun times had by all.

Oh and on your way out, don't forget to stop by and check out the Right to Life booth for a lesson on the female anatomy *yipes!*

Restaurant #1 - Papaya Thai

This is about a month late, but we finally decided to try out the Thai place by our house  This was my first expereince with Thai and I wasn't disappointed.  I ordered safe: chicken pad thai, but it was quite delightful.  Our waitress was new and was the only one on staff that night and kept apologizing to us for being the only one there.  There were some big, scary fish in a couple of aquariums in the restaurant (note to self: don't order any fish dishes), and Katy found her happy place (at least one of them) drinking some Thai Iced Tea.