Exploring Tucson & Tombstone in Arizona

Saturday 4th February - 2023

Hello again this time from Wyatt Earp, & Doc Holliday country here in Tombstone, Arizona.

At the Media Entrance to the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Photo: Steve Core

Life has been moving right along very swiftly since l last wrote to you all from Glendale about my evening to watch our Australian boy, Liam Wilson, fight for the vacant World Title fight at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. (right next door to the Super Bowl Stadium).

About as real as a stagecoach can get, rolling down the main, dirt street of Tombstone, Arizona.

All I am going to say is that he was robbed of winning the World Title by the corrupt boxing authorities here in America, just ask Jeff Fenech.

Just some of the airliners in storage here at the Pinal Air Park in Marana. All the blue tails are plenty of parked West Jet B737s from Canada.

Liam can hold his head up high, he is a very humble young man & spoke beautifully after his devastating loss to these bunch of crooks. I know because I was sitting front row ringside & witnessed every second of the fight & videotaped every moment including the knockdown that happened right in front of me, even including his opponent spitting out his mouth guard to get extra time to recuperate. Bunch of low-lifes.

My mate, Steve Core, had just arrived from Australia for his 3-week visit to Arizona. Here we are, in the San Tan Village RV Park, just about to load up 'Sheila' for our road trip down south to Tucson, Tombstone and Nogales.

I was talking to various people after the fight, mainly Mexicans (because they made up 98% of the audience) & they commented about the fight saying that the fight World did not know about our Aussie boy from Down-Under, however the whole world knows about him now & they can’t wait to see him fight again especially here in America.

Liam can only learn by this experience, & I wish him all the best for the future.

The 'Dream Lifter' is a converted B747 airframe that is one of four ever made to fly B787 components from around the world to the Boeing 787 assembly facilities. Pinal Air Park, Marana.

Moving right along to our departure from San Tan Mobile Village yesterday I decided long before Steve arrived that we would head south towards the Mexican border towards the Pinal Air Park in Marana, near Tucson where the huge airliner graveyard is situated for all the retired aircraft from all the airlines of the world are sent to.

Reenactment gunfighters from the OK Corral, touting for business, line the main street of Tombstone, Arizona.

Wow! What an eye opener that was for me, there were hundreds of aircraft parked out in the desert in storage or being dismantled. I suppose they were pulled apart as orders came in for their second hand parts from airlines from all over the world.

Driving into Tucson itself, we then did a drive around the perimeters of the massive Davis Monthan Air Force Base where over four thousand of retired US military, US Government and US Aerospace aircraft are parked in open storage.

These mannequins mark out the spot where the real gunfight, probably the most famous shootout in the West, at the OK Corral took place in Tombstone in 1881.

Last night we retired at a Motel in a town called Willcox, Arizona which is only 30-miles from the state of New Mexico's border for a well earned R&R.

We decided to hit the tarmac early this morning as I had made plans to spend the day in Tombstone. Ever since I was a kid I have always wanted to visit Tombstone because l grew up watching Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the legendary Gunfight at the OK Corral & all the old Western movies.

These old Tombstone words were never truer and still apply today!

I sure was not disappointed believe me, it was like walking back in time to the 1800s. Tonight we are held up here in Sierra Vista approximately 35-miles north of the real border with mainland Mexico.

Quite a few old ladies here; 'Sheila' and an endless line-up of retired American Airlines commuter jets all sealed up and basking in the Arizona sun. Pinal Air Park, Marana, Arizona.

Tomorrow morning Steve wants to travel to Nogales, a town that is situated right on the mainland border with Mexico. We will probably spend an hour or so checking out Nogales before changing direction to drive north towards Tucson.

'Sheila' parked on the fence line of the Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. The base is home to the US military's massive storage and regeneration facility.

I need to be back in Chandler in the early afternoon, the drive back home is about 2-3 hours. As long as we depart Tucson around 11:00am, that should give us plenty of time for 'Sheila' to deliver us back to familiar territory.

The sign on this 140-year old original piano sums up it's magnificent history

Once we are back in Phoenix, l have a few important things to accomplish before we set sail for the northernmost parts of Arizona, north of the Grand Canyon, towards Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell Dam & then onto Las Vegas in Nevada to check out the new two-billion dollar 'Allegiant Stadium' home of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders.

Me, outside the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, where I had just purchased my front row tickets to see & support Australian boxer, Liam Wilson, fight for a World Title. Photo: Steve Core

We want to be in Vegas by Sunday the 12th Feb to watch the LVII Super Bowl live on one of the big screens at Caesar’s Palace.

That’s about all for now, stay tuned, there is still plenty of stories & photographs to follow from the “Squire”.

Stay safe. Cheers.

Warbo.