The Wild West

Left El Paso early yesterday to drive the 340 miles to Tucson, adding 50 to that to visit Tombstone, just off the route. The road out of the city passes within a few hundred yards of the Mexican border, a huge black fence, on one side shopping malls and hotels, banks and restaurants, on the other a hillside crammed with run down housing and broken trucks.

Leaving the city behind the billboards get further apart and the terrain more rugged, more barren. Tumbleweed and mountains, small twisters dancing in the distance, dust storms and cactus. Going through border control into New Mexico, being wished a great day by the guard as his mates search an old black truck, clearly looking for whatever the dog could sense.

At a trading post somewhere on the road we met the merch team for Bone Thugs and Harmony, a completely different style of music, and swapped CDs and chatted about the drive.

We got to Tombstone in time to see Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday shoot the bad guys, eat lunch in a saloon and take a lot of photos. Headed to Boot Hill cemetery at dusk and watched the sun set as we drove into Tucson.  The day ended as most do, with good food and beer, and meeting friends, this time Pete (from The Last Dance) and Shawn his wife, good to see them again.

So now it's Thursday morning, it's only about 110 miles to Scottsdale, on the outskirts of Phoenix, for the next show at The Rogue Bar.