Today we explored a chunk of Arizona’s southeast, and discovered some interesting places that were not flat, brown, or covered in tarmac.

First off we headed on down to the Mexican border town of Nogales, where you can see right across the fence to the where the huddled masses… huddle. It was quire a bizarre juxtaposition.

From there we struck out northeast, passing through Patagonia, where we had yet another quintessential American experience of being run out of town by the Marshal. Further east, the barren landscape gave way to grasslands and windmills.

Next up was Tombstone – the quintessential wild west town – for a cool root beer in a saloon, interrupted only by a brawl and a gunfight. The people in costumes and souvenirs were a bit tacky, but the impromptu tour we were given of the Bird Cage theater’s foyer, complete with numerous bullet holes, knife slashes, and genuine playbills, really brought home the fact that once upon a time this really was a place of cowboys and outlaws.

Then it was back along the I-10, a short stop at a border patrol station, and back to the villas for a swim in the 40 degree, 5pm heat.