Sonoita, Arizona

A most frustrating day!!! After leaving the Tucson area, we planned on spending a few nights boondocking at Empire Ranch near Sonoita. We drove in and took a wrong turn leading to a group area. Sadly, we were not given the most warm welcome. After driving down a dirt road for a while and being cursed at by a few ATV’ers because we parked the truck & trailer off to the side of the road to walk and take a look, we decided to turn around and leave. We then found the general camping area but it was full up – although the sites looked very nice and we would loved to have stayed for a few nights. We drove into Sonoita hoping to stay at the local Fairgrounds which were on the app All-Stays that we use to find suitable sites, but they have only 2 sites which were already taken. Our Harvest Hosts came through – 10 miles away is a winery in the area, so after calling we were able to camp there for 2 nights and it was a blessing meant to be….. A beautiful quiet spot in the desert country off the beaten path. We were so warmly greeted by the staff and Cali (one of the winery dogs who was very curious and afraid of our 16 year old cat). We did a wine tasting and then a very private and quiet night with great stargazing. Every night we saw beautiful pink sunsets! https://www.sonoitavineyards.com

Tombstone

Tombstone – famous for its bloody “Gunfight at the OK Corral”…, we had to visit. As you come into Tombstone the first tourist attraction you run into is the Boothill Graveyard where $3 will allow you to tour a very small cemetery where there are supposedly many outlaws buried (I object to paying to enter a cemetery which should be public land, just saying…). Driving into the small town you will quickly come across the main tourist streets. We found FREE parking nearby! Sadly we were a bit disappointed with the lack of authenticity and run-down state of the town. Yes, there are a few of the original buildings left, but most are reconstructed. There are mock gunfights offered at at least 5 locations around town and many, many shops and saloons. We went into the Birdcage Theatre which had a very colorful past and is still a bar with all the original architecture intact.