I bade farewell to Sedona and headed on south on roads packed with carloads of people making an early start for the holiday weekend. The scenery is spectacular with striking red rocks gradually giving way to distant mountains. The riverbeds were all bone dry and it was already well over 90 degrees at 8am in the morning when I hit Phoenix. I think the city must have grown a huge amount since Glen Campbell sang about it — he never mentioned the appalling traffic! Although maybe it would have ruined the lyrics of a great song…
The first stop of the day was outside Tucson at the Western National Parks Association store. They hold regular lectures which are extremely well attended, regularly attracting well over two dozen people. And Friday was no exception – a remarkable turnout for my talk on a holiday weekend. The store is well worth a detour because it’s a treasure trove of books and maps and packed with information about the National Parks. Even better it has really knowledgable and friendly staff who go out of their way to help people.
Even my talk went well – it was the biggest audience of the tour and they were great fun. So thank you Tucson!
And from there I meandered on down to Tombstone, where I’m spending the weekend. So, the 4th of July will find me at the O.K. Corral for a book signing. There couldn’t be a more appropriate place than that for a book about a gunfighter. Although I have to admit he hasn’t visited Tombstone yet in my books, maybe I should correct that omission!
I am hoping to catch the fireworks in the evening. Apparently the Tombstone Fire Department is organizing the display so it should be a fun evening. Then Sunday will find me ensconced in the Historic Courthouse for another book signing.
And Monday? I’ll be racing to Tucson to fly up to Montana for the second leg of the tour. Even better, I’ll be joining up with friends so then I’ll be able to stop talking to myself for company and talk to them instead.
