by laura beth

We left Tucson for Tombstone. We checked out the town, saw a re-enactment, went to the Tombstone Historama (narrated by Vincent Price!), had great dinner and drinks at an old saloon and dry camped in a secluded parking lot. We wanted to walk through the Birdcage Theatre, but at $10 per person, we decided to pass. It was pretty fun, though, overall.






We went on to Benson for breakfast at a diner the next morning and headed east. Along this stretch of I-10 there are 247 billboards coaxing you to come checkout The Thing? And so we did. It's a gas station/gift store/walk-through museum with a surprise at the end. It really is worth the $1 fee, as there are several interesting oddities to look at as you make your way along the yellow bigfoot footprints towards the Thing. Open since 1965, the attraction is now owned by a company called Bowlin's that really knows how to lure people in. We passed tons of Bowlins-owned gas stations/attractions in Arizona and New Mexico, and you definitely can't miss their billboards.