Tombstone Trip

Thursday: American Indians, Mormon pioneers, plants, animals, and many others have depended on the life-giving water found at Pipe Spring. Learn about pioneer and Kaibab Paiute life by exploring the museum, historic fort and cabins, garden, orchard, and Ridge Trail. Visit with rangers, ranch animals, and attend living history demonstrations and talks. Pipe Spring National Monument is located in the U.S. state of Arizona, and is rich with American Indian, early explorer, and Mormon pioneer history. The National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966, and the boundaries of the Pipe Spring National Monument Historic District (a portion of the monument) were expanded in October 2000. The water of Pipe Spring has made it possible for plants, non-human animals, and people to live in this dry desert region. Ancestral Puebloans and Kaibab Paiute Indians gathered grass seeds, hunted animals, and raised crops near the springs for at least 1,000 years.

Find Coconino National Forest camping off Hwy 89 on Hwy 395, east to Bonito Campground. $12

Friday: For the most part, the Fatmans Loop is an easy walk, although it does have a few short steep sections. Scenic overlooks of Flagstaff, the city's eastern suburbs and the surrounding countryside make this a good place for a stroll when you have time to stop and enjoy the view. Along the route there are a number of interesting rock formations that bear witness to Mt. Elden's volcanic origins. One of these is a bit of a tight squeeze, hence the trail's name.

The area through which this trail leads supports a diverse community of plant species including upland trees such as white fir and ponderosa pine. Shrubs and smaller trees more usually associated with lower altitudes are also present. Among these are cliff rose, alligator juniper and broadleaf yucca. Wildlife you may encounter on this trail includes Abert's squirrels, pygmy nuthatches, mule deer and grey foxes along with more commonly encountered animals such as Steller's jays and ravens.

Humphreys St. to Verde St., north to Cherry Ave. and south to Butler Ave. Visit Website Along historic 1890s streets you will find numerous clothing boutiques, outdoor outfitters, art galleries and retailers selling authentic Native American arts and jewelry. Live entertainment can be found almost every evening at Heritage Square or within the great restaurants and nightlife venues. Venture south of the tracks to the evolving Southside District with amazing dining and cafés lining the streets.

Phoenix temple, 4:30 session

Stay with Trent Friday, Sat and Sunday nights

Saturday: Butterfly Wonderland takes flight as one of the newest attractions in the Valley with a highly innovative, indoor rainforest environment featuring the largest butterfly pavilion in America. You’ll be welcomed into a magnificent, lush, rainforest environment where thousands of butterflies from around the world fly freely, alighting on fragrant flowering plants and, quite possibly, on a friendly visitor’s shoulder or finger. It is a particular point of pride for the location of Butterfly Wonderland to be within the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, where reverence for the natural world is so integral to the culture.

Cardinals vs Chargers @ 7:00

The University of Phoenix Stadium, with its retractable roof and field, is unlike any other stadium in North America, and a marvel of design, engineering, and technology. This multi-purpose facility is located in Glendale, Arizona. The primary tenants in the stadium include the NFL's Arizona Cardinals and the Annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The 63,400-seat stadium (expandable to 72,200) opened on August 1, 2006 after three years of construction. The ceremonial groundbreaking was held on April 12, 2003.

Monday: The Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, was the last home for Arizona's Territorial government, until Arizona became a state in 1912. Initially all three branches of the new state government occupied the four floors of the statehouse. As the state expanded the branches relocated to adjacent buildings and additions. The 1901 portion of the Capitol is now maintained as the Arizona Capitol Museum with a focus on the history and culture of Arizona.

Antiques Merchants Mall

Stay with Dave Monday and Tuesday nights

Gilbert Temple, Tuesday morning, 8:30 session

Tour at 12:00 and lunch at 1:00

Grab your camera, your questions and explore Wrigley Mansion with us! Enjoy our popular lunch tour packages starting from $26, individual guided tours from $15 and even more choices. Learn more about our history packages and tours. Call for reservations. The Wrigley is proof that the traditions of elegance and hospitality still exist. The Mansion maintains a well-deserved reputation as an exceptional location for social gatherings of all sizes as well as, large and small corporate events. In addition to you having your special event here at our home, we invite you to explore by taking a public organized tour, enjoy dinner and lunch in our dining room, experience our award winning Sunday Champagne Brunch, or relax in our elegant lounge! Geordie's Restaurant & Lounge located within the Historic Wrigley Mansion offers an unmatched dining experience and unique lounge environment. Geordie's offers comfortable food in an elegant atmosphere where everyone is welcome! Built in 1932 by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr., The Mansion sits atop a 100 foot knoll with commanding views of the mountains and the city below. Embracing elements of Spanish, California Monterey and Mediterranean architecture, The Mansion stands as a monument to an elegance and opulence seldom seen or experienced in one's everyday encounters. The Mansion reaches beyond the ordinary and into the extraordinary. Be sure to inspect the image gallery to view some of the rooms and appointments of this fine historic structure that co-mingles the traditions and elegance of a bygone era with the contemporary excitement of today. We hope you enjoy this home as much as we do. Our goal is, was, and still is to be a place where anyone can be a guest and enjoy one of the premiere landmarks of Phoenix.

Wednesday: For a half-century the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has enchanted millions of visitors with its exhibits of live animals in astonishingly natural settings, while intriguing and instructing them with fascinating educational programs. At the same time, the Museum has gained a worldwide repute in the scientific community as an institution committed to researching and protecting the land, plants, and the animals of the Sonoran Desert Region. The mission of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is to inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the Sonoran Desert. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place! Exhibits re-create the natural landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region so realistically you find yourself eye-to-eye with mountain lions, prairie dogs, Gila monsters, and more. Within the Museum grounds, you will see more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds of plants. There are almost 2 miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert.

Saguaro National Park is in southern Arizona. Its 2 sections are on either side of the city of Tucson. The park is named for the large saguaro cactus, native to its desert environment. In the western Tucson Mountain District, Signal Hill Trail leads to petroglyphs of the ancient Hohokam people. In the eastern Rincon Mountain District, Cactus Forest Drive is a loop road with striking views of the desert landscape.

A National Historic Landmark, San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797. The oldest intact European structure in Arizona, the church's interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. It is a place where visitors can truly step back in time and enter an authentic 18th Century space.The church retains its original purpose of ministering to the religious needs of its parishioners. Many claim that the mission is haunted by the ghost of a nun and a small child, both of whom might have died in a fire that once ravaged the mission.

Mt. Lemmon Scenic Drive: Mt Lemmon Scenic Byway is the only paved road that leads to the upper reaches of Mt. Lemmon and the Santa Catalina Range. It is one of the most scenic drives in southeast Arizona. It provides access to a fascinating land of great vistas, outlandish rockscapes, cool mountain forests and deep canyons spilling out onto broad deserts. Because the road starts in the Lower Sonoran vegetative life zone and climbs to the high forests of the Canadian zone, it offers the biological equivalent of driving from the deserts of Mexico to the forests of Canada in a short stretch of 27 miles. Here you'll find plants and animals and geology that exhibit some of the most wide-ranging natural diversity to be found in any area of comparable size in the continental United States. As you drive up the mountain, every turn seems to reveal something new. In some places that may be a community of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers different from the one just around the previous curve. In others, it may be a new gallery of natural rock sculptures even more impossibly perched than the last, or a broader panorama that stretches in an entirely different direction than the one that caused you to stop and snap a photo just a few moments before.

For your convenience, there are turnouts at scenic overlooks and several campgrounds and picnic areas. Dozens of hiking trails offer access to the mountain's backcountry canyons and ridges..Though virtually everyone calls this road the Catalina Highway or the Mount Lemmon Highway, it is officially designated the General Hitchcock Highway in honor of Postmaster General Frank Harris Hitchcock. The highway, which is traveled by over 1 million visitors each year, was designated a Scenic Byway on April 28, 1995.

Tucson Temple, 6:30 session

Thursday: World-famous site of the 1881 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral® in Tombstone, AZ. Enjoy daily reenactments of the famous Gunfight at 2 pm, with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Life-sized animated figures of the gunfighters are located on the very spot where the Gunfight began. Visit our four museums. See Doc Holliday's room and admire over 100 of C.S. Fly's photos of 1880s Tombstone and the Apache Geronimo. Actor Vincent Price tells Tombstone's story in Tombstone's Historama. Handicapped accessible. Admission. Kids under 6 free. The O.K. Corral is reportedly haunted by the ghosts of those valiant cowboys who lost their lives in a gunfight. Tombstone was founded in 1877 by a prospector named Ed Schieffelin. Ed was staying at what was then called Camp Huachuca (wa-chu-ka) as part of a scouting expedition against the Chiricahua (chir-i-cow-uh) Apaches. During his time there he would venture out into the wilderness "looking for rocks", all the while ignoring the warnings about the native Apaches he received from the soldiers at the camp. They would tell him, "Ed, the only stone you will find out there will be your tombstone". Well, Ed did find his stone near Goose Flats and it was Silver. So, remembering the words of warning from the soldiers at Camp Huachuca, and using his sly sense of humor he named his first mine The Tombstone. $10 Don't know if that includes The Good Enough Mine Tour.

Fort Bowie commemorates the bitter conflict between Chiricahua Apaches and the U.S. military - a lasting monument to the bravery and endurance of U.S. soldiers in paving the way for settlement and the taming of the western frontier. It provides insight into a "clash of cultures," a young nation in pursuit of "manifest destiny," and the hunter/gatherer society fighting to preserve its existence. Fort Bowie witnessed almost 25 years of conflict between the Chiricahua Apache and the US Army, and remains a tangible connection to the turbulent era of the late 1800s. Explore the history of Fort Bowie and Apache Pass as you hike the 1.5 mile trail to the visitor center and old fort ruins. Today, this peaceful landscape stands in stark contrast to the violence that once gripped this land.