We had felt it coming in Mexico. We knew that it was likely to be worse in the States. When we went into our room, in whatever accommodation we were staying in Mexico, there was always a little envelope with the name of the cleaner on it asking for a tip. Paul found this exceptionally annoying especially when we were only staying one night as the cleaner had not done anything above what is expected in preparing the room and we would have left before she, or he, prepared it for the following guest. After all, what was the tip supposed to be for? Restaurants were something else. If you didn't check the 'cuenta', it was quite likely that a tip had been added. And we are not talking about 10%. When paying by card, 'suggested' amounts of 23%, 25% and sometimes 30% were offered. As well as 'custom' amounts for us perhaps less generous 'customers'. It was manageable in Mexico as, more often than not, the sums were smaller. But we are now in the States and it is no longer the Land of the Free, more like the Land of the Free plus 25%. With this sort of escalation it will soon be a case of visiting a restaurant to give a tip and having some food on the side.
Gunfight at the OK Corral? Wyatt Earp? Doc Holliday? Tombstone? Been there, done that - at least a reenactment! Tombstone was only a short ride from Bisbee and we just had to stop for photos. And a drink in Big Nosed Kate's Saloon. She was Doc Holliday's girl back in the day.
Tombstone was on the way to Tucson where we had planned a service for the bike. It hit 45°C here when we arrived. And with the bike at the garage we had to walk everywhere. Where we are staying is next to an Interstate and railway line and it is not that picturesque. Luckily there is a 24hr American diner next to our motel. On our first visit we chose from the front of the menu. On our second, it was from the over 55 section at the back of the menu; cheaper and smaller plates. On our third we shared an over 55 plate. We have seen a young couple having seven full size plates between them. It's a different world.
Our motel is a long way from downtown Tucson so with the bike being fettled elsewhere, we took the free bus downtown. This is not Bisbee. It is a strange place and not somewhere we would ever like to live. It's not just the heat but everything is so spaced out and split by six lane highways that seem to go on forever. It is very difficult to imagine communities as we know them existing here. All shops are 'out of town' and only accessible by car - they have to be really, as there is no town to speak of just sprawl with no identifying features. Tucson city centre itself was very underwhelming.
Luckily there are cacti. Tucson culture seems to be about cacti, cacti of all kinds: barrel, saguaro, organ pipe and many more. Françoise never really liked them until we started the trip and saw them in the wild in Argentina.
We eventually got our bike back from the dealer and were able to do a short ride around the western Saguaro National Park - to see more cacti. Heading North from Tucson we missed the 2" of rain that fell late afternoon. Our stopover was in nowheresville again, Globe, in a 'vintage' motel. Partially refurbished, so only two roaches spotted. Nothing left on the floor that night. The town was once an important one, as was the whole of the area due to massive copper mining. The mining activities don't look completely dormant and with the pressure to move away from hydrocarbons they could become very important again and maybe our historic motel will then have a complete refurbishment?
