Tombstone Amy

It began like this:

          Amy greeted us at the entrance to the Good Enough Silver Mine in Tombstone, Arizona. We were not supposed to be here. The weather report for Monday was rain, so we figured that our stop here on the way back to Texas would probably not happen. But after waking up to a gorgeous sunrise at the Winery, we decided to give it a go.

          Tombstone is a real town, with real people, and a real past.

          Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Lily Langtree and a slew of other Western Personalities dot its colorful past. You know, the kind of stuff that’s better than fiction, the kind of stuff that you just can’t make up. Over the years the town has come to realize that its calling card was its past. And therefore, they decided to keep everything that they could as original as possible, throw a little “Hollywood” into the mix and come up with what is a place to spend a very enjoyable day. The shops are all there, some rather authentic and some necessary to keep everyone satisfied. There is the quintessential Gunfight at the O.K. Corral re-enactment and a stagecoach that will take you up and down the (closed to traffic) main street with a definitely realistic driver as your tour guide, complete with  a western drawl. Everyone is as cordial as you would expect in an old western town.

          Tombstone is there because of the silver. It is an old mining town that has dozens of mines with hundreds of miles of shafts, drifts, air shafts, and the all-important original cribbing to hold it all in place.

          It is real.

          So, we went on a tour.

          And we met Amy.

           Amy introduced herself and as a way of getting some cohesiveness to the group and acting as an ice breaker among strangers she asked where we were all from.

          Two guys  – “West Virginia”

          Amy – “What’cha do? Make a wrong turn?”

          Laughter

          Lady 1– “Just over in Tuscon.”

          Lady 2 (her friend)-  “Pennsylvania”

          Amy – “Which part, I grew up in the eastern part.”

          Lady – “Out by Pittsburg”

          Amy – “Oh, I was over by Phillipsburg.”

          Amy looked over at us and I said, “Originally New Jersey but we’re           doin’ this full-time RV thing now.”

          “Where in Jersey?”

          “Upper northwest corner, Sussex County.”

          Eyes widened, “My family is from up that way, near the Delaware River. They’re the Lenningtons.

          “Lenningtons! I know the Lenningtons! Up by Layton and       Walpack!

          “Yup! My dad is George, and my grandfather is Charlie.”

          “Grandpa Lennington??!! I knew him! Not real personal but I          knew who he was!

Well, as you can imagine, it felt like “old time week.” After a little more Hometown Conversation, Amy started her excellent tour. You could tell that she really likes being a tour guide and sharing her knowledge on us top-siders who don’t have clue on what it is like to work underground in that tough a job. The tour lasted 45 minutes and Amy did not stop talking the entire time. There was that much information to impart on her entourage. Mixing just enough humor and the right amount of facts, Amy left us in awe of what those men had accomplished over a hundred years ago.

          When the Tour was over, we re-started our familial conversation and took photos together. Amy could not wait to get home and tell her Dad (who was out here living with her) about the folks from Layton.

          One of the tiniest towns in all of New Jersey.

          A random Mine Tour in Tombstone, Arizona.

          I continue to be amazed at the serendipitous nature of our existence on this planet.