TOMBSTONE TERRITORY

How nice to hear the sunrise tweeting of our little feathered bird friends right outside the rig’s window every morning.  Mother Nature’s relaxing and soothing way of starting another fine day.

Managed to get ourselves a couple trips in today.  The Elfrida dump was open till noon so we hauled a couple barrels of garbage over with Jeanie & Ray’s pick up truck.  The day was still early so figured it was a good day to make a run to Sierra Vista.

Made a trip to Big Bend in Texas back in late December of 04.  Since 06 we have been spending our winters in New Mexico, Arizona and California.  In all that time Kelly has never had a Cowboy hat.  Well, today was the day.  I was in need of a new hat myself so we headed for Spur Western Wear in Sierra Vista.  Never knew there was so much to learn about hats.  Spent nearly half an hour trying them on but in the end they just didn’t have the size I needed and Kelly didn’t find the kind she wanted.  Lady said their Tombstone store had my size.

Kelly had a little browsing to do in Marshall’s so I fell asleep in the Jeep out in the parking lot.  I kinda like when that happens. 

Hadn’t had any breakfast so headed ourselves into an eating place near Pet Smart called, ‘My Big Fat Greek Restaurant.  I’m always leery of these kinds of places.  Lotta big strange words on the menu so I stuck with a good old tried and true hamburger.  Kelly got a small pizza.  Kelly likes those kinds of foods but I’m always suspicious of any eating place that doesn’t have gravy on the menu.  Lotta noise coming out of the overhead speakers but Kelly said that was Greek music. Whatever!! I think next time we’ll head back to the Texas Road House.  Lots of good old mashed potatoes and gravy for AL over there…..10-4.

Rolled out of Sierra Vista for Tombstone somewhere around 2 in search of the Spur Western Ware store.  First time Kelly & I rolled into Tombstone was nearly 5 years to the day in late December 06.  Been there a couple more times since then over the past few years but we were really surprised at the change we saw in Tombstone today.  Maybe because it was a Saturday during the holiday season.  Lots of people on the main street.  Lots of cowboys, horses, stagecoaches, and people dressed up in the old west style.  They had a real active main street going on.

 
    
 
Made our way to SPUR WESTERN WEAR where a fella by the name of Dave was patient with us trying on hats.  Knew the kind I was looking for but hats for me are never easy to find.  I got a big head!!  No, nothing to do with Ego.  I just got a big head.  Not much in it but it’s still big.  Kinda like an empty air plane hanger.  Fortunately, after half a dozen tries we finally found a 7.5 hat that fit my balloon head.  Gracias.  My hat style is called a ‘Tombstone.’  And, how cool is that to buy a Tombstone hat right in the dusty little historic town of Tombstone Arizona itself.
 
 

KELLY TRIES ON COWBOY HATS AT SPUR WESTERN WARE
Kelly wasn’t so lucky.  She just couldn’t find a comfortable fit or style she liked.  Dave was good enough to direct us two doors down the boardwalk to RUSSELL'S ROADRUNNER.  Even a bigger selection of Cowboy hats in this store.  Kelly found a hat before I even made it inside.  I was outside running around cracking off pictures of all the interesting looking characters walking around.
 
 
  

I failed to get the store proprietors name but everyone in Tombstone looks like they are related to the Earps or McLaurys.  A personable fellow with longer white hair, a sense of humor, a knowledge of hats and a western looking vest type jacket to go with it all.  Gotta love the attitude of the town folks and shop keepers for keeping Tombstone….Tombstone.
 
RUSSELL’S ROADRUNNER STORE…LOTS OF HATS HERE
Back out on the street we heard some hollerin and yellin coming from up the street.  Seems the Earp Brothers were mixin it up with some of the Clanton boys.  The street quickly cleared as the arguing, pushing, and shoving continued down the street toward the OK Corral.  Doc Holliday was looking as wasted as Wyatt was looking dapper.  The McLaurys and Clanton boys made it down to the OK corral at the bottom end of Allen Street.  With the Earp Brothers and Doc in hot pursuit the arguing continued.

 
We knew there was going to be some serious gunfire soon because them boys sure was mad at each other.  Figured it would be a good time to high tail it out of town before we ended up with bullet holes in our new hats.  We did manage to snag an ice cream cone in our haste though.  Kudos to you Tombstone for keeping your little town and it’s legends alive:))  And, would you believe I never thought to take any pics of our new Cowboy hats today.  Stay tuned……….

 

 
Arrived back at the Ranch just in time to get the chickens milked and the dogs fed.  Our sunny day temps could not have been better and how nice to slip out at night now for a look at the stars.

Before I get to the last paragraph let me just wish everyone all the best for the new year.  A big thank you to all readers, friends, commenters, and folks sending emails for hanging in with me for yet another year.  We’ve had a few ups and downs along the way folks but maybe we can smooth out some of those downs in the New Year………..10-4:))         
        
The Last Paragraph: A year’s review in one paragraph, hmmmm.  The disappointment in not being able to swing a deal on the Lazy W Ranch.  Our days at Joshua State Park and Lone Pine California, Nevada’s Valley of Fire and Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly.  The terrible loss of Max and Checkers in April and the longest boring and most depressing summer I’ve ever had.  Finding Pheebe was a high point in August and getting back on the road again in mid November brought me out of my slump.  Ending the year with some medical issues casts a shadow into 2012.  Summing up…..Worst of the year was losing Max and Checkers:((  Best of the years was finding and bringing home the Pheebs:))  And, there it was…….2011.

AN AFTER DARK LOOK BACK UP THROUGH OUR WINDSHIELD
GROANER’S CORNER:((  A man walks into a bar and orders a shot then looks into his pocket. he does this over and over again. finally the bartender asks why he orders a shot and after drinking it he looks into his pocket.
The man responded "I have a picture of my wife in there and when she starts to look good…… I'll go home."  (By the way, women have been known to carry photos of their husbands in their purses for the same reason.)
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AS THE EARTH TILTS FURTHER NORTH, WE SAY GOOD-BYE TO UNCLE HARRY BEFORE LEAVING

ATOP CORONADO PEAK NEAR SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA

With each passing day the earth is tilting further & further to the north lessening the warming effects of the sun's rays.  It is the the cold air that now dominates in the northern latitudes.  It is a time now of winter coats, mitts, warm sweaters & hot chocolate.  It is time for Northern Snow Birds to flex winter wings.  A time to fill gas tanks, check tire pressures, oil & transmission fluids.  And it's time to load up the furry kid's toys.

GAZING INTO THE HEART OF MEXICO

     

THAT LINE YOU SEE ACROSS THE DESERT FLOOR IS THE ACTUAL BORDER BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES & MEXICO AS SEEN FROM CORONADO PEAK (click to enlarge)

Kelly & I headed off to Mitchell Ontario this morning to visit with my Uncle Harry at the Ritz Lutheran Villa Care Facility.  He was dozing in his chair listening to music when we got there.  We had the TV cable company set up the music channels for him shortly after he moved to the Villa at the end of last June.  We did the same thing for my Mother when she was in a Nursing Home in Tavistock, Ontario a few years ago.  And, just as it was with my Mother, it is the music Harry enjoys everyday the most.  He still has a keen interest in watching hockey & baseball but it is the music that is bringing the most contentment to his 93 years.  Henry Mancini,, Glen Miller, Andre Kostelanitz, Mantovani, Richard Clayderman, Frank Sinatra, & the list goes on & on.  And, so does the music in Harry's room.  Sometimes 24 hours a day.  I am so fortunate to have come from a family who so much has enjoyed their music over the years.  I have said this before & will say it again here.......if you were to ask me what one single thing in my life has brought me more peace, joy, happiness & entertainment...... my one word simple answer would be, 'music.' 

     

It was a sad goodbye with Harry this afternoon because at age 93 you know there are not as many goodbyes left today as there was yesterday.

      

PATHWAY LEADING DOWN FROM CORONADO PEAK

As always, it was a quiet Halloween night for us & that is by choice.  We live in an Adults Only Park so there are no trick or treaters anywhere.  But, it does bring back many good memories from a 4 year time period years ago when I did get to know a little person.  She was the only little person in my entire life & we had an absolute blast for the whole time I knew her & her Mother.  I remember taking her trick or treating on Halloween nights, winter toboggan rides, sunny days at the beach, browsing through shops in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico helping with school projects, shop till you drop marathons, ice cream, laughter, & once while her Mother was out we even got into the kitchen cupboards, got some flour, eggs, & cake mix going & baked ourselves a cake from scratch. (I have pictures of that & will try to find them)  What a mess the kitchen was.  What a happy mess we were & what a big mess of trouble we had ourselves in when her Mother came home.  Halloween just hasn't been the same.

A NICE BENCH TO SIT AWHILE & DREAM OF MEXICO......THEY WAY IT USED TO BE

Tuesday morning I am off to see the Doctor.  It is the same appointment I missed a couple weeks ago.  Wants to talk to me about something that the receptionist said will only take 5 minutes.  Well, that's fine with me.  As long as he doesn't chase me around the room trying to stick me with a big scary looking needle.  Remember those totally traumatic times in public school when we all had to line up for those excruciating painful vaccination shots & stuff.  We always new when the medical team ambushed the school because we could smell that cleansing alcohol smell in the halls & classroom well before ever seeing the lab coated torture squad!!  I still think of that fear when I detect that smell in hospitals to this very day.

THE MEXICAN BORDER IS ONLY ABOUT HALF A MILE AWAY

It has been 4 months now since bringing that bumpity square box of a Jeep Wrangler home & I am enjoying that silly little thing just as much now as when we first got it.  In fact, I think it might even be turning into a love affair.  Long time since I had a vehicle with such an affection tied to it.  It's just a simple little Mossmagator of a thing.  No bells & whistles.  No cheesy fancy plastic chrome around the windows & taillights.  No headlight clusters that look like they belong on an Alien space ship & no dash interior that looks like an exploded boom box on steroids.  Like Joe Friday from Dragnet years ago used to say, "Just the facts ma'am, just the facts."  Only, in our case it's, "Just the basics man, just the basics:))"

LOOKING ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF TUCSON ARIZONA FAR AWAY IN THE DISTANT MOUNTAIN RANGE

RETIRED ROD sent me over a blogsite today that looks interesting.  This fellow has similar interests to ours & likes to get out on the trails, get the boots dirty & go scratching around looking for old southwest history.  His name is Steve & you can find his adventures here.... STEVE'S RV TRAVELOGUE

THE EAST SIDE OF THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAIN RANGE...AZ.

And, I did run into a piece of technology that logically agreed with me today & it has to do with telephones.  'Voice activated dialing!!'  Finally, the tech Gods have had enough of my complaining & have come up with something practical.  If I could pick up a cell phone & not have to strain my eye balls right out of my head picking through a tiny bunch of numbers with the tip of my pen (Blackberry) I might take to carrying one of those cell phone things around myself.  Just press on, wait for the dial tone & say into the phone whomever it is you want to call.  Example, "Call Bill," "Call Mary." or "Call Santa."  Fifty voice activated numbers can be programmed in.  This is now being offered by Bell Telephone here in Ontario & I'm sure other companies have it as well.  And, only 5$ a month.  My kinda phone technology & my kinda price:))  Now, if I could just get me a cool Jitterbug phone................

MOONDOWN OVER THE MULE MOUNTAINS...PHOTO TAKEN FROM 'THE RANCH' NEAR McNEAL, ARIZONA  (200mm)

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A man and his wife were awoken at 3:00 am by a loud pounding on the door.
The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger, standing in the pouring rain, is asking for a push.
"Not a chance," says the husband, "it is 3:00 in the morning!"
He slams the door and returns to bed.
"Who was that?" asked his wife..
"Just some drunk guy asking for a push," he answers.
"Did you help him?" she asks.
"No, I did not, it is 3:00 in the morning and it is pouring rain out there!"
"Well, you have a short memory," says his wife. "Can't you remember about three months ago when we broke down, and those two guys helped us?
I think you should help him, and you should be ashamed of yourself!"
The man does as he is told, gets dressed, and goes out into the pounding rain.
He calls out into the dark, "Hello, are you still there?"
"Yes," comes back the answer.
"Do you still need a push?" calls out the husband.
"Yes, please!" comes the reply from the dark.
"Where are you?" asks the husband.
"Over here on the swing," replied the drunk.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.