Phoenix

November 18 - 30, 2015:

Life must go on and I decided to go to the “Rhythm Room” in Phoenix for some needed blues revival.  Phil and Dave Alvin and the Guilty Ones were playing, I had seen them earlier in the year and they put on a tremendous live show.  They play the brother act to the hilt, Phil Alvin has this booming incredible voice while brother Dave is a great guitar player and a master storyteller.  

We visited the Wells Fargo Museum and had lunch with my sister Marie in downtown Phoenix.  The museum was better than expected with some really cool stuff and great interactive exhibits.  It is right around the corner from City Hall and the Orpheum Theatre.
  

The portraits of Mr. Wells and Mr. Fargo

Twinkles poses in front of a real Wells Fargo wagon

An original coping machine

I return on another day to the Orpheum Theater for a very informative guided tour.  The Theater was built in 1929 in the Spanish revival style of Spanish Baroque architecture. Through the years it eventually became a regular movie theater and gradually went into decline.  The beautiful murals and elaborate painted interior details were eventually covered with black paint ?  In the late 1960’s the city of Phoenix planned to build a new City Hall adjacent to the theater and then tear it down for a parking garage.  The local historical preservation group objected, managed to get public support on their side and convinced the city to save the building.  A fund raising organization was started, the building was placed on the historic register and many donors contributed to a full restoration of the Theater. The new City Hall is now connected to the Theater and they complement each other wonderfully.  The Theater is amazing and is now a world class performance venue.

The amazing Orpheum Theater

Theater details

Interior view

The atmospheric ceiling with stars that illuminate as
the theater lights are darkened

Every detail is a work of art

Phoenix is a city with an image problem in synch with Arizona’s conservative politics, but I have to admit that the downtown area is actually getting pretty cool these days.

The historic Hotel San Carlos

Building refections within another building

Colorful flower shop paint scheme

View in front of City Hall

Very impressive structure

Temporary ice skating in downtown Phoenix

City Hall

We went to the White Tanks Mountain Park for a hike in need of some fresh air and exercise.  Twinkles is slowly getting back into hiking mode again.
  

Good to be back in the White Tanks again

Dinner with the family on Saturday night at “Bucca di Beppo” which is a unique family style Italian restaurant in Phoenix.  The decor is great, the walls are covered with interesting old photos and stuff.  It serves family style where you have to share bowls making ordering for a group somewhat challenging. It the kind of place to go to for a special event, probably not for a simple meal.

The way to eat Pasta

Angie and Tatum getting ready to dig in

We did the family thing for Thanksgiving at my sisters house.  It was a little subdued as expected with Mom’s chair being vacant.  Also I have a nasty cold, Angie was down and out with a stomach bug and everyone is concerned with upcoming funeral and travel plans back to New Jersey.  Tatum has an early Christmas present, a power board which seems to be the hot new teen thing this year.

Tatum on the Power Board

I learned that the, “the Meat Puppets” were playing at the Crescent Ballroom and just had to go.  I had seen them last year, same time, same place, this must be a Thanksgiving tradition ?  They have been around a long time, but gained most of their notoriety by being a favorite band of Nirvana and joining Nirvana to do three Meat Puppet songs on Nirvanas highly acclaimed MTV unplugged performance. These guys can still rock, full volume, hardly take a break between songs and have a sort of cult following.

The Meat Puppets in action

We took a ride to Wickenburg which we found to be a really nice western town.  It has a number of historic buildings, nice shops and restaurants.  

The Jail Tree

Elizabeth Hudson Smith who arrived in Wickenburg by train
in 1897, got a job at a local hotel, gained fame as the cook, and eventually
bought the business.  The railroad then approached her about building a new
Hotel which became the finest one in town. In the 1920's racial prejudice
decimated her business and social standing.  She died in 1935 and was
not allowed burial in the the white only cemetery.  Shame on Wickenburg ! 

Sculpture in front of the museum

Local cowboy hero Everett Bowman, one of the greatest
rodeo stars of all time, a ten time world champion and founder of the
Rodeo Cowboys Association, the predecessor of todays Pro
Rodeo Cowboy Association.

Next week is going to be a full one with us taking the RV to its winter home at Desert Trails in Tucson on November 30th.  We will then fly out of Tucson on December 2 to New Jersey for my mothers funeral on December 5th and then return to Tucson on the 7th. 

Next and final stop of the year is Tucson, Arizona;

Twinkles and Slick

To Phoenix

November 16 -17, 2015:

It had rained heavily overnight and was windy and overcast in the morning as we departed Globe, Arizona.  The ride was a rough one, it’s a tough drive between Globe and Miami through Devils Canyon and over rugged mountains.  The wind was wicked also and didn’t let up; I had to fight it all the way to Phoenix.  It was Route 60 west to Route 10 west all the way across the kamikaze stretch of highway across Phoenix.    

Our destination, the Leaf Verde RV Park, is a huge antiseptic snowbird parking lot with the usual snowbird amenities and activities.  I’m not a fan of these places, in case you didn’t notice.  

We went straight to the assisted living home where Mom was moved to recently and had then taken a sharp turn for the worse.  They were giving her morphine to make her comfortable and she had been unconscious for the past couple of days.  This decline came on very suddenly and she died peacefully the early morning hours of November 17th.  She was 97 years old, lived a good long life, but it’s still difficult to accept.  I feel like a part of me died also.  I will end this post on this note without getting too goofy about the sanctity of life and death. 

Life continues in the Valley of the Sun,

Twinkles and Slick  

Globe and Miami, Arizona

November 13- 14, 2015:

It was all route 70 west from Safford to the Gila County RV Park in Globe, Arizona.  This will be our third time in Globe and second time at this RV Park.  This is a poor depressed town with lots of history, struggling to develop some tourism. A few years ago they had an excursion train running out of a beautifully restored station here that attracted decent ridership.  The train was sold a few years ago and the restored station now sits vacant, not sure what happened?

Apache Country

We took a walk around town, not much has changed in a year, not sure if that’s good or bad, but it’s comfortable here and good to be back. I was looked for new photos, but there wasn’t much, I ended up taking the same ones over again. Globe was a few good stories to tell such as that of George W.P. Hunt, mayor of Globe.  He came to Globe as a poor prospector and went on to become the 1st Governor of Arizona.  He eventually served as Governor of Arizona for seven terms, more than any other governor in any state.

  

The old Bank is a great one

A classic old sign in Globe

Art on a freight car near the campground

George W. P. Hunt and his wife

A favorite sight in Globe

I went out on Friday night to check out the “Drift Inn Saloon", one of the most classic old western saloon anywhere. It was built in 1902 and is one of the oldest continuously operating saloons in Arizona.  It has a great mural done by F.A. Olsen painted on one wall.  It’s always a weird crowd, a mix of Apaches, Hispanics and a few cowboy types.

The Drift Inn, love that sign

Old western mural on wall

  

I heard live music playing across the street at the "JammerZ Bar" which has a really nice outside patio area with fire pits and comfortable chairs.  The duo playing was doing a lot of Pearl Jam and Nirvana songs from the 1990’s and it sounded really great. It was unusual as about half the people were smoking either cigars or cigarettes, not used to the smoke anymore, but it's common here.

   

Outside of the bar

The Band

On Saturday, we took a ride to the nearby town of Miami.  Miami is a very sad place, sort of a ghost town, very poor, in spite of the billions of dollars worth of minerals still being removed from the surrounding mountains.  One thing is certain the mining companies have done little to nothing to support this town. There are a few antique shops here with good stuff, along with a few restaurants and a nicely restored ice cream parlor.

Miami Ave

Amen !

Don't think the VFW meets here anymore -

or stays here anymore -

They don't have advertising this interesting anymore -

or gas pumps of such design and character -

or soda fountains like this

but Coke has survived somehow ?

A most touching story, but Central Drug is 
now just another vacant building

We also went to the nearby Apache Gold Casino to test our luck.  Twinkles won a few bucks, I lost an equal amount, but it was fun.  As usual, it seemed like the entire Apache tribe was there gambling on the slots.

We had planned to make a couple of other stops before going to Phoenix for Thanksgiving, but have now decided to go straight to Phoenix from here without delay as my Mother has taken a sudden turn for the worse.
    

Next stop is Phoenix, Arizona;

Twinkles and Slick

Safford, Arizona on the Salsa Trail

November 11 - 12, 2015:  

This move was about 150 miles from Silver City, NM to Safford, AZ.  We took route 90 from Silver City to Lordsburg, NM and then I-10 across into Arizona and then route 191 north to Roper Lake State Park.

  

Racing this freight out of Lordsburg, Arizona

We weren’t too sure what to expect at Roper Lake State Park, but it turned out better than expected.  The park is a natural lowlands area with a lake partially fed by hot springs, they even have a natural spring fed hot tub in the park.  The lake is reputed to have good fishing and there are hundreds of ducks.  We did a 1 mile loop trail to a small mesa top adjacent to the park where we are seeing many old familiar cactus types again.  This is a large farming valley surrounded by mesas and mountains in the distance.

Roper Lake

There were hundreds of these ducks

Twinkles on the trail

Stafford is the largest local town with a small old downtown area surrounded by the usual unattractive commercial district.  There are several other nearby small towns along route 70, most settled by Mormons. There is a huge Mormon Temple that looks much out of place.  The desert area here has been transformed by irrigation into a a major Cotton farming area famous for it’s world renowned Pima Cotton.  They also call this area the Salsa Trail, a bit of a local tourist marketing strategy.  There are many good Mexican restaurants here that all claim to have the best Salsa and they have a Salsa festival in September.  We had lunch in downtown Safford at the “El Coronado Restaurant”, where I had an excellent  green chili chicken enchilada, highly recommended.

Mural in Safford

Safford Theater

Safford County Court House

Twinkles hanging out

Safford downtown view

Cotton fields are all over this area

We are now entering Apache country, next stop is Globe, Arizona:

Twinkles and Slick