Sunday, February 23, 2014

The Wild, Wild West





Hold on to your saddles cuz its getting wild and crazy here in the wild west.  Just because this is a retirement, 55+ community, it doesn't mean its all knitting, bingo and hot-water aerobics.  These people like to have fun!  Like the wild and crazy race cars - you heard me - these people race fast cars.  Not us, we're much more timid than most of these old folks.  We watched.  We held our breath.  We cheered.  We were rooting for Team Elmo.  That's right, kids.  These people were racing toy cars!

 Complete with big trophies you can see at the far end of the table




And they were dead serious about it too!  Cut throat competition, with trophies and everything!  We had to disguise our eye rolling as allergies.  We didn't stay long - only enough to know that Team Elmo was the one to beat! 

Last weekend we did a bit of thrift shopping and estate sale shopping.  For us, that is way more fun than racing toy cars, but to each his own.  There is this awesome vintage shop here that is only open one weekend a month, and the three girls that run the place on my kind of girls.  The shop had about a million things I wanted, and only one thing that would fit in the trailer.  A sterling silver old ladle that had been turned into a little "dish" for my rings and earrings at the end of the day.  Oh, and cherry jam.  That's a consumable, so that doesn't count when calculating cabinet and storage space in the RV.  The estate sale had a few small things I couldn't pass up and I packed away to later sell in my Etsy vintage shop someday....






They don't have a website, so I didn't take a card, thinking I would remember the name.  That was a week ago - of course I have forgotten it.

One afternoon we took a naturalist-led sunset hike at Lost Dutchman State Park.  It was a beautiful evening and the walk was well attended.  We enjoyed learning about some of the plants and rock formations, Noel enjoyed talking "park talk" with one of the volunteers and we all enjoyed a beautiful sunset and a little exercise at the base of the Superstitious Mountains.  Fortunately I had something in the crock pot for dinner when we got home - all this mountain air really works up an appetite!









 Some see a "face" in this rock.  Do you see it?

 The flowers of this plant taste just like cucumbers!

 The mountains take on a beautiful red hue as the sun goes down.



As we drove to the state park we had to drive through Apache Junction and saw all kinds of places we wanted to return to, so the next day we spent the day in Apache Junction, going to the Superstitious Mountain Museum where there happened to be a poetry reading.  Yes Fred, of course we stayed to listen to a few!  The man was reading poetry and stories written over a hundred years ago by cowboys.  To my surprise, we both really enjoyed it!  The museum grounds were full of old movie set props, including a church filmed in many movies, including a western made by Elvis (hence the Elvis statue), the carriages used in the old Gun Smoke show and other stuff.  It was fun to see and Noel used to love westerns growing up, so he especially got a kick out of it.  There was even a "boot hill" cemetery with funny grave markers!


 Boot Hill
 Poetry Reading



 From the "Gunsmoke" show
 
Just some of the celebrities that have shot movies here


We had a great dinner at the Lost Dutchman Miners Camp restaurant, and when we saw a sign for "Lost Dutchman Days Fair and Rodeo", we went back the next day too!

The rodeo was an honest to goodness rodeo with real cowboys and girls competing for big money prizes.  There were rides and booth and food and games, all set against the backdrop of the Superstitious Mountains - so I took a zillion pictures. It was our 28th wedding anniversary and we had a great day!

 barrel races


 At least one guy was smart enough to wear a helmet!

 After being thrown off of a horse once in my life, it pained
me to watch some of these guys!


 Calf Ropin'

 Isn't this just a pretty setting for a fair?


 Going....

Going.....

Gone!


 Look at me!  I'm a flying cowgirl!









Yesterday (Saturday February 22) there was a craft show here at the RV resort, so I set up a table to sell some of the jewelry I've been making along the way.  I sold a few things, so now I can order more wire to make more! Yay!




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