Ghost Town 2

Ghost Town 2
Originally uploaded by teejaybee19.

Same scene, with LIGHTNING.

Ghost Town 1

Ghost Town 1
Originally uploaded by teejaybee19.

Goldfield Ghost town, as seen by the Boy. For some reason, it's raining.

church tornado

church tornado
Originally uploaded by teejaybee19.

Same scene, with TORNADO.
Sucks to go to church in Goldfield.

Well, the pictures don't really do it justice. The first is the front gate, with this big elevator thingy and a huge ore bucket thingy. This second is a view from the train around the back, so the church you see is actually behind the elevator thingy in the first view. Confused? Well, the boy draws a much better picture.

Apache Junction.....site of the most wonderful object of recent obsession by the Boy-Goldfield Ghost town. Is his excitement evident? Well, it was to those who know him.
Apache Juction is a little hole-in-the-wall wide-spot-in-the-road that is quickly being swallowed up by the metastasization of Phoenix on the south and east. We rendezvous-ed with the Pooh and had a great time, walking up the block-long street that is Goldfield, peeking in the storefronts, and of course, riding the train. The town of Goldfield was really a working mining town, its inhabitants brought up over a million dollars' worth of gold from a not-very impressive hole in the ground, there at the base of the Superstition Mountains.

The train makes a loop around the site, at a speed of about 5 mph, with frequent photo op stops. It turned out to be a pleasant way to spend about an hour out and about on a beautiful spring day in the desert.

The whole experience made quite an impression on the Boy. He's been drawing some interesting pictures.

Spring.....Break!

Kids are on spring break this week. So I took the week off (all three working days, that is), and headed to AZ to see the family.

No peace to be found. Well, maybe a little, down south. We departd Las Vegas early Saturday morning and stopped by Prescott to catch up with my brother, who lives in Tucson (the younger older brother). The original plan was to proceed straight to Tucson, do not pass go, do not collect $200, and have a nice night or two with my brother and his wife and drink in he lovely Sonoran ambience and a few margaritas. What happened was, my brother ended up sporting up to Prescott from Tucson to check on the status of the great demolition happening in Wilhoit. Oh, I didn't mention that?

The Wilhoit compound is getting new digs. The old (and I mean OLD) "mobile" home that the parents have been living in has been literally torn to pieces to make way for a newer one-one from this decade. So my pa, the workahoilic, the one who traveled to HAWAII while suffering congestive heart failure (diagnosed after he returned), the one who can't say no and can't slow down and never asks for help, is running the demolition/prep at the homestead. My assorted local male relatives have been down to help as they can, but I think my dad (the horriblest pack-rat) is afraid they might throw away something he can reuse or wants to keep for otherwise obscure known-only-to-him reasons. I dunno, it's just a guess. But he's had plenty offers of help, and has been waving them off from time to time. So, when I asked my ma how things were going, she seemed to think they were going allright. But she did let slip that he told her that he had to stop for a bit during the work the other day and that his chest hurt. She's worried crazy about him, living in one of the sheds on the property, while she's camping with my sister up in town. so, here in this roundabout way, is why my brother came up from Tucson, and we got together in Prescott before reuniting down in Tucson later in the day. My brother cruised by the demo site and thought is looked okay and that Dad looked okay. I said hi/bye to my sister and my mom, the kids had a bite to eat and a potty break and off we went.

We blew right through Phoenix, since Pooh wasn't sure what her plans were for the day, and got to Oro Valley, just north of Tucson, just in time to see my brother's wife's herd of horses out at their property before going into the town of Catalina for some really good Mexican food at Lupe's. No margarita, though. We retired early and got up at 0530 (thanks, Boy), and had a couple of quick hikes before we left for Phoenix to rendezvous with the Pooh.

Which, we did, although it was in Apache Junction.