Can't Get Enough of the Wild West!

Most folks that grew up in the 50's and 60's watched westerns on their TV's and at the movies. We played "Cowboys and Indians" regularly and experienced the stagecoaches, the trails, the saloons and wide open spaces of the West through the shows and our own imaginations.

Last week we visited Tombstone, where the Earp brothers presided over the community.  That town....their buildings and the character actors everywhere....do a great job of letting you feel that you are truly in the Old and Wild West!  

So, to continue the experience, Sunday, we drove to the western boundary of Arizona to Parker.  There we met up two of my cousins and their hubbies at The Desert Bar and Nellie E. Saloon.  Mind you, it's a five miles drive off the main highway to get here... a very rough road at that.  Not a road for low-riders or sedans!  Some guy built the five stool bar out in the middle of nowhere in 1983.  See picture below.  When he applied for a liquor license, the county clerk asked, "Who you going to serve out there?  Coyotes?"

Now, it is quite the operation, open only on weekends for the months of November - April. Here's the "modern" version.  This photo was taken later in the afternoon when there were a few empty seats.  Not the case for most of the day. 

You notice that church/school in the background?   That building shows up from a distance and you wonder if it's the remnant of a ghost town.  Here is what this building looks like up close.

A facade!  I thought it was ingenious! 

After leaving here, my cousin (who is staying in Lake Havasu) showed us more hot spots on the cool waters of the Colorado River, that creates the border between much of Arizona and California.  These hot spots were floating bars, bars built on pontoons, that rocked and rolled when a boat raced by.  We did see a coyote along the road, it was nice enough to pose for us.

The next day we drove up to Lake Havasu and on the recommendation of our cousin, we crossed over to California at Parker and drove north to the Parker Dam and crossed back over to Arizona.  It was an interesting drive because .....

Yep, we had just passed this sign and there were a herd out in the field and a couple on the road.  A young one came up to my side of car and bared his teeth at me.  He was so close, I could not get my camera to focus on his snout!  I wonder if these guys are descendants of the burros used by miners 100 years ago?  Here are some photos that we did get.

They still get rather wild out here.  We saw evidence of a wild.... not sure how this occurred.... scene on a mountain top.  Do you see the white speck on this mountain?

I thought it looked like a white plastic lawn chair, so I grabbed my telephoto lens.  Lo and behold, it is.  How did that get up there and stuck between the rocks?  Like I say, it must get wild out here.

In Lake Havasu, I drove over and walked the London Bridge.  I thought it was unique...hubby says it was "under-whelming."  I guess it was not WILD enough for him!  

It make a pretty picture, right?

We headed back to Mesa on Hwy 93 which travels through a desolate area of Arizona.  That highway is called Joshua Tree Parkway, so we got too see lots of Joshua Trees.  It was getting to be dusk, so I didn't get too many photos.  This was one of the larger trees we saw near the road.

Also, lots of Saguaro cactus.  This one had so many "arms" and such a weird shape, I had to turn around and get some photos.  Totally funky!

Here's the same cactus with the sun setting behind it... I like it.

So another day, another day trip in the Wild West has ended.  Adios Cowboys!