Saturday, April 14, 2012

ARIZONZ'S WILD WEST…WICKENBURG

Thursday, April 12 – We drove into Wickenburg, AZ, today with Duane & Louise.

saloon

sidewalk

We planned on a rendezvous with friends, Sheryl & Jeff, but their motorcycle spent an extra day in the shop, and they were unable to meet up with the gang.

What a delightful surprise downtown Wickenburg turned-out to be. With numerous restaurants, saloons, and a large assortment of quaint little shops, there's something for everybody.

store-fronts

street-sign-2

One finds an assortment of streetscape bronze sculptures scattered along the sidewalks including roadrunners, gila monsters (lizards), Tarantulas (spiders), and diamond back rattle snakes. When seen out of the corner of your eye and if they catch you by surprise, some even startle you!

"Louise, look out…that is a tarantula!"

What was she thinking?
louise-kissing-spider

There are about a half dozen full-size bronze sculptures of various cowboys, period business women, travelers, and even a drunk old fellow chained to the “jail tree” scattered about that tell you the story of Wickenburg's past (you push a button on a near by wall to get the recording).

button

Vaquero….Hispanic cowboy tells the story of how Wickenburg got started.Vaquero

This talking miner explains the importance of early mining in the area

Miner Leading Donkey
Miner-leading-donkey

Another one of the talking statues is the Felon and Jail Tree. The Jail Tree is a 200 year-old mesquite tree that once served as the town jail. From 1863-1890, outlaws were chained to this tree.

Felon and Jail Tree
Felon-and-jail-tree

If Marsha lived back in the 1800's, she said she would have been a dance hall girl. She just loves to dance…not sure she understands what was expected from a dance girl.

Cowboy and Dance Hall Girl.
cowboy-and-dance-hall-girl

Inside the saloon.
inside-saloon

They had signs up in the bar that were so funny, but this was Marsha's favorite by far.

favorite-sign

Not as big a town as the more famous Prescott, but in many ways we enjoyed this “cowboy” town more. It just feels homey. According to Duane, the bars and saloons fill up on most weekends. Nice places to get together with friends and have a few “cold ones.”

The Desert Caballeros Western Museum is on the square. In front of the museum is the famous Thanks for the Rain statute.

Thanks-for-the-rain

After returning to the campground, we took a walk down toward the desert entrance at the rear of the park. We took the opportunity to stop at Pat & Mike McFall's home to say hello. We've been following Mike's blog, Mike and Pat's Travels, for several years and wanted to meet them and see the kitty, Megabyte.

pat-and-mike

What a beautiful place they have here in North Ranch. They've been reporting there remodeling, decorating, and landscaping in there blog, and they sure have a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the winter here in the desert. They also have a place in Custer, SD, (near Mount Rushmore) where they will be heading in another couple weeks.

They have a beautiful rock garden out front. These flowers looked fake.cactus-flowers-orange

Megabyte, their “angel kitty” was enjoying relaxing on Pat & Mike's bed when we arrived. She came out on the porch to check us out. We must of past inspection, she permitted us to give her a few pats on the back of the head!

What a wonderful, warm couple. We were sorry that we were leaving on Friday, or we would have enjoyed talking with them much longer.

Well, that concludes our days in Arizona, It's off to Boulder City, NV, tomorrow. We'll be staying at the Elks lodge for a while to see the sights in that area.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

15 comments:

  1. The main route from California to Phoenix used to go through Wickenberg. Now it's a straight stretch on I-10. We strolled through the town this year too. It definitely is a "cowboy" town.

    You'll LOVE the Boulder City Elks!

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  2. You have seen so much during your visit to Arizona. I'm looking forward to reading about your travels in Nevada. We always enjoy staying at Elks Lodges.

    Loved the "men thinking" sign. :)

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  3. You've really had some fun days exploring Arizona.

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  4. There is a bunch to see in our state! Thanks for coming, and hurry back!

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  5. Miss you guys already. We will see you down the road. Drive safe

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  6. Wickenburg is another place we missed. Looks like a fun town. Enjoy Nevada!

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  7. Another location to place on our bucket list.

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  8. What a great report on Wickenburg! I would have been listening to each of those statues talk.

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  9. Enjoyed a re-visit to Wickenburg through your photo lens.

    You did Arizona up in grand style! Thanks! Save travels to Nevada!

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  10. There's another place I now have to put on my places to visit. Sure looks like a great little town. Nice that you were able to take time and visit with some other blogers.

    BTW, you had asked us about places to camp in Vegas, and I had meant to tell you that I saw an Elks Lodge there and had thought that you were members. There was one RV parked there when we drove by, so it may be something to look into.

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  11. Wickenburg looks like a neat little town to visit.

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  12. That looks like a fun place to visit. That tarantula was a sculpture right...please tell me it wasn't real!!

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  13. Such a neat way of telling the story of the town ... more fun than just reading some signs.

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  14. Thanks so much for stopping by,,,,stop back anytime or stop in Custer and see us!!
    Our Angel kitty is "Megabyte2",,,don't forget the "2"...because Megabyte was my sons kitty and she is in Heaven with him!! :-)
    Travel Safe!!

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