ARIZONZ'S WILD WEST…WICKENBURG

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

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.

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?

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).

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

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

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

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.

Inside the saloon.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!