Our Week

Apache Junction, AZ  High 98  Low 66

Clark Rambling told me it was about time I updated my blog. Didn’t realize it had been so long since I last posted.

We really haven’t been doing much of anything. Jim has been catching rather than just fishing. In fact he fished four days last week and caught fish every day so he is one happy camper.

On Thursday Key went fishing with Jim. He wrote a great blog post about their day on the water so go on over and check it out. One of the items on Key’s bucket list was to catch a fish using an artificial lure. Success.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and got the carpets shampooed. As you can see the heat has arrived here in the desert. I still prefer the heat to the cold.

Our park is emptying fast. Went to a “see ya in the fall” dinner last night with two couples. Other than that, life is quiet.

We made the mistake of having our teeth cleaned. Now I need a crown and Jim needs two crowns and a filling. Oh joy. Won’t get it all done before we leave town but guess we’ll get started.

We see Jim’s oncologist next Thursday and expect good news from that visit. Then he needs to see his cardiologist on the 22nd and we plan on leaving town on the 28th. Those are our plans and we all know about plans.

How To Eat A Cream Puff

Ginny demonstrates the correct way to enjoy a cream puff at our last pot luck for the season here at the park.

We also had a beautiful sunset to enjoy.

Today we went to Dianna’s house so Jim could install a battery cut-off switch on her trailer for her. Then she fed us a wonderful lunch which meant I didn’t have to worry about dinner.

Outside her front door she has a bird nest. I have no idea what kind of bird this is but he/she is definitely sitting on something.

You Have The Right

Apache Junction, AZ   High 86  Low 62

Janie and John made a comment about not wanting to drive into downtown Phoenix to visit the Wells Fargo Museum. It wasn’t near as bad as I thought it was going to be but if this hadn’t been more of a spur of the moment idea, I would have planned much better. The way to get there is to ride the light rail. It lets you off right on the corner where the museum is. We’ll definitely plan better next time.

Only a block from the Wells Fargo Museum is the Phoenix Police Museum. Jan and Bill had told us about this museum and how much they enjoyed it.

We didn’t realize both museums were so close and moved our truck off of our parking meter. We found another meter but it was only a 30 minute meter so when we got to the museum we asked them where we could park. They invited us to park in their employee parking lot. How nice is that. (Thanks Jan and Bill)

The museum is located in historic city hall and contains the room where Ernesto Miranda was booked.

Miranda Rights

The case that brought about the eventual Miranda rights ruling, involved Ernesto Miranda of Phoenix, Arizona. In 1963, Miranda was arrested for the armed robbery of a bank worker. While in custody of the police, Miranda -- who had a record for armed robbery, attempted rape, assault and burglary -- signed a written confession to the armed robbery. He also confessed to kidnapping and raping an 18-year-old girl 11 days prior to the robbery.

Miranda was convicted of the armed robbery, but his attorneys appealed the case on the grounds that Miranda did not understand that he had the right against self-incrimination.

In 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court made a landmark ruling in the case of Miranda v. Arizona that established that a suspect has the right to remain silent and that prosecutors may not use statements made by defendants while in police custody unless the police have advised them of their rights.

Ernesto Miranda's conviction was overturned. Prosecutors later retried the case, using evidence other than his confession, and he was convicted again. Miranda served 11 years in prison and was paroled in 1972.

At age 34, Ernesto Miranda was stabbed and killed in a 1976 bar fight. Ironically, a suspect was arrested in Miranda's stabbing, but exercised his right to remain silent. He was released without being charged.

Sue Bell was our tour guide. Her son is a Phoenix Police Officer and she was a total delight. This sculpture is a monument dedicated to the police officers who have lost their lives on duty in Phoenix.

The museum also gives the history of the Phoenix Police Department. Henry Garfias was the first elected City Marshal in 1881.

Before there were jails, there were jail rocks.

I can’t remember for sure what this thing is called but I know they used it during the riots in the 60’s.

This is Sweet Pea – she is sent in to locate any bombs.

Then Leroi is sent in to disarm the bomb. He was Phoenix’s first bomb disposal robot.

Another wonderful small museum. You can go in and wander around by yourself but if Sue is there, please have her give you the tour.

Wells Fargo

Apache Junction, AZ  High 81  Low 63

We stopped in to visit with Aunt Happy. She’s doing good but was really missing my Uncle Don. She just wanted to talk about him so we reminisced together for awhile.

However, I must tell you she really shocked me. We arrived at her place just as she was getting home from the doctor’s office. She had gone to see a new doctor because she needed an  internist. And Happy really liked this doctor. Which is just amazing because the doctor is a woman. Aunt Happy has always insisted that women are nurses and men are doctors. Remember she is going to be 100 this August so she definitely grew up in a different time than we did. I’m still shocked that she likes this new doctor good enough to continue to see her.

After visiting with Happy we decided to head to downtown Phoenix. Now doesn’t that sound like fun – downtown in a major city. But I really wanted to go to the Wells Fargo Museum. So off we went. We actually found parking on a meter only a half a block from the bank.

In 1852 Henry Wells and William Fargo opened an office in San Francisco to serve the Gold rush prospectors who needed to send their Gold east. Within 15 years Wells, Fargo and Company had absorbed or driven every serious rival out of business and had become the most important mail deliverer, bank, express agency, and stagecoach company in the West.

Notice the different sizes of the bills.

The name of Wells Fargo is well entrenched in Western history and was so well known that miners swore only "By God and Wells Fargo."

At one time they were so efficient in the mail business that they were charging only six cents for a letter, while the Post Office was charging 25 cents, and the Post Office demanded they stop undercutting their prices.

At the peak of their operations Wells Fargo employed a large force of Police and Detectives and more or less stopped the robbing of its Stagecoaches, by capturing about 240 what were called "Road Agents" including the famous Black Bart.

The railroad eventually made the stagecoach obsolete but it is still used today as the symbol for Wells Fargo Bank.

 
Not a big museum but interesting. Glad we went.

The Week In Review

Apache Junction, AZ   High 91  Low 56

We are back in our spot in Apache Junction and life has settled back into a routine again.

Jim has been fishing a couple of times. The park is emptying out as folks head north (way too early in my opinion). Jim had his stitches removed and found out that they had removed all the abnormal cells on his back and doesn’t need to return until October. He’s had two Physical Therapy appointments on his shoulder and it’s really doing good.

Thursday was a little crazy. Paul arrived back in Phoenix after his two months over in New Zealand and Australia. He got in Wednesday night but crashed at a motel near the airport and we picked him up there on Thursday morning. Had a great breakfast at U.S. Egg and then took him home so he could hook up and head down to Tucson.

After dropping him off we picked up my sister and her hubby to take them to the Mesa Airport for their return to Montana. Guess it was a nightmare of a trip as they had to detour to Las Vegas and sit for several hours. My sister’s legs swelled really bad and her Restless Legs about drove her over the edge. Not a good thing. But they finally got home.

Saturday, we drove down to Green Valley to celebrate a good friend’s 70th birthday. John and Karen bought a home down there and then travel in the summertime. It was a fun time.

John, blowing out his candles. Karen, his wife, is in the pink top.

A bunch of folks from Casa Grande were also there that we knew and we also got to meet some new folks.

The winds are returning tonight and lasting through Tuesday. Gusts to 50 mph. Hang onto your hats.

Gammons Gulch

Benson, AZ  High 81  Low 52

Jan and Bill told us that we really needed to include Gammons Gulch in our itinerary while in Benson. Saturday was the day.

I will admit I had my doubts about seeing a western movie set. I really thought it might be boring or nothing new. (Sorry Jan but that’s what I was thinking.)

Boy was I wrong. Jay Gammons is the builder, owner,  and tour guide of Gammons Gulch and he definitely loves his work.

I took this from their web page:

“Step back into time” as founder Jay Gammons has and enjoy the fond memories of days gone by. Imagine yourself stepping back in time, walking down the main street of an old west town.

In the distance you hear sounds of a honky-tonk piano slip in and out of the still, eerie silence as you walk past the saloon.At any moment you expect to see a cowboy step out of the doorway, or hear the pounding of a blacksmith’s hammer.

Or maybe feel the rumble of driven horses as the stagecoach churns up the dust as it rolls into town.

The place is real; a little imagination is all you need to complete your authentic and memorable “step back in time” experience.

Jay’s Dad used to work on the sets of many old westerns either as an actor or as security and Jay has pictures of himself as a youngster acting with John Wayne and others.

Jay has spent over 40 years building Gammons Gulch and his love of the old west shows in his handy work. He is one of the most entertaining, politically incorrect, tour guides we have ever had. He brought the set to life for us. He also plays the piano and the banjo that are in the saloon.

He has lots of beautiful old cars that he’s restoring as well as working on restoring the old buildings. He does all of the work himself and his pride shows through when he’s telling you about what he’s done.

This place was definitely worth the $7 and if you don’t like the tour you don’t have to pay. It’s only 12 miles outside of Benson so add some fun to your tour of this area and visit Gammons Gulch.

The End??

Eire Street

Apache Junction, AZ   High 75   Low 48

We are actually back in Apache (Petticoat) Junction. With the wind storm approaching we left Benson at 6:00 a.m. (yes a.m.) so we got back to our park before the wind really picked up. Dianna headed back on Sunday so she wouldn’t have to deal with the wind or Monday morning commuters. But I still have a couple of posts from last week. Then I’ll be sitting here with absolutely nothing to blog about for another month. Either feast or famine.

Al & Kelly told us about the Bisbee Breakfast Club and after our mine tour we headed over to have lunch.

By the way, if you go to Al’s blog and search for Bisbee Breakfast Club you get a much better idea of the mine tour than I gave you. And also a better tour of Bisbee.

We had a wonderful lunch and I wish now that we had been able to have breakfast at the BBC. I found it interesting that they had these garage type doors in the dining area.

Jim really enjoyed walking up and down Erie Street. Can you see why?

 

Most of the stores on this street are vacant but there was one shop open. So Sassy here’s another one for you.

A couple more pictures of this one little street. We learned that there are five small burgs that make up Bisbee and Eire Street is located in Lowell, AZ.

A street that is a walk back in time.

After leaving Eire Street we headed to the old Warren Baseball Park located in the burg of Warren. The Stadium was built in 1909 by the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company as a recreation for the miners and their families, pre-dating the construction of Chicago's Wrigley Field by nearly five years.

They play a vintage baseball game at this field using 1860 rules. The game was going to be held on Saturday but we were there on Friday. I think that would be a fun excursion for next time.

Leaving the ballpark we headed back towards downtown with a stop to check out the Lavender Pit which is an open pit copper mine named after Harrison Lavender, who was Vice-President of the mining company.

There is also a WWII Memorial at the lookout for the Pit. I appreciate the opportunity to stop and take time to thank those men and women who served our country then and now.

I leave you with one more picture from Eire Street.

 

As we leave Bisbee, I want to tell you that downtown Bisbee is not my favorite place. It is an old mining town with wonderful buildings to look at. But – parking is terrible (not enough of it) and being a mining town it is very hilly. Neither Jim nor I are in good enough physical shape to be able to do that kind of walking. I am also not a shopper so the wonderful arts and crafts offered were not of interest to me. But this is strictly how I feel about it. We loved the mine tour and the BBC and Eire Street. So come to Bisbee and enjoy.