March 3 Monday
I've been doing a lot of walking at the End of Trail cowboy shoot, so I mostly hung around the camper today, getting a little R&R. I haven't been shopping yet, and I'm badly in need of a visit to Walmart to restock my supplies which I will probably do tomorrow.
I haven't made up my mind yet about what I want to do when I decide to leave here, but I am leaning towards heading back to Wickenburg because there are more things there that I enjoy doing, and the traffic-filled roads of the Phoenix area are not fun for me to put up with. There are things to do here, but dealing with the traffic to get to those things is getting more difficult.
Phoenix is a very fast-growing place. I know the hot summers keep some folks away from desert areas like Phoenix, but most folks from South America are used to hot weather, so there's no shortage of illegal aliens in Phoenix. Meanwhile, places like Wickenburg, which is only about 50 miles away, are much more laid-back, easy-going, and peaceful than big cities like Phoenix and Tucson.
And yes, I understand that those of you living in actual big cities in the Northeast, like New York and Chicago, fall out of your chairs laughing at me, claiming Phoenix and Tucson to be big cities! And yes, I understand that more people live in the big cities of the Northeast; I just don't understand WHY!
After I grew up and had the freedom to live wherever I wanted, I lived in Miami, Florida, and the mountains of Colorado, both of which are basically tourist areas. They are both beautiful in their own way and have things to do that attract people to an outdoor kind of life. Whether it's camping and snow skiing in the mountains or scuba diving and deep-sea fishing in Miami, they are both great places to be. Miami, not so much, but it was a tropical paradise back in my day.
So I can look back on those places and understand why I lived there, but living in big cities in the Northeast??? The WHY eludes me!
Theboondork
These folks are lucky to share the same hobby. But who knows, they may have met each other participating in this hobby.
Over at the mounted shooters arena, somebody has to replace the 12 balloons that usually get broken after every contestant’s run, and that would be a herd of little kids running out into the arena after every contestant and replacing all the busted balloons. The new balloons are already blown up, so the kids can replace them all in less than a minute, meaning they have to run out and back.
Mounted shooting is a timed event. The horse and rider who runs the course quickest is the winner, so the horse is galloping the whole way. But every unbroken balloon adds seconds to your time.
This guy looks like actual pictures I’ve seen of Wyatt Earp when he was older. But as you can see by his name tag, he’s not Wyatt Earp; He’s Rattlesnake Slim.
This is the place to be if you want to dress in the latest 1800s fashion. Whether you want to be a lady walking out of the church door, a cowgirl working on a ranch, or a floozy walking out of a saloon, these folks have the proper attire for you.