Spring Break (or - The Case of the Dusty Buffalo)

It's not quite Spring but we couldn't wait for a break, so when an opportunity arose to travel to a warmer place we jumped at it. It was 2 degrees above zero headed to a high of 10 when I woke up on the morning our trip started. The following morning I woke up in Phoenix, Arizona to 55 degrees headed to a high of 75. That's the difference between South Dakota and Arizona in March. Actually, it had been unseasonably cold there the week before and the forecast was for a cool down again the week after. We were fortunate to hit the sweet spot.

And, speaking of sweet spots, several people had been saying, "you need to go to San Tan Flat." So we did. 

Lively atmosphere, great staff, cold drinks and good food. There was one thing that needed improvement, however, according to my wife and faithful companion of the road. After surveying the decor she said quite matter of factly, "they need to dust their buffalo." 

It was true. The ash from the fireplace below had certainly resulted in one dusty buffalo. 

I had also been told by my big brother (who is always looking  out for me) of a record store he had visited previously that was not too far away. So I had to check that out of course. Nice little shop, but most of the inventory consisted of bargain records that were not in good condition. 

I have enough of those so I made my way over to the bins labeled "rare." Didn't really see many that were actually rare, but there were some hard to find releases including one I have been searching to find for several years. Barbara Lewis "Baby I'm Yours" from 1965. A lot of singers have recorded that song, but her version is far and away the best. Listen to it some time and I think you'll agree. I also found Mary Hopkin "Post Card" on the Apple label. It's her debut album and was produced by Paul McCartney. Wasn't on my radar but I was pretty excited to find it.

The next day we left the city and headed south into some real old west territory...Tombstone and Bisbee...to do some exploring and to research some family history ties to the area. In between courthouses and libraries I did have a chance to do some hiking in the desert. The diversity of life and beauty of such desolate country was truly amazing. Nature always finds a way as new life springs from dead and decaying surroundings.

It was fun to see the rich history in Tombstone but I really enjoyed visiting Bisbee. That part of our travel adventures took us nearly all the way to the border. We didn't go into Mexico but we were close enough to see it. Bisbee also has an old west and mining history, but is much more colorful than most other remote towns in that area. Very artsy and a lot of old hippies. My kind of place. It reminded me of Lead, South Dakota (except it was more colorful and busy) complete with its own open pit mine that is even larger than the Homestake Open Cut site in Lead. 

The many local area roadside stands selling various trinkets, fruit, nuts and honey were also quite colorful. We couldn't resist stopping to take advantage of a great deal on some freshly picked pecans. Thanks, Leo!

We had to leave too soon to come home. There was so much we didn't get to see or do this trip. But there will be another. Maybe next time we'll try the pistachios or some local honey. And we can check to see if they dusted that buffalo.

Roger O'Dea     3/10/2019