Yankee Hospitality

A contradiction in terms without question but it appears that Waterboy's wife must've taught him a thing or two about the southern tradition.

I gave the ol' boy a call lastnight around supper time and... ok... I have to be honest... initially he claimed he couldn't grab a beer with me because he had to get a perm.

Read that again.

He had to get a perm. I realize he'll protest this... but I will place my hand on a Bible and swear the truth of it. Anyway after working out a schedule that would allow for his beauty treatments we met up a little micro brewery that was just down the road from me.

Phantom Canyon I believe is the name of the place. I had the cream ale or some such. Damned good. A fine plate of pork chops followed a couple of those I believe... then it was out to the bench to smoke a couple fine cigars that dear ol' Aqua lad had just aquired.

No shit boys this was one of the best cigars I've ever smoked. Romeo y Julieta Museum Edition. The thing came in a hand painted tube. Unbelieveable. It was so good I almost feel bad for sharing that bit about him getting a perm... almost.

At any rate its always fun to meet you guys. I can now add Waterboy to the list along with Luke, Underwater Operative, and Bill. Shame I missed out on meeting Res... but what with him swoonin' lately I figured he must need his rest.

So thanks for the hospitality Waterboy. Ya make one helluva a host... even when you're hostin' a no good redneck.

Greetings from Colorado Springs


So...

If a man wanted to drink and smoke with some God fearin' liberty lovin' folk... where could he do so? I apologize for not keeping y'all better updated on our progress... but mechanical difficulties left us in Albequerque last night and we just got in a couple hours ago.

We're here till saturday in the AM.

Suggestions welcome.

Kindred Spirits

While we were on the train we found ourselves chattin' with one of the cowboys that had participated in the Old West Shootout. Big ol' boy... also happened to be mayor of Williams, AZ where we were camping.

I had talked to him for quite a while when Jeb came up and asked, "Excuse me.. But why do cowboys always fight indians?"

His answer was both correct and insightful.

"Well young man... the fact is cowboys didn't fight the indians. The Calvary did. So really... the Indians fought against the same people you folks did... and for the same reason."

Reckon our southron accents gave us away.

It was a little suprising when he went on to add...

"Of course lookin' back I'd say the indians got a better deal than you folks did. I mean at least they have the reservations and their own governments."

Ouch.

Junk in Space

Well... here it is. Look at that crack boys. That's an Apollo command module. And yes... there is rust on the crack.

Hey look... missing rivets! I guess all the stress of sitting around in the desert was to much for the state of the art 1920's technology... they just started falling out.

And what's that stuff in the seems? Is that... oh my... yep... its caulk. You can actually pick it out with your finger nail.

Another view of the very large crack. Looks confidence inspiring doesn't it?

Wow look at that sweet welded seem! So smooth! Oh no wait...

That's more caulk.

Big Day at the Canyon

I have to share a few short stories...

While riding the train up... Jeb and I made our way to the rear of the car where a large groop of limeys informed us that there was a "que". While standing in line I overheard one of the women remarking about the excellent landscaping. I'm paraphrasing here but it went something like this:

"The landscaping is unbelieveable. I mean you really feel like you're out in the middle of nowhere. You'd never know you were in the middle of a modern industrialized country."

I had to let that sink in for a while... I kept listening and confirmed that she honestly believed there effectively in the middle of civilization. Like a park that if you just got off the train and walked a couple minutes you'd find a gas station and hotel.

Once in the park... I found myself in a little ice cream shop waiting in another line. There was a group of teenaged girls in front of me... more brits... and an Aussie behind me who was inexplicably sober. The aussie was an old man having the time of his life and he was talking to anyone and everyone around him including me and the girls.

The subject of knives came up and he asked about them being illegal in England. They were chatting about what made a knife illegal and what did not when one of them stated that civilized people don't carry knives and knives are not necessary in a proper society.

She then made the egregious error of asking me if knives were legal to own in America.

I flashed my fancy digital camo SOG open... and the girl damned near lost her composure completely. She went pale. Her eyes got big as saucers... and she started stuttering. "W... why would carry that?"

"How else would I cut my nails?"

The aussie was behind me making a heroic effort to stifle his cackles.

"That knife is of no use."

"I know. That's why we carry firearms sweetheart."

"You own guns???"

"Several. And I carry two or three everywhere I go. My wife carries a Glock .45."

At this point the aussie chimed in. "Mate... that's a fine woman."

Ok... one last story.

If you'll notice in the pictures above the squirrels are extremely friendly. Of them took quite a shine to the boys and kept coming up to them to check them out. He got so close to Elkan... that the boy picked up the bottle water we had resting on the wall and tilted it down for the squirrel.

"Eat?" offered the generous 2-year-old.

The squirrel was clearly tempted... but noting the looming father figure... he wisely scurried off.

Williams Arizona

And we're here... finally. Holy cow dude. Damned 2000 miles thanks to side trips. Big fun though. Today we walked down to an Ice Cave. Its a collapsed lava tube that is so cold there's a huge puddle of ice at the bottom year round. Even though the land around it is 98 degrees. Truely bizarre.

Up next was the Hole. No not the Grand Canyon... that's tomarrow after the train ride. No... I'm talking about the meteor crater.

I was amused to no end to find an honest to God Apollo Command module on display there. I'm sure you'll love the pictures. Oh yeah... this thing was truely built to last. Rivets falling out all over the place... CAULK failing... CAULK DUDE! Rusted cracks... yeah. This thing went to the moon and back. Of course it did.

Anyway... MANY pictures. I'll upload them in the morning. But dude... its late and I gotta get up to meet the train in the AM.

Y'all be cool.

Oh yeah... I almost forgot...

Flagstaff S U C K S.

Greetings from Albuquerque

Is that the only name or word in our language that has 3 u's in it? I need to know these things. Alas... as you can see we've covered some serious ground in these 2 days. It means we haven't had a lot of picture stops... in fact... we've had precisely none. But that will change tomarrow. I planned it this way. I wanted to leave time tomarrow to hit some of the cool sites in Arizona... like the big crater... the so-called Land of Fire and Ice... stuff that will be a big hit for the boys. We aren't planning on being at Williams until late tomarrow night anyway... so we're good.

Of course... most of the day was once again spent on concrete roads. I swear I'm pissing blood. But at least after we hit New Mexico we had stuff to look at. Man is it gorgeous out here. We drove just south of a storm front for a good 80 miles out here... you could see the whole thing. Lots of lightening... lots of rain... just like cloud curtains slithering down to earth... stunning.

We don't have that back east boys. Big Sky Country has already made the impression that I knew it would.

The down side off course is that constant 30mph wind from the southwest. God does that suck. A well.. at least its not hot. It only got up to 102 today.. but it felt a damn site cooler than what 102 feels like at home. 102 back there will kill you. This wasn't a big deal. The wind was more irritating than the heat.

Now to make things more interesting... I'm camping next to a modern day Virgil Earp. White hair... handlebar mustache... walks around carryin' a mil spec 1911 cocked and locked in a korea era leather holster (I have one just like it). Way cool. Told me he drove down from Alaska.

He spat and said... "Fuckin' Canada. Gas was $7.45 there. God Damned Commie fuckers. All to pay for insurance cards that they can carry around and not get healthcare with. Then he spat again... and said, "That fuckin' spook president of ours... he wants that same shit. (Pats the 1911) Well I got something for him if he does."

Oh... by the way...

Wanna feel old?

Today was Elkan's second birthday. Celebrated on the road with his favorite toys and favorite food. He's even getting to swim here at the campground. Big stuff y'all.

I'm gonna sign off. Time for a shower and cigar. Big day tomarrow. Big damned day.