Friday, March 29…Should’ve Been A Cowboy (Toby Keith)

 Up early again, getting spiffed up and making plans for the day. Had a substantial breakfast…pancakes by Chef Kim, so our bellies were full.  Then I ordered tickets online for Old Tucson which didn’t open until 10:30 so there was time for bird watching and hair drying before we had to leave. 

--------------------

   Didn’t know what to expect from Old Tucson; it’d been recommended but Kim and I have never been there.  First time for all of us.  This is from the website: Old Tucson is an active film ranch with 300 acres of available space for movie and television production. Over 500 films and television shows have been shot at Old Tucson including classics like Arizona, El Dorado, Tombstone, Joe Kidd, Winchester ’73, Three Amigos, and more. The central town is comprised of over 60 buildings on 20 acres of land just 15 minutes outside Tucson, AZ.

   Nestled between Saguaro National Park and Tucson Mountain Park, Old Tucson offers unobstructed views of the surrounding mountains and desert landscape. Filmmakers can shoot in any direction without modern distractions and the vast property provides the space and privacy needed for major productions.

   Several of the buildings contained eateries, a candy store and gift shop. There were ‘immersive entertainment’ shows staged out on the street and live shows staged in a theater setting. But right away, my attention was snagged by the old-time photo studio beyond the courthouse.  It had just opened for the day and didn’t have any appointments booked yet.  She could take us right away, so I tracked down Mom and Kim for a photo shoot. I’m a sucker for dressing up in old Western clothing, holding a bottle of liquor that I would never drink in real life, and hamming it up for the camera. My mom and I had a good time with it, not sure if Kim enjoyed it but he put up with it.  He transforms so easily into a badass cowboy.

   After watching a couple of gunfights type show on the street and a short musical based on Billy the Kid’s involvement in the Lincoln County Wars.  It was well-done and it struck me that this must be the main employment of most of the actors, due to how time intensive it would be to learn the part and perform it multiple times throughout the day.  The blacksmith is indeed a real blacksmith, and not only does he work at Old Tucson 6 days a week but also teaches the art to kids, doing his best to make sure it doesn’t become a lost art.

   “See a carousel, ride a carousel” is my motto, which is exactly what Mom and I did.  Had it all to ourselves.  Kim opted for taking pictures instead of joining us. 

--------------------   

   On our drive through Picture Rocks, a little town just before entering Saguaro National Park, Kim saw a food truck selling Sonoran Hot Dogs. He wanted to stop on our way back to get one for a comparison with Hot Dogs Alvarado.  We each had one and all agreed that, while they were good, Hot Dogs Alvarado was better.  These were made with beef hot dogs which scored points with Kim but the buns weren’t grilled which lost points from all of us. But it was still a tasty lunch.

   We topped off our day out with a stop at Dairy Queen.

--------------------

   Kim’s request this morning was that we be back to give him enough time before dark to install a mount for the TV.  The 32” TV didn’t fit on the existing mount apparatus, so it was just standing on its legs.  That wouldn’t work in a moving camper, so he bought a new mounting system. We were home mid-afternoon and he got to work.  The television is now secured tightly to the wall.

--------------------  

   The StarLink launch has been postponed to ‘no earlier than 7:30 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Saturday, March 30th.  So, we’ll look again tomorrow night.

--------------------

   Felicia stopped by tonight to say hello to Mom and then bye to all of us because she won’t be here over the weekend nor on Monday, when we leave. Can’t believe our time here is coming to an end soon.  We’ll be putting in a request for ‘our’ lot again for next year and looking forward to returning.

--------------------

    No imaging due to clouds and wind.  

No comments:

Post a Comment