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Showing posts from January, 2012

Morristown: Another Look

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January 2011 A year ago, Sharon and I took the same route to Wickenburg and then to Prescott where we stayed the night.  Along the way we stopped in Morristown because a large abandoned building was right on the road just begging to have its picture taken.  Behind it was a trailer we figured the owners must have lived in at one time.  We couldn't pass it by on this trip, so we decided to take another look to see what a year and the harsh desert elements did to the structures.   The building looked basically the same with the vines growing up the side looking a bit more dead than they did a year earlier.  The trailer looked like it took a beating and looked much more haggard than the first time around.  Time was not kind to this poor little trailer sitting under the huge tree. January 2011 January 2012

Wickenburg: Just Good Country Living

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Traveling to Kirkland from my house takes you through Wickenburg.  This city is located about 60 miles northwest from Phoenix in the southwest Sonoran Desert.  On the town's brochure, they refer to Wickenburg as the place with "clean air, good country living, western hospitality and all-around high quality of life".  I would have to agree.  It is the perfect mix of old west/modern with its historical downtown and beautiful large homes on the outskirts of town.  And yes, the air is clean. Wickenburg was founded in 1863 and named after Henry Wickenburg, who also founded Vulture Mine.  He was a farmer and prospector who donated or sold much of his land in the area where Wickenburg now sits. Surrounding the city is Weaver Mountains, named after Pauline Weaver, with Vulture Mine nearby. Sadly, Vulture Mine is still closed but we were able to get pictures from the outside which I will post later. If you find yourself in Wickenburg, check out the chamber of Commerce, gra

First Stop, Whittman

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Around 35 miles from Phoenix on Grand Avenue stands the tiny town of Whittman.  Most people traveling from Phoenix to Kingman or Las Vegas would just pass this place by and not even realizing they just drove through it.   S haron and I are not most people, so we went exploring.  It didn't take long before finding abandoned structures which used to be someone's home.  Now these houses stand empty and alone with only its memories hidden within the decaying walls.  I am sure the town's folks probably thought we were crazy taking pictures of these buildings, but we didn't care and just snapped away.  This is what we found on  our first time through Whittman.  We decided to hit this town again on our way back and I will show all those pictures on another post.

Arizona’s Meteor Crater

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About 50,000 years ago, a deep hole was formed when a meteor struck the Earth about 35 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona.  This crater measured three-quarters of a mile wide and was about 700 feet deep.   This impact caused hurricane-force winds blowing in all directions with about 175 million tons of rock thrown into the air.  It only took 10 seconds to form the meteor crater causing a huge void surrounding the area. At first, it was thought that a volcanic blast caused the large gap in the Earth’s surface, until in 1903, Daniel Barringer, a Philadelphia mining engineer, went to the site.  He determined that the huge cavity was made by an enormous meteor.  Barringer bore holes at the bottom of the crater to prove that he was accurate.  He found oxidized meteorite fragments which convinced other researchers that his theory was correct. The owners of the Crater proclaim it to be “the first proven, best-preserved meteorite crater on earth.” I have been able to visit the

Mother Nature's Weird Creations

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What Is In a Name?

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Every state has them, those bizarre and funny town names, creeks and rivers.  Arizona has no shortage of them.  I often wonder where the names come from.  Did a group of town councilmen have too much to drink or too much sun and decided that “Why” a good name for their town? Perhaps a bloody battle or another event occurred and the creek or town was named after that incident? Or better yet, it was named after a person with a wacky name?  I decided to check into the stories behind some of these unusual names to see if I can get to the bottom of where the names came from. Wet Beaver Creek & Dry Beaver Creek:    Named for the abundant amount of beavers that lived in the area.  Mines out of the gutter people on other possible reasons for the names, lol. Bloody Basin: This is a historical area where dinosaurs once dominated and in the early 1900’s a bloody battle against Yavapai hostiles and a military outfit once fought. Many were killed during this battle. H