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| Father's Day 2013 Bradshaw Mountains, AZ | |
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| | Father's Day 2013 Bradshaw Mountains, AZ | | | |
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Father's Day 2013 Bradshaw Mountains, AZ
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| no partners | | Mom and I decided to head up to Crown King in honor of My Dad on this Father's Day. It had been many years since I had been up there and it hasn't changed much, except the roads aren't in as good of shape. The traffic was good going up the mountain. We only saw three or four other vehicles. When we got to the Crown King General Store, there was almost no parking because there was a wedding taking place. I grabbed a bear and Mom got a soda and we headed off toward Horsethief Lake. When I was 17 or 18, I rode my mountain bike from town to the lake and it didn't seem as far as it did this time driving. There was only one vehicle at the lake when we got there and they were just leaving so we had the whole place to our selves. There was a family of Mallard ducks cruising the shallows and another mom duck that had only one duckling that she was very protective of. every time the older ducklings came near her, she quacked loudly and chased them away. On the back side of the dam where it is leaking a little, there was a small flock of tiny birds that I couldn't get a good look at that were drinking the seepage. While walking around the lake, we came across a bunch of Spring Azure Butterflies that were getting salt from the mud where the water was evaporating. Those little guys are hard to get a good picture of! When we got bored of the lake we decided to drive on up to the fire lookout tower. I couldn't believe our luck, there was someone home! He yelled out the window and invited us up. We sat and talked with him for about an hour. The lookout is a really nice guy named Tony and his family has been in Crown King since the late 1800s. We pointed out landmarks to each other and I think he was a bit surprised as to how many mountains and mesas I could identify (Thank you HAZ!). Our stomachs started grumbling so we climbed down and had a lunch of crackers, Cheddar Cheese and Genoa Salami. Hunger satisfied, we started the long drive down the mountain. By this time, traffic had picked up considerably and we were eating dust from Crown King all the way down to Cleator. I decided to stop, since I had never been in the bar there, WOW what a dump. There is a sign in the restroom that says " If it's yellow, it's mellow. If it's brown, flush it down."! It felt like I was going to fall through the floor in places. Oh well, the beer was ice cold  . I was contemplating taking Maggie Mine rd to Black Canyon City but after I saw the beginning of the road I decided against it. I figured we had had enough bouncy, dusty road today, so we got back on I-17 and headed home. About half way to Black Canyon City, I remembered PIES! So I pulled off at the Squaw Valley rd exit and cruised through BCC to rock springs. I saw all the cars parked at the pie shop and thought I just might go home but since Mom and I were out celebrating My Father on Father's Day we stopped any way. I couldn't believe it, we got in and out in about five minutes! Traffic was horrible the rest of the way home. We had an AWESOME time today! It's good to feel happiness again. |
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Understand, when you eat meat, that something did die. You have an obligation to value it - not just the sirloin but also all those wonderful tough little bits.
Anthony Bourdain |
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