Mah 2019/20 trip to the US - sixth leg

Later Tuesday, we drove in to Joshua Tree National Park. On a whim that very day, we had decided to forego lodgings in Blythe, on the AZ/CA border, in favor of Twentynine Palms just north of the park. The reason was that we had seen TV footage of SNOW in the park and wanted to photograph it. And so we did. Most of the late afternoon of that last day of 2019 was spent chasing the one thing I hated the most, the one thing that I wanted a vacation from... ah, the things I do for other people. Ok, I admit it was a bit cool to see snow in the desert...

We drove in through the southern gate and at first we were sad because we thought almost all the snow was melted.


Though the views were still purdy.


A bit more snow, but still not much.


And then...


Very nice at sunset.


A solitary tree against the sky. On this trip I had actually left my camera in Norway, something I was mentally kicking myself over now.


Nice.


In some places, people had built tiny snowmen.


This one didn't come out half bad.


In the evening, we went to The Rib Co in Twentynine Palms. It was pretty crowded, so instead of waiting for an hour to get a table inside, we chose to sit outside. After five minutes, I could tell I had made the year's worst mistake as the temp was dropping and they had absolutely no external heating. Good BBQ though.


Wednesday, we drove through the northern/northwestern part of the park again, to get some clearer shots. People were out and about, playing in the snow and parking like idiots. Already the day before, I had started to plan out these spoofs.


My version of the famous "cocaine, so much cocaine"-meme.


Ok, it was pretty there.


I always felt that snow looks better on postcards and photos and such than in real life. That opinion still stands.


But I'm glad I got to see this.


Naturally, I was skeptical of snow in Joshua Tree.


At the airport, I discovered white chocolate snickers bars. In this country, I never stood a chance, did I?

Mah 2019/20 trip to the US - fifth leg

Monday was spent on two of mah favorite places in Arizona; indeed in all of these United States: The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Old Tucson. I took quite a few pics at the Desert Museum, but really few at Old Tucson, since I'd been twice before and we didn't spend all that much time there anyway; we got in late since we spent so much time at the first place.

Some kind of falcon. Or hawk. Or eagle. I know it's not an ostrich.


A sleepy looking barn owl. Most of the animals we saw this day looked sleepy.


Hummingbirds are just regular birds who have forgotten the words to the song.


I suggested the yellow color looked like flower smegma and was told I was disgusting.


Sleepy mountain sheep.


A grey fox snoring his days away. And yes, he's up a tree.


A Mexican wolf. There are about 50 of these left in the wild.


It's good to see that Barry is still remembered fondly in some places.


It's a miracle his jaws still held.


One of entirely too many pics I took of this puttycat.


Awww, look at that face.


Just another kitteh.


Although, that glass is the only reason we are still alive.


Yaaaaaaaawn.


Eight years after... and still a moron.


For reference; same situation in 2012:


This hamburger was almost unedible. The Pony Express Pizza and Grill in Old Tucson is a horrible place in an otherwise great old town.


Sundown over Old Tucson. This place is pretty much as close to the Old West as I'll ever come.


Tuesday, we drove out of Arizona and into California but not before acquiring some memories. This is from a gas station in Eloy, between Tucson and Phoenix, where we saw an honest to fuck banjo player at the gas pumps. We joked nervously about having a purdy mouth, but I was glad to get outta Redneckville.


Finally, this elderly gentleman flipped us the bird somewhere just south of Phoenix. You see, my San Diego crew, who are quite a bit more liberal than yours truly, had a bumper sticker saying "The Democrat 2020" on the back of our car and this twice raised the ire of these orange-worshipping snowflakes. Come to think of it, he had small hands, too.

Mah 2019/20 trip to the US - fourth leg

After the snowy hell that was northern Arizona, we made our way to Tucson and Sunday we drove to Tombstone. Very touristy, but one of those "been there, done that"-places that I guess one has to see and do in a lifetime. Of course, I had already left the town in disgust once, but this time it all went fairly ok. Took a shit ton of pics, at least.

A reenactment of the famous gunfight at the OK Corrall, where Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and Doc Holliday killed several bandits.


The actual site, with moving dolls and a tape telling the story over and over and over again.


You can always count on me to find the shitter.


This is currently my cover photo on Facebook.


The Bird Cage theater is a very interesting building; it is the only one in town that actually dates back to the 1880s.


The bar and the interior is kept as intact as humanly possible.








An old and presumably well used hearse.


Lillie Langtry. I've written before about Roy Bean and his obsession with her.


US Christmas celebrations are so fucking tacky.


After Tombstone we pushed on to Bisbee. I found it to be ok but not worthy of the hype. It does have some nice architecture and some houses in strong colors.


In Bisbee, they tend to build where most cities wouldn't dream of permitting a house to be built...


Bear Claws are my Kryptonite.


Lay's Lemon-flavored chips are also Kryptonite.