SHOW LOW, AZ

Last night at a restaurant in Williams, AZ, we ate at a table by the window. We watched as cowboys (with guns strapped on) walked up and down the street...I assumed they were paid to do so. Most had beards and looked a little smarmy.

While my wife was paying the tab, I went to a bench out front to smoke. After a minute or so, a group of French people walked up and in a thick frog accent asked, "Are you famous here?" I almost took them for a ride down fabrication lane, but knew I wouldn't have the time to make the trip meaningful.

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I know I'm being picky, but shit like this sends me up the fucking wall...

What's worse for an artist than an awful painting in his motel room? TWO OF THE EXACT SAME AWFUL ART IN ONE ROOM!!!! JEEEEEEEZ!

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I will say it again...

This country is fucking HUGE!! And right in the middle of this drive, Fergie GPS girl got drunk or something. Here is what it sounded like for five minutes, with hardly a break...

Turn right, then turn right...Turn left....Turn right, then turn left....Turn left, turn right.....etc.

As you can see there was no turn possible for a hundred miles.

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We have learned two very important lessons during our travels in the west:

1. Never let your gas gauge fall below half

2. Never pass up a chance to pee...women pee A LOT!!!

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But along the way, we came upon this gem...Check out the old cars posed in front of each "room" at this motel.

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Finally arrived at the number one item on my bucket list...Meteor Crater. And I just stood in total awe.

On the way out of the observation building we saw this...

If you thought it was a mural, well, so did Debbie and I. I had to do a triple take before I realized it was a hole in the wall.

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Knew I wanted to tag something around the crater, and selected this marker with the mounded crater rim in the background.

I had just finished putting the screwdriver in my pocket when the ranger stopped right in his lane, got out and wanted to know what was going on. I showed him my camera, took a picture of the rim and he warned of the danger of getting stuck in the sand and then...he drove away.

That was close. I can just imagine having to call one of you to bail me out of jail for vandalizing federal property or some such shit.

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After the crater, which I liked very much, we went to the Petrified Forest. On the route into it, there were a half dozen stores as the one below.

Each of these stores covered tens of acres; FILLED with petrified wood. I was impressed.

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Then after I entered the park (absolutely FREE because of that $10 senior pass I bought at the Grand Canyon - savings...$30), I realized why. There are huge petrified trees literally littering the ground...tens of thousands of them. This photo doesn't do the scale justice, but every dark dot you see in the distance is a chunk of petrified tree...and this goes on for 28 miles.

Here's the chunk I acquired...I like it because it looks like and is about the size of a pork loin.

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Now a history lesson: C.E. Cooley and Marion Clark decided there was not enough room for both of them in their settlement. The two men agreed to let a game of cards decide who had to move. A marathon poker game ended with no clear winner, so a frustrated Clark said, "If you can show low, you win." (I can only assume that it was a cut the deck with the lowest card taking it all). Cooley turned up the deuce of clubs (the lowest possible card) and replied, "Show low it is." Thus the town was named.

The stakes were a 100,000 acre ranch. Show Low's main street is named "Deuce of Clubs" in remembrance of Cooley's feat (the street on which I now find myself in a motel). Later, a bronze statue of the participants was commissioned.

I really wanted to tag either the Show Low city limits or a Deuce of Clubs street sign because I think the names are cool as shit, but I'm running low tags, so one a day max.

Time for an early supper...we aren't noctivagant diners.

****THINGS I'VE FOUND WORTHY OF SHARING****

Lara actually showed these through a large telescope in Boston and they are just these colors.

Speaking of space...

My wife said that she loves me with all her butt, adding that she would have said heart, but her butt is bigger.

(good thing Christians pray, like...up)

Sarcasm is the body's natural defense against stupid.

It's only kinky the first time.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

And lastly one from my wife...I liked it.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12616538

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