[articulate]

Once upon a time, I pretended to go to college, but it actually cost me a whole bunch of money. I left my native nest of Arizona for the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and proceeded to waste my money by skipping class and chasing girls. However, would you believe one of the first girls I attempted to hit on was a cute little southern thing from "Noth Care-oh-line-uh." Yes. And she asked me, "So how do y'all git 'round out there with all them sand dunes? Is Arizona where they use camels 'n stuff?"

<shakes="my head">

So, I presume that other folks might have the same impression of Arizona, and i'll attempt to help set the record straight with my account of a handy little trip I made to a tiny ghosttown with a mining problem. For instance, here is a fine example of a non-sand dune in Arizona:

Yes . This fence belongs to an old west corral, which is on the way to this fine town of Tip Top, AZ.

Oh, and my goodness...we have a bunch of these things (which, consequently, are not sand dunes but just as brutal):

That's a saguaro cactus; the mighty keeper of the Sonoran Desert. For brief periods of bliss - what you might call Spring - these grand creaures grow fantasic yellow and white flowers that provide food for birds. They also provide photographers a reason to come outside and drive their Jeeps to interesting places.

Back to that. Interesting places. Well, Tip Top today is just a few remnants of a town, really. The building in the best condition is an old brewery. Yes. See, back in the late-mid 1800s miners knew what was important: a cold one at the end of the day. Here is part of the brewery:

Most of the walls are only about chest high. But as you can see in this next photo, the living quarters we're not nearly as stout. Let's make this clear: out here in the desert, a nice place for drinkin' trumps a nice place to sleep:


Continued to next post.....

[articulate]

Continued from above...

Well, here is some more of the lovely town of Tip Top, Arizona:


As you can see, there isn't much there; but if such things intrigue you, then perhaps you'll realize there really is a lot to see there.

By now, you might be saying, "hey buddy, where's the Jeep pics?" So, here is a self portrait:

Would you look at that! There's water out here in the desert, too. So much for sand dunes and camels...we get around in Jeeps.

The road to Tip Top follows some old stage routes and crosses several washes. We aren't allowed to call these things rivers since they are not perennial. For instance here is a dry river bed, which we call a wash:


On of my partners had to shoot this one, so I don't take credit for it:



Oh, and you might enjoy this one. Yes, while it really isn't all sand dunes and camels out here...we do have other desert scenes:


Ok, that's that. Thanks for viewing. I hope you enjoyed...and get my attempt at a little humor.

Cheers!
M

[EMTimZJ]

Those are fantastic pictures. I really enjoyed the last one

[Flatbroke]

Good job X2

Arizona has a lot to offer. BUT IT IS HOTTER THAN A WHORES DREAM

[articulate]

Originally Posted by Flatbroke

Good job X2

Arizona has a lot to offer. BUT IT IS HOTTER THAN A WHORES DREAM

You fellas are too kind.

!Gracias!

M