A Rhinestone Cowgirl

All right.  I’ll bite the bullet and touch the computer.  I’d have to look at my notes (in the truck), but I drove about a thousand miles and didn’t get farther than California.  Well, I did say I’d likely drive a course similar to the dotted lines of cartoons of old, and I am, and it’s wonderful.

Many of my side trips are a result of detours, or a wrong turn, but I make certain I’ve plenty of gas (thankfully I have a small spare tank; only 5 gallons, but it’s enough), and WATER.  Lordy, it gets hot.  The temperature in Phoenix should be in the high 90’s today, but I’m currently up in the High Plains of Arizona.  I never understood what “High Plains Drifter” meant…duh.

My photography during this trip is primarily pointing the camera out the windows, but I refuse to be apologetic about the bugs.  I still have not mastered cleaning my own windshield; I must be quite a show.  The pokiest driver on any road, at least the people of Arizona don’t whip me down the highway like Californians, and yes, I pull over to allow others to pass.  That’s really why this trip is taking so long.

I stopped at Western Village in Payson, Arizona, in between an Apache reservation and the Tonto National Forest, on the drive from Phoenix to Holbrook (where I’ll visit the Painted Desert as soon as I post this).  Filled with local art and mass-produced items, I was thrilled to find a substitute for an Official Phone Case for my new, square replacement phone, which I kept misplacing and dropping.  At the Verizon store, the nice clerk advised me that most locations only have cases for Smart Phones.

So mine must be Stupid.  I drooled over western tack, which for some reason I’ve always loved, but the hefty $550 for a pair of spurs seemed just a bit too outlandish.  I know they’re high everywhere, but really.  So I’ll covet my single spur in Mom’s attic.  Like Cinderella’s slipper, when I find a man who fits my spur…boy, howdy!

It was fascinating, with room after room of interesting old-and-new items.  Then I found it:  a Medicine Pouch made of buckskin with a slice of antler for decoration.  Perfect fit, and the saleswoman was tickled with the idea and went to look for one to fit her own phone.  I was happy; perhaps the new marketing tip will help the struggling artist, and it’s extremely cool.  I keep telling people to frequent local artisan shops and festivals, especially as the summer approaches.  That is, if you want to own or wear something truly unique.

The landscape changes so drastically, from flat with Saguaro cacti, up to Ponderosa Pine country, the Rim of Something, and finally the Plains.  All within a couple of hours.  Hardly anyone is on the road and so I often feel like BC and I are the only ones on the planet.  I sing to pass the time, especially, for some reason, Glen Campbell songs.  That man really has a beautiful voice, unlike what I’m screeching out the windows.

Just like singin' in the shower.