Post by Chicago Jake on Aug 21, 2006 21:30:44 GMT -6
OFFICIAL TRIP REPORT BY CHICAGO JAKE...
Unfortunately, I got home from Hedo Tucson with barely enough time to repack and catch up on some sleep, before I had to leave again on a business trip. I didn't have time to transfer my photos to my laptop, so this trip report (written in my hotel room) is just words. However, I did swipe some photos from the internet as temporary visual aids. When I get back home later in the week and have time to go through my own shots, I'll update this report. In the meantime, this will have to do. And so, without further ado.....
Hedo Tucson Trip Report, August 2006
- Thursday, 8/17/06 - Hazelita and I got an 8 a.m. cab to ORD for our 10:24 flight to Tucson. We checked her bag with all our liquids and gels, and carried on mine. We landed right on schedule at noon Tucson time (two hours time ch-ch-change) to find Rick waiting for us. Cherbunny was circling in her Honda. Hazel joined Cher, while Rick and I got the checked luggage, then picked up a rental SUV to ferry us all around for the weekend. We all got to their house in time for the grand tour. They have a big rambling house, with lots of rooms and cozy nooks and LOTS of fascinating artifacts, like Greenland Tupilaks and such. Big pool and deck, nice hot tub, a porch that goes almost all the way around the house, hummingbird feeders, and great views of a mountain on one side and the city spreading out below them on the other side. We exchanged a few gifts (Hazel and I gave Cher a crystal scorpion, and an angel wind chime than Hazel had been saving) and they gave us "Hedo Tucson" towels, and a cute Pampered Princess purse for Hazel.
We met a couple of critters: one was their dog, a big yellow chow-lab mix named Alex; very gentle and very sweet. The other was Petey, Jr., a scorpion that Rick's son's cat had captured a few days earlier. Cher keeps him in a coffee can or a wine beaker for torturing with cigarette smoke, or other smoke as the case may be. We also met Rick's son, who was kicked out for the weekend along with the cat!
We hung out and chatted most of the rest of the day, including several dips in the pool. We went out to dinner at a nice Mexican place called "Charro's." Then back to the pool, including Cheryl’s flinging of frogs out of the pool (using a pool net as a catapult) into the surrounding cacti. I don't know if she impaled any on the spikes, but that is how I pictured them landing!
- Friday, 8/18/06 - Wild West day! We got up early (7 a.m.) and headed toward the "Kartchner Caverns", about an hour away. We briefly stopped at McDonalds for breakfast to go, and got there a little past 8. We picked up our tickets (previously reserved), watched a movie about the discovery and development of the caves, and got on our scheduled 9 a.m. tour. It was awesome! It is a "living cave", meaning it is still dripping with water and slowly evolving. We saw about half of it (the other half is another tour, and not conducted in the summer due to nesting bats). Very cool stuff.
Then, we continued on to the town of Tombstone, where the actual OK Corral stuff went down back in the wild wild west days. It was much less crowded than I would have expected; probably because it was a weekday, and not high season. We parked in a small free lot on a side street, then wandered down the main street of the town. We stopped at "Big Nose Kate’s" for lunch and drinks (margaritas for the gals, beers for me and Rick) and photos. It is an obvious tourist trap, but fun. Big Nose Kate was a real person, and was Doc Holliday's girlfriend and moll, but the saloon is a recent invention. The building it occupies was the Grand Hotel in historical days, and also houses an entrance to a real-life (but depleted) silver mine.
Next stop, further down the street, was the Bird Cage Theater, which is an authentic holdover from the wild west days. Now it is a museum, but was formerly a theater and whorehouse. I got lots of good photos there, and I bought a souvenir shot glass.
In this picture, you can see the second floor rooms where the working girls took their customers. The main floor was a stage, and the lower level was for gambling.
The next stop was the Crystal Palace Saloon, a restored version of the very fancy 1880s-era saloon, for a couple bottles of sarsaparilla (for Hazel and Rick) and vodka tonic (for Cheryl) and a local "Crystal Palace Ale" for me. And of course more photos.
This picture shows the famous mahogany back bar. This is a reproduction, painstakingly copied from old photographs. The original was sold during prohibition, and subsequently burned up in a fire.
Next, the OK Corral itself! If you are not familiar with this story, here is the short version: the Earps and Doc Holliday squared off against the Clanton gang over control of the town, and the Earp side won, three to nothing. Nowadays, the Earps are generally considered to have been the "good guys", but it was considerably less clear at the time. Anyway, there is a $7.50 admission to get into the corral, which also got you into several little museum areas, the corral itself, and a live-action re-enactment. The re-enactment was not in the exact spot of the actual gunfight, but a little ways off to the side. It wasn't really worth the money, but was amusing. In the actual location of the gunfight (or as near as they can tell), there are some simple animatronic mannequins that raise their arms, turn their heads, and repeatedly battle it out with each other.
Our final stop was a short drive (everything else was within a short walk down the main street of town) to Boot Hill Cemetery. [Historical note: many western towns have a cemetery named "Boot Hill," which is primarily for people who died violently (i.e., "with their boots on") and usually without any money for a decent burial. Nowadays, such a place would more likely be called a "pauper's graveyard."] It was free to enter, but you had to go through a gift shop to get to it! I was kind of disappointed to see that every single grave marker was virtually brand new, and all identical, save for the wording on them. They looked like short sections of PVC pipe with a pine board attached, all painted bright white. There were a few larger markers, but they all matched in color and style. Clearly these have all been replaced recently, although I suspect the wording is authentic. The grounds were clean and well landscaped with cacti of various types.
That did it for Tombstone, and we rolled toward home. We drove through a very strange landscape of huge rocks, seemingly plopped at random on each side of the highway. It was called Texas Canyon. I should have taken photos, but somehow it just looked too eerie to capture in two dimensions.
Back home, Cheryl found a note in her mailbox that a package had arrived for her, but it had been returned to the post office for her to pick up. From the zip code, she was pretty sure it was from Renee. Other than that, we got down to some serious relaxing, including hanging out at the pool, homemade tacos by Cheryl, and me taking photos of the hummingbirds at the feeders. Around 9:30, Diane showed up from Phoenix, and that helped kick the party up another notch! I smoked a cigar, and shared the smoke with Petey Jr.
- Saturday, 8/19/06 - The true party day! The gals all headed out to the post office (and some other shopping) to pick up the mysterious package, leaving Rick and me to talk about geeky stuff. They got back with it at just about the same time that Rick and Lynn (the Nemos) (and their two large chocolate labs, Bogey and Tucker) and Andre and Patty showed up. Big hugs all around, and we all oohed and ahhed over the contents of the package, which indeed was from Renee. It was an official Hedo 2-cson flag, complete with the Hedo nymph! (see photo in previous post)
The rest of the day was the kind of a Hedo blur that we are all familiar with. The typical Hedo talking, splashing, eating, drinking, reminiscing, and creating of new memories. The music mix was very eclectic. Along with the requisite reggae, I remember a rasta version of Dark Side of the Moon, a lot of Motown, some Jethro Tull, some David Bowie, and some heavy metal. We all had a blast. Cher served jerk chicken at 4:30, right on schedule. Also quesadillas, chips, and other munchies.
As the sun was just starting to go down, we started lining up under the flag to do photos. We did a big group photo, couples photos, and various other groupings for various needs. We continued partying long into the night, with lots of beer and vodka and dope smoke, and lots of torturing of Petey Jr. in his jar. Although we were cruel to the poor scorpion, we made up for it by letting the dogs have a session in the pool. Most of them seemed to enjoy it. And you can't beat the smell of wet dog! Yumm!!
- Sunday, 8/20/06 - Cheryl had a fabulous breakfast planned, but time got away from us and Hazel and I needed to get to the airport by 10 am. So she and Nemo furiously cooked us some bacon, eggs, and fabulous fluffy pancakes with fresh berries that unfortunately we had to wolf down, before Rick drove us to the airport. We flew out an hour apart, she for NYC and me for Chicago, and got home pretty much uneventfully. Of course we had to call back to Hedo Tucson immediately upon landing, to see how the rest of the party had gone. All the guests had left, and it sounded like the event was a success from all perspectives.
Bring on the next party!.........Jake
Unfortunately, I got home from Hedo Tucson with barely enough time to repack and catch up on some sleep, before I had to leave again on a business trip. I didn't have time to transfer my photos to my laptop, so this trip report (written in my hotel room) is just words. However, I did swipe some photos from the internet as temporary visual aids. When I get back home later in the week and have time to go through my own shots, I'll update this report. In the meantime, this will have to do. And so, without further ado.....
Hedo Tucson Trip Report, August 2006
- Thursday, 8/17/06 - Hazelita and I got an 8 a.m. cab to ORD for our 10:24 flight to Tucson. We checked her bag with all our liquids and gels, and carried on mine. We landed right on schedule at noon Tucson time (two hours time ch-ch-change) to find Rick waiting for us. Cherbunny was circling in her Honda. Hazel joined Cher, while Rick and I got the checked luggage, then picked up a rental SUV to ferry us all around for the weekend. We all got to their house in time for the grand tour. They have a big rambling house, with lots of rooms and cozy nooks and LOTS of fascinating artifacts, like Greenland Tupilaks and such. Big pool and deck, nice hot tub, a porch that goes almost all the way around the house, hummingbird feeders, and great views of a mountain on one side and the city spreading out below them on the other side. We exchanged a few gifts (Hazel and I gave Cher a crystal scorpion, and an angel wind chime than Hazel had been saving) and they gave us "Hedo Tucson" towels, and a cute Pampered Princess purse for Hazel.
We met a couple of critters: one was their dog, a big yellow chow-lab mix named Alex; very gentle and very sweet. The other was Petey, Jr., a scorpion that Rick's son's cat had captured a few days earlier. Cher keeps him in a coffee can or a wine beaker for torturing with cigarette smoke, or other smoke as the case may be. We also met Rick's son, who was kicked out for the weekend along with the cat!
We hung out and chatted most of the rest of the day, including several dips in the pool. We went out to dinner at a nice Mexican place called "Charro's." Then back to the pool, including Cheryl’s flinging of frogs out of the pool (using a pool net as a catapult) into the surrounding cacti. I don't know if she impaled any on the spikes, but that is how I pictured them landing!
- Friday, 8/18/06 - Wild West day! We got up early (7 a.m.) and headed toward the "Kartchner Caverns", about an hour away. We briefly stopped at McDonalds for breakfast to go, and got there a little past 8. We picked up our tickets (previously reserved), watched a movie about the discovery and development of the caves, and got on our scheduled 9 a.m. tour. It was awesome! It is a "living cave", meaning it is still dripping with water and slowly evolving. We saw about half of it (the other half is another tour, and not conducted in the summer due to nesting bats). Very cool stuff.
Then, we continued on to the town of Tombstone, where the actual OK Corral stuff went down back in the wild wild west days. It was much less crowded than I would have expected; probably because it was a weekday, and not high season. We parked in a small free lot on a side street, then wandered down the main street of the town. We stopped at "Big Nose Kate’s" for lunch and drinks (margaritas for the gals, beers for me and Rick) and photos. It is an obvious tourist trap, but fun. Big Nose Kate was a real person, and was Doc Holliday's girlfriend and moll, but the saloon is a recent invention. The building it occupies was the Grand Hotel in historical days, and also houses an entrance to a real-life (but depleted) silver mine.
Next stop, further down the street, was the Bird Cage Theater, which is an authentic holdover from the wild west days. Now it is a museum, but was formerly a theater and whorehouse. I got lots of good photos there, and I bought a souvenir shot glass.
In this picture, you can see the second floor rooms where the working girls took their customers. The main floor was a stage, and the lower level was for gambling.
The next stop was the Crystal Palace Saloon, a restored version of the very fancy 1880s-era saloon, for a couple bottles of sarsaparilla (for Hazel and Rick) and vodka tonic (for Cheryl) and a local "Crystal Palace Ale" for me. And of course more photos.
This picture shows the famous mahogany back bar. This is a reproduction, painstakingly copied from old photographs. The original was sold during prohibition, and subsequently burned up in a fire.
Next, the OK Corral itself! If you are not familiar with this story, here is the short version: the Earps and Doc Holliday squared off against the Clanton gang over control of the town, and the Earp side won, three to nothing. Nowadays, the Earps are generally considered to have been the "good guys", but it was considerably less clear at the time. Anyway, there is a $7.50 admission to get into the corral, which also got you into several little museum areas, the corral itself, and a live-action re-enactment. The re-enactment was not in the exact spot of the actual gunfight, but a little ways off to the side. It wasn't really worth the money, but was amusing. In the actual location of the gunfight (or as near as they can tell), there are some simple animatronic mannequins that raise their arms, turn their heads, and repeatedly battle it out with each other.
Our final stop was a short drive (everything else was within a short walk down the main street of town) to Boot Hill Cemetery. [Historical note: many western towns have a cemetery named "Boot Hill," which is primarily for people who died violently (i.e., "with their boots on") and usually without any money for a decent burial. Nowadays, such a place would more likely be called a "pauper's graveyard."] It was free to enter, but you had to go through a gift shop to get to it! I was kind of disappointed to see that every single grave marker was virtually brand new, and all identical, save for the wording on them. They looked like short sections of PVC pipe with a pine board attached, all painted bright white. There were a few larger markers, but they all matched in color and style. Clearly these have all been replaced recently, although I suspect the wording is authentic. The grounds were clean and well landscaped with cacti of various types.
That did it for Tombstone, and we rolled toward home. We drove through a very strange landscape of huge rocks, seemingly plopped at random on each side of the highway. It was called Texas Canyon. I should have taken photos, but somehow it just looked too eerie to capture in two dimensions.
Back home, Cheryl found a note in her mailbox that a package had arrived for her, but it had been returned to the post office for her to pick up. From the zip code, she was pretty sure it was from Renee. Other than that, we got down to some serious relaxing, including hanging out at the pool, homemade tacos by Cheryl, and me taking photos of the hummingbirds at the feeders. Around 9:30, Diane showed up from Phoenix, and that helped kick the party up another notch! I smoked a cigar, and shared the smoke with Petey Jr.
- Saturday, 8/19/06 - The true party day! The gals all headed out to the post office (and some other shopping) to pick up the mysterious package, leaving Rick and me to talk about geeky stuff. They got back with it at just about the same time that Rick and Lynn (the Nemos) (and their two large chocolate labs, Bogey and Tucker) and Andre and Patty showed up. Big hugs all around, and we all oohed and ahhed over the contents of the package, which indeed was from Renee. It was an official Hedo 2-cson flag, complete with the Hedo nymph! (see photo in previous post)
The rest of the day was the kind of a Hedo blur that we are all familiar with. The typical Hedo talking, splashing, eating, drinking, reminiscing, and creating of new memories. The music mix was very eclectic. Along with the requisite reggae, I remember a rasta version of Dark Side of the Moon, a lot of Motown, some Jethro Tull, some David Bowie, and some heavy metal. We all had a blast. Cher served jerk chicken at 4:30, right on schedule. Also quesadillas, chips, and other munchies.
As the sun was just starting to go down, we started lining up under the flag to do photos. We did a big group photo, couples photos, and various other groupings for various needs. We continued partying long into the night, with lots of beer and vodka and dope smoke, and lots of torturing of Petey Jr. in his jar. Although we were cruel to the poor scorpion, we made up for it by letting the dogs have a session in the pool. Most of them seemed to enjoy it. And you can't beat the smell of wet dog! Yumm!!
- Sunday, 8/20/06 - Cheryl had a fabulous breakfast planned, but time got away from us and Hazel and I needed to get to the airport by 10 am. So she and Nemo furiously cooked us some bacon, eggs, and fabulous fluffy pancakes with fresh berries that unfortunately we had to wolf down, before Rick drove us to the airport. We flew out an hour apart, she for NYC and me for Chicago, and got home pretty much uneventfully. Of course we had to call back to Hedo Tucson immediately upon landing, to see how the rest of the party had gone. All the guests had left, and it sounded like the event was a success from all perspectives.
Bring on the next party!.........Jake