We're mulling a little roadtrip to Bisbee, Arizona next week. It's an old mining town close to the Mexican border about three hours southeast of Phoenix. The town has lots of artsy stores, good restaurants, cooler temps, hills to walk, and spectacular monsoonal evening storms. While looking over our lodging options, I found The Shady Dell trailer court. Take a gander at that link! I almost had myself convinced (what a blog post that would make!) until I realized the bathroom situation. Showers and toilets are next door. That's the reason I don't do camping. I HATE the whole communal bathroom thing. I think I'll plan a trip to Dot's Diner , the onsite restaurant, so I can get some photos of the trailer court! I wish I was slightly more adventurous because I can envision myself as the star in my very own trailer trash postcards. Just kidding!
Looking at this website brought back memories of a friend's aunt's old Airstream parked in her parent's backyard. If only we'd known how cool those would end up being!
Those backyard memories then made me think of a good clothesline tale. One time my family returned from a long two week vacation to California late on a Sunday. Since the next day was the start of the work week, my mom immediately started in on laundry. Much to her horror after the first load of clothes, she discovered the Maytag dryer was on the fritz. So at midnight, she was out hanging clothes with me handing her clothespins. The next morning, she learned every bra she owned had been stolen from the clothesline. Those things just didn't happen in Oswego, Kansas! The police were called in and blamed it on the gypsies, camped out at the Little Park about a half mile down the road. (They arrived in late July every year for the county fair and usually stayed until the end of the summer. And lots of items left outside were known to walk away in that time frame.) My father, known for his joking nature, immediately went to town and filed an insurance claim for the stolen goods (laughing all the way). The insurance man had a desk in the local bank, so two hours later my mother was the butt of numerous jokes circulating around town. As far as I know, no gypsies were ever frisked and my mother's bras were never recovered. But my dad did collect on the insurance!
And all this brings me back to my fetish with taking photos of clotheslines. Here's another from our June trip to Isla.
Looking at this website brought back memories of a friend's aunt's old Airstream parked in her parent's backyard. If only we'd known how cool those would end up being!
Those backyard memories then made me think of a good clothesline tale. One time my family returned from a long two week vacation to California late on a Sunday. Since the next day was the start of the work week, my mom immediately started in on laundry. Much to her horror after the first load of clothes, she discovered the Maytag dryer was on the fritz. So at midnight, she was out hanging clothes with me handing her clothespins. The next morning, she learned every bra she owned had been stolen from the clothesline. Those things just didn't happen in Oswego, Kansas! The police were called in and blamed it on the gypsies, camped out at the Little Park about a half mile down the road. (They arrived in late July every year for the county fair and usually stayed until the end of the summer. And lots of items left outside were known to walk away in that time frame.) My father, known for his joking nature, immediately went to town and filed an insurance claim for the stolen goods (laughing all the way). The insurance man had a desk in the local bank, so two hours later my mother was the butt of numerous jokes circulating around town. As far as I know, no gypsies were ever frisked and my mother's bras were never recovered. But my dad did collect on the insurance!
And all this brings me back to my fetish with taking photos of clotheslines. Here's another from our June trip to Isla.
6 comments:
Lol! That's a great story! Will be taking a look at that site--I've done a lot of camping in my lifetime--I know many of the places I've seen around the USA I would have never gotten to see if I hadn't camped! Did 4 months around the country in my early 20's! But I wouldn't do it now!
Ha! My Mom used to tell me stories about the gypsy's and when they were around to always be careful. Bet she didn't think about protecting her bras!!
OMG, that trailer park is amazing, I have never seen anything quite like that! I would opt for the leopard carpeted one I think, LOL! We camped for years, I could handle the communal privies thing:-).
That is hilarious Beck! Love your story! And I can Imagine your Dad reporting the theft! That should be a comedy skit!
Jeanne
Jan, I actually looked at their availability and they're booked solid for August! So now I'm free to stay in a room with A/C, a big bed, and a flushing toilet. Janet, there was a gypsy boy in my first grade class for part of the year. His name was pronounced like Cochise, but I have no idea how it was spelled. I can still remember big cars (Cadillacs?) and tents at the Little Park. Quite exotic for Oswego, Kansas! Jeanne, my dad told that story about the insurance claim for years! He was quite a character.
Becky, several of the trailers have sinks and toilets. This park a wonderful find! I'd love to see it.
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