It never fails. Whenever we start a road trip, we can never get the inside temperature just right while we are sleeping. It takes us about three days to finally settle on a temperature that is neither too hot nor too cold, but just right. We sound like the Three Little Bears every morning. Once we all agreed that 65 degrees was just right, Yoda began being a bit happier. A bit like her old self. She even started bird watching outside of our bedroom window. She can now officially add the Gila Woodpecker to her Bird Life List. Whaaat? I’m not the bird dork. Yoda is!

Our first stop of the day was the historic Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson. The hotel is famous for its authentic 1920s beauty and for the fire which led to the capture of one of the country’s most notorious criminals — John Dillinger.

It’s also famous with those interested in a bit of ghost hunting. There is supposedly a woman smelling of roses that graces the lobby and stairwell…

…and a man on the second floor that was killed in a gunfight over a card game gone wrong. I asked Ava if she saw a man in the hallway and she pointed to this male statue lamp. How could I not agree? She was obviously correct. Let’s try this again. We then walked the halls with her and I asked her if she saw a man. Her answer was “yes”. I then asked if he was wearing a hat. She answered “No yes”. And shoes? “No yes”. And then I heard someone say “You’re leading the witness.” And then I said ” Shut up Dan”.

We also couldn’t resist visiting San Xavier Del Bac Mission just a few miles from downtown Tucson. It is said to be the finest example of mission architecture in the entire U.S. of A. I’m no expert in mission architecture but it made a believer out of me.

The interior will take your breath away. As soon as you step past the massive wooden doors, you are struck by the graceful blend of Moorish, Byzantine and late Mexican Renaissance architecture. It’s truly amazing.

As soon as Ava walked into the mission, she got a twinkle in her eye. You know, the kind that will get her, and all of us, in big big trouble. She was a split second from screaming the word ECHO into the domes above with all of her might. I got down on my knees and started praying for forgiveness told her that this was not the time for echoing but a time for whispering. And by golly, it worked. She spent her entire visit whispering and putting her finger over her nose. Hehe. She has yet to master the shhhh. But I find her version much cuter if I don’t say so myself.

We ended up dropping Carrie off back at Hotel Congress to meet a friend after our mission visit. The city of Tucson decided that it was a good idea to close all of the freeway ramps on Interstate 10 for a 20 miles stretch right next to downtown without any warnings on the freeway on-ramps. We drove over 10 miles each way up and down the freeway before we were able to find an exit near downtown!

Carrie and her friend from Tucson were going to pick up my brother David from the Greyhound station that night so he could join us for the second leg of our journey. So it was back to Catalina State Park for Dan, Ava and me. With all the wonderful site seeing we tried to cram in just a short few days, we really didn’t have a chance to enjoy the park’s surroundings as much as we would of liked. It was nice to have a free afternoon to do just that.

After dinner, we noticed that our gray water tank was almost filled to the brim… which meant that we no longer could wash dishes in the trailer. Damn! So it was off the the facilities to use their sink. On our dark and spooky walk to wash dishes, Ava decided that she didn’t want to walk close to us. I casually mentioned that she had to stay close because there might be coyotes lingering about. Oh man was that a bad idea. She bolted up into Dan’s arms before I could even recall if she even knew what a coyote was in the first place.

Doesn’t our Mali Mish look divine in a desert sunset? We were one of three Airstreams at the park.

Alright. Yoda is trying to rush me off of the computer so she can steal my warm seat.

the end,
marlene

So after giving Dan the evil eye, Ava put on her wild wild west poncho and we drove over to Silver City Ghost Town.

As soon as we got there, we were greeted by a cat named Izzy, a very appropriately named cat from Lake Isabella. Ava proceeded to call for the cat the entire time we were there. So much so that it made me a bit concerned that she wasn’t getting enough oxygen in her lungs. Breathe Ava, Breathe.

Here is Ava next to a wagon. Exciting stuff, huh? Sure we took her there to take some obligatory photos and to check out authentic old west buildings but we were really visiting for one huge reason… to look for GHOSTS!!!

After paying a $4.50 admission fee, we wandered inside of the Silver City Ghost Town for some hunting. (*cuing the spooky music now*). Ghost hunting.  (*stopping the spooky music now*). I had been prepping Ava on what to say to me all day long if she saw a ghost. She had shown some ability to see dead people in the past so I thought I would test her abilities in this quaint little town.

Our first stop of the self-guided tour was the outhouse. As soon as we opened the door to check it out, Izzy the cat ran like a bat out of hell in order to sit on the commode with my brother David. And before I could get a clear picture, she was gone. Disappeared in a poof of smoke! Umm, not really. She went into the wooden toilet bowl and got “flushed” onto the ground. Maybe the cat is a ghost that we all can see! I’m stretching, I know.

Next stop… Jail. Surely there must be ghosts in here.

I asked Ava if she saw any see-thru people in the jail cell. She didn’t say much but she did point at the ceiling…

… and then decided it was time to get hell out of here. NOW. How’s that for proof of ghosts? Still not good enough? Tough crowd. Tough. Crowd.

Ava, do you feel the presence of ghosts in this tiny railroad cart to nowhere?

No Mama but who’s that man standing right behind you? Just kidding!

Inside of a number of buildings, there were Cowboy and Native American mannequins which freaked Ava out a little bit.

This building was one a the few that didn’t have any mannequins inside. I took a picture of it to see if I would get any mysterious orbs in the photos… so I could brag to my ghost-loving friend Carrie that I got an orb… so Dan can just shoot us down. (*Me shaking my fist in the air at nay-saying Dan right now*). After reviewing the photo is close detail, I realized that I did not get any orbs. Not one single orb. But I got something better. Something that made me pee my pants just a teeny bit. I said a teeny bit. Not a lot bit. I zoomed into the window pane and just to the right of it, I saw…

… a Native American chief! No shit! He has a head piece in the top half and his face is in the bottom half. Check out his scary mouth near the bottom of the outline!! If that is not proof, I don’t know what is! You can click here to see it a bit larger if you still don’t believe me.

Thanks Silver City Ghost Town… and Izzy the Cat. We had a blast. I just hope that scary ghost doesn’t follow us back to the Airstream!

the end,
marlene