My own personal final destination weekend...

My Final Destination Day- February 4, 2011

Currently, living in Kingman AZ. It's basically a little town of 60,000 people South of Vegas. I decided that I have done a very bad job of sightseeing since I moved to AZ in July. So I mapped out numerous sights that I wanted to check out. I initially decided to go to Sedona for the first weekend but a couple days prior I noticed that Sedona was having a marathon that weekend and stated 2,000+ people would be in town for the marathon. Eh..NO THANK YOU (I generally hate large crowds because that means large numbers of stupid people in groups) and settled on Phoenix. I booked a room and was on my way after work on Friday. Friday was not eventful and I arrived at the hotel, had dinner in the restaurant and went to bed.

On Saturday, February 4^th. I woke up leisurely, ordered room service and got ready for the day. I headed downstairs and got my car from Valet and started on my way. Except, I left my phone in the room so I turned around and retrieved it. Take two. I proceed on the given route only to find the highway entrance I need is closed. I detour back passed my hotel (for the 3^rd time, mind you) and get to stop number one. Rawhide Western Town, which is a western mining themed town. I get there around 10:45 and it's of course closed. I walk around the deserted town but don't have time to wait till it opens at noon so I walk back to my car and continue on.

The next stop is the Mystery Castle. This place was awesome. It was built in the 1930's by Boyce Gulley. Gully moved from Seattle to Phoenix when he discovered he had TB in the early 1930's and started building the house for his daughter, Mary Lou whom he barely knew. In 1945, Gully died and his wife and daughter received notification from a lawyer. They moved to the house and had to stay for two years and at that point they could open a trap door which contained the deed, gold, two five hundred dollar bills, etc. The house is constructed of mortar, cement, goat's milk and calcium and Gulley was a fan of cheap building material like rejected bricks, bottles, microwave containers, etc. Gulley was also innovative by taking advantage of a wishing well to deliver drinks from the downstairs bar to the upstairs patio. He used glass tiles in the upstairs porch that worked like sconces in the bar below. He used placed the bedroom behind the main living room fireplace to use the heat. The kitchen had drains on the floor and sinks that collected water to be used by a hose. He built a guestroom around a cactus skull and used it as decoration. He even used the headlights and rims of his vehicle as window frames. Gulley had an obsession with snakes and cats, both are featured throughout the house. The house has 18 rooms (master bedroom, guestroom, bar, children's playroom, living room, kitchen, foyers, etc). The lower level consists of a foyer that has build in benches for short people and tall people. This room was called Purgatory. To the right was a chapel and to the left the bar. On the main level, Gulley built a children's playroom which was used for employees as Mary Lou was too old for a playroom by the time she moved there. The guestroom was constructed of train tracks and telephone poles as support beams for the ceiling. The castle is eccentric and now has electricity running to in (1992). Mary Lou opened the house for tours years ago and she passed away in 2010.

The next stop on the list was The Goldfield Ghost Town. This was a living ghost town that is a huge tourist trap. The buildings have been converted to stores and the offer train rides, food, baked goods, etc. I stayed a short time and headed to Tortilla Flats. Tortilla Flats is a Western Town which is small and so packed that I didn't even attempt to stop. Shortly after Tortilla Flats, the road AZ-88 which is a historic scenic byway turned to dirt. After several

miles it also turned into a one lane two-way traffic street. It contained multiple one-lane bridges which I encountered several incredibly stupid people that liked to block the road so that passing was difficult. The road had several rough patches as it went through the mountains. The majority of the drive was at 25 MPH and without cellphone service. The 38 miles took about 3 hours. The drive was gorgeous though.  If you've never been in an area without cell service..let me tell you it is liberating and peaceful.

I finally arrived to civilization and decided to head back to Rawhide Western Town before calling it a day. On the way to Rawhide, I was pulled over for speeding 65 in a 55. I saw it coming and pulled over before the cop could get behind me. He approached and said: “You need to be somewhere?”

Me: “No, not really.”

Cop: “Then what's your hurry.”

Me: “Well, honestly, I wasn't 100% what the speed limit was.”

Cop: “Why not, it's posted all over?

Me: “It changed a few different times.”

Cop: “You still residing in Michigan.”

Me: “Sorta..... I work in Kingman right now, but Michigan is my permanent home.”

Cop: “I'll tell you what, how about I give you a warning this time. Slow down, speed limit is 55.”

Me: “Thanks.”

So after that I was back on my way. Finally the road changed into a freeway and we were moving faster. At the change over from the 60 to I-10, traffic abruptly stopped. The car in front of me slammed on his brakes and I slammed on my brakes. In the rearwiew I saw the guy behind me coming at an incredible pace so I got over into another lane at the very last minute. Just in time for the guy behind me to slam into the guy in front of me. I wasn't hit at all which was shocking because I thought for sure I was getting hit some way, some how. I was halfway in another lane so I tried to move over to the shoulder but people were less than helpful so I just left. I got off the next exit to double check that Ron Jeremy (my pickup truck's name) was in one piece and then continued on. I decided to skip Rawhide Western Town.

On the way to the hotel, I passed Arizona Mills and decided it was fate to perform some retail therapy since I was thoroughly rattled from the near miss. I called Candy to process and verify that I didn't break the law by fleeing the scene of an accident which I didn't because I wasn't actually involved. As I talked to Candy, I wandered around the mall and purchased a few items at Victoria Secret. Eventually I was back out into the mall and noticed cop cars with lights on at one exit. Then, all the stores started shutting their gates. The girl at Lenscrafters told me and a couple other shoppers to get into the store. “This isn't a joke.” So I grudgingly entered the store where she immediately shut the gate. After 3 or 4 minutes she opened the gate and let us out. Other stores left their gates down. I was informed that the mall was closing at 7pm (in about 15 minutes). I also overheard it was a bomb threat called in, Twitter stated something about a man with a gun. Either way they were shutting the mall down and we had to evacuate. At this point I decided to head straight to my hotel... did not pass go... did not collect $200. I was hesitant to get on the elevator but all is good. I survived...thus far.

While in Phoenix my truck got really dirty with dust and whatnot so shortly after I got back to Kingman I got a car wash.  The following morning, I walked out to my car and noticed weird spots all down the side of my car.  I bought some tar remover and attempted that to no avail.  I finally resorted to taking it to a body shop... long story short it was battery acid and ate through every layer of paint to the base.  This coincidentally is why I no longer name my trucks after porn stars... Ron Jeremy trying to get a free chemical peel that cost me a fortune.  I am not 100% sure where it came from but am suspicious of the accident that happened right next to me.  hmmmm....