Wild West Oddz -n- Endz
I went to Willcox, Arizona for a rest from traveling. I needed to do laundry, and I noticed that I was getting grumpy in the mornings when I was preparing to hit the road. Time for a break. I stayed over one night in Willcox last year, at a pretty cheap motel that I really liked, especially at that price.
There's a cool looking old motel right across the street from the one where I stayed in Willcox. The only thing is, it's clearly not open for business and it needs a lot of work. I noticed it last year, and halfway expected it to be gone by this year. Instead, I saw the guy who owns the one where I stayed walking back from that property, and signs of construction going on over there. I asked him if he's renovating it and he said that he is, slowly. I told him I was happy to hear it because it's got a lot of personality. He seemed pleased that someone noticed. It's a mid-century modern kind of a thing. Here's a photo:
The paint on it is peeling. I wonder if he plans on keeping it turquoise?
It rained overnight in Willcox. When I went out to run a few errands the next morning, there were giant, shallow puddles in the street at the intersections on both ends of the block. There were big puddles running down the middle of one nearby street. As I drove through town, I noticed that none of the streets had storm sewer openings. There appear to be absolutely no storm sewers in Willcox. However, there are a lot of potholes. It's impossible to see the potholes underneath those giant puddles. Makes for a slow, bumpy ride. Wilcox must not get much rain.
There was a pickup truck parked outside my motel room in Willcox. It didn't move at all the first couple of days I was there. The rear bumper was backed up to about a half inch from a post supporting the second floor of the motel, with the trailer hitch positioned about a quarter of an inch away from the side of the post. I have never seen such precision parking before. I'd have been really impressed if it had been twice or three times as far away from the post. The way it was parked looked impossible to me. Certainly impossible without help. I wonder if they got it close, cut the engine, put it in neutral and then pushed it into place without the engine being involved? When I'm parking and using the engine, there's no way I could get something within 1/4 or 1/2 inch.
The next morning, the truck was gone. I was surprised -- I figured it belonged to the owner of the motel and was permanently parked in that spot. Now I wonder whose truck it is and how often they engage in precision parking?
Fortunately, I took a couple of pictures to illustrate this remarkable feat before the truck moved. I've provided digitally-enhanced close-ups to give you the best chance of seeing what I saw.
I stopped for gas and a restroom break at a little store near Three Points, Arizona. They directed me to a restroom that supposedly had a motion sensor light in it, but no amount of arm waving made the light go on, and I'm not skilled enough to use a strange bathroom in pitch darkness. They offered to let me use their other bathroom, which had no lock on it, but it was behind the counter and they all knew I was in there, so I wasn't concerned. It was the strangest bathroom... First there was the transparent toilet seat with all the little rubber duckies encased in it. Then there was the sink. The basin was on the floor and the spigot was normal height, so there was lots of splashing involved in washing my hands. There were no paper towels, but there was a stack of neatly folded terry cloth towels. I carried the one I used out with me and asked them what they wanted me to do with it, because there was no obvious place to put it in the bathroom. The guy sitting in the recliner by the front counter said to just put it on the counter and they'd put it in the laundry. I think maybe they don't get many people stopping to use the restroom there.
Rubber ducky, anyone?
There's a cool looking old motel right across the street from the one where I stayed in Willcox. The only thing is, it's clearly not open for business and it needs a lot of work. I noticed it last year, and halfway expected it to be gone by this year. Instead, I saw the guy who owns the one where I stayed walking back from that property, and signs of construction going on over there. I asked him if he's renovating it and he said that he is, slowly. I told him I was happy to hear it because it's got a lot of personality. He seemed pleased that someone noticed. It's a mid-century modern kind of a thing. Here's a photo:
It rained overnight in Willcox. When I went out to run a few errands the next morning, there were giant, shallow puddles in the street at the intersections on both ends of the block. There were big puddles running down the middle of one nearby street. As I drove through town, I noticed that none of the streets had storm sewer openings. There appear to be absolutely no storm sewers in Willcox. However, there are a lot of potholes. It's impossible to see the potholes underneath those giant puddles. Makes for a slow, bumpy ride. Wilcox must not get much rain.
There was a pickup truck parked outside my motel room in Willcox. It didn't move at all the first couple of days I was there. The rear bumper was backed up to about a half inch from a post supporting the second floor of the motel, with the trailer hitch positioned about a quarter of an inch away from the side of the post. I have never seen such precision parking before. I'd have been really impressed if it had been twice or three times as far away from the post. The way it was parked looked impossible to me. Certainly impossible without help. I wonder if they got it close, cut the engine, put it in neutral and then pushed it into place without the engine being involved? When I'm parking and using the engine, there's no way I could get something within 1/4 or 1/2 inch.
The next morning, the truck was gone. I was surprised -- I figured it belonged to the owner of the motel and was permanently parked in that spot. Now I wonder whose truck it is and how often they engage in precision parking?
Fortunately, I took a couple of pictures to illustrate this remarkable feat before the truck moved. I've provided digitally-enhanced close-ups to give you the best chance of seeing what I saw.
I stopped for gas and a restroom break at a little store near Three Points, Arizona. They directed me to a restroom that supposedly had a motion sensor light in it, but no amount of arm waving made the light go on, and I'm not skilled enough to use a strange bathroom in pitch darkness. They offered to let me use their other bathroom, which had no lock on it, but it was behind the counter and they all knew I was in there, so I wasn't concerned. It was the strangest bathroom... First there was the transparent toilet seat with all the little rubber duckies encased in it. Then there was the sink. The basin was on the floor and the spigot was normal height, so there was lots of splashing involved in washing my hands. There were no paper towels, but there was a stack of neatly folded terry cloth towels. I carried the one I used out with me and asked them what they wanted me to do with it, because there was no obvious place to put it in the bathroom. The guy sitting in the recliner by the front counter said to just put it on the counter and they'd put it in the laundry. I think maybe they don't get many people stopping to use the restroom there.
Rubber ducky, anyone?
Re: precision parking..maybe he just backed up until he made contact, then moved slightly forward.
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