Somewhat to my surprise, I ran out of space while creating this blog long before I had finished my tour of the town. But I’m not going to just quit. I have a lot to show you and a little to say, so, onward, my friends.

Cave Creek was founded in 1870. In those days people traveled from town to town in stagecoaches that looked something like this, but made out of wood, not iron.

For a town built around nostalgia and western kitsch, what could be more nostalgic than a 50’s style diner?  No, folks, cowboys  don’t go to the drive-thru for a hamburger. You’re more likely to see Fonzie and the gang here.

Cars really did look like this back in the 1950s. With this front, it was probably a pickup truck, and cowboys do love their trucks.

Just beyond Big Earl’s was the psychic shop. Plenty of people were eating hamburgers, but no one wanted their palm read.

And a shoe shop, and the Sockfish Trading Post.

The fish may have wanted me, but I looked, and I didn’t want anything that it had for sale.

Frontier Town was a complete shopping mall, old west style. You’ve heard of, or maybe you’ve seen the car on the roof. Back in the day, the put a covered wagon on the roof. Many odd denizens could be found in Frontier Town.

. . . the red, white, and blue moose, somewhat out of place in the desert . . .

. . . the velociraptor–too small to be a T-Rex. I wanted to take my picture with him, but was too stiff to get down to his level . . .

the Arizona State University Sun Devil and his little pal. They look like they are suffering from heat stroke.

I found someone I could not talk to, but he didn’t mind being in a picture with me.

Do you know where the Petrified Forest is? You probably thought it was up in northern Arizona near the Painted Desert, but nope, most of it seems to be right here in Cave Creek Arizona. (I have never seen such huge pieces of petrified wood before, and I’ve seen a lot of petrified wood.)

I walked a couple of blocks past the petrified forest shop, but I had run out of things of interest on this side of the street. I crossed the street and started back toward my car about a mile behind me.

This seems like a good place to end this segment of the blog. We are 2/3 of the way through this tale of wonder (as in I wonder why Ken is telling me all this).

To Be Continued.

 

 

On this beautiful warm January afternoon, I went out and explored the hidden Arizona town of Cave Creek. The town is a little Scottsdale somewhat off the beaten track, nestled among the volcanic hills 20 miles north of Phoenix. I’ve been hiking in the area a couple of times and thought I’d like to see the town. Come walk through it with me now.

I started on the southwest corner of downtown and walked through it. Most of the interesting places are on the south side of a street that is basically running from west to east at this point though it was north-south before getting to this sign.

The horse almost looks real, doesn’t it? I passed this on a wrong turn before I found the town itself. Cave Creek is farther east than I though it was, and you get there from the Carefree Highway.

The hills are on the edge of Saguaro desert country. Vegetation is about half cactus, and half mesquite trees.

It’s kind of a WTF moment. Why would anyone create a life-sized metal rhinocerous. It is just about the first creature you see when entering town.

It’s for sale, you know, but I don’t know how much it would cost.

It’s a well known fact that desert crocodiles lurk beneath the sand and lurch upwards to catch their prey.

There was also a rusty dragon hoping a pedestrian would come too close. I told him I was really a troll, and he let me go by.

Not all the animals in Cave Creek are made of iron. Here is a beautiful ceramic pig, only one of many painted denizens of this desert town.

There were plenty of metal people around. Lots of musicians, though I think they’d clank a bit.

Metal critters don’t eat each other, so you can find all sorts of unlikely groupings.

Metal, ceramics, and also painted wood. As wooden Native Americans go, this girl is a real beauty, probably a mom, though as she seems to have a kid and a dog. I didn’t notice the skulls at the time, or I might have bought one.

Kokopelli? It looks like a Navajo flute, but his finger work is atrocious.

Half man, half buffalo, this guy appears to be dancing. I find this all very strange, as there were no buffalo in this part of the country.

Almost looks like a unicorn, doesn’t it? Hi ho, Ironsides! Away!

Can I have a shot of that, pardner?

Now this is a critter you might very well meet in this part of the world, and you don’t want to make him mad.

To be Continued . . .