If you live in one of those touristy states, like I do in Arizona, then you know there is one of those places that your family would always take relatives and friends that would come to visit. Mine is Rawhide, here in Arizona. Well, there is also the South Mountain lights, Nogales, and the Grand Canyon (big hole in the ground). But, Rawhide is the one that I remember fondly, mostly because it was kid friendly and, it had a chicken that could do tic-tac-toe. A couple of years ago they moved Rawhid from Scottsdale to the res just outside of Chandler, and I thought, we should go. Then this last weekend we saw that it was Rawhide's 40th birthday and we decided to take the kids.
I'm sure at this point, you can probably guess what Rawhide is, but if you can't here you go: It's an old west re-enacted town. There are cowboys, but no more Indians. There are horses, and jails, train rides, coach rides, burro rides, panning for gold, buggies that you can climb all over, and old fashioned toy store, a photo taking store, and a museum. It's true, they have REALLY cleaned up Rawhide, but for me it's just not the same. The old place used to have these manequins that you could look at through the windows of the stores doing funny things. They even had a chinese laundry, certainly not pc for nowadays.
This little trip came at a good time. I had just finished reading "These is my Words", which is about a woman's story, written in diary form, of her time settling in Arizona in the 1800's. So it was fun for me to imagine parts of the book while looking at the storefronts and covered wagons.
Anyway, on to the fun. The kids loved Rawhide. It was really busy because it was FREE, but we still had a blast.
Jocelyn LOVED this horse and his blue eyes.
The cowboy that Joe beat up in the show he was in (see below) signed his wanted warrant for him.
and, took a picture with him and Joci.
Knocked Over (completely unrelated snippet from Despicable Me).
I have to admit, she looked adorable in her pink cowboy hat and rifle.
So here is the part that is horrible, and yet funny at the same time. The candy store had old fashioned gum cigarettes, and yes, we bought them for the kids, and Jon. I felt like just about the worst parent on the planet letting my kids 'smoke' their cigarettes, but at the same time, it was hilarious to see them try to hold them. We did have a discussion about how bad and gross cigarettes are and that they should never ever smoke, and that smoking gives you lung cancer, etc.
Joe got to hold a little chicken in the petting zoo. We didn't stay in there long. There were too many kids chasing the animals even though they were asked not to, so there was constantly a plume of dust and animals stampedeing. Jocelyn got a little overwhelmed with all of the commotion.
So Rawhide is known for it's wild west reenactments. They asked for volunteers from the kids and Joe put up his hand and was chosen. He was supposed to watch the money bag and not let the outlaw get it. The little girl was also chosen and told to hit the bad guys with the black pool noodle. Well, let's just say that Joe really kicked some ass! I'm truly surprised that he didn't tackle that guy. As it was, he got in a couple of good hits to, um, the tender parts...
He was so proud of himself, and we were so excited that he really went for it.
