Jammage Fest 2013---Benson Arizona

     I realize I will not own a camera as nice as the one I was borrowing during the spring time.  The pictures were amazing, no matter what I did with it or how I held it.  But all of my camera's right now seem to be acting up.  I am working on a fix all option.  So once again some of these pictures are overly blurry and do not even meet my low standards.  ;)   Please check out      http://exploreb-ham.blogspot.com/                for some amazing pictures of Washington state that I took.  And as always please leave me comments on this page or on any of my thoughts, Exploring, or rambling.  The quickest way to catch up with me is on MY Facebook page:  

Exploring with Wyoming Jack/Bobble Head

        Enough shame-less self promotion.   On with today's Exploring post!   I have been to a lot of great concerts.  I have not been to any kind of concert in a long while.  Plus during Jammage Fest, my family was out of town.  So this was a great way to support local charities, listen to some great bands, drink a little, and just get out of the house.   Plus it was a free event!     When we lived in Washington, it seems I was always waiting for a sunny day, to get pictures that did not have clouds and grey in them.   Here that is rarely a problem.   More a problem is getting used to the heat again, and venturing out to Explore during the hottest parts of the day.   Because of the sun, I waited until late afternoon to venture to the fest.   But it started at noon, and showed no signs of slowing down when I left around nine that night.  

   Held at the large Arena Bar, they have the perfect space for such an event.   Plenty of room for vendors and for the performers, in and around the arena.  Plus spectators have all of that great arena seating to use.   The bar is much larger inside than it appears when walking up to it.  And drinks were very affordable.  Although it was amazingly hot in the bar, unless you were directly in front of the many electric fans, bar service was amazingly fast!   They actually had a full staff on during the event.   This seems like common business logic, but if you have been inside any big corporations in the last few years, you will quickly realize how rare and nice forethought is.   Many bars do not even have enough workers for a slightly busy night.  

         I was kind of surprised at how few people were at the event when first showing up.  But things picked up as the night got darker.   Usually small towns come out in full force any time anything happens.   Although inside the bar stayed packed with people.  A nice sized stage sat in the arena.  Behind it bands could cool off and register for the event.  The green tent housed the sound systems.   Beside the grand stands was a dunk tank.   Sitting in it looked way more appealing than throwing because of the eventual cool down.  

Vendors of all kinds surrounded the arena. 

Including some great smelling food!

                            Including a beverage cart for people that did not want to venture to the bar. 

CHEERS!

Fair Warning

Arizona is very strict on drinking and driving. 

In fact you can not leave many events without going through a DUI check point. 

So have a great time, but do not take your great time on the road!

Enjoy the great views along with the music.

The desert leads into some beautiful mountains just outside of town. 

Above you can just make out another train passing.  

I believe twelve passed during the few hours I spent enjoying the fest.  

 

At least eleven bands performed during the day event.

Above is a local rapper all the way from Sierra Vista.

Ta Ta I believe is his name. 

I thought he was very good. 

Many of the bands were further down on my enjoyment scale. 

                                 The next performer was defiantly not a favorite of mine.   

                                   I will refrain from posting his name here.  

                                     The best part of his long show was his "groupies" 

                                      Pictured above     jamming out during the whole performance.

And now there are four!

                                     I have seen this van all around Benson.  And I chuckle every time I see it.   

If you have never been lucky enough to experience the Arena Bar.

This was my first time going.

And I happily give the place three thumbs up!

Drive past Wal-Mart as if you are jumping on the interstate or going to the recycling place.   

Just past all of the RVs on your right is the entrance. 

If you pass the cafe

You have gone to far.  

I keep hearing about this cafe and am always looking for a new place to enjoy coffee, so I hope to do a full blog post on Reb's very soon.  

Because this event was outside, even kids were welcomed.

I would defiantly bring the whole family next year!

Many family events are not so much 

and you do not find this out until you bring the whole family. 

This was a great day out for me for sure. 

Before it got to dark I manged to snap some sunset pictures.

I am constantly on the strive for the the perfect sunset picture.

And have some great ones from Washington.

 http://exploreb-ham.blogspot.com

Although now I think my main goal is to get one of my sunset pictures posted on the 

local Fox news web sight.  

Has not happened for me yet.  

Maybe with the new camera.

 

 

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** Check out were this all started and were I have been with my first blog series**
     Full of random rambling, Exploring, pictures, deep quotes, and lots of coffee love!  

                 http://wyomingjack.blogspot.com/


           **My second blog series has some of my best personal pictures and lots of                     Exploring!**     
                                Please take a look around.

http://exploreb-ham.blogspot.com/


             **Tell me what  you really think about all of my thoughts!**
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Exploring with Wyoming Jack/Bobble Head



                                                          **Benson Area Residents--special low prices!**

                Do you have extra stuff you don't want and don't know what to do with it??
                                                             Give me a call I will haul.


                                                                 Text or call I do it all!
                                    Steven (520) 444-9556     pontos62or@yahoo.com
                                    a_sherbourne@yahoo.com

                         Your trash could be our treasure.

• Yard clean up/Garbage removal
• Garage-shop-attic-storage clean out
• Furniture/appliance
• Garage sell leftovers
• Most hauling jobs
• VERY reasonable rates----if you share our phone number. 

Save your back-call us before you throw out any un-wanted items or if you need anything moved. 

 

We donate our leftover stuff to charity!

 

 

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Welcome To Benson, Arizona------First Impressions

      Very recently my family and I moved to Benson, Arizona.   A great small town, just far enough from Tuscon, to have all the greats of the area, with that small town feel.  And the knowledge that bigger towns are right down the road when needed.  Benson is also very close to the Mexican boarder.  We just moved from Bellingham, Washington a town twenty minutes from the Canadian boarder.  With this comes a ton of changes.   New friends, jobs, schools and all that jazz.   We have lived in Arizona before, but it has been a long while.   So we are having to get re used to the heat, dangerous animals, and seeing the sun all of the time!   With a small town comes very helpful and nice people.  Something we are also getting used to again.   

      I am launching my third blog series this week.   All about Exploring Arizona.   Filled with Exploring and my pictures.  And our new home town will be the focus and launching point of many of our adventures.   With pictures of the best businesses and places.   I am in hopes that some of the best will want to advertise with me, very cheaply, but that is further down the road.   And I hope as always, that if you enjoy what you see here, you pass on the links!   As you wait for this new page, please check out my Washington page, FULL of pictures of the extra beautiful area at    http://exploreb-ham.blogspot.com/

      Before we look at Benson any further, in my last Exploring blog post, I started a new game.
A kind of a "where's Waldo" feature.   When I go on a quick/mini road trip--one that does not really warrant an entire blog posting of it's own, I post a few pictures --and you try to guess were I was.  As I get more people into this, and decide if it is actually a fun game, there will be prizes for those that guess right.   For now you get the sure satisfaction of knowing you were right!   Give yourself a pat on the back!   

    Here are the clues again    for your last few minutes of guessing....

And this weeks answer is......

Tombstone, Arizona

The town to tough to die!

I was in the are for a quick Exploring/job hunt trip!

Please scan through my blog posts for full thoughts on this great town.

Wish to play again??

Check back on the next post to see if you guessed right...

Or contact me with your guesses.....

Exploring with Wyoming Jack/Bobble Head

                                               New Puzzle  **Week Two**

             This week you only get two pictures to help you guess were our oldest and I were 
Exploring .....

OK   now back to Wonderful Benson, Arizona

As I might have mentioned -this is a very small community.

Established in 1941 

This rail road bridge/tunnel is great fun when the monsoons hit, and the tunnel fills up with water.

                               Just off the main drag, the old rail road station is now a great visitors 
center.   Full of information, and surrounded by great tourist traps and shopping.   The rail road is still a huge part of this community.   Two tracks run right behind this building, and they both stay very busy with freight trains and a local Am track stop.   I know that the brief period of time I lived in Flagstaff, Arizona around 212 trains go through the town a day.   I realized this while staying at one of the three Flagstaff Motel 6 locations.  The one closest to the train tracks.   I do not have an accurate train count for Benson, but it has to be almost equal.  

  In the same parking lot as the above visitors center.

I always have found caboose's fascinating. 

And am often disappointed when no caboose is found on most freight trains.

If you browse through my old posts, you can view some great old caboose pictures from across the country.

          Across from the old station is this great looking building.   I say great looking, because I have never passed the building when it was actually open.   But from the windows, it looks awesome.   Most of the businesses seem to make there own hours on any given day.   Almost everything seems to be on this main street, or off Octillio Street.  

Across the tracks, is this great looking building. 

They are working on the entire property and I am sure it is a very old site. 

I would love to roam through this property. 

Classic cars and trucks can be found all through this town. 

                      Road runners and Quail can be found all through the dessert.   

Another great piece of artwork found in this great city.

Just past our house, heading out of town, towards Wilcox or El Paso

and the last of four exits in town, you pass over the river. 

After a big rain fall, there is actually water inside the high banks. 

After a big storm, the water is racing.

Local museum is defiantly worth taking a look through.

All of the workers are volunteers and very knowledgeable.

Museum's horse drawn school bus.

Arizona licence plates from years past

also at the great museum.

This motel has been around much longer than myself. 

I wish we had the cash to restore this great sight. 

Anyone out there want to become a silent partner??

A few weeks back the kiddos and I roamed around this motel....

Motel main office

One of the many styling rooms.

That now seem to house night stayers that like to drink.

                                                      Behind the motel.

                                                    Pool side!
                                                I feel like such an real estate agent.

     14 RV parks can be found in this small town.   With lots of room for the night traveler, someone moving in, or all the snow bird's on there way South.   I have already mentioned this particular park, and will not sour this blog post by complaining about it again.  Please see my old posts for many reasons to avoid this place.  

    Across from the above RV park is some stables.   Our kiddos had great times, petting and naming all of the colts and ponies.  

     Just down the road is a very large golf course.   I am not sure how they have actual green grass, but plan to learn there secrets for our yard.   The Lions Club Park, also has lots of green grass.   And for such a small town, is an amazing park.  

This is the Benson Airport.

 A few planes are housed here. 

I did not go inside the building, but a nice waiting area sits just beside this classic pickup

                                                               THE airport shuttle.

                                                The hospital is also extremely small.
                             But with the size comes very personal and fast service.                                                        No half a night of waiting to be seen for minor injuries.  

                       Even for a small area, many great trails await to be Explored.  
                            More reports of trails will be in future posts for sure!

While venturing up to the local airport Max and I found this area to Explore.

We may or may not of had to jump a fence to be admitted.  

We soon ventured to a dry creek bed with very high sides.

The root systems in the desert are amazing.

We soon ran into a large shooting range. 

I was worried about the heat, and

running into angry red necks AKA 

the people that drank all the beer around the area, 

and that used the shooting range.

Exploring sky shots

In Washington I was always waiting around to try and capture pictures with the sun.

Here it is very hard not to have the sun, prominent  in every shot.

I am always a sucker for old buildings.

Coming from Tuscon, this is right off the first exit into Benson.

Along with lots of food outlets, a large truck stop, and a Motel 6.

The next exit has Wal-Mart   a 24 hour store according to the claim to fame on the billboard just out of town.  

Also on the above exit....

Further up this same road.  It will soonish lead to the caverns and than Sierra Vista.

And what looks like some amazing hikes.

Back in Benson---two cemetery's can be found.  

Shown is the oldest of the two.

As my past blogs have shown, I have always had a thing for the beauty of cemetery's.

Adding in the natural ground cover of Arizona, makes these sacred places even more unique. 

Lastly for today, is what some call the bluffs.   Just out of town.

You can see the entire town from up top. 

As always   thank you for reading!

   And 

**HAPPY TRAILS!!**

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Benson Area Residents--special low prices!**

                Do you have extra stuff you don't want and don't know what to do with it??
                                                             Give me a call I will haul.


                                                                 Text or call I do it all!
                                    Steven (520) 444-9556     pontos62or@yahoo.com
                                    a_sherbourne@yahoo.com

                         Your trash could be our treasure.

• Yard clean up/Garbage removal
• Garage-shop-attic-storage clean out
• Furniture/appliance
• Garage sell leftovers
• Most hauling jobs
• VERY reasonable rates----if you share our phone number. 

Save your back-call us before you throw out any un-wanted items or if you need anything moved. 

 

We donate our leftover stuff to charity!

 

 

 

 

** My "Mini Rants" will make you smile. 

400+ blog posts to roam through.

Surly one will even make you smile! 
                 http://wyomingjack.blogspot.com/

           **My second blog series has some of my best personal pictures and lots of                     Exploring!**     
                                Please take a look around.

http://exploreb-ham.blogspot.com/


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