Where in the World is Parker, AZ?

Puerto Rico ?

How did a call from Puerto Rico on an early Monday morn land me in in Parker Arizona? Well, it's sort of a long story but in a nutshell neither Cindy or I were working and the first decorator I ever worked with some 20-plus years ago called and asked me to help him out.

I Said Yes to What?

This was the temp in town at around 7:00pm in town. It was hotter a few hours earlier, and hotter in the desert where we were, and there was no ventilation in the trains we were working in.



What a welcoming mural and it says so much about what Parker is all about.



As did the local beer

You can usually get a sense of a place by the stores that line Main Street




Now if that were next to a gun shop it would classic; had to settle for paintball.

After too many dinners at the local "reservation" Casino and sad attempts at finding something edible at the local joints which included a few trips to a floating bar where the drink special was called the "Road Raper" this is where I started getting Blimpie's to go and eat in my hotel room.




Because the accommodations were so nice:







Vacancy

That was the first place I was at, we did get upgraded to .....



It was definitely better on the outside and did have internet, but it was still pretty rough.

Getting there is half the fun

Parker is around 3 1/2 to 4 hours away from LA with no traffic.



We were diverted because of an accident down the road. Luckily for us it had just happened there were trucks and cars backed up for miles behind us. It still added around an hour to our journey.



It was as bad as it looks.

Early Mornings

Because it got so hot so early we would leave around 4:30 am to get to the set as it was just getting light out. A couple of times I would head out at 4 am on foot, so I could get a little jog in before work. My buddy would pick me up where ever I happened to get to on the way to the set.



I love the desert in the morning. The highest light is the moon.

The moon made for some beautiful photos



Early morning before anyone except for security is at the set.



Got to get to work honey...



For better and for worse, this sign did not apply to me.




So gorgeous and very nice out, quiet and cool. That all changes as the sun rises and the crew arrives in waves.

Parting Shots

I past this store everyday, on my last evening in Parker I decided to see what it was all about.



They had more types of jerky than I thought possible. These are the ones I decided to try out, still trying them out. So far the ones we've tried have been delicious.



They also had all sorts of local honeys and some interesting jar goods.

My last morning, good bye Parker, good bye FF5.

Lightning in a Bottle --Part 3--The Final Chapter

LIB continued:

As the afternoon tilted and evening approached things got more strange and wonderful.

At times less wonderful and more strange.

I have always loved and awed at the beguiling surreal beauty and art that is stilt walking. On this day, I was treated to many lovely spectacles on longed legs.



We spied this Daliesque creature walking all hurky jerky across the field. She was listing about looking like she would topple all the while, wielding a beer bottle in her hand all the while.

When we caught up to her, she was holding court with some young-uns up in a tree. As Skye approached, the giraffe-like creature beaconed her and quiered, "Do you like to climb trees? This is a wonderful tree to climb. Do want to join us?"

It was like a scene from "Alice and Wonderland"

Skye was captivated.

And then off to see the aerial art shows, one of our main objectives of the day.

How does she do that?

This odd faerie had also been up in the hoop, but because of the angle of the sun and such, I never was able to get a proper shot.

After the aerial hoop performance all we had to do was turn a few degrees to be treated to a kaleidoscope of musical acts.

There were several really fun, eclectic bands. Do I remember any of their names now? So sorry.

The truth is that the costume choices of the crowd were at least as interesting and evocative as those of the shows.



Faux fur was all the rage. Sometimes it work, sort of, I guess




Other times it didn't work.

When it got dark the performances got really wild. My descriptions wouldn't do them justice, too magical, too surreal, too long ago for my fading memory.

But I will cast out words and bits of images that come to my mind;

pole dancing more like pole stunts on a 30ft pole, electrical tape as clothing, stilt walking creatures born of Sesame Street and Tim Burton, fire dancing, aerial arts and aerial dance, mad skills, mad costumes

I tried to take a picture but .....




We were all awed and struck in different ways, but also exhausted and headed out just a little before mid-night.

We saw these during the day, but they took on an entirely different life by night.

Farewell Beautiful Festival