Avoiding an alien abduction in Arizona [S.O.F.T.]

Our Single Older Female Traveler continues on the next leg of her American journey taking her to new, exciting and even scary places…

Well the wagons rolled into Arizona and Sheriff Joe’s territory, and his infamous Tent City Jails. Love him, or hate him, his jails are emptier than those in California.

In the Sanoran Deset, the Navaho and the Hopi seem to have the monopoly on the jewellery – and as a result I found it hard to justify $500 on a necklace, that looked like it was made in Bali for $10. Even if it was made by the second cousin of the niece of the grandson of Geronimo, but there was a blue hummingbird necklace I saw in Sedona which I might buy on my second visit.

My second tour of cowboy country overlaps the first tour, so I will be revisiting Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

Much to my surprise and absolute delight, two cowboys have appeared on the bus, photo opportunity! A very mousey couple, who seem to have missed out on personalities and spent their time whispering to each other and studying maps, suddenly broke out their cowboy and cowgirl ensembles, they had packed them in their suitcases!

So there we were eating our chow at Rusty’s Cowboy Ranch, and so casually, as if they do it all the time in the High Street in Birmingham, they just came out! He even had a sheriff’s badge. I don’t believe they have spoken out loud as yet but they are out, and proud proving actions speak louder than words! Yeee Ha.

I am actually toying with the idea myself, but the scary thing is that the other ‘real’ cowboys have real guns everywhere… Guns are sold in the supermarket, in the take away, in Walmart. Spooky stuff.

Speaking of maps, the New Zealand sheep farmer also has a penchant for maps. He folds them and unfolds them, while attempting to punch me in the face, rustle, rustle, rustle, almost a hanging offence for a husband! But I find myself speechless while our childbearing hips are making intermittent contact. The icing on the cake was discovering his fascination with guns. I believe he spent a lot of his time in San Fran at the shooting range! My luck absolutely astounds me.

Sedona, however lived up to my expectations. Past the sleeping Geronimo and the Valley of the Sun and through the red dusty plains, where the “weak never made it, and the meek never tried.”

As we were sitting around the campfire amongst the red rocks of Sedona, a guide said, “Yes Ma’m, it is UFO country.” The new age centre of Arizona!

While I was busy trying not to be abducted by aliens, I still had time for a spot of retail therapy. I was in retail heaven really, crystals, Native American jewellery and psychics galore, I enjoyed my last few days here.

Have you explored the American deserts in Arizona? Let us know if you saw any spooky unidentified flying objects drifting around!