She just might give you a piece off a 100 year old cactus....
But I'll get to that in a minute.
Momma and I recently took a trip down memory lane for her in southern Arizona. If there was something to see south of Tucson, we saw it. We had a blast. We made our headquarters in Bisbee at the most adorable retro trailer park called Shady Dell. http://www.theshadydell.com/
It was so delightful- and cheap... we're talking like $90 a night. It was totally retro complete with music from the 40s and 50s piped through the radio, a adorable tv- that worked, and a super cute diner on property. Sadly, the diner was closed for repairs but it was so cute, I can only imagine how delicious the burgers and shakes were. 
I can't really say enough good things about Bisbee. It's a teeny tiny town that came to prosper as a copper mining town. The remants of that operation still remain. It's so sad that mining really truly scars the landscape for life. When in doubt, just face the other direction. The mountains in this area are so beautiful and so unlike the Appalachians that we are used to in the South. Bisbee had a great artsy-crunchy-bikery-antiquey vibe. Aside from the bikers, it was just my kind of vibe (I'm just not a biker). Should you ever find yourself in Bisbee- walk, run, or fly as quickly as possible to the Bisbee Breakfast Club (http://www.bisbeebreakfastclub.com/) as quickly as possible. You may never have huevos rancheros like this again in your life. I'm serious, I will hunt this recipie for the rest of my life. So amazingly delicious.We went to Sierra Vista to see where Momma and Daddy used to hang out when they were freshly married and Daddy had been drafted. Strangely enough, they lived in a little trailer eerily similar to the one we rented. Those Arizonians really love thier trailers! Momma worked in a hospital and Daddy was an electrician on the army base... Fort Huachuca. I just love saying "huachuca." I could say it over and over again, much like "chihuahua." Yay for Spanish!
We went to Tucson to see the amazing San Xavier Mission built in 1793. Oddly enough, this mission is still in the middle of nowhere. I just can't imagine being traveling the wide open desert of Arizona coming upon a particular patch of sand and going "Yep, I think I'll construct a gorgeously ornate building. I'll just travel back a few hundred miles by horseback and pick up some supplies." It was so worth the drive though. Simply beautiful.
Needless to say, we experienced a lot of great places in Arizona. Saw beautiful landscapes unlike anything I'd ever seen. The rolling hills surrounding Bisbee are so lovely and unique. Then one day we decided to drive our little rented honda civic to Tombstone. Momma recalls with such fondness going to Hell Dorado Days when she and Daddy lived here. I've seen the pictures. It looked really cute. Sadly, Tombstone is now a tragic tragic tourist stop. I have no issue with a tourist trap- but I expect the folks in town to really embrace it. Instead, it looks like no one has been minding the Inn. We walked around, attempt to explore some of the historical significance of the town. I mean, really, I was totally ready to explore the Wild Wild West. I wanted gun fights in the streets! You can see them behind the closed doors of the OK Corral for a fee though. However, our luck changed as we were headed back to our car. There were some costumed folks wandering around town hoping to add to the theme. Some ladies of town, maybe the Sheriff's wife, dressed in thier finest. Though when she pulled a cell phone out of her bustle, it really ruined it for me. Anywho, as Momma and I are going back to the car, we see this ginormous cactus. Momma was focused on all things cactus on this trip so we stopped to take a picture. This prickly pear cactus was over 6ft tall and really awesome with all the prickly pears sprouting out. Turns out this cactus is over 100 years old and sits directly behind the OK Corral. Just imagine all the shenanigans this cactus has seen!!!
So as I'm taking a picture upon my mother's request. We see this lovely lady pop out from the back door of a building. Dressed to the nines in 1800s poly-blend hot pink hooker wear. And while I'm processing what's before my eyes, she says in a southern accent thicker than mine, "You wanna starter offa that?" Huh? "You want a starter off of that?" Um, a cactus starter? "Sure." We say. The wench the proceeds to find us an empty beer box grab a fork out of God knows where, stab a fallen cactus paddle and jam it in the box. There is no speaking during this whole transaction, especially by me (cause I'm dumbfounded). She thrusts the box in Momma's face and tells us to water it real good once and the don't water it again for 10 days. The next thing we know she's gone, we have a slab of 100 year old cactus, and were walking back to the car trying to figure out how to get this thing back to Atlanta. (We just threw it in a bag, security didn't think a thing of it).
The moral of the story... a trip down memory lane with your mom is a blast and a hooker in Tombstone may hook you up with a cactus.
