The Arizona Justice League Rides Again - Bumble Bee Ghost Town

The second expedition of the Arizona Justice League of Photographers is now in the books.

We met early Saturday morning at a park in West Phoenix. The fun began when Clif the Lawyer rear ended Eric the Wedding Guy's van and they nearly got into a fistfight. OK, maybe they didn't almost get into a fist fight. Maybe Clif didn't rear end Eric. Maybe they were just deciding who was going to follow who. As far as I'm concerned, the fist fight story is a lot more interesting.

Our destination was Bumble Bee, an old stage coach post about half way between Phoenix and Prescott. The road was rough...

and treacherous.

I had the opportunity to be scared to death. Did I mention I'm terrified of heights?

The town was so minute we literally caravanned right through. Eric suggested we take a few desert shots before heading back to Bumble Bee.

Notice how the Palo Verde tree has wrapped itself arounf the Saguaro cactus in the above photo.

Not something you see every day.

Saguaros are a magestic site to behold. Every time I stand next to a Saguaro I'm reminded from a news story from a few years back. A couple of kids brought their shot guns out to the desert to do some shooting. They stood at the base of a Saguaro and blasted away. The cactus fell on them and they were killed instantly. Guess those Saguaros are heavy. Sometimes Mother Nature fights back.

Speaking of Mother Nature fighting back, check out the gorgeous Prickly Pear Cactus. They were everywhere.

I decided to slice one of the pears off the cactus with my handy Swiss Army knife. Then I asked Eric the Wedding Guy to hold it so I could take a picture. Eric and yours truly soon found out why they call it the Prickly Pear Cactus. The pear you see above is covered with hundreds, perhaps thousands of fine razor sharp barbs that are invisible to the eye. You don't feel them going in but once they're in they sting like nobody's business and they're really hard to remove. You learn something every day and I guess sometimes you got to learn the hard way. Thanks again for helping me out with the photo, Eric.

Old barbed wire fences were ubiquitous.

Darn, I love it when I get to use the ubiquitous in a sentence.

Here's Rick the I.T. guy and Clif the Lawyer snapping away. Did I mention it get's really hot in the desert?

Established in 1879, Bumble Bee was originally called Snyder's Station. Founded by a character by the name of W.W. Snyder, (no known relation to renounded blogger, W.Z. Snyder) the town was a stop on the Phoenix to Prescott stage coach line.

The town died out when a Phoenix to Prescott rail road put the stage coach line out of business.

Bumble Bee, Arizona rose from the dead in the 1930s.

Entrepreneurs built a ghost town and gift shop on the site.

The ghost town tourist attraction didn't last long and what remains is a ghost town of a ghost town.

A handfull of gritty Arizona still inhabit Bumble Bee.

The microscopic town actually has a modest functioning school house.

I guess Bumble Bee is the a great place for people who love the desert and don't care for crowds.

The Justice League finished up the day with a few pictures and lunch in Rock Springs. I'll do a posting on phase II of the adventure later this week. I'll also post some amazing shots by the league's legitimate photographers.

As far as the Justice League of Photographers go, I'm the novice of the group, but I suppose I'm picking things up as I go. Come to think of it, I'm learning not to pick up prickly things.

The 100th post: Clif the Lawyer's Prescott Photos

This is my 100th blog entry. I don't really know that it means anything; just thought I'd mention it.

The 2009-2010 school year is up and running and I've been busier than a one armed chicken plucker. That's right I wrote "busier than a one armed chicken plucker." This is my 100th blog and I can write whatever I like. Besides, I think it's a colorful simile. Anyhow, I've got lots of blogs piling up in my skull. If you check in from time to time, you'll eventually learn about about the Arizona heat wave, a scorpion invasion, the smartest ficus tree,in the world and The Manly Guy Blogger Award.


Here is a shot of the all too heroic Arizona Justice League of Photographers in Prescott, Arizona.

Clif the Lawyer developed this logo. There could be Arizona Justice League of Photograpers could be tee shirts in the future. Maybe we could get patches made and sew them onto the backs of leather jackets. Then we could buy Harleys. We could roll down the Americas highways and backroads protecting people in small towns from outlaw biker-photographers.

Guess we'll see how it goes.

Above is Bryan Frank and the original Justice League, the Los Angeles Justice League of Photographers. http://coolshots.blogspot.com/

The following photos were taken by Cliof the Lawyer.

The Hassayumpa sign has been there since 1927.

Here's a fantastic shot of the Bird Cage Saloon. The Bird Cage is a biker hang out. I have a personal connection with this joint. Did I mention my wife and I were married in Prescott? On the morning of the wedding I rodeto the church with old friends Pat Rodriguez, Danny Martinez and Steve Vanderwall. We some how lost the directions. It was eight a.m and the Birdcage was the only place open. So we ducked in for directions. There were a half dozen tough looking bikers bellied up to the bar. One of them gave us the directions and another bought us each a shot of Jack Daniels. We threw back our shots, thanked the bikers and got back in the car. We hadn't made it half a block when we realized that each of us thought one of the others had been paying attention to the directions. So we cranked a u-turn and piled back into the birdacage. Danny Martinez bought a round of shots for the house and Pat Rodriguez jotted the directions down on a bar napkin. The wedding went off as planned, thanks in no small part to the bikers at the Bird Cage Saloon

Here's a shot from the entrance of Matt's Saloon.

This is Gurley Street, Prescott's main drag. That's Thumb Butte in the background.

A little film called Nobody's Fool, starring Eric Roberts and Rosanna Arquette was shot in Prescott in 1986. Dig that mullett on Eric Roberts.

Well, that's all I have for today. Now that I've posted my 100th blog I somehow feel - like I need to burp.

If you're new to this blog, you probably didn't know I wrote THE EIGHT-FINGERED CRIMINAL'S SON, a quirky collection of mostly true stories about growing up in 1970s Southern California. And you can download the e-book for a measly 5 bucks by clicking here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Eight-Fingered-Criminals-Son-ebook/dp/B005NWH8L4

The Arizona Justice League of Photographers Ride

The Arizona Justice League of Photographers embarked on its inagaural mission to Prescott, Arizona on Saturday July 18, 2009.

Isn't this slick? I got a shot of Fellow Justice League member, Eric taking a picture in the Prescott town square.

I happen to be a member of the newly created Arizona Justice League of Photographers. We were inspired by the Bryan Frank and the original Justice League of Photographers in Los Angeles. My photographey background begins and ends with the photography class I took as a freshman in high school.

The five members of the Justice League stopped for lunch at the Palace Bar on Whiskey Row.

The building burned to the ground in the Whiskey Row fire of 1900. The bar you see above was saved. Patrons disassembled the bar and reasssembled it across the street in the town square. The bartenders continued serving drinks as the Palace went up in flames.

Junior Bonner with Steve McuQueen was filmed in Prescott in the early seventies. One of the major scenes was shot in the Palace Bar.

The newspaper clipping above is located in the men's restroom. That's Steve MccQueen without the shirt. The girl is his costar Barbra Leigh. I think it's a cool photo. Sorry about the weak photography on my part.

I snapped this photo because they were advertising $8.50 Budweiser draft beers. I went with a glass of water. If I want to pay $8.50 for a beer I'll go to an professional baseball game.

I had a Rueben sandwich and corn chowder. It wasn't bad.

How about a cheesy dog photo?

Fellow blogger, Blues Frau in Germany takes fantastic Bicycle photos. Thought I'd try my hand.

Here's a shot of a couple of Justice League photgraphers. That's Rick the I.T. Guy down low and his brother, Clif The Lawyer up high. They actually knew what they were doing.

This is Matt's Saloon on Whiskey Row. Legend has it that Bruce Springsteen rolled up on his Harley one night in 1989. Locals say he bellied up to the bar, had a couple of cold ones and proceeded to play a set with the house band.

Here's a photo of the Boss and the E Street Band, not Matt's House Band.

You never know who you're going to run into on Whiskey Row. Here's a shot of Kris Kristopherson. Pretty cool, huh. Bryan Frank and the original Justice League of photograhers got a shot of Shugg Knight of Death Row Records in Hollywood a couple of weeks ago. I think Kris Kristopherson trumps Shugg Knight. OK this isn't Kris Kristopherson. It's actually Wild Bill Kathan, but he looks a heckuva lot like Kris Kristopherson. He's planning on breaking the world pushup record next month. The standing record is 1,400 pushups in an hour. Good luck, Wild Bill.

This is Wild Bill's car.

And here's a shot of your's truly rifding in the back seat of Wild Bill's car.

The first potography excursion of the Arizona Justice League was a success. We plan to meet again in a month or so. The real photographers are going to send me some photos and I'll post them as soon as possible.

Bryan Frank and the original Justice League of Photographers, thanks for the inspiration.