The Long, Long Trailer

This morning most of the folks at the Rally journeyed to the Desert Bar for lunch. It's five miles up a dirt road into the Buckskin Mountains north of Parker, Arizona. The Nellie E Saloon is on the site of of an old mining camp. Ken, the owner, bought the land in the late 70's and decided to see if running a bar in the middle of nowhere would actually work. It's only open on week-ends from mid-morning to dusk. They have a full bar (you'd definitely want a designated driver!) and serve grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch. No cheese, but pickles, onions, mustard and relish. We arrived about 11:30 and there were already lines!

It's a funky place with lots of rustic atmosphere. It has a stamped tin ceiling, a copper topped bar and windows that are old glass refrigerator doors. The saloon is powered by solar energy that is stored in batteries and run through inverters. They had a stage outside at one end with live country music. By the time we left, there must have been a hundred plus people there. Many of them come across country in four-wheelers, jeeps or dirt bikes.

This afternoon event sponsor Guaranty RV put on a wine and cheese reception. Lots of good California wines, but very little cheese and crackers!

Towards the end of the reception a truck arrived and put up a large screen between the motor homes and after the sun set, they showed the movie, The Long, Long Trailer. Forry and I had seen it in the 50's before we were married! (the movie was filmed in 1953.) The only thing I remembered of it was Desi throwing her collections of boulder-sized souvenir rocks and home canned goods out of the trailer on top of a mountain pass. It was fun to see again, even though I had to put on my coat and bring an afghan in order to sit outside in the desert after dark.