Chris Rolando:

Have you ever watched a tourist in our area? Oh sure, they may be driving 14 MPH in a 40 MPH zone, causing even the best of us to grind our teeth and wish for a hood mounted laser cannon… but have you ever REALLY watched them? Every night when I come home from work, the sun is setting in the West. The mountains to the East of the city actually turn… well, purple… just like the song we all sang in grade school. Of course this also reminds me that in grade school we also sang London Bridge is Falling Down, but I digress.

I am from New York. My wife and I moved out here twenty years ago. When we first arrived I could not get over the fact that I lived somewhere with Palm Trees! Oh sure, the next door neighbor told me they were not indigenous to this area but I didn’t care; neither was I! I just loved the sound of a palm tree in the wind.

When we arrived here 20 years ago, we went to Oatman and watched the gun fights. We drove the mountain road to Kingman, and then spent some time looking at the old buildings in the downtown area. We went to Williams, up to the Grand Canyon Railway and the Lodge. We tubed down the river in Parker among a mass of people in tubes and floppy hats. We went to the casinos and enjoyed the shows and the food. Somewhere along the line, as the two decades past, we stopped noticing the mountains. We no longer heard the sound of the wind in the palms. We have not driven the mountain roads or touched the train in the park in Kingman in longer than we can remember. We drive to work the same way every day and we miss things that are right in front of us.

As the visitors creep around at their reduced speed, it serves to remind us to take a look around and enjoy everything this area has to offer. Maybe it’s time to go walk in the sand at Rotary Park, or go across the lake at sunset to watch the windows in Havasu turn orange all at once. As for me… I think I’ll go get some carrots and head to Oatman. There are some burros there that I have not seen in quite a while.