A funky little mining town along state highway 60, easy to ignore as you drive into the beautiful Superstition Mountains and Tonto National Forest. But it’s worth a stop, particularly for the Boyce Thompson Arboretum…

The town overall seems frozen in time, a freeze-frame from the 1880s; horses and mules walk the dusty streets; buildings remain as they were then; people dress in western clothing…

Lots of fun animals including miniature donkeys, horses, even a llama with a most amazing face…

On day three of my Iceland adventures, we begged/demanded Siggi, our Travel Buddy / van driver, stop the van beside a field of Icelandic horses. The sun was setting and everything was bathed in a golden brown glow. Heavenly...

My friend, Rosemary Stafford, and I spent a seriously fun day at the Oregon State Fair in Salem, the capital city. There were many carnival rides, fried foods, happy fair-goers, musicians, artists, gorgeous show animals (like pigs, cows, rabbits, pheasants, horses), you name it. I wish it were going on every weekend! It brings up such happy nostalgia from my early boyhood on a Kansas farm.