Elk Hunts and Memories

This post may be long so if you stick with me, I will give you brownie points. Heck I'll even make your brownies. hehehehe

My husband wanted to go elk hunting again (he's brought home deer, but never an elk before) Luckily there was no one in his family to talk to about the hunt and what not. Cuz folks, his family is idiots, and they are on the border line of giving hunters bad names. Now my grandfather, and uncles and heck even my mom and aunts were hunters (uncles still are) and the have the top ethics in hunting, and skill. So...he talked to my uncle and put in for a great hunt. My uncle even called Old Pete Mestas and got where the cow elks were coming in and what time of day, and told him to expect Gigantor.

Last night, Kiddo gets tucked into bed at 8, cuz they are getting up early (first hunt kiddo will get to go on) And Gigantor ran around like a mad man trying to finish packing. I swear that man packed everything in the world for the next 4 days. My luck is he forgot his gun. hehehe

3:30 this morning the dam alarm goes off, and him and Kiddo give me big hugs and kisses and they are on their way. Hell yeah I went back to bed. hehehe

I have been on Gigantors case for months, begging him to stay focused and try to bring and elk home this first weekend. Now he has a very long hunt, usually they are only two weeks but his is two fricken months. But honestly people I don't have the money for gas and food and time off work for him to be going weekend after weekend to try and get his elk. So...he is trying to stay focused and get it this weekend.

I got a call, and this was a very fun, very cool part. I got a call from Gigantor and they were just leaving Seligman.

memory part.

Seligman is a very small town. It is right on route 66. It is where my grandparents lived. It is where my mother was born, raised and took us 3 or 4 times a year. Same with my uncles and aunts. It is also where Gigantors mom and family lived for a while. Now Seligman is so huge that my mothers graduating class had 19 people in it.

As you drove into Seligman, the railroad tracks are on your left. And the only business in town were on the main street. They consisted of a little hardware store (owned by the same family for 4 generations) a Dairy Cream (that was shut down when I started going for visits) a little Dinner, one gas station, The Black Cat salloon (which the town elders got shut down, because they didn't like the way the "younger" folk were acting after getting drunk every night) and a corner store, this thing's door was right in the corner.

I spent every summer with my grandparents there. Up until I was in high school. Then when my grandmother died when I was a senior I have never been back. My grandfather moved a few years after that to live with my uncle, and he passed away about 4 or 5 years ago.

Besides summers, my mother would take us for a long weekend about 4 times in the winter. I remember we always had to go to Saturday evening mass. My Grandfather thought that Sunday morning mass was to long. hehehe Seligman had two churches. Catholic and baptist. And you better have your butt planted in one each week or everyone knew about it. We would walk out my grandparents front door and down an alley in between houses right across the street. To me I was always appaled we never drove, but as I look back it was less than a block of gravel alley before we were at the church.

My grandmother was the Post master at the little post office there. It was so big it employed her and one other person, my aunt. hehehehe

I used to walk to the school playground, which consisted of one of those giant metal slides, and 4 swings. Not the new cage kind with bars, but the rubber tire strap and chains kind.

Everyone in Seligman knew everyone else. I could be walking along and fall and skin my knee pretty bad, cry a touch and get up walking. Less than 30 seconds later my Grandfather would screach up in the old red truck and hollar at me to get in, and look at my knee. (he never hugged to console you, different generation, you bucked up or you died) You would wonder later, how he knew you fell, then you found out that the old man on his porch saw you and phoned him up. Yelling at him for letting his little pup get hurt. hehehehe If my grandfather wouldn't have got in his truck and come and got me. Could you imagine the scandle that would have caused in among the "older" generation in that town??

Now that you know a bit about Seligman let me tell you what happened to Gigantor and Kiddo.

Gigantor drives into Seligman and him and Kiddo see. Black Cat gone, Corner store gone, Dairy Cream gone, and Dinner is gone. In it's place is THE ROAD KILL CAFE!!! whooohoooo (Kiddo has only wanted to eat at one since I got him a poster and t-shirt when he was 8) So...they stop to eat breakfast. Come to find out the family that owned the dinner, owns the cafe too. The Popes. I remember old Bob Pope. Unfortunately I didn't remember his wife Maryann or daughter Jannet.

Well....Maryann and Jannet where in there along with about 6 other locals. Maryann struck up a conversation with Gigantor. Asking him if they were passing through, and he says no, we are on an elk hunt. At which point all people sorta perked an ear. They then told him that the old meat shop had a shed in the back. All the locals had pitched in money, bought a shed and water system, so that hunters could hang and skin their catches free of charge, as long as they cleaned up after themselves.

Gigantor says, GREAT, I can also do it at my wives grandfathers place, but I don't know where that is. They ask who he was. He tells them, and I swear he said the entire place all turned their chairs around to him and Kiddo. They then gave him directions on how to get there. He tells them who his mom is, which gets everyone laughing and talking about old times.

Maryann then asks what granddaughter he is married to. And he tells her, and introduces her to my mothers only grandson. She asks how my mom was, and he had to tell her that she had died. I kid you not, he said that Maryann almost passed out clutching her chest and a couple other people started crying.

He said they ended up staying for over 2 hours, just talking about who all lived there and what was going on.

Gigantor then told them that he had to get back out to Old Pete Mestas's place so that they could find a camp site and talk about where he seen the elk.

Everyone asked where he was thinking of going, and he pulled out his maps and showed them. They go.."not much bull elk there" Gigantor says, it's okay I have a cow tag. All of them go "oh my gosh you should have your elk by tonight or tomorrow morning then."

As he is leaving, Maryann stops him. She says. Well Bob Pope (husband) is off guiding a hunt for elk right now, but they should have their elk by morning, cuz that's how good he is. She says, "if you don't have your elk by Sat night, come back. Bob will take you out and make sure you get your elk"

OMGGGGGGGGGGg people!!! I forgot exactly how a small, american town should really be. Where the elders are still responsible for most the laws in town. Where they don't need a police officer, cuz you will get "taken care of" if you do wrong. Where everyone loves and knows everyone else.

My town I live in now is small, only 5 stoplights, and alot of small town happenings. But I forgot exactly how much I loved the really really small town. This town only has about 300 people in it. And when they found out who my husband was and who he was married too. They took him right in, and are gonna make sure he is taken care of right. Now that is the true heart of America people.

Have a great Friday all!!!!

Brownies for everyone who read the whole thing!!!!!