At that point, I run out of excuses. On Tuesday—the morning after a huge meal at Mesa Italiana, one of my all-time favorite restaurants in Arizona—I rise bright and early, take a shower, crawl back into bed, and miss the morning parade and statue dedication. I do make it to the dinner at the Elk's Club, where I am able to buy a signed poster and a coffee mug:
I sit next to one of the riders [already I forget his name], and swap coal mine stories, since he once worked as a welder at an underground coal mine in Utah [I had no idea there was such a thing in the Southwest] some time after I worked as a computer geek at Peabody Coal. I talk with another rider who remembers the Renaissance Fairs at the County Fairgrounds which I'd performed at. Now I'm tempted to attend the County Fair in Holbrook.
On Wednesday, by the time I get downtown it's already 9 AM, and the riders are long gone. At least I get a good picture of new statue in the park:
Oh, well, there's always next year, hopefully.