Despite a long drive through some desolate desert, we knew we were finally on the right track when we saw this sign at the side of “the road.” Turns out it was way worthwhile for us to have kept driving…this place is fascinating!
NOVEMBER 23, 2013.
WHAT A FIND! This little bookshop is so far the most interesting “find” we’ve made on our Journey. At the outset of my blog, I said that for me the purpose of this adventure was not just to view attractions and places, but of more importance to meet the people who live in America. 76 year old Winefred Bundy who owns the bookshop is one of those people. She has masters degrees in English, Sociology and Library Science. She knows just about every regional author around, and her shop specializes in books about the American Southwest. She sells signed copies of most of her books. This chatty bibliophile welcomed us when we arrived and gave us a personally guided tour of the books in the stacks. They are located in three rooms of her home. She shared her love of the area with us and gave us choice tidbits of information about obscure sights and her literary friends’ favorite haunts. She’s another one of the interesting Americans I’ve met on our Journey.
Win Bundy, ranch and book store owner, scholarly educated librarian and an interesting and gregarious woman. Time permitting I’d have stayed to talk with her all afternoon.
NOW, HERE’S THE FUN PART: The shop is located on Win’s cattle ranch, accessible only by driving on a long bumpy dirt road until we came to a “turn off” for her shop. Another several miles down “that direction” and we arrived. I never would have believed that a retail store could possibly be located in a desolate section of the Arizona desert on a working cattle ranch. Win helped me select a book titled Stephen Downing is Dead, about a young lawyer roped into defending a man accused of murder. That story line together with a glimpse of the primitive justice in the early days of the Southwest, made this bookshop and a chance to meet Win a very interesting afternoon. Don’t miss a stop to this little shop if you’re ever in the area. And say hello to Win for me.
This is the road to the bookstore, believe it or not. It was a beautiful drive and, with the Jeep and the clouds in the blue sky, what a fun drive it turned out to be.
