(upbeat music) - [Narrator] This week on Wild Travels, we'll journey 100s of feet underground to tour the historic Queen Copper Mine in Bisbee, Arizona, spend a relaxing night at the nearby Shady Dell Retro Trailer Park, go nowhere but up at the White Mountain Balloon Fest in Pinetop, and then try to dodge the ferocious flying carp at the annual Redneck Fishing Tournament in central Illinois.

(upbeat music) - I got one!

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

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(upbeat music) - [Narrator] If you look hard enough, go off the beaten track far enough, you'll find in America teaming with the unusual, the odd, the downright strange.

- I'm Will Clinger and I'm your guide on a package tour we like to call-- - [Narrator] Wild Travels.

(upbeat music) (cannon explodes) (upbeat music) (upbeat music transitions) - There's a river in central Illinois, so saturated with Asian carp that locals have devised an annual event aimed at severely thinning the population of this invasive species.

We managed to jump aboard for one of the most hazardous fishing tournaments known to man.

(upbeat music) Betty Deford, sort of the founder of this event.

- 16 years ago, to get the darn things out of our waters.

We didn't know we were gonna have this big a battle on our hands but-- - [Will] Those carp fly like the dickens.

- They jump out of the water like torpedoes.

You never know which direction they're coming from.

- [Will] So the idea behind this event originally was to try and rid the river of this carp, right?

- Yes.

- Is it working?

(Betty laughs) - They spawn three to four times a year.

- [Will] What do people have against these darn carp?

What's so wrong with them, they fly, don't they?

- They fly, but actually-- - That's pretty cool.

- Yeah, but they damage the environment so, yeah.

- Oh they do, don't they?

- Yeah.

- Not good.

- Not good.

- [Will] What makes them jump, do you know?

- [Event Participant] The noise of the motor.

- [Will] Yeah?

- Just aggravates them and they jump.

- [Will] How many boats we got out there this year?

- [Betty] I'd say 30 some.

- That seems like an accident waiting to happen.

30 boats driving down a narrow river at the same time with fish flying outta the water.

- We have helmets up here on loan that they can put on their heads to keep from getting a broken nose or black eye or whatever.

because these fish are dangerous.

(upbeat music) - Sir, you got a broken nose out there, huh?

- Yeah, non-displaced fracture is what they called it.

- [Will] You just got back from the hospital?

- Yeah.

- [Will] Do you wish you'd had a helmet?

- I really do wish I would've had a helmet.

- Woo!

- Yeah I guess, I also got hit in the lip before I got hit in the head.

- [Will] Do you feel like these fish had it in for you?

- Yeah, that's why I'm okay that these bastards are gonna be killed here.

- [Will] Those look very dead.

Very dead.

- They are.

- [Will] You're gonna cook these things, aren't you?

- [Event Participant] Absolutely not.

(Will and participant laugh) - [Will] Although in Asia I hear they're a delicacy.

- That's what they say, not to me.

- You busted this thing out there, huh?

- Yeah, the fish are a lot bigger this year.

They usually, they were three, five, six pounds.

Now they're 12, 15 pounds coming at you, so.

- [Will] How many fish did you get out there today?

- 312.

- [Will] That's kind of amazing, in one day.

- It's two hours, yeah.

That's not a record though.

Our record's 481 in two hours.

(upbeat music) - Now Betty, do you consider yourself a redneck?

(Betty laughs) - I'm a farm girl, how more redneck are you gonna get than that?

- That's good and red.

Are there any rules out there besides just go out there and catch fish?

Can they use dynamite?

- No, no dynamite.

Have you seen some of the costumes that's out there?

- [Will] There is a costume contest too, isn't there?

(upbeat music) A mermaid, I'm thinking.

- A redneck mermaid, I'm a siren.

- [Will] Of course you are.

You hope to win the the costume contest, right?

- I do, and actually tomorrow is actually the Miss Carp contest, which I'll be returning tomorrow.

But I do wanna show you this.

I made this outta cigarettes.

I don't smoke, but.

(Will laughs) - [Will] That's brilliant.

- And they're from the Illinois River.

I cleaned up the shore a little bit.

I don't know if you guys saw the video where they'll put a beer can through an Asian carp's gills and drink a beer like that, so, I'm hoping to do the legendary Carp Chug today.

- It's a bucket list thing.

- Yeah.

- We were born and inbred for this.

- [Will] And proud of it, apparently.

- Absolutely.

- My buddy, he was sitting on that cooler.

30 seconds into it, he got hit right in the face here and he's got marks on the top of his eye.

- [Will] It's a badge of honor.

- [Event Participant] Oh, I guess so.

- This face is my livelihood.

You understand that right?

- Hey-- - You don't believe it?

- Well, I guess, you're not on radio right?

(upbeat music) - It's Team Carp Storm.

We may be joining you tomorrow, right?

- Yes, first heat of tomorrow.

Saturday morning.

- [Will] I will be wearing a helmet.

- Look right here, I got hit.

See that indention?

- [Will] Oh my god, you got a dent in your head.

- Yeah, you see it?

(Adam laughs) (upbeat music) - [Will] The next morning the skies were clear, but it was raining Rednecks.

- Viking power!

- Those helmets are not gonna protect your face gentlemen.

You need something like that.

- I'm catching one on here.

I'm gonna catch them on here.

- On the horn?

- Put my, cut through the water.

Slam them outta there.

- It's just crazy enough to work.

- [Event Participant] Absolutely.

- [Will] When does the drinking start?

- [Event Participant] Yesterday.

(upbeat music) - Adam, how many did you get yesterday?

- 560 plus.

- [Will] In two heats, that's pretty amazing.

- [Adam] Two heats, yes.

We've got a good team.

- You consider me part of the team now?

- Absolutely.

- [Will] I will be fishing.

- [Adam] Absolutely.

Yeah, we need all we can get.

- [Will] And I'll be catching.

- [Adam] Catching, absolutely.

- In the face, I'm gonna be catching.

(Will and Adam laugh) (upbeat music) (horn blasts) (boat honks) Was that horn the start of it?

- That is the start.

- Go.

- Now we're going.

- [Will] Why are we so close to shore?

- This is where the fish hang out in the trees and brush.

- Here fishy, fishy, fishy, fishy.

(upbeat music) I got one!

Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

I can't say there's a lot of skill involved, these things are jumping right into my net.

(upbeat music) Each heat is like two hours, right?

- Two hours, yes.

What we in now, we're, hang on one second.

We're 12:20, we're only 22 min.

We're only 22 minutes in right now and I'm already wore out.

(net thumping against boat) - There's one!

- Woo.

- [Will] Jackson, does banging on the thing help them jump?

- [Jackson] Yeah.

- They hear the sound and that scares them?

- Yeah.

(upbeat music) - Woo.

Woo.

(upbeat music) - Those fish seem to travel in groups.

They come at you all at once.

- Yes they do.

We call that a carp storm.

(upbeat music) - I caught one!

- Yeah, woo-hoo!

- Hey hey.

- Yeah baby!

These boats get very close to each other, don't they?

- Yes.

We try to stay right behind the motor.

- [Will] Do they ever bump into each other?

- [Event Participant] Yes.

(event participant laughs) - I can see why you gotta keep your wits about you man, these things come fast and furious.

- They do.

- I got it, I got another one!

(upbeat music) (horn honks) By the end of the fourth heat on Saturday, the rednecks had caught over 5,000 Asian carp.

Would there be enough fish left for next year's tournament?

More than likely.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music transitions) Welcome to Bisbee, Arizona.

The town that copper built.

Over the years, 8 billion pounds of the high grade ore were pulled from the local mountains.

When the mines eventually played out, the boom town went bust.

But the comfortable climate and beautiful vistas brought artists and hippies to this southeast Arizona town.

Today, Bisbee thrives on tourism and the town's most popular attraction is a trip deep into the bowels of the earth.

Hey, what's your name?

- I'm Doug.

- And this is the Queen Mine.

- Yes it is.

- What did they mine here?

- Copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, manganese.

- [Will] Is there anything they didn't mine here?

- Uranium.

(Will and Doug laugh) - [Will] How long has this mine been around anyway?

- Well, 100 years of mining.

It started in 1877.

Mining operations lasted until 1975.

- [Will] I have to be fully suited up, protectively.

(upbeat music) Does this bother you at all?

- We're tour guides, we're used to it.

(Doug laughs) - Donny and Frank would be our tour guides into the bowels of the earth.

Donny, Frank, are we in any danger?

- No, you're not.

We'll take care of you.

- Come on, I saw the sign that says there's radon in there.

- Oh yeah but it's for, the time you're gonna be in there, it's not gonna harm you.

- Yeah, I hear that a lot.

(Frank laughs) What about cave ins?

- The cave ins, there's no cave ins today.

We told them, hold off on the cave ins, okay?

(upbeat music) - [Will] Donny, we're entering the tunnel now.

- [Donny] Right.

- This tunnel's kind of tight.

You don't wanna be claustrophobic in here.

- No.

And that's one reasons that we make a stop here approximately about 150 feet in.

Because if anybody's claustrophobic, we can walk them out from here.

Today I had to take out three different people.

(upbeat music) - [Will] Donny, your T-shirt kind of makes me nervous there, it looks like a skeleton head.

- Yeah it does, doesn't it?

There was several people that actually got killed in this mine here and there's a lot of ghost stories in here.

- [Will] Did you actually work this mine back in the day?

- Yes I did, I worked from 1968 until 1975 when they shut all the mines down here in Bisbee.

This is the original Queen Mine shaft.

From here it goes down 200 feet.

Total mountain above us is closer to 1,000 feet of mountain above us.

- I'm looking at just basically wood.

- Right, they use pine and Douglas fur because that's soft wood.

The soft wood, it talks to the miners.

We had an old saying here, if the wood's talking, you start walking, you get out of there.

- [Will] It's kind of catchy.

- That's the reason for all the wood here.

You'll see some areas-- - I feel better about steel.

- Do you?

That used to be one of the crosscuts that went way back inside to the mine.

And that right there is rock that has fallen since.

- Rock slide.

- Yeah.

- [Will] So it was a road once, but it ain't anymore.

- [Donny] Not no more.

All these tunnels, they all hook up together.

They all connect to each other.

- [Will] Yeah, until they're plugged up with a rock slide.

- Yeah, a rock slide.

Yeah, there you go.

The main thing that they're after, okay, they're after copper.

They got a lot of other-- - Copper is king.

- [Donny] Copper is king.

They got over eight billion pounds of copper outta this area.

They got over 4 million ounces of gold and over 8 million ounces of silver.

- [Will] So Donnie, this was one of the most lucrative mines in the world, right?

- [Donny] Yes, it was.

The Queen Mine was known as the bonanza mine.

This is where they actually came in and started mining here.

- [Will] Wow, this is amazing.

- Back then, this was their drilling machine, okay?

They didn't have that fancy stuff that you see hanging up there now.

What they would do is put this steel against the rock here, okay, and they hit it and turn it, hit and turn, hit and turn, hit and turn.

Each time they hit it, they have to turn it to keep this bar from getting stuck in the rock.

Another reason, to make the hole round for your explosives.

(upbeat music) See that little spot right there?

- [Will] I think you found some copper there, Donny.

- [Donny] I think I did too.

Okay, and there's a little bit of malachite there.

- Too bad we can't get up there and get it.

- No you can't.

And we have a couple guys that are, have been trying to, but they can't reach it.

Okay.

- [Will] What about a ladder?

- A ladder?

That'd probably work, you know, but anyway, look over against the wall there.

See that?

Okay that's, they left a lot of that stuff in here.

That's a lot of low grade copper.

They're after all the high grade stuff.

- They're copper snobs in a way.

- Exactly, yeah snobbing.

This right here was made around 1972.

- [Will] That's a banana seat.

Just like I had in my bike when I was a kid.

- Exactly, a banana seat yeah.

This is the boss's transportation underground.

- How long is this tunnel all together?

- [Donny] Right now we're just going back 1500 feet.

- But it goes further?

- Yes, it does go further, but we have it blocked off because the ground's real unstable there.

This is the honey cart, okay?

The honey pot.

This was always parked at one of the crosscuts that's not gonna be being used.

So you did have a little bit of privacy.

- You didn't want to have to climb all the way out of the tunnel to go to the bathroom.

So this was, darn handy.

- [Donny] You come down here to the honey cart.

- [Will] Thanks for sharing.

- How come you didn't ask Frank this?

(Donny and Will laugh) - Doug, if somebody wants to take the Queen Mine tour, where do they go?

- Well we're located in Bisbee, Arizona.

Just off Highway 80.

- Guys, can I keep the helmet?

- No.

(upbeat music) (cart wheels squeak softly) (dramatic music) - [Will] Down the road from the Queen Mine is the curious town of Lowell, Arizona.

The adjacent lavender open pit mine ate up more than half the town in the 1970s.

What remains has been turned into the Lowell Americana project.

A nostalgic restoration of the town, complete with passionate residents and vintage storefronts.

We first caught up with motorcycle aficionado, Jay Allen.

Hey Jay Allen.

- Hey, what's happening?

- Man about town?

- Man about Lowell, Arizona.

- [Will] It is Lowell then, it's not Bisbee.

- They call it Bisbee, but this is Lowell proper.

It's a special street, there's nothing like it in the world.

- It's a little slice of Americana.

You just wanted to capture a time when America-- - Was what it was.

To share this with people that don't have a clue of how an old town like this used to look.

This building was built in 1904.

Right here, as we stand in this room is an auto parts store.

I've been coming in here since I was a kid, never knowing that someday this would be my home.

Upstairs is a boarding house for miners.

100 foot hallway, got three ghosts residing here, a girl and two guys.

- [Will] Something told me you'd have more than one motorcycle.

- [Jay] Absolutely.

I haven't counted them, to be honest with you.

- You've parked your vintage cars all up and down the street, which makes it tough to park around here.

- Put yourself in our shoes.

Sometimes we come home and we can't even park.

(Will laughs) And there're tourists parked there.

- You've kind of turned it into the land that time forgot in a way.

- [Jay] With help.

Like, you're gonna meet Dan Simonis and I gotta tell you, this guy outta Defiance, Ohio, his art, his creativity, his inspiration.

- Dan Simonis, singer, songwriter?

- Yeah, maybe.

Welcome to Star Studios Lowell, Arizona.

If you look around the street, you know we've got an old Harley Davidson shop, we've got an Indian motorcycle shop, we have a police station, we have a Shell station at the end of the street, and none of them are actually functional.

They're just the facades.

- Dan isn't the only creative type that relocated to tiny Lowell, Arizona.

David Rose, photographer to the stars whose biggest client is Bruce Springsteen, was also charmed by the retro vibe.

What do you make of this whole Americana thing that Dan and Jay are into?

- Oh I mean, I love it.

The first time Dan drove me down this street, I couldn't believe it because it feels like a back lot of a movie set.

- [Jay] It does, yeah.

- [Will] Why did you guys wanna do this, just to?

- I think at the end of World War II, America came into its own in design.

We started having our own clothing, our own hairstyles, our own car styles, our own architecture.

So I think when most people think of the United States from a foreign country, they think of this.

- [Will] And that hat.

- And this hat, yeah.

(Will laughs) And we're losing it.

It's a vanishing roadside America that we wanna preserve.

- [Will] Don't let it leave.

- We won't let it leave.

We'll keep it here.

- We're small, but we're mighty.

And this street's just gonna keep evolving into the past, not into the future.

- [Will] You're going backwards.

- [Jay] We're going backwards.

(upbeat music concludes) (upbeat music) - If you haven't had your fill of nostalgia in Lowell, you might wanna spend a few nights in the nearby vintage trailer park where you can sample a simpler, more cramped way of life.

Hey, what's your name?

- I'm Justin Luria.

- Tell us where we are.

- You're at the Shady Dell Trailer Court in Bisbee, Arizona.

- [Will] How long has this place been in business?

- [Justin] It originally started in 1927 as the Thompsons Motor Court.

- [Will] How many trailers on the premises?

- We have 15 trailers, including a 1947 Chris Craft yacht and a 1947 tiki-themed bus.

We get people that travel from all over the country and all over the world that come and visit here that wanna experience a vintage retro vibe.

- It's different than a motel.

- It's the 1950 kind of nostalgic, you know, way of life that's actually disappearing.

- [Will] You're into the period?

- Yeah, I'm kind of stuck in the "Leave it to Beaver" world.

(upbeat music) - So we've got our living room, we've got a little dinette table to sit at.

Vintage, original kitchen.

We've got vintage style refrigerators and all the original birch wood that glows in amber.

It's got a double bed.

We put vintage style chenille bed spreads on them.

- [Will] Trailer life is kind of hip now, isn't it?

- People are looking to collect these.

They don't build things like this anymore.

(upbeat music) We're at the 1947 Tiki bus.

- Randy's White Elephant, what does that mean?

- You know, I don't quite know the history of it.

It came like that when I bought the bus.

- There's a brochure that says it used to belong to a baseball team.

- [Will] They know more about this than you do.

- There is, well, I was gonna tell you, there is a history that in the '40s and '50s the Sacramento Solons, well, it was the minor league baseball.

- The Sacramento Solons, what an unusual name for a baseball team.

- We've got a Polynesian theme, you'll find vintage Hawaiian records, vintage Hawaiian style, you know-- - Decor.

- Collectables, yeah, decor.

(upbeat music) - We found another tropical themed vehicle.

But this one housed an owner, not a guest, and someone who typifies the trailer lifestyle.

Hey, are you Christine?

- Yes, I am.

- How long have you lived here?

- It'll be four years in August.

- [Will] What is it about this lifestyle that appeals to you?

- Easy maintenance, especially being here at the Shady Dell, It's like I'm on vacation every day.

- Can I ask you what you're drinking?

- Oh, a Hawaiian martini.

- [Will] Ingredients please?

- Equal parts vodka, vanilla vodka, and Malibu rum.

- Me likey.

This is yours too, right?

- Yes, so this used to be my travel trailer when I would go camping and stuff, and now it's my walk-in closet.

- Can we go inside?

- It's, no, it looks like a bomb went off in there.

- Could you still take a trip in this thing if you wanted to?

- Me and my boyfriend, we camped in it for a month.

- This trailer could not move anywhere.

- It could be moved anywhere, I'd have to chop a couple trees down and take that fence down.

But it can be, it could go anywhere, yeah.

(upbeat music) - [Justin] We're heading towards a 1947 Chris Craft boat.

It's permanently dry docked here in the desert.

- [Will] It's the Rita D. For the more nautical people that wanna pretend they're at sea.

- Downstairs we've got the dining area here with the little booth with a map just in case you need a navigation.

And we got the V birth bed down below.

- [Will] Are people allowed to wear the hats?

- We do have some vintage style hats that you can put on, yeah.

That looks pretty good on you.

- No it doesn't.

(Justin laughs) Does it creep you out that there's a cemetery right over there?

- The cemetery doesn't creep me out too much.

You know, they're quiet neighbors and-- - It adds ambiance.

- It does.

- [Will] You would never call this the place where airstreams come to die, would you?

- This place is definitely not a place where trailers come to die.

We restore them, renovate them, and bring them back to life so people can enjoy them for, you know, another 70 years.

- Justin, if somebody wants to pay a visit to the Shady Dell Trailer Court, where should they go?

- Bisbee, Arizona, right off of historic route 80.

- Let's swing baby.

(upbeat music) Coming soon on wild Travels.

Wandering among the carpeted critters at Midwest Fur Fest, boarding Baltimore's haunted USS constellation, fixating on the fashions at America's only purse museum, and then teeing off with Sister Cindy at Beat The Nun.

(upbeat music) When we were invited to the annual White Mountains Balloon Fest in Pinetop, Arizona, the idea of floating off into the wild blue yonder was extremely appealing.

And as it turns out, premature.

(upbeat music) (popping noise) (upbeat music) We arrived as the sun was setting on the first day of the festival.

(flame roars) (upbeat music) Hey Doug?

- Yes.

- Doug Lenberg?

- Yeah, yeah.

- You are otherwise known as the balloon meister, right?

- Yes I am, I'm the balloon meister.

- [Will] Tell us what's going on here today.

- We're getting ready to do a balloon glow.

We're gonna stand up 11 balloons and just glow them tonight and let all the people come around the balloons and get up next to them and talk to the pilots.

- You don't fly anymore, right?

- I don't fly anymore, no, not by myself no.

- [Will] You had a kind of a crazy incident.

- I was the balloon pilot that had a heart attack at 1500 feet in 2014, and I'm here to talk about it.

- You brought the balloon down safely and managed to get to the hospital and you're alive!

(Doug laughs) (upbeat music) The next day, the balloonists were up bright and early to prepare their balloons for takeoff.

(upbeat music) You're the event director, can I say that?

- Yes, I'm the event director I guess.

- Why are we here this early, Tony?

It's 6:00 AM.

- [Tony] It is early, isn't it?

But balloons need to operate before the weather heats up.

- Cooler the better.

- Cooler the better, absolutely.

- [Will] They're putting them out now.

What's gonna happen today?

- [Tony] Well, this morning you're gonna see the balloons inflate.

We're under fire danger, so the balloons can't launch.

- We don't launch?

- We don't launch.

- We're still tethered, we go up-- - Yes.

- 40 feet.

- [Tony] Yes, you'll go up about 40 feet.

I wish you could have the opportunity to go up and see our community from the air, the lakes and the trees, and the wildlife is spectacular here.

- Will we see the top of your head when we're up there.

Can we see that?

- You can.

(upbeat music) - [Will] I had arranged to catch an abbreviated ride with the enormous Smokey the Bear balloon and pilot Peggy Bilson.

- So I'm putting hot air (flame roars) into the envelope until it gets enough heat where the the buoyancy, the lift equals or exceeds the weight we have in the basket.

(flame roars) There we go, here we are.

- We're rising.

- We're up in the air.

- How long have you been doing this?

- [Peggy] I've been flying balloons for four years.

I've been flying airplanes for over 40.

- That's reassuring, we're in good hands.

- Yes you are.

(flame roars) Give me slack, let me go up.

- [Will] Give us a little slack down there.

(upbeat music) Now if we were to be flying loose, how do you steer this thing?

Are you just at the whim of the winds?

- All I can control is up and down, but the wind does do different things at different altitudes.

So I pay attention (flame roars) to what the winds are doing as I'm flying different altitudes.

I feel wind shifts on my cheeks, and then I feel up and down in my diaphragm.

- You're really following all the signals.

Your cheek, your diaphragm.

- Yes, and then I use my eyes out on the horizon.

- [Will] What's the farthest you've gone in one of these?

- Three hours and 40 minutes from Gallup to Albuquerque.

- That seems far.

- Yes.

And so I went up to 13,500 feet and my top speed was 85 miles per hour.

- Finally, it was time for old Smokey to come down to earth.

Isn't it true that every landing's kind of a controlled crash?

- No, that's not true.

It's controlled, it's not a crash.

- [Will] Here's some views we would've enjoyed had there not been a threat of fire in Arizona.

No offense Tony, but this is way better than the top of your head.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) We're always looking for new destinations.

The wilder the better.

So if you've got an idea for our show, let us know, and thanks for watching.

(upbeat music) (bright music) - [Narrator] Wild Travels is made possible in part by Alaska Railroad, providing year-round transportation to many Alaska destinations, traversing nearly 500 miles of wild landscapes between Anchorage, Fairbanks, Denali National Park, and more.

alaskarailroad.com.

By Sheboygan, Wisconsin, centrally located on the shores of Lake Michigan, is home to Kohler-Andrae State Park, and outdoor adventures waiting to be discovered.

visitsheboygan.com.

By American Road Magazine.

Get your kicks on Route 66 and everywhere else a two-Lane highway can take you.

American Road Magazine fuels your road trip dreams.

And by the South Shore of Lake Michigan, exploring the Indiana Dunes, unique attractions, festivals, and more, just minutes from downtown Chicago.

alongthesouthshore.com.