Getting a head in this world

I have today off work, so what better to do than stand outside in the rain watching the move of the Tiki head from the old Magic Carpet miniature golf collection of custom concrete creatures. The Tiki head was fortunate to find a new home down on 4th ave. It is large, concrete with an internal staircase to the top, and never really meant to be moved, so they had to do a lot of work to weld a support frame of steel beams around it in order to move it.

Here sits the head, already removed from its shoulders. They have added huge steel girders behind and under it, and welded smaller beams together to form a support that can be lifted and reclined. The bull is confused.

more welding to do minutes before loading on the transport

One crane lifted the head and moved it over the trailer. The second crane was then attached to the bottom of the support frame to pull the bottom up and recline the head, facing skyward, and then lower it onto the trailer.

Its always interesting to watch crane operators -- very impressive how accurate and well orchestrated this crew was, this is a custom move and yet you would never know that they hadn't moved hundreds of these heads before. Impressive.

Changing times, memories...

Its sad to see friends move away that you have been around for years.

What's next?

Never seen the sky from this angle before..

Leaving home to see new places and people

This is a video showing the first crane lift to get the head positioned over the trailer.

Kudos to the steel workers, crane operators, police escorts, businesses and everyone involved in saving this piece of Tucson history, well done! I'll try to get a picture of it in its new home when I get a chance.

[Links: ok, I know some of you are getting all the snow you ever wanted and then some... But only our mountains around Tucson have snow, so some of us still appreciate snow pictures (smile). Lynette has posted some great snow pictures from Portland, OR and Kim has posted some great snow pictures from Ohio/Michigan.]