Gnomadic » Arizona

Phoenix

Willard — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:19:35 +0000

Continuing on a southwesterly trajectory through the “Valley of the Sun”, we enter Phoenix and proceed to the Desert Botanical Gardens. This is a museum which showcases desert plants from all over the world, including a large variety from the local Sonoran Desert.

I was quite surprised to see just how tall some of these cactus plants can get!

Next we journeyed on to a section of downtown Phoenix to visit the Arizona Science Center, sports stadiums (baseball & basketball), and the new convention center.

I bumped into some interesting characters near the convention center. The first two seemed friendly enough, but the last one gave me the creeps!

Finally, we proceeded to South Mountain Park, which is a large mountain park owned by the city of Phoenix. It contains several wonderful hiking trails, and provides excellent views of the valley.

After resting up (and having a drink or two) I bid farewell to my new friend and journeyed on alone once more. Where will I end up this time?

Taliesin West

Willard — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:36:36 +0000

Greetings from Arizona! We had a splendid relaxing drive back from Washington, though we didn’t take many pictures along the return trip.

My traveling companion lives just outside of Phoenix, so he thought he would show me around town a bit, starting with the winter home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright in Scottsdale.

It was designed to fit into the landscape, like most of his buildings. The design was inspired by the local landscape and intended as a “camp”.

When this camp was first built, the nearest “neighbor” was on the north side of Camelback Mountain.

Hoover Dam

Willard — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:10:47 +0000

After visiting the Grand Canyon, we headed towards Las Vegas, stopping at the impressively massive Hoover Dam.

It’s depressing to see how far the water levels have fallen here, a symptom of the ongoing drought in the Southwest.

Note the light colored banding on the rocks indicating where the waterline used to be.

There’s also a new highway bridge under construction downstream. This bridge will be used to route traffic away from the dam, to reduce travel times and increase security.

Grand Canyon

Willard — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:55:49 +0000

After visiting Winslow, we decided to reverse direction and head west to Williams, Arizona. There we boarded a train to journey to one of the greatest natural wonders in the world – the Grand Canyon!

My traveling companion upgraded us to seats in the observation car for a better view along the way.

The locals were very curious about me and my travels.

One of these days I should take a rafting trip through the canyon. That would be amazing!

And finally, I’d like to wrap up this entry with a very important rule:

La Posada Hotel

Willard — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:44:03 +0000

The next stop along the journey brought us to the city of Winslow, Arizona. This town sits along the Historic Route 66, and was a major stop for rail passengers in the golden days of rail travel. We traveled here to visit the La Posada hotel, a recently restored Harvey House which served rail passengers as they waited for the trains to be refueled.

Here I am at the main entrance (facing the highway).

I attempted to talk to this gentleman about other local attractions, but he wasn’t very friendly.

Some views from the gardens (facing the tracks).

Some views of the wonderful courtyard.

Meteor Crater

Willard — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:56:44 +0000

I thought it a bit strange when my traveling companion wanted to visit a big hole in the ground. It turns out that this “hole” is the best preserved meteor impact crater in the world, and was used for Apollo astronaut training.

It’s amazing to see how large this crater is compared to the tour group on the right side of the photo:

Oak Creek Canyon

Willard — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:11:33 +0000

The next stop on our road trip was the scenic Oak Creek Canyon. We actually drove through the canyon from Sedona to reach this overlook, and you can see the road in the canyon below.

Hmm. Looks like there are some active birds of prey in this area. I’d better keep an eye on them.

I continue to be amazed at the variety and beauty of desert plants. Just look at this colorful cactus flower!

What’s that noise…? HELP!

Goodness! That was a close call! I’d better get out of here before I end up as somebody’s dinner.

Sedona

Willard — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:56:03 +0000

Greetings! I was feeling a bit homesick, so I have returned to the states for the next leg of my journey. I decided to visit the beautiful state of Arizona, after seeing many photos and descriptions in my travel magazines.

Here I am in the picturesque city of Sedona, overlooking a formation known as Cathedral Rock.

I ventured off on a little hike through Red Rock State Park, which provided me with excellent views of local scenery.

After my hike, I met up with a gentleman who was embarking on a cross-country road trip. What an excellent opportunity! I asked if I could tag along, and he graciously accepted. So look for many more interesting sights in the near future.

Off we go!