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Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West
Posted in Travel on 11-Jan-2013
Today began chilly and clear as we wrestled with the GPS and sub-optimal signage to find Frank Lloyd Wright‘s famous Taliesin West complex in the foothills north-east of Phoenix. Mr. Wright’s designs are always fascinating and in this desert setting the Taliesin West structure is majestic in a subtle way, less visually compelling than Falling Water in Pennsylvania but somehow captivating in its tranquility. We were in a small tour group of six people and the morning light added a lot to the wonderful angles of the buildings. Additionally, there were scores of elegant sculptures, many by Heloise Crista, adorning nooks, table, and ledges both inside and out. All in all it was a lovely 90-minute stroll.
Apache Trail
Posted in Travel on 10-Jan-2013
A beautiful morning greeted us and somewhat recovered from our long sojourn to Texas and back, we set out to the famous Apache Trail scenic drive, in the Superstition Wilderness east of Phoenix. The terrain here is desert-like for sure but also features rugged mountains, buttes, cliffs and lakes formed by the Roosevelt Dam. Mild temperatures and very little traffic (save the FedEx truck that sped by at 50 mph on the incredibly rough gravel road) allowed for numerous stops to admire the vistas and take photos. Along the way we had a picnic lunch at the stunning Fish Creek overlook and sampled prickly pear ice cream at the little town of Tortilla Flat. We completed the day with a scrumptious dinner at Del Frisco’s Grille. Photos…
Sampling Prickly Pear Cactus ice cream at Tortilla Flat
Saguaro National Park East
Posted in Travel on 9-Jan-2013
Our approach back into Phoenix allowed us to pass through the east section of Saguaro National Park and explore the Cactus Forest Drive. This section of the park is quite different from the West portion with a less dense concentration of Saguaros, more changes in elevation and more rocky vistas. We began the drive with a picnic lunch at the Javelina Picnic Area where we were entertained by birds and spritely little Harris’ Antelope Squirrels. It was really a pleasant change of pace from the hectic events and long hours in the car of the previous two and a half days. Near the end of the drive, we passed by this beautiful formation called the Javelina Rocks. Here are some additional photos of the park.
Javelina Rocks, on Cactus Forest Loop Drive
Back to Phoenix
Posted in Travel on 8-Jan-2013
We decided to head back towards Seattle immediately so Trisha could have a couple of days to recover before returning to Texas for Mrs. Dvorak’s memorial service on January 18th. We split the trip back to Phoenix into two segments this time, doing an overnight in Las Cruces, NM, then on to Phoenix on Wednesday. Trisha enjoyed this sign at one of the rest stops along I-10.
Sad Day
Trisha and I got to the nursing home around 8:30 a.m and Trisha was able to spend a few hours with Mrs. Dvorak before she passed away a little after noon. Trisha’s sister, Lisa, and Trisha read a few Bible verses and short poems by Emily Dickinson that I’m sure eased Jane’s passing from this life to the next.
Off to Texas
Posted in Travel on 6-Jan-2013
After dinner last night Trisha received news that her mother was not doing well so we decided to get to Texas as quickly as possible. Thus we arose early, checked out of the Hilton Conquistador and drove 903 miles from Tucson to New Braunfels, TX–an exhausting 15-hour trip.
Saguaro National Park/Sonora Desert Museum
Posted in Travel on 5-Jan-2013
This morning we spent a couple of hours at the fascinating Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, a wonderful collection of desert plants and animals. This provided a nice introduction to desert flora and fauna and, surprisingly, we had a scrumptious lunch at the on-site Ocotillo cafe. The cool temperature and small number of visitors made for a quiet, leisurely morning. After lunch we sped back to Saquaro National Park West and meandered along the Bajada Loop Drive getting a real feel for the vast and stark Saguaro cactus forest. We spent several hours on the short six-mile drive and Trisha even hiked up the Signal Hill Trail to get a close up of the petroglyphs and desert panoramas. On our way back to the hotel, we got a nice overview of the area from Gates Pass.
- Me in the shadow of a Saguaro along the Bajada Loop road
Cedar City to Tucson
Posted in Travel on 4-Jan-2013
We were greeted with another crispy morning: 6 degrees. After a bowl of oatmeal we were off to the south west skirting the edges of Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks and the Grand Staircase Escalante and Vermillion Cliffs National Monuments. The snow-fringed red rock formations during the first hour of today’s trip were truly stunning.
As in the past two days, the weather was superb; we had bright sunshine all day with the temperature as we entered Tucson pushing 60 degrees. Quite a change from the morning. At one point the GPS sent us in the wrong direction for fifteen minutes and slow traffic around Phoenix made for a full ten-hour drive. But we’re looking forward to three great days in Tucson.
Boise to Cedar City, UT
Posted in Travel on 3-Jan-2013
Today was one of the longer segments of our winter trip. We were greeted with a super chilly, near zero degree temperature to start the day. The new Acura even warned us that the tire pressure was low–we lost about 4 psi overnight. Once again, the weather was almost perfect. We had one forty-five minute stretch of snow blowing across the highway but otherwise it was another day of bright sunshine. We had pizza delivered to the motel room so I could watch the Oregon v. Kansas State football game.
Entering Utah from Idaho
Off to Arizona
Posted in Travel on 2-Jan-2013
It was another spectacular winter morning in North Bend as we turned east onto I-90 headed for Boise, Idaho. I have been watching the weather closely hoping for a window of clear days for the first two stages of our drive to Tucson. And we got that today. Only the roadway through Snoqualmie Pass was wet; after that we had clear, dry pavement and even a few hours of sunshine
Near the end of the day, as we approached Boise, we were treated to a lovely sunset over the Snake River:
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