While we were still in Mission Viejo for Christmas we came up with a plan to spend a month in the Phoenix area and enjoy the warmer winter climate. Finding an RV park to accommodate us wasn’t easy but we did get a call back from a place in the northern part of the city. We reserved a spot for January 6 through the end of the month. Yay! (We thought.) We arrived here on Thursday and our first impression was that we had made a mistake. Unfortunately, we didn’t have an alternative so we paid for our month and found our spot. We are tucked in between a mobile home and a huge trailer! We have another trailer right behind us. We have never, ever lived so close to other people and it has been rather unpleasant at times. This is a 55+ RV “resort” and there are lots of activities if we were to choose to get involved. We have chosen to spend as much time away from our site here as possible.
The upside is that we have made every effort to keep busy and find interesting things to do and see. Instead of listing them here I will share through photos.
We have also had wonderful times visiting friends and family - those times are the true highlight of our time in Phoenix!
Our urban “campsite”
Just a few of the many activities offered here. No, thank you.
Friday was our first full day here in Phoenix and we discovered the amazing Musical Instrument Museum.
Outside the museum
Mark posing with a couple of new friends
This baroque guitar is the oldest full-size guitar in existence and one of only two known surviving guitars dating to the 1500s.
The details and artistry of the musical instruments was just beautiful!
Jimmy Hendrix’s “Black Widow” guitar, 1968
The museum was arranged by continents and then countries. The displays were stunning!
Mark standing by an “Octobasso”
Robin standing by a pipe organ
On Sunday, 1/19 we took a drive over to Scottsdale and wandered around old town where we had lunch at “Belle’s Nashville Kitchen”
Mark in Old Town Scottsdale
The interior of an interesting gallery
On Monday we met up with our friends, Jody and Ed Hattendorf at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix near Scottsdale. They currently have an exhibit there called, “Chihuly in the Desert.” I enjoyed capturing many of the displays that were thoughtfully placed throughout the gardens.
Ed and Mark, fast friends bonding over their mutual love of all things geeky!
Jody and I were dormmates at Humboldt State University in 1974-75!
A somewhat rare Crested Saguaro
After we left the botanical garden, Mark and I decided to see what else we could discover nearby. We found this place aptly named, Hole-in-the-Rock.
In the same general area was Hunt’s Tomb, the final resting place of Arizona’s first state governor, George W. P. Hunt.
Selfie at Hunt’s Tomb
On Tuesday we thought it would be fun to go looking at new home developments in the Scottsdale area. We both enjoy touring new homes. While the homes were beautiful, we have decided that Arizona has not made it onto our list of places we will consider for our next home.
The next four photos are just a few I took of a completely “over the top” home with every possible amenity.
Great room
Massage between the executive bedroom and bathroom!
Wine storage in the butler’s pantry
I would absolutely love this pool!
Thursday, January 13th seemed like a good day for a little trip east. Our first stop was Superstition Mountain Museum in Apache Junction. We learned a lot about the Lost Dutchman Mine and the many people who gave up everything to find it. There are numerous treasure maps on display but it has yet to be located.
Mark found a bike with a wheel bigger than the one on his unicycle.
“But it’s a dry heat!” The weather has actually been perfect since we’ve been here.
This is an old stamp mill used to separate gold from ore. There was a live demonstration but no gold!
An interesting character in Apache Junction
Mark and Robin
The Superstition Mountains in the background
The Elvis Presley Memorial Chapel
This chapel was constructed for one of Elvis’ movies. The movie was called “Charro!” and I bet you’ve never heard of it. Apparently it wasn’t well received because Elvis didn’t sing in the movie.
We left Apache Junction and went to Goldfield, a reconstructed ghost town just up the road a bit. There was an interesting little museum there which was about the best thing in the town.
Mark stepping out of the facilities!
The buffalo robe worn by Robert Redford (my high school celebrity crush) in the movie, Jeremiah Johnson in 1972
Nice view of the Superstition Mountains from Goldfield
The next and final stop for the day was in the town of Tortilla Flat, Arizona
The little schoolhouse museum
Dollar bills posted everywhere in the little store.
We went into the saloon that is famously plastered with bills, mostly $1 bills. We were told that the walls are now 7 bills thick and these have just been placed since the last time the saloon burned down in 1987. It was happy hour for us so Mark ordered a root beer, I ordered a glass of wine and we asked for tortillas. They were delicious and Mark said this was the best glass of root beer he has ever had!
Just across the road from the town of Tortilla Flat
Along the drive back to Phoenix
On Saturday we took a drive to downtown Phoenix and enjoyed strolling through the farmer’s market. All we bought was bread but it was yummy! From there we drove over to The Phoenix Art Museum where we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Palette Restaurant and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the museum.
An art display in the lobby
The museum currently has an exhibit called, “Landscapes of Extraction: The Art of Mining in the American West.” There were so many interesting paintings and photographs, but I chose this one because it reminded me of my dad who worked in the oil fields with his dad, my grandpa, when he was a young man.
The museum has a treasure trove of works by so many incredible artists. I chose a few that interested me…
I didn’t record the artist who painted this but I texted this photo to our kids and grandkids and told them I thought that any one of them could have painted it. Owenn wrote back and said he thought it was a video and had tried tapping on the arrow!
Do you remember the paper dress movement of the 60’s? It was a trend that never really caught on - hmmm… I wonder why? The museum has quite a large and colorful collection of paper dresses. They were so fun to look at!
On Sunday we had the best time visiting our nephew, Mike Massie and his sweet family at their beautiful home in the northern most part of Phoenix. Mike made a delicious meal of kimchi fried rice with sausage.
Mark, Robin, Mike, Blake (almost 12), Julie & Avery (14)
Father and daughter, Mike and Avery
Mark and Blake bonded over radio-controlled airplanes. It seems the love of models and radio-controlled devices runs in the family. In case you didn’t know, Mark’s family owned a hobby store in Temple City for many years - Massie’s Hobby House.
Monday was a day to stay “home.” Mark was working on some engineering stuff on his laptop and I took the opportunity to enjoy the sunshine and make jewelry outside.
We decided to take an overnight trip on Wednesday (without Benny) to Sedona and enjoyed our time immensely.
On our way to Sedona, we stopped at Montezuma’s Castle National Monument. And, yes, Mark did get another stamp in his National Parks passport book.
Montezuma’s Castle built into the side of a limestone and sandstone mountain. The people who lived here constructed a series of ladders to get to the dwellings.
We drove on the Red Rocks Scenic Byway, Arizona 179. My pictures just cannot do justice to the beauty of this area.
We stayed at a quaint little 13 room inn right along Oak Creek.
Standing by the creek
Big thanks to dear friends (and former Sedona residents) Dorothy and Scott Love who recommended both of the restaurants where we ate in Sedona. We had a couple of gigantic and very tasty sandwiches at Wildflower.
This was a fun little shopping area with a bit of an old Mexico vibe.
They must have built this building around the tree!
There was a large and really special art gallery, “Exposures,” across the road from the inn where we were staying. There were so many cool sculptures outside. Inside photography was not allowed.
Before dinner, we took one of the prettiest drives through Oak Creek Canyon on Highway 89A
We enjoyed some refreshing rain and were rewarded with a gorgeous rainbow!
This rock formation was visible from the town of Sedona
Dinner at Dahl & DiLuca Ristorante Italiano ~ YUM!
Arancini (Italian risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella and served in marinara sauce) were to die for!
Thursday morning we left Sedona and drove to Tuzigoot National Monument near Clarkdale, AZ.
We were both enamored by the pottery that was excavated from the site and reconstructed after about 1,000 years.
We were able to explore the rooms of the 110 room hilltop pueblo.
Reconstructed interior
From Tuzigoot, we made our way to Jerome, a very interesting living ghost town started over 100 years ago as primarily a copper mining community. We visited the very interesting museum at Jerome State Historic Park. The museum is in a mansion that was at one time owned by a copper baron named James S. Douglas.
The Douglas Mansion
In its heyday, the town of Jerome (built on the side of a hill) was home to more than 10,000 people. The most recent census counted just 444. There are some really fun shops in town and tourism seems to be the towns main source of income.
We finished out our Sedona trip at a couple of tasting rooms in Cottonwood. In all of our travels around the area we have not seen a single vineyard although they tell us they are mainly beside the river/creek. The wine was nice but I still love my Santa Ynez Valley wines the best!
