After Tucson, we visited the Phoenix area, staying in Mesa. The RV park there left us with mixed impressions. On the one hand, the section and site we were in was extremely nice--wide concrete pads easily accessed, hard-surfaced patio area with table, gas barbecue pit, large individual trash and recycling bins. Very comfortable.
On the other hand, the majority of the park was very tight for maneuvering, narrow streets packed with many manufactured homes--some really showing their age and neglect, while others still showing pride of ownership. And as one would expect, Mesa has lots of parks just like this one.
We had a treat of some company for part of the time we were there. Dad and Sis drove from Texas to Arizona to see us and Phoenix. Dad has been there many times in years past, visiting relatives who wintered here, but it has been a while. Sis had not been there, and doesn't mind driving long distances. As it turned out, driving through dust storms en route to Arizona, and again driving back to Texas was not what they had in mind, but they made it OK.
We visited the Desert Botanical Garden. Trails meander through many varieties of cactus and desert plants. Some were blooming, but we were there a little late in the day to catch the blooms. And there were some artistic sculptures interspersed throughout the garden. SheM was the only one in our party that really enjoyed them--not sure what that says about her.
We took a drive through the Tonto National Forest northeast of Mesa. 'Forest' does not necessarily mean lots of trees because there were not many, but the mountains and scenery were worth the drive. We inadvertently visited Coolidge Dam by taking a wrong turn. We were the only ones there, which gave it an abandoned feeling. Granted the dam has seen better days--it was dedicated in 1930, and doesn't look like it's had much attention since then--but it's still successfully creating a small reservoir, albeit water levels are down substantially.
On the same drive we also visited the larger reservoir created by the Theodore Roosevelt Dam. This dam was built in 1911 using rocks from the surrounding area. In 1996, it was redone using concrete and 77' added to its height. The reservoir behind it is huge and the recreational facilities very active.
The Phoenix area is the site of spring training for 15 baseball teams, including the Rangers, Dad's favorite team. We tried to get tickets to one of the Ranger games, but our timing was not good. So we settled for the Braves vs White Sox. They played at Camelback Ranch, a nice small ballpark. It was the quintessential baseball experience--the weather was warm (actually hot), we had hot dogs (OK, actually sausage), we had a beer (maybe two), and we rooted for our team (we don't remember which team was ours, but we're sure we won!).
After Dad and Sis headed back to Texas, we still had a few days for more sightseeing. We headed up to the Flagstaff area to spend a couple of days. What a difference in temperature a few thousand feet of elevation makes. Not only did Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona, understandably still have snow, there was snow along some of the roads around Flagstaff itself.
The Grand Canyon. How many pictures have been taken of the Grand Canyon? How many pictures does it take to really capture the 'grandness'? We took our share of pictures, and there's simply no way to truly capture it. Here's a couple of our attempts.
We didn't make it to the western end of the canyon where the glass walkway extends over the canyon--maybe on another trip. (SheM wouldn't be able to walk out on it anyway, but HeM would enjoy it.)
Meteor Crater is east of Flagstaff. We've seen pictures of the crater over the years; we had to go see it in person. It isn't the Grand Canyon, of course, but it didn't disappoint.
The visitor center has on display a piece of the meteor that was taken from the center of the crater.
Just a bit further east of Meteor Crater is Winslow, Arizona. There's really nothing to see there but we had to make the drive just to say that we've been to Winslow, Arizona. HeM thought he saw a girl in a flatbed Ford but wasn't sure. Music fans of The Eagles will understand.
As we were returning to Flagstaff we ran across Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. We had a little time before dark, so decided to check it out. Sunset Crater erupted sometime between 1040 and 1100. It's now a 1,000-foot-high volcano, surrounded by cinder-covered hills.
The route we chose to drive from Flagstaff back to Mesa went through Sedona and Red Rock State Park. It was a gorgeous drive. There were few, if any, places to stop and take pictures at the prettiest spots, so you'll have to take our word for it. If you're ever in the area, we highly recommend taking this scenic bypass.
Whenever normal periodic maintenance is due, we look for a service facility close to our planned route. This was one of those times. The 6,000 mile checkup on our chassis was needed. We found a Freightliner facility in the Phoenix suburb of Tolleson that truly caters to the RV community. They provide overnight parking with full hookups, will set up appointments, and most importantly, adhere to those appointments. This is important to full-timers, and truly appreciated. We will look for similar ones as maintenance is called for in the future.
On the day that our RV was in the Freightliner shop, we opted to see what we could find in downtown Phoenix. We chose the Arizona Capitol Museum.
Just outside the Capitol, the city has created a memorial park with tributes to servicemen, law enforcers, and civic employees. The tributes range from World War II to Korea to Vietnam to the World Trade Center. One of the more impressive memorials was for the USS Arizona, including a mast and an anchor from the battleship. It can evoke surprising emotion for an event that preceded both of us.
While we were in Phoenix, we picked up a couple of traveling companions. These critters are going to visit various points of interest with us--points of interest that a certain 5-year-old and 3-year-old in Austin may want to visit some day. You may spot them in some of our pictures going forward. At the end of our 2013 travels, they will be residing in Austin with the boys.
Next stop was Yuma, Arizona.
No comments:
Post a Comment