Slideshow Index: Arizona 2015

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• Stopped in Harlan, Iowa, on the way to Arizona, to stay with Kathy's sister Myrna. Gene Munson joined the party.
• At the Raton Pass entering New Mexico from Trinidad, Colorado (snow and cold)
• Mount Humphreys from the east as we approached Flagstaff, Arizona
• Got my own little computer workroom next to the laundry at our Sun City place
• Here's the Arizona room off the kitchen (like a family room)
• The dining area between the Arizona room and the living room
• The living room
• The private enclosed patio off the master bedroom
• The Master bedroom. There is also a similar guest bedroom
• Nice sized kitchen too.
• Kathy in the open patio facing the back yard
• Looking west into the neighbor's yard
• Here's the whole house complete with two saguaro cacti in the front yard
• An Arizona sunset seen from the back patio
• Kathy's son Rod Johnson, Kathy, Arnie, and Rod's wife, Debbie in Scottsdale (they were on a golf trip)
• Old hockey buddy, Dan Hanka, and his wife Gail at their home in Sun City Festival (west ofus). Got in a hockey session with him at a nearby ice arena.
• Kathy, Bob, and Pam at the well-known Mesa Flea Market
• Bob, Pam, and Arnie on one of the four long covered corridors of merchandise (big place)
• One of the quail always running through the back yards
• Saguaro cactus only grow in the Sonora desert (north of Phoenix to the top edge of Mexico) on our way to the Lake Pleasant Regional Park
• The docks and restaurants on the main bay of Lake Pleasant (nan made behind a dam)
• Kathy, Bob, and Pam at the stairway and trams to the dock area
• Bob and Pam chose to take the stairs
• A good view of one of the few lakes in Arizona
• Kathy was enjoying the tram ride down to the docks
• What a bargain!
• Hamming it up at Dillon's restaurant
• We had to get into the action too
• Could this be a Minnesota mallard duck on vacation?
• Eating out in the Arizona warmth at Dillon's restaurant
• Saguaro cacti at the entrance to a trail in the regional park
• This was the entrance to a shorter (1.2 mile) trail in the park
• Pam and Kathy along the trail
• We saw para sailing and hot air balloons on the way back from Lake Pleasant
• At the entrance to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix (between the airport and Scottsdale)
• Kathy in front of an interesting blend or real cacti and artificial cacti
• Just one of several collections of desert plant life. There is a huge variety of cactus and unusual trees and shrubs that have adapted to desert life
• Another large cactus garden. There are trails that lead you to many different cactus stands
• Here is a flowering barrel cactus, a very common cactus in the Sonoran Desert
• These are called organ pipe cactus
• A furry friend, a ground squirrel, was looking for a handout
• We ate lunch later at Gertrude's restaurant, a great place for outdoor lunches
• This is a roadrunner. You can't see his long legs in this picture
• Pam, Kathy, Arnie, and Bob at Gertrude's Restaurant in the Desert Botanical Gardens
• Another unusual plant common to Arizona and Mexico, the Boojum tree
• Some flowering cacti (most bloom later in the spring)
• Pam, Arnie, Kathy, and Bob at Old Town Scottsdale
• We found this fantastic Gelato cafe on the north end of Old Town. Worthy of shops we have seen in Italy. Yumm!
• A garden in the Scottsdale Mall
• Bob and Pam getting ready to head back home. They'll be back at the end of March with family
• The Musical Instrument Museum was a great find (using Trip Admivor). Over 10,000 instruments in a variety of galleries and settings, plus a nice museum store.
• The guitar gallery showing a historical perpective.
• Arnie and kathy in front of a chinese gong. The museum supplies audio units and the headphones which automatically tune in to the nearest video display.
• That is the largest bass I have ever seen
• The Artist's Gallery was great with samples of the best music along with memorabilia of the artist.
• This is the largest street organ I have ever seen
• This street organ from Amsterdam is similar to one in a Minneapolis collection.
• Here is a fancy accordion that Bob Geiger would have fun playing.
• Can't resist showing the Sweden instrument collection.
• The Nyckelharpa is used a lot in Swedish folk groups, bowed like a violin, but with keys instead of frets.
• A very nice collection of accordions around the world
• A Welsh harp
• Unusual European trumpets
• Had to get this Sousaphone photo for Keith Erickson, our resident tuba player back home
• Another great collection of trumpets
• One of the Martin descendants explaining the history of the Martin guitars, one of my favorites (wish I owned one)
• Native American tribal drum sets
• Just one of a large collection of Latin American instrument galleries
• A museum fountain on the way out.
• Feb 22nd trip to Wickenburg - Historic Locomotive
• Wickenburg was established in 1863 before there was a town called Phoenix
• Old west costumed figures dot the town
• One of the best breakfasts I ever had was at The Horseshoe Cafe
• You don't see many classic Indian Motorcycles any more
• One of the main streets
• Kathy and I sat by the front window
• Guns and such above our table
• Couldn't resist this sign in the Men's bathroom
• The store by our van
• Highway signs show our location. Gun show signs all over town.
• One of the bigger antique stores
• Kathy and el cantante (the singer)
• The Wickenburg Community Center was hosting a big gun show
• The Prisoner Tree, when the jail was full
• Escape was unknown
• Entrance to the Wickenburg Caballeros Western Museum
• Some Native American pots
• Native American dolls
• The story of the Bola Tie, an Arizonan invention
• A collection of Bola Ties
• Wickenburg is a mining town - various gold samples
• The main museum building a block away - two floors of western art and an old west town
• One of the best western museums we have seen. There were many Remington and Russell paintings and sculptures,
• New Mexico Pueblo
• Indian Meeting
• Sculpture
• Sculpture
• General Store
• General Store
• The Gun Store
• Inside the Vulture Saloon
• Vulture Saloon Bar
• The Honky-Tonk piano player
• Street view
• Living room
• Dining room
• Kitchen
• Bedroom
• Sewing and ironing room
• The Arizona room was on the porch for sleeping during the hot summer months
• Rifles were an important part of the west
• The founding father of Wickenburg
• Hotel Vernetta
• Finished the day with ice cream and coffee from Bedoian's Bistro
• One of our backyard jackrabbits