Phoenix, AZ
FRI., JAN 13, 2023 thru SUN., JAN 22, 2023
We landed in Phoenix, AZ on Sunday, Jan. 15th, but not without some hardship involved. They say things happen in threes. I’m hoping our 3 troublesome travel days are a thing of the past!
#1: As previously mentioned, we had twine get wrapped around one of the landing gear on our way to Las Vegas. Thankfully we were able to remove it fairly easily after being flagged by multiple motorists.
#2 happened on the drive from Las Vegas to Kingman AZ where we spent the past 2 nights at Blake Ranch RV Park & Horse Motel. On the plus side, we had views of snow-capped mountains. On the negative side, upon arrival we found that the hydraulic hose (attached to the same landing gear that previously had the twine wrapped around it) had sprung a leak and was spewing hydraulic fluid. Not sure if this was due to the previous twine problem or something else. Gary did a temporary fix on the hose and while under the trailer dealing with that, realized one of our tires is worn so much in one area that the steel belt is coming through. Great. In Kingman yesterday, we were able to locate the correct replacement tire and Gary swapped it out.
And #3: We blew a tire today, Sunday, Jan. 15th, on the way to Phoenix. Of course this happens when we’re in the middle of nowhere with a crappy cell signal. Long story short, I was able to call Good Sam Roadside Assistance; we wait over 2.5 hours for somebody to arrive. They don’t, and Gary ends up putting the spare on himself by the side of a busy road with trucks and cars whizzing by. I prayed the whole time he was changing it. We finally reach Desert Shadows RV Resort in Phoenix after 6pm in the dark. Not something we ever like to do.
Now we have to get another new tire and are waiting on a new hydraulic hose to arrive via UPS. We’re also investigating if there’s an underlying issue with the tires, like an alignment problem or bent axle. This is the non-fun part of our traveling RV lifestyle. But I still wouldn’t trade it… problems and all.
On the plus side, we are treated to lemon, orange, and grapefruit trees here at this campground in Phoenix along with a nice indoor pool and hot tub. We’re here for a week so will have time to get things sorted out.
On Tuesday, Jan. 17th, we had a timed entry to visit Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and desert laboratory which was established in 1937 and hand built over many years by Wright and his apprentices. It is is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Historic Landmark nestled in the desert foothills of the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, Arizona. A beautiful desert landscape surrounds the property.
The name “Taliesin” means “Shining Brow” reflecting his belief that the crown of the hill was reserved for nature, and that buildings should be constructed at the brow of the hill. His original (summer) home in Wisconsin is Taliesin. Arizona is west of Wisconsin, thus his winter home became Taliesin West.
It is similar to many of Wright’s other buildings with low ceilings and doorways, unusual entryways, lots of windows to bring in the outdoors, and his iconic simple furniture design. This property is unique in that not only did he build it, but he lived and worked here with his many apprentices and met clients here. Also, his apprentices had a huge drafting studio where they all worked together. There must of been 25 to 30 drafting tables in one large space with ample windows allowing amazing views of the outdoors.
We did an audio tour of the property. The app was on our phones but used our own headsets. Besides the work spaces, some of the other interesting features of the home…
- There was an outdoor pergola with a slatted roof line that ran the length of the property on one side. Average height of men at the time was 5 ft 8 inches. Gary, being 6 ft., could walk under without smacking his head but just barely.
- There was a manicured green space on one side of the building with a triangle shaped pool to mimic the shape of the mountains. The living room overlooked this tranquil backdrop.
- The property incorporates amazing cement and stone walls created by Wright’s apprentices. The stones all coming from his property.
- Generally speaking I’m not a big fan of Wright’s furniture because it looks so straight backed, hard edged and uncomfortable. But in the living room, he had funky looking blue chairs, called origami chairs made out of a single sheet of plywood, which looked like origami, thus the name.
- A lot of the rooms had “canvas ceilings” which allowed for diffused even light with no artificial light in the space.
- There were 12 large Chinese porcelain “theatrical vignettes” placed around the property. They were purchased in 1955 in San Francisco. The placement of these vignettes was to mark a change from one space to another… for example a work space to a private space or indoor space to an outdoor space. All are different scenes.
- There was a Kiva Room or meeting room. The word Kiva is an Indian term for a communal or meeting space. Wright used his Kiva Room to show movies and meet with his apprentices informally until the sheer number of apprentices outgrew the space.
- Lastly there was a “cabaret” space that became the new space where the apprentices gathered once they outgrew the Kiva Room.
After touring Taliesin West in the morning, we stayed in Scottsdale and visited the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. They have an original Pullman Car built between 1927 and 1929 that was used as the Presidential Rail Car for four U.S. Presidents: Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower. The train car was an early version of Air Force One. We could wander thru the train car at will. The Presidents used the outdoor platform for campaign speeches and whistle-stop appearances.
The park also had a 10,000 sq ft model train building that housed an elaborate HO gauge, N gauge and O gauge model train setup. Quite impressive! They even had a 1950 working carousel. The visit to the park was entirely free and staffed by knowledgeable volunteers who liked to share their park with visitors. A fun way to end our day.
On Wed., Jan 18th, we visited the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. It was established in 1939 and is located on 140 acres with a whopping 50,000 desert plants. A wonderful experience seeing all the various cacti and other plants. Some of which we’d never seen before such as a Crested Whortleberry Cactus and a Crested Saguaro, which is considered exceptionally rare only 1 in 20,000. There was also stapelia, a “carrion” plant, marbled red, the fleshy flower, looks and smells like rotting meat to attract flies that carry its pollen dust to the next flower. Eeeeeuuuuwwww. None of those were blooming when we were there… thankfully! There were three Dale Chihuly Sculptures at the entrance. We love his work. Also large-scale sculptures scattered through the gardens created by Rotraut, a well-known Arizona artist.
Fabulous visit!
On Thursday, Jan. 19th, we did chores, such as grocery shopping and Gary installing the new hydraulic hose, then spent some time at the very nice indoor pool and hot tub at the campground. On Friday we did a 2.5 mile self-guided walking tour of downtown Phoenix. The city has done a nice job of retaining old architecture mixed in with the new, and some amazing murals!
Some of the highlights:
- We saw Chase Field, home to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Built in 1998, it’s the first stadium in the U.S. built with a retractable roof over natural grass. Average temps can reach over 100 during baseball season here. Yikes.
- Rosson House Museum: Built in 1895, the Rosson family built a two-story Victorian home. Now it’s a museum and the anchor to Heritage Square a small “square” of victorian homes.
- St. Mary’s Basilica, the oldest Catholic Parish in Phoenix. This Spanish Colonial-style church was built in 1914, complete with golden altars, Roman columns and the largest collection of stained glass windows in the state.
- A series of sculptures at the Herberger Theater Center.
- The Heard Building, built in 1920. It was the tallest structure in Arizona upon completion.
- 70-ft mural entitled “Malinda” on the side of the Renaissance Hotel.
- Phoenix City Hall
- Historic Maricopa County Courthouse. This building served as Phoenix’s City Hall from 1929 until 1994. Now it houses a couple of museums.
On Saturday, Jan. 21st, we visited MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) in Phoenix. It was recommended to us by Gary’s brother, Wayne, who said it was not to be missed when visiting the area. It was superb. We spent 4 hours exploring it. Founded by the CEO of Target Corp in 2010, it is “The World’s Only Global Instrument Museum” and has a collection of 8,000 instruments from 200+ different countries. Amazing!
To make the experience truly special, they provide headsets and there are monitors set up throughout the museum that allow you to hear the instruments being played and listen and watch the artist performing. Loved it.
Some of our faves:
- Unique guitars – Voodoo Guitar and a custom Gibson guitar with a Beatles theme
- Jan and Dean drum set, 1962
- Drum from 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Beijing, China, which we think was the best Olympic opening ceremonies ever!
- Handwritten “Pretty Woman” song lyrics by Roy Orbison
- Costumes worn by Roger Daltry and Alice Cooper (Alice’s Mom made his)
- “Ordered stones” played in the Chinese Royal Court during 470 – 220 BCE. They sounded beautiful. Like bells… according to my headset since I wasn’t actually in the Royal Court.
- Recycled Orchestra – Paraguayan children make instruments from landfill trash. “The world sends us garbage and we send back music.”
- Beach Boys drum set, 1970
- Martin Guitar and Steinway Piano displays. The Steinway Company has 127 patents to their name!
- They had a prototype of an Eric Clapton guitar on display created by Martin. They’re adjusting the blue hue of the guitar before it’s delivered.
- GI “Victory” Piano on display created by Steinway during WWII and parachuted into combat zones by the thousands. The US Marine Band, founded in 1798, is the nation’s oldest.
Truly a unique experience visiting this superb museum.
Sunday was a day to make phone calls, catch up on emails, enjoy a FaceTime call with C&J, and watch some playoff football games. Monday we move on to the Tucson area.
