The trip from Houston to this little bit of heaven included driving through some rather boring countryside (Texas is a
REALLY big state) and
trying to get past some unseasonably cold weather. Temperatures were 20F below normal, so we just kept going.
Although still cold, once we got to Arizona there was plenty to see. For example, we:-- toured Kartchner Caverns in Arizona, a "living" cave near Benson. This state park opened in 2000, and the facilities and tour are really well done. The lighting and humidity control systems were designed to ensured that the humid atmosphere inside this desert cave would continue to be ideal for the formations. The caverns have some large stalactites and stalagmites, growing before your very eyes. Come back in a hundred years and they'll be an inch higher or longer. Outside, there's a humming bird garden, full of colorful, darting little ones making whirring sounds.
-- stopped in Quartzite, Arizona, population 1800, except in January and February when the population swells to 1 million! (Dick didn't believe me when I read this stat to him; I had to show it to him in black and white.) Apparently RV's full of rockhounds descend on Quartzite like locusts, parking bumper to bumper in the surrounding, mostly barren, desert. Thousands of dealers come to show, trade and sell gems and minerals of all sorts. When we drove through in November, there were already about 10,000 RV's parked helter skelter out in the desert. To get to 1 million people (assuming 2 people per RV) would mean 25,000 RV's arriving a day for 20 days, or... Hard to imagine.
-- hiked around the Saguaro National Park in the Sonoran desert just east of Tucson, Arizona.
This is a great place to see cactus. The more you look at these fascinating plants, the more variety you notice.
There are at least 10 types of prickly pear cactus, for example. This photo with Dick as a reference point shows how huge saguaro can grow in the wild.
The Park has a visitor center, a nine-mile scenic drive, and lots of
walking/hiking trails. All 3 photos are from here. Recommended if you're out this way.-- gambled in Laughlin, Nevada. This city is a little Las Vegas built along the Colorado River. You can stroll along the Riverwalk to get to the dozen or so casinos, or you can take a shuttle boat. There's also a 6-hour boat trip to the original London Bridge, now located in Lake Havasu City. If you like to gamble, this is a nice stopover. Our planned stay in Las Vegas had to be postponed. We unfortunately arrived right at the beginning of Comdex week, the busiest, priciest, and most crowded week of the year. Sometimes our normal mode of NOT planning ahead doesn't quite work out.
-- visited the Getty Center/Museum in LA. The buildings, set on 750 acres on a private hill that requires a tram to take you up, are an architectural feast.
They are built of imported white, Italian stone, stone from the same quarry that was used to build the Coliseum in Rome.
The buildings are open with curves, archways, squares and rectangles in juxtaposition.
They are connected to a couple of spectacular, albeit small, gardens.
And inside is the Getty art -- a very nice,
once private assortment of paintings and furniture and antiquities collected by
J. Paul over his lifetime or purchased since then with the huge endowment he left.
Reservations (for parking) are required, should you plan to come. There's also a rather overpriced restaurant
serving California cuisine for lunch -- table cloths, views and good food, -- and since museum admission is free, what the heck.As usual after 3 weeks on the road, we were ready to settle down and relax; the Palm Springs area and Coachella Valley are ideal (as long as you ignore the costs) wintertime venues, especially before the January crowds arrive. The weather has been perfect: sunny with highs have been between 67 and 75F. And there are lots of things to see and do around Palm Springs.