My trip to Arizona
Dec. 27th, 2007 12:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeI've been meaning to write about my trip to Arizona last month--my Dad sent me the pictures a few weeks ago but I've been so busy, I haven't gotten much chance to write. I flew into Phoenix two days before Thanksgiving and my Dad picked me up for the two-hour drive north to Sedona. Phoenix is in the southern half of the state where it's much warmer because the elevation is about 4,000 feet lower. Hence the lovely palm trees:
This was right from the highway.
And:
I felt as though I were back in Florida--ahhh, lovely palm trees, harbingers of warmth and light. However my favorite icon of southern Arizona was the everpresent saguaro cacti--they're the cacti that you see in Road Runner cartoons and in Westerns, the ones that stand straight up and tall.
They're protected in Arizona--you can't cut one down without permission.
One thing I love about Arizona is how Western it is--Nevada is right next door (it's about a half-day's drive to Las Vegas) and Phoenix is not too far from the California border. California! I was born there in Coronado but I haven't been back too many times--I don't even remember San Diego although I have been to San Francisco (where I was baptized) 4-5 times. In my mind the state is almost myth--it was indescribably cool to see signs that said:
I mean, look at that! I could've driven to Los Angeles!
Sedona was lovely--it's surrounded by these red rock formations, and I do mean surrounded.
Sedona from Airport Mesa.
Me on Airport Mesa.
The healthy lifestyle is a big thing there--a lot of people hike on the rocks, and there's a lot of biking and exercise in general. Sedona is also a focus of a lot of New Agers who believe that certain rocks are "vortices"--that is, they emit some kind of powerful energy. I really don't know much about it but you'll hear about it a lot there. New Age is quite big there--it's often tied in with the Indian culture which is very relevant and present there. It's interesting, the East Coast has as much Native history as the West does, and yet we seem to have obliterated it more, perhaps because we're settled longer. You don't hear as much about the Indians on the East except for the tribal casinos. But there you see stores selling the goods, you hear the music (I bought a CD), historical sites surround the area, and the entire Four States area has many reservations. While shopping the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we saw an Indian family performing at a plaza among a bunch of stores:
The three men performed with dancing and drumming--I only caught the last dance, with the one in yellow but he was SO GOOD. I didn't see any literature nearby to explain what tribe they were but I gave them money. The whole thing was so kickass. And speaking of historical sites, we also visited Tuzigoot National Monument:
Tuzigoot is the restored remains of a community of pre-European contact aboriginal Americans--they had no written language so there's a lot we don't know about them. But like the Anasazi they lived in proto-apartments (cliff dwellings, although this cliff was much smaller) and just like the Anasazi, they suddenly left. No one knows why. Since they had no documents, the archaeologists had to name the place themselves, and an Apache archeologist suggested "Tuzigoot," which means Broken Water in the Apache language.
Back in Sedona, we decided to go on a Thankgiving Day hike on Chicken Point. The climate is extremely dry there, so you have to drink lots and lots of water every day. We loaded up and pushed off, and as we drove past the other rocks, you could see a lot of other people out as well, little pale dots against the deep red. It was a great way to spend the holiday.
of course we made time for some pampering--all three of us had massages the day before Thanksgiving (the guy who worked on me did a great job on my headaches--he explained why I've been having them--he also played this wonderfully relaxing CD of Indian music that I bought). Liz and I got facials the day after Thanksgiving as well, as this very nice spa with robes, a lounge, tea and refreshments beforehand, the whole bit. I imagine they must do a banner business in facials, since the climate is so dry there.
However my favorite activity was the trip my Dad and I took to historic Route 66, which runs through Flagstaff (north of Sedona). I've always wanted to see the Mother Road, ever since I read an article in People magazine back in the '80s when it was being decomissioned. I remember the pictures in the article of this abandoned road that used to be so important and it just stuck with me. We drove up to Flagstaff and then found the entrance:
Isn't that view incredible? Our American heritage...
Me on THE Route 66. What a thrill that was. I could feel generations of Americans under the battered tar--Americans all going West, West, through the mountains, across the desert, to the sea. Seeking something better.
We stopped in a tiny town called Seligman which has wisely decided to embrace its past and market Route 66 to a fare-thee-well.
On the way back I got some lovely, evocative shots of this gorgeous state, but this was my favorite:
Western Moon
This was right from the highway.
And:
I felt as though I were back in Florida--ahhh, lovely palm trees, harbingers of warmth and light. However my favorite icon of southern Arizona was the everpresent saguaro cacti--they're the cacti that you see in Road Runner cartoons and in Westerns, the ones that stand straight up and tall.
They're protected in Arizona--you can't cut one down without permission.
One thing I love about Arizona is how Western it is--Nevada is right next door (it's about a half-day's drive to Las Vegas) and Phoenix is not too far from the California border. California! I was born there in Coronado but I haven't been back too many times--I don't even remember San Diego although I have been to San Francisco (where I was baptized) 4-5 times. In my mind the state is almost myth--it was indescribably cool to see signs that said:
I mean, look at that! I could've driven to Los Angeles!
Sedona was lovely--it's surrounded by these red rock formations, and I do mean surrounded.
Sedona from Airport Mesa.
Me on Airport Mesa.
The healthy lifestyle is a big thing there--a lot of people hike on the rocks, and there's a lot of biking and exercise in general. Sedona is also a focus of a lot of New Agers who believe that certain rocks are "vortices"--that is, they emit some kind of powerful energy. I really don't know much about it but you'll hear about it a lot there. New Age is quite big there--it's often tied in with the Indian culture which is very relevant and present there. It's interesting, the East Coast has as much Native history as the West does, and yet we seem to have obliterated it more, perhaps because we're settled longer. You don't hear as much about the Indians on the East except for the tribal casinos. But there you see stores selling the goods, you hear the music (I bought a CD), historical sites surround the area, and the entire Four States area has many reservations. While shopping the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we saw an Indian family performing at a plaza among a bunch of stores:
The three men performed with dancing and drumming--I only caught the last dance, with the one in yellow but he was SO GOOD. I didn't see any literature nearby to explain what tribe they were but I gave them money. The whole thing was so kickass. And speaking of historical sites, we also visited Tuzigoot National Monument:
Tuzigoot is the restored remains of a community of pre-European contact aboriginal Americans--they had no written language so there's a lot we don't know about them. But like the Anasazi they lived in proto-apartments (cliff dwellings, although this cliff was much smaller) and just like the Anasazi, they suddenly left. No one knows why. Since they had no documents, the archaeologists had to name the place themselves, and an Apache archeologist suggested "Tuzigoot," which means Broken Water in the Apache language.
Back in Sedona, we decided to go on a Thankgiving Day hike on Chicken Point. The climate is extremely dry there, so you have to drink lots and lots of water every day. We loaded up and pushed off, and as we drove past the other rocks, you could see a lot of other people out as well, little pale dots against the deep red. It was a great way to spend the holiday.
of course we made time for some pampering--all three of us had massages the day before Thanksgiving (the guy who worked on me did a great job on my headaches--he explained why I've been having them--he also played this wonderfully relaxing CD of Indian music that I bought). Liz and I got facials the day after Thanksgiving as well, as this very nice spa with robes, a lounge, tea and refreshments beforehand, the whole bit. I imagine they must do a banner business in facials, since the climate is so dry there.
However my favorite activity was the trip my Dad and I took to historic Route 66, which runs through Flagstaff (north of Sedona). I've always wanted to see the Mother Road, ever since I read an article in People magazine back in the '80s when it was being decomissioned. I remember the pictures in the article of this abandoned road that used to be so important and it just stuck with me. We drove up to Flagstaff and then found the entrance:
Isn't that view incredible? Our American heritage...
Me on THE Route 66. What a thrill that was. I could feel generations of Americans under the battered tar--Americans all going West, West, through the mountains, across the desert, to the sea. Seeking something better.
We stopped in a tiny town called Seligman which has wisely decided to embrace its past and market Route 66 to a fare-thee-well.
On the way back I got some lovely, evocative shots of this gorgeous state, but this was my favorite:
Western Moon
