Found the modern

We drove up to Lon's for breakfast. Lon's is a very nice old inn and restaurant in Paradise Valley, one of the area's high-end neighborhoods. Lon Megargee was a cowboy painter and illustrator, a contemporary of Charlie Russell (Google will show you his work). The old hacienda is decorated with his illustrations. Very nice.

We then drove up to Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's digs during the winter. On the way I took photos of some midcentury modern homes we passed. These are not all that common in the Phoenix area. The houses across the street were pretty standard ranches with tile roofs, very common here.

Wright and his acolytes built Taliesin over a number of years on a shoestring, using stone and gravel from the site. They placed the stone and concrete in plywood forms to make the walls. The doorways are low (Wright was short and thought any height beyond six feet was wasted) but he was into the interior spaces, not the entries.

One of the coolest items was a fountain built from what looked like the end of a big propane tank. Large holes were cut in the dome and as water fell through it created waves that made floating glass balls bump against the steel, causing it to tone like a deep gong. I want one.

On the drive back we rolled through another part of Paradise Valley and saw some of the largest and (sorry Phoenix) ugliest homes I've ever beheld. There's something to be said for the architectural conservatism of the east coast. It may be boring, but most of the errors there are less dramatic.

After we got back we walked downtown. Pam spotted a frog sculpture and decided kissing one frog in her life was not enough. I guess her first frog hasn't made the full transition into a prince.

Queen Creek

This morning I went to deal with the Scottsdale Bureaucracy about the red light camera notice that arrived in the mail Saturday. No success yet, but this exquisitely irritating situation will cost time and money. I now drive like a granny. I plan to avoid Scottsdale.

We drove to Queen Creek in the afternoon to visit the Olive Mill. Another geezerfest. Queen Creek is way southeast of Phoenix, down where budget housing developments (Homes starting at $117,000!) are squeezing out the valley's last farms. Flat and seemingly endless, this grand valley is made for sprawl. And sprawl is what it's got. Most roads run north-south and east-west. Drive down any of these, city center or boondocks, and you'll pass huge blocks of vacant land. There's no real need to redevelop inside the city; apparently it's cheaper to just move farther out.

The weak economy has clearly hurt this region. Everywhere are shuttered businesses and "available" signs. I'll grab some pix.

We bought a bottle of olive oil and headed back, hitting another rain squall on the way. Watched the season end of "Men of a Certain Age," a great show.

Rain again

Everett has pro-level rain; Phoenix is definitely at the amateur level. We heard rain overnight (the water falls three stories from the roof down a steel spout, then rattles the base of the spout -- makes a lot of noise) that continued this morning. After a slow start we decided to head out for breakfast. By then the rain had stopped.

Coco's is close, but the lot was almost empty. A sign on the door said their power was out. So we wandered down Indian School Road looking for an alternative. Turning up 7th Avenue we saw Two Hippies Breakfast Joint. The place was crowded but the price was right and the food turned out OK. You order at the counter, then they call your name to get the chow.

One woman customer was wearing her pants half hanging off her butt, hiphop fashion. Ladies, is this style au courant? I don't recall it at New York Fashion Week. Two Hippies occupies the same block as Bizarre Guitars and Drums and Go Kat Go, which specializes in midcentury furniture (trending toward the kitchy), vintage hot rod and rat bike style with a little pinup tossed in for good measure.

We next drove down to Tempe (southeast of Phoenix) and visited the Changing Hands bookstore. Nice big shop. In the afternoon we took a walk over to Fifth Avenue (10 blocks west) and back. Saw a fabulous block of arts and crafts bungalows, unfortunately located just south of the I-10 freeway and smothered in traffic noise.

I am tired of the Olympics. Figure skating especially.

When it rains, do art!

It rained today, so we headed up to the Heard Museum to check out the American Indian artwork. Saw more sculpture by Allan Houser (here are a couple of photos), a cool Inuit art exhibit and an exhibit of little silver vessels (seed pots) grown out of the heritage of clay pots the Indians used to make to hold seeds.

These have no real function (they're only two to four inches across) but have become an outlet for the creative work of silver artists. Very cool.

We also saw work by Henry Fonseca, an artist of Nisenan Maidu (Indians near Sacramento), Hawaiian and Portuguese descent. He did these coyotes.

Tonight we're heading to the theater.

Big Rotary

Wrapped up a job in the morning, then drove up 7th Street to the Phoenix Country Club for a makeup at the Rotary 100 club. I happened to sit at a table with two former club presidents (one a WWII destroyer sailor) and Don Goldwater, who is a nephew of Barry Goldwater and a backer of J. D. Hayworth, a right wing talk show talker challenging John McCain for US Senate. This is a big club of 325 members. I didn't talk politics.

The speaker discussed prostate problems. After the meeting most of the members and I headed to the men's room. As I mentioned to the guys in line, we are the prime candidates. They laughed.

We picked up play tickets in the afternoon, then met Heather, Debbie and Ula at Chauvont for happy hour.

Into the red rock

Wednesday (yesterday) was mundane. Work to do in the morning, then closed things out by heading down to the George & Dragon pub for the monthly Riders Association of Triumph meeting.

At 22 attendees it was their biggest meeting in months. Saw NYSteve and several other riders from Saturday's venture again, and picked up a GSXR master cylinder from Steve to try out on the Sprint. Nice collection of bikes out in the parking lot. No program really, just good conversation and invites to further riding while in the area.

As our days here dwindle down to a precious few we're starting to feel the pressure. So today we headed north on I-17 to Sedona. It's a two-hour slog up the Interstate, over a fairly high (4000-foot plus) pass that isn't marked at the summit. Then off the freeway onto a two-lane and into the spectacular red rimrock of Sedona.

Though I couldn't feel the spiritual energy vortex that New Agers claim is here (maybe I should have stopped at the crystal shop) we did have a great late lunch at Shugrue's Hillside Grill. Not cheap, and you didn't have to buy lunch to know it. Just see how much jewelry the ladies at the next table were sporting.





The mountains are spectacular and surround the town. We took a side trip to a remarkable Catholic chapel designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and built into a rock formation south of town, on Federal land. Thanks, Barry Goldwater. A remarkable place.

While up at the chapel I grabbed a shot of a hilltop home down below. A triumph of money over taste. Crystals needed, a massage and some serious meditation.

Back home by 7:30. Fun day!

Our moon

Went to Rotary today. Small club in at 4000 Central in the Phoenix business district. Pretty old demographic, nice folks. Cashed a paycheck on the way home and signed up for a month membership at YMCA, which is a short walk from our condo.

We went back to Cheuvraunt for dinner. On the walk (!) home we saw this moon smiling down through the palms.

Scottsdale closed?

After another fruitless run at the thrift stores this morning (being wise, Pamela did not participate) we decided to check out Scottsdale in the afternoon. There's an Old West section (we passed), another section of mixed little shops, and an art area. We walked through the last two but were disappointed to find that many shops were closed for President's Day. And a place to grab a coffee and relax we never did find.

We did stop at the Poisoned Pen bookstore, where Pamela bought a couple of mysteries. Pretty cool store, with photos of dozens of writers who have appeared at the store over the years. The clerk, who also works as a librarian, seemed to know everything about the mystery/crime genre.

If you haven't discovered the TV show Men of a Certain Age, check it out. Great show, and you don't have to worry about Jack Bauer getting hung by his thumbs again, or hanging someone else.

Willo and more

We walked to the Willo neighborhood open house this morning. It's a delightfully varied and well maintained area of modest-looking homes built during the 1930s and 40s. I've shown some photos before and here are a few more. The neighbors had an extensive street fair going, a trolley to shuttle visitors around the ten open homes, food and potties. All you could want.

The weather was clear and warming into the '70s. The most memorable home was extensively decorated with Mexican folk and contemporary art (Botero), European paintings and drawings, sculpture and more. The art work covered nearly every wall and, coupled with the paint treatments and vintage furnishings, gave the place a warm and intimate feel.

Another place, a modest Craftsman bungalow on the outside, had ballooned into a six-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 3800 square foot dormitory. This one was for sale and on display by the brokers. Price was down from $1 million a year ago to $750,000 or so this year. The work was very nice, except that they had installed laminate flooring throughout. At least it all matched.

Visiting a half dozen homes made for a lot of walking that made my right hip sore. Back home we rested a bit, then headed to Heather and Mark's to see their baby, Ula, and their great 1969 modern-style home. It's been on the Modern Phoenix homes tour and for good reason: they've done a superb job of furnishing and updating the home, while sticking with its spare style.

Here is a shot of Pamela's cousin Debbie with Ula, two photos of Willo homes, and pix of the interior of Ula's home. I'll post photos of the exterior in the future.

What a ride

I'd read about the ride to Prescott before we got down here. When I read that the local Riders Association of Triumph (R.A.T.) group was heading up there today, I made plans to go.

Headed out at about 8 a.m. to meet the group on the I-17 freeway about 25 miles north of the condo. Six of us showed up at the Chevron station. I did a crappy job of getting the names. It was NYSteve, Motoweasel and several other guys. They were riding a Speed Triple, Street Triple, 1050 Sprint, 955 Sprint, Japanese V-twin and my 955 Sprint.

We headed west on 74 for 40 miles of basically straight two-lane highway, saguaros and brush all around, to the US 60 junction, then northwest on US 60 to Wickenburg. Not much there. Then US 93 a few miles to SR 89, which took us past the crossroads of Congress and on toward a significant range of mountains.

You can see the climb up the mountain face from miles away. The road splits into separate uphill and downhill lanes. Zoom in on the section on Google Maps -- it's an impressive piece of road. This must have saved the lives of many a trucker. Road surface was clean and smooth but as we hit the 35 mph curves I quickly fell behind the other riders. Two reasons. First, I'd been warned that the law waits and tickets for the most minor speed infractions. Second, I wanted to not die.

Past Yarnell the road straightened for a while and the landscape changed. We rolled through Peeples Valley, a broad expanse of grass pastures, tidy fences and a few majestic cottonwoods. I figured its likely owned by the same family that pioneered the area 150 years ago. Or some bastard from Microsoft or Goldman Sachs.

Not much farther we headed up again and entered the Prescott National Forest and Ponderosa Park. If I thought the road to Yarnell was twisty, I had a lesson ahead. I've never seen such a succession of canyon switchbacks and cliff-pavement-cliff outside curves, many posted for 25 mph speeds. We were high enough by now that the roadsides were dotted with snow and I had my electric jacket liner working. Saw some actual trees!

In Prescott we grabbed lunch at a brew pub and I caught a photo of the county courthouse and the rider group.

For the trip back the guys decided to do the newbie (me) a favor and route through Skull Valley. The country was more open and the curves were high-speed sweepers. Some of the landscape was lovely, with hummocks topped by weather-rounded boulders. Skull Valley was home to George Phippen (1915–1966), a well known western artist, co-founder and first president of the Cowboy Artists of America. (Wikipedia). We stopped for a break and I got another picture.

From there it was a slog. Back through Peeples Valley, Wickenburg, etc etc. Though my new sheepskin butt pad helped, my rear end was begging for mercy. The whole run was 261 miles. Got back at 3:30 p.m. Pamela and I had a nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant.

Visit to Tubac

Drove south of Tucson to Tubac this morning. The fish hook cactus was in bloom. The Spaniards arrived around 1750 and built a fort at Tubac, which sits below mountains and above a rich river valley. The Spaniards drove out many of the native Indians but were hassled for 100 years by the Apache, very tough people.

Now they have all been driven out by the artists and gallery owners. Tubac is now a desert art colony, and we spend most of the day walking around the Tubac Art Festival. We were surrounded by the gallery customers and art show shoppers, geezers who looked way too much like us.

We also visited the old fortress site and museum. which was interesting. Lots of information about the various waves of people who have lived there.

After lunch we headed back with a stop by Picacho Peak to visit Terry and Sherry Barber, who are camping at the state park on their way to Borrego Springs. Terry is the past Grand Poobah of the Washington Vintage Motorcyclists and they visit the Southwest every winter. Had a great visit, and their new trailer is really cool. Their cat Rusty travels with them.

Slowdown on the trip back north, caused by people gawking at the sight of a pickup truck nearly ripped in two by a train. The dead truck and stationary train were right next to the freeway and people couldn't help staring. Two died. We drove home carefully.

Happiest hour

This afternoon we took our ride on the light rail system, which runs five blocks from us, then southeast to Mesa and northwest to some other place,. It's an hour ride around the whole system and a day pass for seniors costs $1.75. Very smooth, though it didn't pass a lot of places we wanted to stop and see.

We did get off and stroll around Mill Street in Tempe, near Arizona State University. As you might expect in a college town, eateries outnumbered just about every other kind of retail. Stopped into a frozen yugurt place but didn't really like their offerings, then into the ice cream sandwich shop next door. Really disgusting. Perhaps they were surprised when we left. Shouldn't be.

Back on the train, then up to the other end of the line. We stopped at a place a short walk from our condo called Cheuvront. Great happy hour, with serious martinis and an excellent slate of very tasty appetizers/small plates. We had Port Reyes blue cheese and roasted goat cheese/chicken pockets. Both were excellent. This place has now topped our happy hour list.

Friday we roll out early for the Tubac Art Festival, down near the Mexican border south of Tacoma.

Still haven't found a replacement bike. >:(

Oh this lousy weather

Saw a big debate on MSNBC tonight about right wingers Imhofe, Sean Hannity and company claiming the snow storms in DC prove there's no global warming. And based on the lousy weather that stormed through Phoenix today, I heartily agree.

The country has been besieged by terrible weather this week and this surely puts the lie to the claims of the ecofreaks. Here are the 7 p.m. PST conditions in some weather-besieged locations from across the country, chosen at random:

Washington, DC (my home town): 26F, snow
Boston: 30F, light snow
Chicago: 23F
Havre, Montana: 21F
Dallas/Fort Worth: 38F
Everett, WA: 43F

I know conditions are almost unbearable for many of our friends and relatives and just want everyone to know that we feel for you and know what you are going through. Even here in Phoenix this onslaught of Al Gore-denying, global warming-debunking weather has hit us hard.

Today it rained a full 10 minutes. The thermometer struggled to reach a high of 66F, a full 5 degrees below normal. Yes, we feel your pain and share your anguish. Global warming is gone, but not forgotten. I miss it.

Tuesday: Day in the desert

Went to Parlor for drinks and a snack last night, then to Moira, a Sushi bar, for appetizer dinner. Got our ration of stabbings and shootings from 24. As we went to bed about 11 a problem with condo life became apparent: the guy next door was playing house music at full blast.

After a half hour I put my jeans on, walked up his stairs, beat on the door like a storm trooper. When he opened it I meekly asked if he would mind turning down the music. He did.

This morning more work (thanks for that) then at 2 p.m. we drove over to freebie day at the Desert Botanical Garden. http://www.dbg.org/index.php/plan/ourgarden/gardentailguide

It was hard to find a place to park as the place was swarmed by geezers. Other geezers. Once inside, we were very impressed. A spectacular sculpture by Dale Chihuly marked the entrance, and they had sculptures by Allan Houser and others throughout a very large, tidy and information-filled exhibition. The big heroes were the desert plants and the birds and animals we saw throughout our walk.

It's an extensive arboretum with a huge display of desert flora. They have more spiny, sticky, nasty harmful things you don't want to sit on or touch than anywhere this side of the Tea Party convention.

They even have the rare "Mickey Mouse" cactus.

Happy birthday

I was asked to post some photos of the condo interior, and here they are. The decor was one thing that attracted me to this place (that and the tandem garage). Upstairs is a very nice master suite, a second bedroom with full bath, and an office nook in the hallway.

Lots of birthday wishes yesterday: calls from Wynne and Anna and a card from Elisabeth. Copy:

"Two pieces of birthday advice:

1) Forget about the past. You can't change it.

2) Forget about the present. I didn't get you one."

E has a gift for card selection.

I also received notes from my sister Anne and my pal Glen, and a hug from Pamela. Also several e-mails from companies and organizations that surprised me by knowing when I was born.

Worked all morning (the office setup here is fine now that I've got the silver ethernet cable dangling from the second floor router to my desk on the first). Then we visited Red Modern, another modern furniture store. This was different, with more recent (1960s-1980s) items, more chrome, and a number of nice items that strode the line between furniture and art. They have an attractive website and apparently do a lot of online business. We also visited a huge furniture store selling Scandinavian-style furniture. Prices looked good. The most attractive item was a motorized desk you could raise for work standing up.

What follows rain

In Everett is more clouds and rain. Here it's a lovely blue sky, with a few clouds placed artfully to remind us what we're missing. After finishing up a couple of short jobs it was too late to head for Matt's Big Breakfast, a popular spot the size of three phone booths that's walking distance from the condo. Instead we tried First Watch, right downtown and unfortunately low on the Potato Quality Index. The larger ones were OK, but the small bits were nothing but crust. Tubers deserve better. Service was good.

Today was midcentury furniture store day. The first place we tried had turned into just another antique mall, though one with a Conant Ball bedroom set by Russell Wright, in simply incredible original condition. $1440.

The next stop, Metro Retro, had another shop cat. This one was more disciplined. Pagliacci is a white Oriental of about 20 pounds, with one green eye and one blue eye. The shop owner makes jewelry and has a number of cool pieces. We'll be back Thursday for their lecture on Phoenix history. While we shopped a couple of the owners were sorting through a bin of old matchbooks, picking out those advertising Phoenix businesses. They informed me that the topless place touted on one has gone bust. What a letdown.

Pamela prepared pork tacos for dinner as we watched the Saints wrap up the Superbowl. Good day.

Phlea market phunk

First thing Saturday I drove a half hour to the Mesa Marketplace flea market. TomTom sent me a half mile in the wrong direction. Should have been a sign. At 7:30 the vendors were just opening up. It's a huge place with a permanent roof, but all the vendors were selling new and crappy stuff. Doesn't really get busy until 9 a.m., they said.

One guy tipped me to a smaller market a few miles away. That one was way funkier but I didn't find anything. There were actually a few of the vendors I prefer, the guys set up in the parking lot with card tables. One had a Taurus stainless 5-shot snub nose for sale in .45 Colt, but the price seemed high at $450. Then I noticed another shopper, a guy in a motorized wheelchair, was packing a sizable automatic.

Don't screw with the crippled guy. I'm still looking for that perfect flea market.

A cat wandered out of one sale tent and toward another, which caused great consternation and much barking by the Scottie a few tents away. The vendor said that cat teases his dog every week.

On the way back from Mesa stopped by Bob's Motorcycle, a vendor of Harley parts down in what I would otherwise call the "Gentleman's Club" district south of the airport. As I walked in a big cat stood by the door. He accepted a bit of ear scratching from me. The lady behind the counter couldn't have been nicer, but could deal with just one customer at a time and I was just looking.

The Harleys on the floor made it almost impossible to walk around. That was OK, because my nose quickly told me the privileges of shop feline included a kitty version of the freedom of the open road: go where you wanna go.

On the way back I stopped by a car show near the ASU campus. Met a couple of guys showing their Honda CBX bikes, and got this photo of a restored balloon tire bike.

Back at the Condo, we received a visit from Heather, the daughter of Pamela's cousin Debbie, and her five-month-old daughter Ula. Wish I'd gotten a picture--what a sweetie. We had a nice long talk about Phoenix (Heather and Mark moved here from Seattle five years ago) and babies.

Pamela roasted a pork loin for dinner and we fell asleep on the couch watching a program about anacondas. During the night it rained; the gutter at the back corner of the condo, next to the bedroom, was rattling like a snare drum with the water falling three stories from the roof. I've already dreamed up a fix.

A few pictures: a shot of the front of the condo. Our unit is on the second and third floors, with windows on the left side and back over the garage. We've seen some really cool houses; here are two in our neighborhood just a block away.

Great anticipation is . . . rewarded!

Rewarded?

This is First Friday, when streets in our neighborhood are closed and galleries, bars and such are open and hopping. We headed out at 5:45 to walk down to Washington (the east-west center of old downtown Phoenix)and mosey our way back toward Artisan Village. Took the camera and a couple of $20s just in case.

Got back about 9:30 and yep, it was fun. Crowds were gathering on Roosevelt Street (which borders our condo complex on the south) as we walked downtown. This area is a weird mix of funky old houses turned into art studios, funky old houses that are still houses, small commercial buildings and empty lots covered with gravel and trash. Go south four or five blocks and you're in the midst of Arizona State University, commercial buildings and a shopping mall.

We kind of drifted through the mall until we were attracted by shiny bright lights wrapped around palm trees, which drew us like moths. Here's a picture. There were restaurants on either side of the courtyard and we slipped into Sam's Cafe, an incredibly busy Mexicanish place. Had a drink and bar snacks.

Then back north to Roosevelt, where the crowds were now thick and the music really cranking. We got a few pictures of the people and things we saw -- artwork, cute couple with puppy, and the crowd. Lots of fun. Tired now and must rest.

:^ )

Call for Dan Quail

Worked this morning, then headed 100 blocks down Central to the South Mountain Park. This rock ridge marks the south border of Phoenix and is perhaps the largest city park in the country. At the Environmental Center a humming bird flew within a yard of us, quite intent on the flowers at our knees.

We followed a ranger-led group of fourth graders down the sandy, rocky trail, then veered off toward the ridge. This, it turns out, was a Wrong Thing to Do. As the sign said (I missed it), Don't Be a Trail Blazer.

We weren't the first Trail Blazers, as we could tell from the empty cans, bottles and chip bags strewn here and there. If you visit South Mountain Park, bring a trash bag.

We hadn't walked far when I spotted a small stripey thing hustling toward a prominent rock. An irritated ground squirrel popped up atop the rock, shaking his tail and then hustling up to the next higher rock.

We heard some birds, and saw quail on the run up the hill away from us. Their behavior was understandable, but hardly Tourist Bureau material. Saw some nice Saguaro cactus. The information sheet said they don't grow arms until they reach 65 to 75 years of age. Takes people that long to grow brains.

We must have hiked for a couple of miles but saw little else on the ground. Some nice petroglyphs on the rocks beside the trail, mixed with contemporary graffiti. Did the Ancients a millennium ago shake their heads at the kits who marked turtles and snakes on the pristine stones?

Above us a pair of red tail hawks circled in the updrafts, and we listened to their calls and watched them for a good ten minutes.

The drive back north reminded me of how flat and funky much of Phoenix is. With little to restrain the sprawl (except things like South Mountain), the place has expanded everywhere. There are many vacant lots and lots of empty buildings. Maybe the north end is nicer, but central and south Phoenix are FUNN-KEE.

We battled the traffic up to a pizza parlor on Camelback called the Parlor. Debbie recommended it, and though we only had a drink we liked it. Good attentive staff and the menu looked great, with nice midcentury architecture. We'll be back.

Midcentury madness

Wynne asked for more artchitectural pix so here are some more Palm Springs shots.