Once in awhile-now and again-this is us

the weather has been perfect here. tuesday afternoon we drove about 10 miles east of quartzite where the rock looks black, but only
on one side. jerry says it’s sunburnt. we took the grass out of the parkway at home to save water. I wanted some of this rock to put
in with all my other collected rock, to remind us of Hawaii.

the parkway

after collecting 4 bags of rocks we took a walk to take some pictures. the desert air is so refreshing and invigorating. the ground is covered with interesting  things. sometimes you just have to look a little closer to see the beauty.

this is what you see at first

get down on your knees

and you can see these

and this ?

the ocotillo is not in bloom yet

some are even dead

they have big cactus here too

the sun was going down when we got back to the coach. so we had our cocktail while watching the sun go down.

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I bought any and Emily something from the table of old jewelry

I bought tony’s birthday present from here

it’s carbonite. for your desk at work tony

the vendor has been here 27 years

the book guy is still here.

yes he still dresses the same

I also bought you something from here tony.  or should it be ‘I bought you something from here also tony’? if you are looking at the blog frank and linda, will you let me know.

we will spend today shopping again. even though all the shows are over here, there are still lots of people selling stuff. we aren’t buying much, but it sure is fun looking. we haven’t been in here yet.

a store for martha

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we got up Monday morning and went back to the goodwill. they have some good stuff and the little things are so cheap.

we weren’t the only ones wanting in.

they add more stuff to the bins every two hours

the road from phoenix to quartzite is not full of surprises anymore. we’ve traveled it so much. but this cloud was a nice surprise.

this looked like a feather to me

tony asked where we were the night I called him. this is it tony.  in January there would have been wall to wall motorhomes and trailers. it’s the bureau of land management area where you can stay up to 14 days free dry camping.

it’s not much of a spot, but we see a different sunset every night

and occasionally an airplane

this is so much fun for us. (others would be bored silly I know). we’ve came here for 18 years in a row.  then the town started changing and our favorite vendors quit coming. a lot of rv sales lots have taken over. and I guess we had collected enough rocks and such, that we couldn’t fit anymore in the house. jerry lost his passion for making wind chimes and didn’t need any more agates. so for 3 years we didn’t go. that’s why we tried Tucson this year. but I think our hearts belong here.

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before we went to chets house we stopped and took pictures of two flw buildings for the fans out there that want to see more pictures of flw buildings, Martha.  a church and a theater on the university campus.

the gammage theater

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we slept very well in the arcosanti parking lot, out in the middle of nowhere. we had breakfast in the cafe before leaving. (we also bought another bell, for jerry). it’s a strange place, but i like it. the originator died last year, at 94, but his visions go on. you can tell the resident’s really believe in it.

nice view huh?

we had fun on the trip back to phoenix. stopping at a few thrift stores. we needed to take showers so we found a campground. the office was already closed,  so we picked a spot and went to bed.

we got up and took showers,  and the office still wasn’t open. nobody to pay and we wanted to leave. that’s happend before and there’s not much we can do.

we made our way to chet and marilyn’s house in chandler. we hadn’t seen them in a long time. chet was the president of sales at pbi. now he’s  working and doing quite well in selling  huge vacuum systems for commercial clients, like Costco for example. they have done some remodeling on their house since we saw it last. they told us it started out just wanting to put a cat door in for buddy their cat. $$$$$$$ later, the cat can go out to a screened in patio anytime it wants to now. they treated us to lunch at applebees and we had a very nice visit.

ooopps. wrong picture

are you laughing chet and Marilyn?

we headed out intending to make it to quartzite that night. but on the way out of phoenix we spotted a goodwill clearance center. they sell things out of big bins for $.99 cents a pound. needless to say we didn’t make it to quartzite that night. we found a cracker barrel and spent the night.

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we drove up to arcosanti today. we’re the red square on the map. we first visited here twenty years ago. for the trade shows we drove the truck here and set it up and then tore it down then drove the truck home. for three days we had free time to do other things. this place sounded interesting and it is.

the main attraction here are the bells and wind chimes they make. i always wanted a bell but since they are expensive i didn’t treat myself to one back then. rather than try to explain this place on the post, check out their website. you’d like this ray. you would too ted. in fact they have week long workshops.

these are much less

we ate a vegan meal tonight in their cafe. it was really good. the salad dressings were delicious. i’m going to try and get the recipes. now we’ll stay in their parking lot overnight. $5.00 and you get wifi. it’s very cool here. (both kinds of cool). very pleasant. we are in the middle of nowhere so we should see lots of stars. wish i could get pictures of that. i guess i would need a better camera. have you ever taken pictures of the stars Sharon? oh i forgot we don’t see stars in southern California. how about you ted. with those super duper cameras you have?

my bell

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since we were so close by, we drove to frank llyod wrights famous residence ‘taliesen  west’. we have taken the tour before so we only went in the gift shop. I was hoping to get a few pictures of the exterior but you can’t unless you take the tour. I think I put it on the blog before.

I saw a lot of books I would like to have, but they are very pricey here. i’m going to check out ebay for some better deals. kara had gotten be a very nice book on ‘falling water’  on her trip here last month.

the tour entrance of taliesen

we drove by the Arizona biltmore in phoenix which frank llyod wright also designed. we couldn’t find a parking place so i had to take a few pictures from the coach. it’s beautiful and has imaculate grounds. no telling what a night costs here.

to spark your memory here are a couple of franks most famous feats of architecture we’ve seen in the past.

the Guggenheim in new york

falling water in kentucky

there are also several flw residences here we want to see before we leave. we are going to visit one of jerry’s friends and fellow employees of pbi who lives in chandlier on sunday. chet is the one that fought so hard to get the boss to let me accompany jerry to all the trade shows. it actually benefited them well.

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on our way to phoenix from Scottsdale we tool some back roads. those are always the best. of course it was all desert. but good things live in the desert. like horses. we saw a lot of horses. ranch after ranch. we got a chance to pull over at this one. there were some young colts out near the road.

they were curious about us

they liked smelling us too

uh-oh, maybe too much

I tried to put in a video but couldn’t figure it out. i’ll see if I can later and post it then.

one of the beautiful desert sunsets we’ve seen

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we saw a lot of great landscapes along our drive to Scottsdale. the more you visit the desert, you more you appreciate it. (just like the fountains at the Bellagio, ray).  there are so many photo opportunities sharon, if you can find a place to pull over at the right place that is.

now, don’t these pictures make you just want to get out there with your paints and brushes and an easel Martha?

we made it just in time to have dinner at the famous Scottsdale cowboy steakhouse, ‘pinnacle peak’.

we discovered it about 20 years ago when we were doing trade shows for pbi.  it’s the restaurant that cuts your tie off if you’re wearing one. and then hang them on the ceiling.

we enjoyed our dinner, a 16oz T-bone called the cowgirl. the 32oz porterhouse is called the cowboy!  and then we stayed in their parking lot overnight.

pinnacle peak mountain

oh by the way, sorry about getting willie nelson’s  song “on the road again”  in your head tracy.  but that’s why I put it on the blog, to get it our of mine.

on the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again.

got cha

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on the road again

just can’t wait to get on the road again

the life we love is making new friends

and we  can’t wait to get on the road again.

on the road again

goin’ places that we may have never been.

seein’ things that we may never see again

and we can’t wait to get on the road again.

on the road again

like a band of gypsies we go down the highway

we’re the best of friends.

insisting that the world keep turnin’ our way

and our way

is on the road again.

and we can’t wait to get on the road again.

hi, we’re in Tucson today. we had a good trip getting here. Tucson is the mother of all gem shows. the whole town gets involved. it’s quartzite on steroids. we found some good stuff at our favorite vendor. we’re driving to Scottsdale today. I hope to get some pictures of the giant saguaro cactus here in Tucson before we leave. hopefully i’ll have some pictures for the next post. hope all is well with all of you. but now we have to get on the road again.

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