Arizona

[Tara]

Fascinating Carefree:
http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Carefree1.JPG http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Care3.JPG
http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Carefree4.JPG http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Carefree2.JPG

[Tara]

Beautiful Sedona (Red Rock Country):

http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Sedona1.JPG http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Sedona6.JPG

http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Sedona3.JPG http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Sedona4.JPG

http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Sedona5.JPG http://www.newportwaterfrontassociation.org/bb/images/Tara.Sinagua_Indians1.JPG

[ercarta]

Nice pics. When did you take them?

[07310]

The backrounds look like Sedona, Arizona a beautiful anf mystcal place. It's sacred grounds to native indians.

[TPN1997]

I was raised in AZ. Still love it and miss it often. But for now NYC is the place for me. The landscape AZ is amazing. Within a 2 hour drive, you cross 3 very different landscapes. It's amazing. Anyone ever want to know anything about AZ, let me know. It's a great place!

[Tara]

We were in Arizona this past September, and fell in love with the state. It truly is amazingly beautiful. I heard Utah is even more extraordinary, although it's difficult to live there, if you're not a Mormon. I plan to visit in 2005, and also go back to beautiful Arizona.

[TPN1997]

Let's not get crazy here Tara. ;) Utah is nice, but nothing compares to the incredibly diverse landscape that Arizona offers.

[Juli B.]

Yes, what I've seen of Arizona (southern portion, around Tucson, the Sonoran desert) is gorgeous, but don't discount the Chihuahuan desert in southwest Texas, in and around Big Bend National Park. It *******' otherworldly. Amazingly rugged and majestic. Talk about living without electricity or potable running water...but who cares! It was the greatest 7-year experience of my life. Too bad I had to return to the Northeast because of family concerns.

Wish I had a scanner, 'cause if I did I'd download pics from Big Bend National Park (the least visited national park because it's so remote--no direct flights anywhere near it) and the surrounding area: Terlingua, Lajitas, Study (pronounced "Stoody") Butte, and Presidio...even Alpine, eighty miles north. WOW!!!!

Tara, please check out more deserts. They're great environments for brainiacs like you. We air signs and cerebral types need that earthy change of atmosphere. The desert will show and teach you things you never imagined.

Thanks for posting the pix...I needed that. Much appreciated!!!

[Matt]

I was just in Big Bend this summer. :)

http://www.overloaded.net/gallery/vacation-2004-summer

[Juli B.]

Matt,

Great! How'd you find your way there? What'd you think? Which month were you there? Any rain at all?

Looks from pix that you might have stayed in the park. Another pic looks like one of the hot springs trails. Did you go on a river trip thru the canyons??? I used to work for TRE (Texas River Expeditions; I think they bought Far Flung and made it one company now). Did you go to the ghost town? Did you meet any of the characters there, on the porch? I probably know them. It's that small and closeknit. Aren't the Chisos Mountains outstandingly eerie and gorgeous? Did you see a full moon rise? (The moon is gigantic--I never quite realized that till I went to the desert.)

Did you wade across the Rio into Boquillas, Mex.? Did you go to Paso Lajitas for breakfast? To Presidio? Please...TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!

(I can't wait to get a scanner so I can download pix and slides.)

[Matt]

My parents (and siblings) all live in Houston, so I flew back there to meet up with them for a vacation (and I'm headed back again shortly for Thanksgiving, then yet again for Christmas).

It was my dad and myself back in June. It started out as a family trip to Colorado, but people kept dropping out one at a time. Eventually it was just my dad and I. So, we decided to make it a little shorter trip and went to Big Bend.

We did camp out up in the basin. We hiked up the Emory Peak trail to the top, which turned out to be a lot more work than I expected. I was very much worn out by all that steep and rough terrain. It isn't obvious at first, but in the following picture we're going back down at about 45 degrees, and you can see that it is rough.

http://www.overloaded.net/gallery/vacation-2004-summer/IMG_0606

I don't think the moon was out. I don't remember for sure, other than that it was dark and easy to see the stars.

We didn't go into Mexico, and we intended to go rafting, but once we saw the river we gave up on that. We even drove out to Study Butte/Terilingua to check out the rafting companies. However, the river was little more than a trickle. Rafting would have involved a lot of us carrying the raft instead of it carrying us. :)

We didn't eat at either of those places. Since we had camped, we cooked our own breakfast. The ants there got into lots of our food. Even things sealed in zip-lock bags. They tore little holes in the plastic and climbed in... :(

When we first got there, a javelina ran out ahead of us. I didn't expect to see that out in the desert. "Is that a PIG?!"

[Juli B.]

Matt: Ack--I just spent 40 minutes responding to you, then went back to reference your post and lost all my copy! I'll come back later, when I have time to reconstruct what I wrote.

In the meantime, javelina's are collared peccaries--piglike mammals--but not pigs. I screamed bloody murder the first time one was right up against my leg (they can't see what's right in front of them...nearshighted?).

[Tara]

Juli and Matt,

This thread is suppose to be about Arizona, you're talking about Texas, could you please start your own "Texas" thread.

We were in the Sonoran desert, and it really is amazing, over 100 degrees in the day-time, but at night, it got cold. One night, we had to build a fire, in our fireplace, it was soooo chilly. We stayed at the foothills of the desert. The mountain you see in the background of the Carefree pictures is actually a dead volcano, surrounded by ash. They call it "Black Mountain".

The night sky in Arizona is splendid. There were actually a zillion stars in the sky, looking as if you could almost touch them, and the moon is huge, also appearing within close proximity . It was all mesmerizing, especially for a girl from the east coast. Another night, however, was especially frightening because we got lost driving, and there were no gas stations anywhere, or for that matter -- street lights. And, of course, we had heard about the Coyotes. Fortunately, we met people, who knew their way.

Next time, I plan to travel from the Grand Canyon to Flagstaff, and then Sedona. If you go to Arizona, you need several days just for Sedona. :)

[NewportLady]

Tara,

You're pictures are nice, do you have more?

[TPN1997]

Tara, not sure from where you would make that trip, but if you're driving up from Phoenix to the GC, I would suggest you take the extra hour to drive through Sedona to the GC on 89A. It's a much more scenic route to the GC. It'll get you to Flagstaff, but it is a longer route as I mentioned, but I thought it was worth it.

The GC is best seen during sunrise or sunset. If you think the sunset is amazing, which it is, you'll be even more amazed at how the colors of the GC literally changes before your eyes during sunrise/sunset. Nothing like it.

[DKNY]

I'm going to AZ Thursday night, 2 week vacation, 3 days in Phoenix, 3 days in San Diego, 4 days in LA, and 3 days in San Fran. Wooohooo, cant wait!

[PHXguy]

As my handle implies, here I am a native Arizonan. Love the state and the current Senator and the late one. Sunset is spectacular. Desert is so green. Homes are great, mostly with pools. But summer can be rough. People are not as open minded as here. But, I'm planning to retire back in Phx, hopefully soon.
Try Oak Creek Canyon, just outside Sedona. Always spent New Year's Eve in Grand Canyon or Oak Creek Canyon, always had wonderful time. Sedona is too much exploited with shops but Tlake Pake is nice.

[Tara]

Oak Creek Canyon is very pretty, and the drive there is spectacular! We loved the area. Wish I could figure out how to post my slides, we have some nice pictures of Oak Creek. Any advise from anyone? I have them on my hard drive, but can't upload the entire slide show onto the internet. What am I doing wrong? I'd appreciate advise. :confused: