Tag: #rvtravels#airstreams#southwest#hiking#biking#travel#camping#roadtrip#arizona#userymountaunregionalpark

Tucson Reveries

We have visited Catalina state Park a number of times. There’s an hike we enjoy near the campground that had no name and wasn’t an official trail. This year the trail has made it to the list of official park trails- the Alamo Loop. We’re not sure how this 3.2 mile loop got its name.

The trail starts in sandy wash and takes you into the Catalina’s and the Coronado National Forest.

Those are Fairy Dusters in the foreground
Pat among the ocotillo on the way down
The gallery exit

Though we’ve visited Tucson many times we have not visited one of its iconic cultural attractions, DeGazia Gallery in the Sun. This 10 acre Foothills retreat includes a number of adobe structures and gallery all built in the 1950’s by the artist Ted DeGrazi. DeGrazi’s work focused on portraying the cultures of the Sonoran desert through a variety of mediums.

“A midnight sketch, winter 2 AM, 1973 “
Roadrunner Sketches
Ceramics

DeGrazi decorated many of the buildings walls with murals depicting life in the Sonoran desert.

Golden Barrel Cactus in the DeGrazi cactus garden

We picked up stakes and moved spots where we had better views of the Catalina’s and the Pusch Ridge.

Site 17

After moving the clouds opened up and we got to experience some desert rain.

The next morning this Sacred Datura bloomed in our campsite.

After the rain we decided to hike up the Moreno Pools, about 2 miles out and back.

In spite of the rain the pools were dry

The rain also got us to leave camp and visit the Tucson Museum of Art in the Historic Arts District of Tucson. We enjoyed their collection of Mesoamerican and Latin American art.

Standing Male Dignitary, clay-400-800 AD
Veracruz, Mexico
Rooftop Church-Urbano Gutierrez, Peru-Late 20th Century

These elaborate clay churches are made to be installed on the roofs of newly constructed homes. It’s understood that placing a church on the house’s roof will protect it.

Tecuanimeh Dance Costumes, Mexico -late 20th Century
Dance Mask- Pascola, Yaqui or Mayo- late 20th Century

We left the museum and wandered around the neighboring Arts District.

We love to go out and listen to music and Tucson offers plenty of listening opportunities. As we mentioned, the Century Room in the Congress Hotel is a great place to hear music. A Saturday night performance by the Premazzi/Nassar Quartet out of NYC drew us downtown. The band did not disappoint, a great set of music.

Simona Premazzi(piano), Noah Garabedian(bass), Kyle Nassar(sax), Jay Sawyer(drums)
Casting shadows in the Catalinas

And the sun sets on another week in Tucson.

Megalopolis

We left the Sedona area and headed toward Phoenix. It was with some trepidation that we headed to the valley that is the city of Phoenix where approximately 1.6 million people reside. The valley is surrounded by mountains where you can find some of the nicest county parks we’ve had the pleasure to stay in. We reserved eleven days in Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa, Arizona. It’s a great park for hiking and biking in the Sonoran Desert.

Site 10
Our front yard at dusk
On the Lost Sheep Trail
On the Pass Mountain Trail

Mesa is located in the East Valley and has had double digit growth since 2010 giving the city a population of just under 500,000. If it’s growth continues at its current rate of 13.3%, in a few years it will surpass Tucson as Arizona’s second largest city.

The Mesa Arts Center is an impressive complex of galleries, performance spaces and art studios. On Thursday they present a lunch time concert series.

William Clipman (percussion) and R. Carlos Nakai (Native American flute)
The downstairs galleries
Heading down to the galleries

The galleries featured three exhibitions; Just Cause: The power of contemporary art in social engagement, Facing the Giant: 3 Decades of Dissent- Shepard Fairey and Gift In The Rapture- Caledonia Curry (Swoon).

Hero from the Spiritual Security series 2016 by Alexi Torres
Detail
Thalassa, 2022 by SWOON /Caledonia Curry

We’ve long admired the work of Shepard Fairey but have not seen his originals. We weren’t disappointed.

Make Art Not War (2005) 2019
Greetings From Iraq (2005) 2019
End Corruption (2016) 2019

Usery Mountain Regional Park encompasses 3,600 acres with elevation ranges from 1,700 to 2,750 feet and contains a large variety of plants and animals with great birding opportunities. The park features miles of bike trails for every skill level and we spend most of our time in the park exploring those trails. There are two trails that are geared to hikers, the Pass Mountain Trail and the Wind Cave Trail.

Taking a break from biking we laced up our hiking boots and headed to the Pass Mountain Trail and it’s Vista Point, about 4.5 miles round trip.

Vista Point

In between biking and hiking, we found time to visit the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden. The Garden features a wide assortment of cacti as well as a gallery for rotating art exhibitions.

Crested saguaro
Dale Chihuly glass work

The Garden was presenting a large exhibition of the work of Columbian artist Fernando Botero.

Woman in the Bathroom, 2002
Family in the Plantation, 2020
Dancers, 2005
Woman With Mirror, 1998

One hot afternoon we decided to drive to the Salt River in the Tonto National Forest to see if we could find the wild horses that live along the river.

The Salt River
One of three horses we saw crossing the river

Phoenix is the home of the Heard Museum. The museum features the work of Native American artists, both traditional and modern. The featured exhibition was “Early Days: Indigenous Art from the McMichael”. It was ironic that we came to Phoenix to see work from a gallery in Ontario, Canada. The exhibit featured both historical and contemporary work from throughout Canada.

Headdress-Shadae, 2018 by Dana Claxton
Hamat’sa Crooked Beak Mask, 2005 by Henry Speck Jr.
Whale and Pook-UbS Transformation Mask, 2002 by Art Thompson
Taksam (left) by Beau Dick and Eagle Spirit (right), 1995 by Simon Dick

While getting around Phoenix can be problematic, it’s an area that has a lot to offer. From great art museums, botanical gardens, restaurants, and local breweries, we’ve enjoyed our stay. We haven’t even mentioned the great regional and state parks that offer outstanding hiking and biking opportunities in addition to the sunsets.

At the end of our stay we experienced a meteorological phenomenon that we had not experienced in Phoenix before. Heavy cloud cover all day. A touch of Buffalo in the desert.