Leaving Lincoln Nebraska

Today we are leaving Lincoln Nebraska, heading (circuitously) to Minneapolis.

Here is the latest map of our travels to date.  You can click on the map if you want more details.  Be patient though, it may load slowly.

  

Karchner Caverns

We visited Karchner Caverns, near Benson, AZ.  It is a limestone cavern discovered by two geology students in the 1970's.  They convinced the landowner and the governor of Arizona to sell the land to the state of Arizona and establish it as a State Park.  It helped that both the landowner and the governor had geology backgrounds.

 

 

 

Tombstone

Tombstone is a town in southern Arizona that is home to the story of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday facing off against the Cowboys at the OK Corral.  We stopped there and saw the live reenactment and strolled the dusty streets.

 

 

Petrified Forest National Park

The Petrified Forest is in the Painted Desert.

There are many petroglyphs within the park

The petrified logs are incredible.  They look just like wood.

Many of the petrified logs are clearly broken segments of the same tree.

Sunset in Holbrook Arizona

 

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon is always amazing to see.  We took the road west to Hermit's Rest, a direction I had not previously been.

 

Tucson

San Javier del Bac Mission

San Javier del Bac Mission

 

If you are Wil-E-Coyote then this is a door

We took the tram up Sabino Canyon then walked out.  We followed the road until it parted from Sabino Creek, then we followed the trail through the wash.

Sabino Canyon wall

At the bottom of the canyon there are exposures of Gneiss.  This is a metamorphic rock.  It started life as sedimentary rock, then was buried under millions of years of sediment and heated by an intrusive magmatic chamber, causing it to recrystallize.  Then the canyon eroded to expose the rock you see here.

Gneiss rocks (pronounced nice)

Parent rocks of the Gneiss

"Shade" in the wash

If a bridge has no space under it is it still a bridge?

Saguaro National Park (West)

A Saguaro "forest"

Petroglyphs

An old Saguaro with 24 branches.  That was the most we counted.

A friendly Saguaro want to give you a hug

Careful where you sit!

Spikey Boy

Prickly Pear

Barrel Cactus Flower

Cholla Cactus

Once again we found some local food specialties.  The bread is called popovers by the Navajo and is typically served with stewed meat.  Add lettuce, cheese and tomato and you have a Navajo taco.

Navajo Popovers

A Sonoran hot dog is a hot dog wrapped in bacon and served with pinto bean, jalapeno salsa and some other condiments.

Sonoran Hot Dog

Phoenix

In Phoenix we visited Taliesin West, the winter workshop of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is not a home, but rather a sort of camp where he would bring students to escape the winters in Chicago.

Taliesin West

Outside the drafting room

Shaded walkway outside the dining hall

The drafting room with a central display for designs

The meeting room where the students met

The Biltmore Hotel in Scottsdale is Frank Lloyd Wrights most famous design in the Phoenix area

We strolled around downtown Phoenix and had lunch at Pizzeria Bianco

The Rosson House at Heritage Square

Pizzeria Bianco at Heritage Square

The wood fired oven at Pizzeria Bianco

Our pizza with homemade mozzarella

Saint Mary's Basilica

We stopped at the Desert Botanical Garden.  They have a huge variety of cacti and other desert plants.

Phoenix is in the north eastern part of the Sonoran Desert

The Sonoran desert is home to the Saguaro cactus

Barrel Cactus

Bunny Ears Prickly Pear

Uh, I don't know, but I like it.

The purple prickly pear is positively pointy

We partook of the local food, which is heavily based on Mexican food.

Everyone likes tacos.  We are no different.

Mexican Pizza