the southern colorado rockies were gorgeous this time of year with lots of activity. pagosa springs our next stop. aly's cousin and hubby took great care of us.
 |
| a common sight along the arkansas river |
 |
| another common sight |
 |
| and another |
 |
| sangre de cristo mountains |
 |
| treasure falls near pagosa springs |
 |
| cousin judy and hubby chuck |
after leaving the cool temperatures and the tranquility of the rocky mountains in aly's home state of colorado, we headed for the desert southwest via lands inhabited from so very long ago by native peoples. we took 4 days and explored mesa verde, canyon de chelley, homolovi ruins, took a minute and was 'standing on the corner in winslow, arizona', then off to more historic sights of montezuma's castle and montezuma's well, the tonto natural bridge state park, winding our way through arizona. from the anasazi to the ancestral puebloans, the hopi to the navajo, the sanagua to the ute, the history being extremely rich and exciting and the construction and use of the land and resources seemingly almost rudimentary yet incredibly complex.
 |
| mesa verde, spruce tree house |
 |
| mesa verde |
 |
| mesa verde |
 |
| mesa verde, cliff palace |
 |
| mesa verde, the mesa |
 |
| canyon de chelley |
 |
| canyon de chelley, mummy cave |
 |
| canyon de chelley, flowers on the north rim |
 |
| canyon de chelley, navajo fortress rock |
 |
| 'standin' on the corner in winslow, arizona...' see the image of the 'flat bed ford' in the window? |
 |
| rt 66 and winslow's famous corner |
 |
| rt 66 |
 |
| montezuma's castle just off I-17 in the verde valley |
 |
| montezuma's well, near the castle |
 |
| tonto natural bridge (believed to be the largest travertine bridge in the world) in the state park of the same name near pine and strawberry, arizona |
we found our way to scottsdale and cave creek visiting aly's brother and sister in law, cycling with old college friends of aly's and touring the mim museum (musical instrument museum--highly worth a visit). we drove within feet of one of arizona's blazing forests (literally) and into the land of the blooming saguaro.
 |
| arizona's sunflower fire near payson |
 |
| saguaro blooms |
 |
| in the mim (musical instrument museum) |
 |
| buddy, sister in law rae, brother gordon, aly |
 |
| tim and lena--old college pals of aly's |
 |
| tim and lena's tegan and gaby--english/australian bull dog sisters |
 |
| the desert at sunset |
as if it weren't hot enough in scottsdale and cave creek, we forged westward to lake havasu city and the colorado river being our last stop in arizona before heading into california. a wonderland of water sports, moonscape scenery, thee london bridge and temps soaring into the 110s.
 |
| lake havasu (basically a wide spot in the colorado river and they call it a lake) |
 |
| lake havasu in the gorge |
 |
| more lake |
 |
| thee london bridge brought over from london and reassembled |
 |
| rented water sports |
 |
| lake havasu city from our campground on havasu island |
 |
| our last eve in arizona |
moving westward...talk with you soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment