A week in Mesa

Like all good things our week in the Phoenix area is winding down.  We now understand why so many snow birds spend their time here instead of further South in the Rio Grande Valley.  Like them, we have really enjoyed it here.

After leaving the Tucson area we headed North and found a great place to overnight in Casa Grande at the Buena Tierra. http://www.campgroundbuenatierra.com/  Set well out in the country this RV Resort may not be for everyone but we enjoyed our night there.  It sits on 1200 acres of land with lots of open space.  For anyone with a HD truck or extra length this place can handle us with ease.  It's only a couple of miles down the road to all kinds of shopping and services.

The next day we headed into the Phoenix area to find a place to hang out for a week to explore a little and rest a lot.  Unfortunately we didn't realize this was a Nascar weekend and spring break all rolled into one.  There were still openings, but not as many as normally available.  We found a place and have enjoyed  our week here.

The sightseeing highlight of the week was a day trip to Canyon Lake and lunch at Tortilla Flats.  The lake was created when they built a dam back in the late 1920's and it's beautiful.  Driving up and back is through country and scenery one can't capture with an ordinary camera and a photographer with a questionable skill set. The following few feeble attempts will hopefully give you the idea.

That sort of a green tinge you see is from a sort of moss that grows all over these stones at this time of year.  It gives everything that green look when in reality it's just plain old, cold, hard, stone

This is a big lake

I climbed way up to get this one.  Up was easy.  Down, well, it was pretty scary.

One of several single lane bridges you have to cross (carefully).

You just don't expect to find a good size marina in the mountains above Mesa, but there it was.

Lunch At Tortilla Flats

Then of course we had to have lunch in Tortilla Flats.  Everyone here asks if you've been to Canyon Lake and did you have lunch at Tortilla Flats?  Now we can say, "yes we did."  It was fun, the food was good, and the service was excellent.

Check out those seats.

Taliesin West

Then we were of to spend an afternoon in awe at Frank Lloyd Wright's summer home, Taliesin West.  This place is unbelievable.  By today's standards it seems just very nice, with some very forward thinking involved, but when you consider he figured this out 70 or more years ago it blows you away.  We took a tour of everything.  It gets you into their private quarters, the outside, the inside, the theatre, everything except the architectural school.  The tour guide we had knew just about everything there is to know about Mr Wright, Taliesin West, his other architectural designs, and his personal life.  It was just huge for me.  Having been a fan of his for my whole life this was a dream come true.

I did take pictures but this link will do a far better job than I every could.

https://www.google.com/search?q=frank+lloyd+wright+taliesin+west&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-ca:IE-SearchBox&prmd=imvnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ySRWT9n7MPPoiAKOlLHcBw&ved=0CJcBELAE&biw=1366&bih=563

I sure hope our travels take us close to another one of his projects so we can tour it and learn more.  If I could every get to his "Falling Water", it would be another dream come true.

Saturday we had a chance to connect with a good friend that we haven't seen in about 30 years. They invited us to their home and then took us to an impressive spot in Scottsdale for dinner. It was fun to share the "good old days" for a few hours. It was a treat to see them, their home, and enjoy their company for an evening. Funny thing about good friends, three hours or thirty years, they don't seem to change, they just are.  J and D, if you read this, thanks again, it was really nice.

So this ends our time in Arizona for this year.  We had planned to leave today but have decided, because of wind warnings, to stay an extra day.  Tomorrow we'll go straight West to L.A. and then North toward Vancouver.  Plans are to spend a week or so on the trip seeing what we can.

As usual thanks for stopping by and please do leave a comment when you can.

Neal and Bernie