a good time was had by all...

My parents and sister came to Arizona for a visit... they put well over 6000 miles on the car by the time they got back home, I think. My parents drove from Illinois to Kansas City, where my sister lives, and from there, they headed west, through New Mexico (Santa Fe and Taos), and eventually made their way to our house, south of Phoenix. We showed them some of Arizona, and went to a few local attractions, including the Heard Museum on Saturday. Located in downtown Phoenix, it is a wonderful museum that showcases SouthWestern history, art, and culture. It's not all baskets, pottery, silver and turquoise (although they have quite a collection of those, also!), as the following photos show: These shoes were part of a special exhibit, Sole Stories: American Indian Footwear. There were also beaded tennies, boots, and shoes worn by Native Americans, including a pair of Will Rogers' boots.

This collage intrigued me- it is at least 4 x 6 ft (?not sure...), and titled: "Adjustment Line for Miss Petite" and was done by a Mexican/American artist named Fausto Fernandez. It says "Collage- Asphalt" and I'm not sure if that means it contains real asphalt??

This picture was taken Sunday on the Apache Trail east of Phoenix... my parents and sister are standing next to a grouping of Saguaro cactus outside the Saloon in Tortilla Flats (population: 6), where we ate lunch. The Apache Trail is a scenic drive east to Roosevelt Lake. "Some of the most rugged terrain in Arizona" is putting it mildly, in my opinion- 1 lane bridges, switchbacks, gravel road for miles, no guard rail, and drop offs into canyons filled with saguaro cactus make for tense moments on my part, at least, but also some very beautiful scenery!

This picture, and the one below, were taken at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum outside Tucson- we headed there on Monday. It is a combination zoo/botanic garden, "a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place!" (quote from their website) The picture above is of the mountain lion, relaxing on a rock... The picture below is from the cactus exhibit- the middle grouping is Organ Pipe cactus- there are many other varieties that I don't know, but the cactus on the left is a small saguaro. There are over 20 acres altogether, and more than 2 miles of trails

On Tuesday, they set out on their way back to the Midwest by way of Tucson (to stop at the San Xavier del Bac mission) and White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. It was a bit chaotic at times, having 5 people in the house, but it was really wonderful to have them visit our home and see a bit of our Arizona. (Sedona and Cleo both loved it too, I think- Sedona got so much playing time in she didn't know quite what to do with herself once they were gone, and Cleo got some good quality lap-time with my mom.)

(Look for more pictures soon on my Flickr page.)