Photography . . . Travel . . .

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Road Trip ! - Southwestern US (Part 8) - Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona

We like variety on our road trips.  On this trip we stayed in quite a variety of lodgings, from the modern Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to the early 1900's cabin at Bright Angel Lodge.  The Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale was built in 1956, in the Modernism style.  It was completely renovated a few years back, but keeping the now very popular Modernism, or Mid-Century Modern, style very much intact.




The blue mood lighting over the bath was pretty cool.






There were a few things we specifically wanted to do while in the Phoenix area.  One of those, the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix, has one of the best collections of Native American art anywhere.






The other thing we were looking forward to was a walk around the Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale.  It had snowed in Scottsdale a couple of days earlier, but by Wednesday it was quite nice, and a beautiful day for a late afternoon walk around the Garden.




There was a series of slightly-larger-than-life insect sculptures placed around the garden.  Okay, maybe way-larger-than-life.  Anyone remember the 1954 sci-fi classic "Them"?




The late afternoon sun made for some great light for photos.




Heather took this next one, and I think it's one of my favorites from the garden.






Since it was close to Christmas they did have some decorations going, including a Santa hat on the Preying Mantis.




On our way back to the hotel on Wednesday we took a little walk around the downtown Scottsdale Art District, checking out the art and taking a few pictures through the windows.






On Thursday morning it was time to head home to San Diego.  We had a big breakfast at the hotel before heading out across the desert.  For some reason I didn't take as many pictures of our meals on this trip as I usually do, but Heather's stuffed french toast looked too good to pass up.




Well that gets us to the end of our little 10-day road trip.  We had a great time, met a lot of interesting people, and saw a lot of interesting things along the way.


Click here to see more images from around Scottsdale, Arizona.


Click here to see more images from the Heard Museum and the Desert Botanical Garden.
     

1 comment:

  1. What a fantastic trip. Very much enjoyed the read as well as all the pics. Thanks Frank.

    ReplyDelete

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San Diego, California, United States
About me . . . When I'm not working I like to be out exploring and photographing. I do this blog just for fun, and to be able to share these images with friends. I hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as I enjoyed creating them.

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All of the content and images on this site (c) Frank B. Baiamonte. If you would like to use any of these images please contact me via email at frank@frankbaiamonte.com to discuss terms of usage. Note that images from the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park are not available for commercial usage. You can also see more on my Instagram page @frankbaiamonte.

Header image: Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, Cibola, Arizona. End image: Downtown San Diego, California skyline from Coronado Island. Profile picture: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho, by Heather Baiamonte.