Travels in the 2nd half

Yeibichai Textile - Navajo   When visiting the city of Tucson, Arizona, you might want to find places to spend time away from the desert sun and heat. Luckily there are several museums you can visit with good art and great air conditioning. Today I will explore two of them. Tucson Desert Art Museum   A strip mall on the east side of Tucson may not be where you would expect to find an art museum, but you would be wrong. In 2013, James E. Conley (1943-2020) decided to take part of his extensive art collection and create a museum to share it with the public. He worked with Rhonda R. Smith to create the Tucson Desert Art Museum, using his collection of art, artifacts and textiles.   The Desert Art Museum has an amazing collection of Navajo and Hopi textiles, in a wide variety of styles and designs.   Navajo Late Classic Blanket Transitional Textile - Navajo Germantown Eyedazzler - Navajo Optical Pattern Saddle Blanket - Navajo Teec Nos Pos - Red Mesa Trading Post - Navaj...

  Tucson, Arizona, sits right in the middle of the United States range of one of our most iconic plants - the saguaro cactus. It is also where you will find one of four national parks that is dedicated to a plant. On the road to Saguaro NP, you can buy dried pappers The saguaro cactus is probably what you picture in you mind when you think of a cactus. It is tall, straight and often has “arms” that branch out from its sides. Saguaro can grow up to 40 feet (12m) tall, and can live up to 150 years. If they grow branches, those usually appear when the plant is between 75 and 100 years old. Saguaro cacti are “keystone” plants. They provide food, homes and other important resources to their biological communities. The view in Gates Pass Saguaro National Park is has two sections, Rincon Mountain is on the eastern side of Tucson , and Red Hills is about 10 miles west of the city. I decided to head to the Red Hills district of the park, which has a higher concentration of cacti. As I have ...

  I have always enjoy walking through cities, exploring their history and enjoying the way they are today. In Tucson, Arizona, the Presidio Museum and Visit Tucson have put together an excellent self-guided walking tour of the city’s historic downtown area. The Turquoise Trail is a 2.5 mile loop through several neighborhood’s in the center of Tucson. The guide map for the tour is available for $2 at several locations in the area. The route is mostly flat and fully wheelchair/ADA accessible.  The first stop on the tour is the Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum. In 1775, the Spanish Army founded a fort (presidio) near the Santa Cruz River. When construction was finished the fort covered about 450,00 Sq Ft (40,000 m2) with adobe walls that were 10 feet high. The Presidio San Agustín marked the western edge of Spain’s control in Arizona, and it played an active role until the U.S. took control of the area in 1856, when it was torn down. Seguaro Cacti innards line the ceiling ...