Waning of Familiar Phoenix

Scottsdale and Thomas. Hayden and Indian school. The familiar road names pricked my memories from living there in 2005-2007. Climbing Camelback Mountain. Getting my first ER job. Buying my first house. Taking care of grandma. The growing anxiety as the shadows fell on the mountain I was hiking at Papago Park. The last time I ever hitchhiked.

I have a collection of deep memories in Arizona. My most triumphant moment: emerging from the Grand Canyon after hiking the north rim to the south rim (2001?) The first trip Ray and I took after we started dating was to Sedona (2006).

We just visited Arizona at the tail end of January 2022, seventeen years later, three kids later, and a few million miles in between.

As I re- experienced Sedona and Phoenix, I could appreciate the fresh perspective of my little ones, making their own new memories. We hiked the same mountains, but different trails. We saw the same red rocks, but a generation apart. We photographed the same scenes, but a different saguaro.

Saguaro national park in Tucson was an amazing sea of cacti, more concentrated in the west side of the park. We also toured biosphere 2, and contemplated the balance of ecological systems that we take for granted.

In Phoenix, we stayed in Scottsdale, and visited Tempe, Chandler, Glendale, and central Phoenix. The Arizona Science Center has some great hands-on exhibits. We also visited the famous Pizza Bianco, Phoenix Art Museum, McCormick Skillman Park, Old Tow Scottsdale, and the Museum of Musical Instruments.

Bill Keane may have influenced our trip a bit 😉

Sedona is best known for great hiking and scenery. We climbed Bell Rock and about three other great hikes. We also enjoyed learning the overview and history of Sedona, through a presentation from an artist/photographer Brent Jones.