On our way to the highway, we notice a sign for the
Wickenburg House, so we pull off and take a look.
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| Henry Wickenburg House |
Amy thinks the house looks sort of modern. There’s a reason:
the sign in front of the house states that it was built in 1903. That’s the
same time as a lot of the houses on Queen Anne. This was
actually the last house that Henry built in his life; he died two years later (at age 85 or 86). I believe that we have now seen everything that Wickenburg has to offer.
We get back on the road and head the 65 or so miles to
Scottsdale. We are finally, truly, in the desert. The saguaro cactus are impressive.
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| The Desert on the Way to Phoenix |
The closer we get to Phoenix, the more traffic there is. We
complete the highway portion of the trip and are in the midst of wide arterials
with stop-lights every quarter of a mile. We still have several miles to cover
to the Holiday Inn Express, but the Scottsdale Traffic Department is just as
good as Seattle’s and we get caught at every light. In Seattle, they intentionally do this to "encourage" drivers to stop driving. I don’t know why they do it here in Arizona,
as there doesn’t seem to be any alternative. It's too hot to either walk or bike. I also don’t know why I am
thinking about this. Perhaps the heat is making me grumpy?
We find the motel and check-in. We also get a suggestion for
lunch, The Village Tavern, and have a
decent meal. During the meal, we discuss what we are going to do. Since we are
here early, we decide to take the tour of Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Winter
Home and School in the Desert. (This is the main reason we have stopped in Scottsdale.)
We relax in the room after lunch, then head out to the
school and join our scheduled tour. This place is fascinating.
The tour talks about The Architect focusing on his later life, when he was
active here in the desert. Photos show that there was no city when the school
was established. Living in tents was part of the education for aspiring
architects under Mr. Wright. If you are interested at all in architecture, and
you are in the area, this is a must-see.
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| Taliesin West |
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| More of Taliesin West |
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| Taliesin West Decor |
After the tour, we head back to our hotel and rest some
more. The temperature is now north of 100 degrees. It is so draining. During our rest, it cools
down a few degrees, and we have been cooped up in air-conditioned bubbles most
of the day, so we walk the two blocks to dinner. Inchin’s is a
pan-Asian grill. We find that there is even a branch in Redmond, but we are
interested in a change of food and want to take advantage of being in a
city. We have Cashew Chicken and Mongolian Chicken. Very tasty. It is 6:00 and there is nobody else in the restaurant. Turns out at this time of year, it won't get busy until 8:00 or so. Reminds me of Spain.
The walk back to the Motel was more pleasant as the sun was
setting and the temperature was really falling. All the way down to 90. The
Weather app says it will be hotter tomorrow.
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