Trip Introduction
In the early 2010's, Julie's parents had a second home in Casa Grande, Arizona. Their place was in a development of single-family homes restricted to 55 and over owners. We went down to visit them for about a week in February 2012.
Saturday, 02/04/2012 – Heading Southwest
We were happy to be leaving the snow behind. There were direct flights from Des Moines to Phoenix, so travel was pretty easy. The hardest part was getting out of Sky Harbor airport as there was road construction. This seemed to be a pretty consistent situation from what we had heard. Once we got clear of the airport, the drive was a little over an hour down I-10 through the desert landscape of the Gila River Indian Reservation.
Snow falling the morning we left Iowa
Sunday, 02/05/2012 – Relaxing
Sunday was a quiet day spent with Julie's parents. We enjoyed lunch with Julie's Aunt and Uncle who had a home in the same community. We spent the afternoon looking around the community and watching a movie at a nearby theater. One of the things that struck us was the consistency of color with shades of browns and reds with the occasional pop of muted greens.
The view out the back door of Juile's parent's house
Monday, 02/06/2012 – Another Day Relaxing
Monday was another quiet day. James and Julie's Uncle travelled back north to Glendale (northwest of Phoenix) to watch a National Hockey League game between the Phoenix Coyotes and the Detroit Red Wings. At the time, Alice Cooper was one of the owners of the team. The home team scored an empty net goal with under 30 seconds to go to secure the win.
The Coyotes and Red Wings start the hockey game
Alice talking to an announcer during one of the intermissions
Shooting at the empty net
Tuesday, 02/07/2012 – South to Tucson
On Tuesday we headed south to the Tucson area and visited the Pima Air & Space Museum. Adjacent to the Davis Mountain Tucson Air Force Base, the weather conditions make this an ideal location to store planes. There is a large boneyard of retired military aircraft nearby. We could also see active aircraft taking off and practicing maneuvers.
Heading into the Pima Air & Space Museum
A white coating protects the cockpits of several fighter jets
Keep everything for the parts
An F-14D Tomcat fighter jet on display
Several styles of helicopters were also on display
Old rocket bodies were stored in the boneyard
A specialty transport plane
A retired plane used to transport dignitaries
James’ obligatory SR-71 photograph
Two A-10 Warthogs take off for maneuvers
Wednesday, 02/08/2012 – Sites Around Casa Grande
On Wednesday we visited a couple spots Julie's parents liked. The first was the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. This site includes the remains of one large structure and the low walls where several smaller buildings would have been. A steel canopy was constructed to protect the larger structure. Our second stop was at a nearby jump facility where groups come to skydive. The consistent weather makes it a prime location for paratrooper training for many countries' armed forces.
The protective cover over the “Great House”
Petroglyphs at the site
Remnants of buildings that existed on the site
A parachutist touches down
Another parachutist glides toward the landing zone
Starting to run just above the ground
Waiting until the last minute to air brake before landing
A group plays follow the leader as they glide down to the landing zone
Two jumpers land after coming down in formation
Thursday, 02/09/2012 – Architecture History Day
On Thursday James and Julie traveled north to Scottsdale (northeast of Phoenix) to visit Taliesin West, the winter home for Frank Lloyd Wright and his studio. Having visited Taliesin in Wisconsin the year before, it was interesting to look for similarities and differences. In the time between building his two homes, the architect worked on several projects in Japan and that influence showed around the site.
A sculpture on the grounds at Taliesin West
Another sculpture amongst the landscape
A fireplace inside one of the public spaces
The yard at Taliesin West
A view of Taliesin West from the side of the yard
Private living quarters on the Taliesin West site
A living room inside the private living quarters
A tower at Taliesin West
Evidence of the Japanese influence on Wright’s life
Friday, 02/10/2012 – Heading Home
Not much to say about Friday. We drove back to the mess that was the airport and then flew home to Des Moines. We enjoyed seeing some sites around central Arizona, but agreed we didn't think it would be high on our list of retirement destinations.