5-6-19 First stop: Joshua Tree National Park

This was a superbloom year in SoCal, and we definitely saw some spectacular superblooms.  Go here if you want to see.

I thought I'd catch the end of the superbloom at Joshua Tree.

Sure enough there were some. Blooms were beautifully muted and subtle for the most part.

But also punctuated with splashes of bright color.

See more Joshua Tree pix here.
And a movie here.




5-9-19 In Arizona

Three days of meetings in Phoenix with the research and evaluation group for First Things First, AZ's state agency that supports programs for young children and their families. Wonderful, great group of people. I love working with them. Last year in Phoenix I found out about the Phoenix Indian School and Park.  This year I stumbled onto George & Dragon, and English-ish pub/bar.  Excellent shepherd's pie.

Then headed north, hoping to see Arconsanti, a projected experimental town designed by visionary architect Paolo Soleri.
Unfortunately the town was closed (yes, closed! how visionary) for a special event. This was the closest I could get to it: So we kept riding north to Camp Verde where I spent the night. Kind of a cool place, bills itself as "Home of the Yavapai-Apache Nation." There's a cultural center (closed), a place to buy cigarettes (open), and a place to buy "native arts and crafts" (closed). Also a casino (never closed), which might be the town's main industry along with some outdoor touristy things. See more Camp Verde pix and a vid here.
Tomorrow I'm heading to Montezuma Castle National Monument and from there to New Mexico and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.