Tempe Town

There was an arts & craft festival in Tempe (Phoenix suburb) on the weekend of March 31 and April 1. So having this as an excuse we boarded the Light Rail....

This is a fun way to get around much of Phoenix without the hassle of traffic or parking. The Light Rail station in Mesa has a giant "free" parking lot and is only a hop-skip-and-jump from our RV park. It happened that our days activities were all right at one of the stops. However, had it not been, there is a very good bus system and it is all coordinated with the Light Rail and the entire system is all available for the whole day on one ticket.

So we got off right at the entry gates to the festival and spent a couple of hours wandering around. We walked enough to work up an appetite....


so we stopped in an Irish pub named Rula Bula. Food was wonderful, beer was better.


There was also a boat race on the Tempe Town lake. It was called the "Dragon Boat Classic", and even though that sounds Chinese, it was was put on by the local American Indians. There was some mighty paddling by the 20 paddlers per boat. All were trying to row in unison following the pace set by the boats drummer (almost always the only women in the crew). Each heat consisted of 3 boats racing a straight course, making one turn, and returning to the start/finish line. A round trip took about 12 minutes. That is strenuous......


We walked about a half mile from the festival to the boat race. This put us close to another Light Rail stop at the Arizona State University football stadium, home of the Sun Devils.

The Light Rail goes through the ASU campus, and right by the Diamond Backs stadium (Phoenix's pro-baseball team), as well as by a pot full of other Phoenix attractions and businesses. Next year I plan on using it a lot more!!!

A Walk to the Bar

I just got home from playing golf and thought Sharon and I might run over to the local hot spot for a beer. Off we go, down Palm Boulevard.......

past the pool.....

and the fountain........

get a table just in front of the stage......

and watch the locals line dance while we down a few.......

As you can see, it is an outdoor bar, and it is open whenever the sun shines......which is just about all the time!!!!!

Sorry, had to make my annual "rub your nose in it" comments to the non-snowbirds still out there on my distribution list. I really do (honest) wish you all could share in this.

The Heard Museum - Phoenix

Let's take a little trip to downtown Phoenix, but let's not drive......way to much traffic. So, walk, bike, helicopter????? No, let's take the Metro Light Rail, a modern and up scale trolley. It runs from close to where we are staying right through the heart of Phoenix, it even passes by the airport and through the campus of Arizona State University.

So, what should the destination be???? How about the Heard Museum. And there is a stop right outside the entrance!!!!

Founded in 1929 by Dwight and Maie Bartlett Heard, the small museum has grown and become recognized internationally for the quality of its collections. It is more an art than history museum and showcases Indian art and artists from the Southwest.

Hand woven rugs, baskets, and clothing are on display everywhere and extreme in detail and appeal.

The pottery is all beautiful and most items in the museum are made traditionally, that is laid up entirely by hand without the benefit of a potter's wheel. Don't miss the modern painting on the wall behind the pottery.

The jewelry is amazing, with most of the items on display being large pieces. There is a gift shop at the entry/exit to the museum with many pieces from the artist on display in the museum for sale. I saw one jewelry piece in the shop for $37,000.

There are a lot of contemporary and modern paintings.......

as well as many forms of sculpture.

There is even a display of Navajo Bola Ties. Wait, they are a symbol of the Southwest, Arizona's official state neckwear, and they often feature Indian art in the slide, but they aren't truly Indian. Their roots (pun intended) are most probably from a somewhat similar adornment made of hair and worn by Indian women.

Click here to see more about>>>>>>>> Bola Ties
Click here to see more about>>>>>>>> The Heard Museum