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Sedona and Tuzigoot

Sedona and Tuzigoot

  • Travel
When the weather in Phoenix starts to get hot, people start thinking about heading north to higher elevations. Example: on the day we arrived in Sedona, it was a comfy 70 degrees (21c). Back in Scottsdale the temperature was above 90 (32c).

On the recommendation of a friend, we paid

San Xavier del Bac

San Xavier del Bac

  • Travel
Long time readers may remember this Spanish mission from an earlier blog post. Or maybe it was Facebook before I decided to drive them out of business by closing my account. We paid a short return visit to this interesting place today on our way to Tucson.

San Xavier Mission

Mobility

Mobility

  • Travel
We like the Phoenix Art Museum. It’s huge, which means lots of large open galleries, and both the permanent and the temporary exhibits are consistently interesting. We once found a display of Frank Lloyd-Wright designs that were never built (Frank had a lot of these). Another time it was
Cactus Time!

Cactus Time!

  • Travel
During our first week in Arizona we bought groceries, visited hardware stores, registered the Plucky Corolla, and did other chores necessary to set ourselves up as part-time Arizonians. Alas, getting out into the desert for a hike was not on the list. Until now.

We drove north about twenty miles

Goddess

Goddess

  • Travel
We rarely leave Scottsdale without visiting a small park at the northern end of the Promenade shopping complex. The site is anchored by a spire that was part of Frank Lloyd Wright’s design proposal for the Arizona State Capitol. His design was not accepted but in 2004 the spire
Our Just Deserts

Our Just Deserts

  • Travel
Desert – Dessert get it?

During a recent trip to Portland, our friends Wayne and Jane mentioned that they were planning to sell their condo in Scottsdale, Arizona. This made me sad because they have been kind enough to let us use it many times.

Driving back to Seattle, I said

Lunatics

Lunatics

  • Travel
Why “lunatics”? The inspiration was the beautiful view of the almost-full moon during our night afloat in Eagle Harbor on Cypress Island. But if I had to justify it with a theme, I’d say this:

Some would call us lunatics for leaving home during the pandemic even though we

Paper Cuts

Paper Cuts

  • Travel
We traveled into town today for a premier viewing of The Geography of Innocense, the cut-paper art of Barbara Earl Thomas. Although some of the works look like they are illuminated from behind, this is only true in the full-room exhibit. All the rest are layers of hand cut and
Nordic Selfies

Nordic Selfies

  • Travel
A sunny Sunday morning in Seattle – likely one of the last for a while. We decided to pay a return visit to the Nordic Heritage Museum to see an exhibit of photographs taken early in the 20th Century by Edvard Munch.

Munch was a multi-talented artist: woodcarving, printmaking, and painting.

Jet Plane

Jet Plane

  • Travel
Full disclosure: This post has nothing to do with aircraft. The title refers to the Peter, Paul and Mary song, “Leaving on a Jet Plane”, which begins: All my bags are packed and I’m ready to go.

This is exactly the situation that Mary Anne and I found ourselves

City of Destiny – II

City of Destiny – II

  • Travel
Part II – in which we spend the day exploring central Tacoma on foot and have lunch at a recent addition to the McMenamin brothers’ empire.

We began the day alone in the marina. Later, we were joined by three other boats, so tonight will not be so lonesome.

We crossed

City of Destiny – I

City of Destiny – I

  • Travel
Part I – in which your faithful scribe travels north through the fearsome Tacoma Narrows and down the Thea Foss waterway to Tacoma.

It’s popular among Seattlites of a certain age to poke fun at Tacoma. I don’t get it. What I see is a city that is trying

Bears!

Bears!

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We reached our journey’s turn-around point at Allyn, a tiny village at the end of a finger of Puget Sound.

There are three things to know about Allyn. First, Friday night is Prime Rib night at the very good Boat House restaurant. We were there on Friday, so yea

The Beauty of Hope

The Beauty of Hope

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Another short cruise – maybe forty minutes – brought us to the shores of tiny Hope Island. We snagged the only available buoy and set out to circumnavigate our home for the night. This did not take long.

Landing on the southern shore, we walked every trail, explored every nook and still

Hitting Bottom

Hitting Bottom

  • Travel
Bound for Olympia, the southernmost port of call on our voyage, we stopped overnight at Oro Bay on the south side of Anderson Island. It’s a really lovely place, but apparently cursed. After dropping the anchor, I discovered that our dinghy motor was broken and my bicycle had a