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| Grace & I in front of AZ capitol. |
After Blythe's 105 degrees, we were happy to head out in the
cooler morning air. east towards Phoenix and the state capitol building. The
old statehouse has been turned into a museum, which I found very interesting,
and the latest of two additions to it, a high-rise office building, now houses
the actual government. My non-history-enthusiast granddaughter later said it
was the worst 1 1/2 hours of her life. Okay, then.
There was another addition in between the oldest and the newest that had a beautiful set of murals depicting the very complicated history of Arizona: from Native Americans, to Spanish Conquistadors, through American conquest and statehood.
The dome didn't amount to a lot from the inside, but has an
interesting swiveling statue on the outside. There's also a memorial to the USS
Arizona, and the obligatory park grounds and statuary around it. As capitol
buildings go, it was pleasant, but rather underwhelming. This time of year,
too, one competes with school groups for the grounds and displays, which we did
and it adds an extra layer of challenge.
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| Sunset Crater Volcano, Sunset Crater Volcano Nat'l Mon |
From Phoenix, we took I-17 north to Flagstaff where we
planned to stay over. About 12 miles north of Flagstaff is a loop encompassing
two National Monuments, Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki. Sunset Crater Volcano
is, you guessed it, a cinder cone from a dormant volcano, with red and yellow oxidized
cinders on the top that remind people of a sunset, thereby giving it its name.
We walked a short trail through lava rocks, very different from the Craters of
the Moon lava flows I experienced last year in Idaho.
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| Wupatki Pueblo, Wupatki National Monument |
The Wupatki National Monument consists of some of the most
extensive and accessible Sinaguan ruins I've seen. The largest building at the primary
site was a multi-level high-rise built around the rocks and has about a hundred
rooms. There is also a large ball court,
reminiscent of the Mayan ball courts. The Anasazi-style buildings and Sinagua-style
pottery give evidence to migrations to and from the inhospitable high plateau
and trade with tribes from all over the southwest.
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| Stones laid with precision. Holes where beams were placed. |
I love the history and culture of the southwest and find
these kinds of sites to be so rich and colorful. Simply fascinating. While at
the visitor's center, I discovered a 3rd park just east of Flagstaff, which we
will see in the morning on our way out of town.
