Phoenix with Olivia & Luke

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Olivia and Luke came out to Arizona for a visit. Rather than bringing them out to Quartzsite, we enjoyed a hotel in Phoenix during their stay. We visited the Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, drove the 36-mile Castle Hot Springs OHV trail, hiked half of the Cholla Trail on Camel Back Mountain, enjoyed the Medieval Times Dinner, and the Musical Instruments Museum. We dined at Lou Natali for pizza, Butter's Pancake Cafe for breakfast, the Local Donut shop, and Little Miss BBQ. All were delicious! We stayed at the Cambria Hotel in Chandler, north of Phoenix. The rooms were spacious, and they have a workout room, pool, and hot tub. It was a fun, activity packed 3 days.

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Photos

Heard Museum
The Heard Museum celebrates the art and culture of Indigenous peoples of the Southwest. The displays were informative and beautiful. Throughout the museum there were video

Warrior
During out visit they had a doll collection exhibit. These are known as soft sculptures and were created by several artists. Each doll is embellished with tiny microbeads in intricate detail. The dolls provide a figurative reference to Indigenous peoples from the Great Plains and Great Basin regions who lived in those areas during the late nineteenth century.

Maiden
One of the earlier dolls without facial features. Beautiful bead work!

Chief
Isn't he amazing! Such detail! Every one of the dolls in this exhibit are beautiful!

Family
The mother and her children and the horse and pony, each a work of art!

Phoenix Museum of Art
The Art Museum is just a few blocks from the Heard Museum and Wednesdays museum entrance is free. We had to get a photo of this cactus out from before we went inside. We did not take many photos in the museum. One of the exhibits was Narcissa Niblack Thorne's miniature rooms. These are replicas of actual historical interior spaces created at an exacting scale. Amazing!

Fireflies
This was an infinity mirror room with led lights hanging from the ceiling. It was like being in a swarm of fireflies. Beautiful. The photo does not do it justice.

Breaking Up
These are burnt embers from a Church destroyed by lightening.

Butter's Pancake Cafe
We all enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Butter's. Their menu offers many options.

Castle Hot Springs OHV Trail
We traveled the 36 mile trail in our Jeep. The ride was overall easy, just bumpy. There are some homes along the trail, which drops the speed limit to 10 mph.

Road
The trail was wide enough for 2 vehicles. At times the drop off was steep. A few washes to cross down in the canyon, but nothing difficult.

Saguaro Cacti
There were many saguaro along the trail on the mountainsides and in the canyons.

Mountain ranges
Some spectacular views of the mountain ranges in the area. Nothing like the landscape back in Ohio.

Rocks
We couldn't get enough of the rock formations and mountains. It would have been fun to hike some of the area.

Prickly Pear
Another cactus found along the trail.

Palm Trees
The stone wall and palm trees were at the entrance of one of the homes along the trail.

Castle Creek Hot Springs
Along the trail is this lovely oasis with palm trees, grass, and hot springs in the Sonoran Desert. It is an inclusive resort with activities such as pickle ball and guided hikes.

Lake Pleasant
The trail ends near Lake Pleasant. The area offers water sports, fishing, camping, and hiking.

Cholla Trail
After the trail ride we headed to Camelback Mountain to hike the Cholla Trail. Parking is along the street and we walked about 3/4 mile to get to the entrance of the trail.

Views
Lovely views of Phoenix from the trail.

Hikers
We were glad we had walking sticks with us for this trail. It is rated as extremely difficult. The trail is steep and rocky as it traverses the easter slope or "hump" of Camelback Mountain. The trail offers little shade and is strewn with boulders.The summit is 2704 ft above sea level. The elevation change on the trail is 1420 feet over 1.5 miles.