Exploring Phoenix on Wednesday

Everyone is happy and ready to "roam."

We have a visitor!  Our youngest son Chris took the train from Chicago to L.A. and then flew into Phoenix late Tues.  Chris seemed to really enjoy the train experience. That's something I hope we get to do one day. 

On Weds. we went to  South Mountain in the afternoon.  We drove up (you can take a trail) to Dobbins Lookout, the highest point you can get to in the park.  It was suppose to have a great view of Phoenix, and it didn't disappoint! This is the largest municipality managed park in the nation, and has over 50 miles of trails on over 16,000 acres.

Camelback Mountain is a popular hiking spot.

During the 1930's over 4,000 men working for the CCC helped build buildings like this.  They also constructed over 40 miles of hiking/equestrian trails, along with other features in the park.

My new word for the week is used frequently in this area:  Ramada.  Many "Ramadas," at least similar to the one above  were built by the CCC.

Scorpion Gulch was a home and store from 1936 to 1966 when the owner died.   In the 1970's it became a bar, and in 1990 joined the preservation list. 

Next was going to be a tour of the Mystery Castle, but alas, it was closed on Thurs. as were a couple of other options.  

I thought Chris should experience a "Let's Roam Scavenger Hunt."  Pat and I have done 3 or 4 so I thought we knew what we were doing.   Wrong!  This one was very different.  It was titled "Sun and Surrealism in the Sonoran Desert" and took us on a mural art walk.  Unlike past hunts it actually gave us the address of where we needed to go.  I thought that would be a great help on the 2 hour walk.  Well, the murals were still hard to find and they were spread out.  We didn't begin to complete the hunt within the 2 hours (we were parked in a 2 hour zone) but I had fun, I think Chris did, and Pat survived.

Crozier Village, Roman Catholic Priory, Church of the Holy Cross

We passed this priory on our way into Phoenix.  I was curious as to what  a "priory" was.  Similar to a monastery but led by a Prior or Prioress, which is lower in rank than an Abbot who may be in charge of a monastery.  Sounds like a lot of politics!

Our first mural.

Our task at this mural was to take a picture of a team member looking through pretend binoculars.  Chris stepped to the plate!

Downtown Phoenix

We had some frustration when we couldn't find one of the murals, but we continued.  We were at 2nd Ave. and we should have been at 2nd St.  Still a sore subject as Pat is certain "Roam" took us to Avenue not Street, lol!  

Where are the Piepers now?  Casa Grande, AZ