Day 17: Arizona

I didn't make as much progress as I thought I would -- shooting lots of wonderful stuff and having a great time and that's what matters. Still, I don't want to cut into my California time. Two things I went after in Tucson were way out of town and wasted at least a couple hours. One was a dud & barely worth photo-ing (a Swiss chalet motor court); the other (a bottle house) turned out to be on private property and closed up tight with nothing visible whatsoever. Ah well. An afternoon romp at the Bark Park in Chandler that was supposed to be 15 minutes, turned into an hour because the dogs were having such a good time. That's what vacations are for, right? It was time to indulge my passengers who have put up with two-and-a-half weeks of my madness.

Weather glorious again -- I'm not complaining! I hear we may get some rain here in Phoenix tomorrow. I noticed a tire was a little low and stopped someplace to get looked it at. Sure enough: an embedded screw. That pitstop took about a half hour. I'm a fanatic about noticing anything up with the van: tiny noises, tire pressure, anything dripping, monitoring gauges constantly while driving, etc. I don't want to get stuck anywhere but, particularly, not in the desert. Yes, pretty to look at, but not where you want to get stranded. (photo taken between tucson and phoenix where we might have been stranded)



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While they seem to be smashing up 76 ball signs in other parts of the country, I'm happy to report that in Tucson, different gas companies are just repainting them. In fact, in addition to these "ballies", I noticed several stations that repainted the big flat disc signs as well.





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From Tucson, here's a neat starburst-y sign and its building (which looks vaguely familiar but I can't figure out what it was originally). I've never seen this style sign though.





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Also, in Tucson, my eye was caught by the mid-century rippling canopy at first. But what was really intriguing were the figures on the roof. It looks like there may have been more of them at one time. Does anyone know the story about this place?







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I dropped in on this place for a quick visit: "The Garden of Gethsemane in Tucson is the work of artist Felix Lucero, who was wounded in WWI and vowed that if he recovered, he would create religious sculptures. In the garden can be seen his images of Christ at the Last Supper, on the Cross and with the Holy Family. Across Congress Street is Tucson's largest tree. The Garden of Gethsemane has been a Tucson landmark since 1945 and is maintained by the Knights of Columbus."



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I stopped in Picacho to see Nickerson Farms restaurant, which is right next to I-10. I knew it was long-closed but wanted to see if the Indian Maiden was still there. However, it seemed I got there too late. However, when I looked at this photo tonight, the legs don't seem to match and now I wonder if there was yet another statue that I missed or that was destroyed:
http://www.pbase.com/bearpaw/image/53441601




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I thought about going a little further up the road to see the restaurant itself but the gravel road looked somewhat littered with metal and trash and after my little tire incident, I decided not to go up there.



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A splendid little Art Deco house in Tucson. I know L.A. will be loaded with them but right now they look so sweet:



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And lastly, from Tucson, a couple great iconic signs that show their age. I love this diving woman variation.