Matt's New Mexico (Formerly Airstream) Adventure
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Don't feel bad, Matt- I like Arizona (well, the northern part) a lot more than Texas, too.
And fun random fact, @Snowy; Snowflake is actually named after the town's cofounders, two guys with the last names Snow and Flake. Former Arizona senator Jeff Flake is a descendant.
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@Palmer we haven’t been to Phoenix yet. We haven’t done any city visits since the Covid situation got bad again but we’re due for one. I don’t think we’ve been to an art museum since September and I need to see something other than cactus and javelina poop. We hear Roosevelt Row is suitably hipstery and might have some cool stuff. Any suggestions for can’t miss places here?
Roosevelt Row isn't bad. I haven't been there in about a year so I couldn't tell you what has been able to stay open since the pandemic. Lots of galleries, murals and restaurants there. Everything is spread out in Phoenix so you may have some trouble finding a centralized place with a lot going on.
That being said, the Phoenix Art Museum and the Mesa Arts Center have good exhibits from time to time. The Heard museum is also cool if you want to learn more about Southwestern Native culture. If you're a rocker the Musical Instrument Museum is a cool place to check out.
If you're into Mid Century Modern architecture there are plenty of cool buildings and houses to admire from a safe distance.
I know there are a couple other people on the forum that live in The Valley that may have some more recommendations. Every time I'm in Phoenix (in the before times) I was there to see a band, eat out, and buy records mostly so I'm sort of struggling trying to think of good family friendly socially distant activities.
As far as food goes, I'd be happy to recommend a few places to check out. The Phoenix metro area has a lot of good little taquerias and some other good places as well. Hope this helps a little bit.
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Busy day today.
Tuzigoot National Monument, Pueblo ruins from about 1100…
Montezuma Well, a well spring with rain from about 10000 years ago. Cliff dwellings. The wells only inhabitants, other than migratory birds, are 5 species that exist nowhere else on earth, there’s a water scorpion, a snail, an amphipod (your guess is as good as mine), a diatom (?) and a leech that eats them all.
Montezuma Castle National Monument. About 150 cliff dwellings…
Last but most certainly not least… Butterburgers from Culver’s...
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Damn @Matt I just ate but now I'm hungry again! I love this thread.
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I had never even heard of Culver’s or Butterburgers but on the way into AZ I saw a sign for In N Out. I’ve heard of that and heard it was good so I wanted to try it. I looked up some top 10 lists and found the general consensus to be that the Butterburger is the realness. It’s a Midwest chain but they’re here too so we hit them up and it was crazy delicious. I’ll get around to In N Out some other time.
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I would definitely take Culver's over In-N-Out.
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While checking out those monuments we got a preview of an area we’ll be camping at in Feb. Dead Horse Ranch St Pk is near Prescott Natl Forest which was otherworldly. Totally beautiful black rock canyons and ponderosa pines and Douglas firs. Also there is the town of Cottonwood which was super cool. Brew pubs and live music spots. Looking forward to checking them out.
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While checking out those monuments we got a preview of an area we’ll be camping at in Feb. Dead Horse Ranch St Pk is near Prescott Natl Forest which was otherworldly. Totally beautiful black rock canyons and ponderosa pines and Douglas firs. Also there is the town of Cottonwood which was super cool. Brew pubs and live music spots. Looking forward to checking them out.
I live in Prescott! Tons of trails and outdoor stuff to do up here.
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Are you planning to hit the Grand Canyon at some point?
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@Chris absolutely. Twice as a matter of fact. Our stay at Dead Horse Ranch is two weeks and we already did all the monuments nearby so we’ll probably make the two hour drive to do a day trip there. In April we’re camping near there for our planned GC visit and will do a few days there. We’ll be at the GC Hotel and RV Park. Camping at GC is tricky, we try to stay away from RV parks.
@palmer that’s awesome. Any suggestions?
We did Roosevelt Row in Phoenix today…
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You should look into doing the North Rim. A lot fewer people and the views are possibly even better. I'm not sure when it reopens after winter closure, though.
