Amazing Arizona
by Sumner Andrews
A neighbor of ours said that after 20+ years in Arizona, they have
finally finished visiting all the key state attractions. We didn't
believe them. My wife and I have moved around quite a bit and each time
we quickly exhausted our host states tourist resources. Not so with
Arizona. Let me give you a couple of examples.
As new residents, we had to make the Sedona pilgrimage. Sedona is
considered by many to be the center of the New Age movement. Allegedly,
it contains several natural energy vortexes. So we had to visit just for
the novelty of it. The first visit we spent the entire time visiting the
main town shops. Even by the end of the day we hadn't exhausted the
possibilities. On our second visit to Sedona, we went directly to
Tlaquepaque ,a wonderful Spanish hacienda containing some of the best
art in the region. Despite half a dozen visits to Sedona since then, we
still haven't sampled the New Age offerings. Each visit we have seen
something new.
Not too long ago, my wife and I did a quick tour of the central part of
Route 17, the main artery linking Tucson, Phoenix, and Flagstaff. We
stopped off at Arcosanti, the inspiration of the world renowned
architect Paolo Soleri, to pick up one of his famous bells. We swung
around to view the Montezuma Castle, a cliff dwelling where a tribe of
Sinagua Indians lived. We then visited a western town reproduction in
Cottonwood where you can get a complete dinner and cowboy show in one
sitting.
We have seen more in a years time than we saw in ten elsewhere. We have
visited an ostrich farm outside of Tucson, walked safely at night
through downtown Phoenix for a Sun's basketball game, cross country
skied in Flagstaff, and horseback rode through a Saquaro cactus forest.
By now you would think we are close to exhausting Arizona's resources.
Hardly. It is just like our neighbors said. We haven't begun. Let's see,
I am planning to visit Nogales on the border of Mexico to pick up some
great bargains. Then I want to visit Lake Havasu on my way to Las Vegas.
Well, you get the idea.
About the Author
is the author of ?Getting Away With The Family? at
http://www.srapplications.com/relax/family-vacation.htm and other
articles on careers, vacationing, relaxing, and stress management. He
also is the webmaster for http://www.srapplications.com.
