Museums, Cactus and Snow

In the afternoon of our first day in Phoenix, we decided to try one of the mountain bike trails as a family. We had researched trails and found one that we thought Trevor could handle at the McDowell Regional Park. It looked a little cloudy, but we had driven all the way up there we didn't want it to be a waste. So we headed out. About 10 minutes into the ride, it started sleeting. Yes, sleeting. But why turn back? We drove all the way up here. So we pressed on. No hats. No gloves. Just jackets and determination. We got about 1/3 of the way around the loop and decided we'd better head back. See those little white dots? That's snow. I think the kids would have been slightly more excited if they had been able to feel their appendages.


The next day we had better luck with the weather. Ev rode a great trail by himself in the morning, while the boys and I headed off to the Phoenix Art Museum. Everyone had a great time. The boys especially loved an installation called Fireflies. Then after lunch we met up with some friends and did some hiking. This time we hiked Usery Park in Mesa. Amazing views.

This is a Saguaro cactus "skeleton." The fleshy part has died and left behind the wood "ribs."

Our last day in Phoenix we went to the Heard Museum. It's dedicated entirely to Native American art and culture. It is much larger than we expected and we didn't even get to see everything. They have a fantastic children's area with many hands on activities. We were also lucky enough to be there on a day when they had a group of Hopi dancers come to perform.

Not bad for a mini vacation. Then we headed home to rest and clean up from our Christmas. A great end to a great year. Happy New Year, everyone!