After 422 miles of driving, we were happy to find our delightful airbnb for the next two nights, in this quaint little town.

Ken's place is absolutely perfect. We love it here.



We visited Old Town first. The city was founded in 1706, by the Spanish, and built around a central plaza. On the north side of the Plaza is this amazing church, San Felipe de Neri, which was built in 1793. There is some really great history here that we hope to discover.
Local flavors and sounds filled the Plaza.

Wanting to do an evening stroll in a really unique place, we headed to Nob Hill. This 100 year old neighborhood consists of a commercial district along Central Avenue (former U.S. Route 66) and surrounding residential areas. Known for its eclectic mix of mostly locally owned businesses, Nob Hill has been described as "the heart of Albuquerque's Route 66 culture and also its hippest, funkiest retail and entertainment district".
There is pretty cool history here. In 1939, Ralph Jones, commissioned the construction of a gas station, a car dealership, and service station along Route 66 in the Art Moderne style. The intent was to attract travelers with its location, design, and accessibility. It worked for us, we totally stopped.
When Kellys Brewery purchased the historic Jones Motor Company building in 1999, it finally became a landmark with a future as well as a past. Although many businesses have occupied the site, it is the building’s namesake that carved a place in history. Now, though restoration and renovation, the original character of the Jones Motor Company building shines through.
The walls were adorned with history and for a few moments, we were able to glimpse Route 66 in its glory days. This was the perfect spot to introduce ourselves to the ABQ.

Even though we were born after Route 66 was bypassed, it holds great nostalgia for me. So we got off the interstate for a bit, and got our "kicks on Route 66" in the town of Holbrook, Arizona.

The town of Holbrook has a rich history with a story to be told, but that will have to wait until another trip.
The Wigwam Motels is a motel chain in the United States built during the 1930s and 1940s. The rooms are built in the form of tipis, mistakenly referred to as wigwams. It originally had seven different locations but only three remain and when we stumbled upon this one, we had to stop.
Arizona motel owner Chester E. Lewis built this Wigwam Village in 1950.

The motel is arranged as a square, with 15 concrete and steel wigwams on three sides and the main office on the fourth; there was also originally a gas station on the complex. The individual units are called "wigwams," not "rooms" or "tepees" or "cabins." The units are numbered from 1 to 16, (although there is no 13). The base diameter is 14 feet, with each unit 32 feet in height. Behind the main room of each unit is a small bathroom with sink, toilet and shower. Current rooms contain the original restored hickory furniture, two double beds, cable TV and a window-mounted air conditioner. In keeping with the authenticity of the restoration, there are no telephones, Internet access or ice machines.
Disney's Pixar people had to have stolen this entire plan for Cars down to this Hudson for the character of Doc. It was so Disneyesque, I was in tourist heaven. Vintage restored automobiles from the 1960s and earlier are located throughout the parking area, next to the wigwams making it feel so authentic.
Lewis operated the motel until closing it in 1974 when Interstate 40 bypassed downtown Holbrook. Two years after his death in 1986, his children renovated the motel before reopening it in 1988. The Lewis family continues to run and maintain Wigwam Village #6 and has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

All along 40 we saw skeletons of what use to be for Route 66's heyday. It was wonderful to find this gem, still in business, embracing a different time in Americana. What a true treasure this is. What a kick!

I have to apologize in advance for this long post but we were blown away by this place and I just have to share!

Founded by the Arizona Cactus and Native Flora Society and established at this site in 1939, the Desert Botanical Garden has more than 21,000 plants, one-third of which are native to the area, including 139 species which are rare, threatened or endangered.



Of special note are the rich collections of agave and cacti, focusing on plants adapted to desert conditions, including an Australian collection, a Baja California collection and a South American collection. Several ecosystems are represented: a mesquite bosque, semi desert grassland, and upland chaparral. We delighted in meandering throughout it all.

We arrived in the later afternoon to avoid the heat but yet see all the beauty best seen in the sunshine. We were not disappointed.




We stayed for the sunset because we came to experience the Garden in a new light!

The Bruce Munro: Sonoran Light at Desert Botanical Garden exhibit showcases eight large-scale, light-based installations using an inventive array of materials and hundreds of miles of glowing fiber optics. Located throughout the Garden, British artist Bruce Munro’s site-specific exhibition reflects his unique interpretation of the Sonoran Desert.
We patiently waited in the warm desert air for the sun to set and for the 'show' to start.
Field of Light, was the first piece we saw. It featured 30,000 individual spheres of gently blooming light that were nestled on the hillside of the Garden Butte, cascading down onto the Sonoran Desert Nature Loop Trail.

The Temperate Zone is Munro’s interpretation of the ingenious cooling pots created by the indigenous population of the Southwest hundreds of years ago... all made with plastic bottles.

This was probably our favorite installation- Water-Towers, where 58 glowing towers grace the Garden among the iconic saguaro cacti. These towers are also made of plastic bottles filled with water and fiber optics. BEYOND cool.
Munro is best known for these large immersive light-based installations which are inspired primarily by his interest in shared human experience and connection. Being in this garden, having the day turn into night, we felt a special connection to this amazing place. What an incredible day in Arizona. It will be hard to top.

We left SoCal at 6:30 AM and arrived in Scottsdale in time for an exceptional Mexican lunch at the Blue Adobe Grille followed by an unforgettable visit to Taliesin West.

I have been a groupie of Frank Lloyd Wright for many years. We've even visited the original Taliesin. It was a special treat to be able to see his beloved winter home and the bustling headquarters of the Taliesin Fellowship.
Taliesin West was established in 1937 and diligently handcrafted over many years into a utopian world unto itself. Deeply connected to the desert from which it was forged, it possesses an almost prehistoric grandeur. It was built and maintained almost entirely by Wright and his apprentices, making it among the most personal of the architect’s creations.

In addition, his love of the orient was evidenced by numerous works of art in and around the home.



Wright believed this to be the perfect spot for such a building: a place of residence, a place of business and a place to learn. Wright described it like this, “Finally I learned of a site twenty-six miles from Phoenix, across the desert of the vast Paradise Valley. On up to a great mesa in the mountains. On the mesa just below McDowell Peak we stopped, turned, and looked around. The top of the world.”

During his lifetime, Wright continually altered and added to the complex of buildings, all of which were constructed by students and many of his most famous buildings were designed in the drafting room here, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and Grady Gammage Auditorium at Arizona State University in Tempe. We could not have picked a more perfect place to explore and learn about one of my favorites. Wow!

Oh man, I am not a huge fan of the heat.

And it's only April in Temecula. YIKES!