AIA Home Tour First House

Once a year, I go on the Architects Institute of America, Arizona chapter, home tour. I enjoy it very much! Each house is very unique and nothing like the tract housing. Most are probably very pricey, but when else do I get to stroll through and gawk at such homes! There was 11 homes on the tour and we didn't get to make it to all of them. Part of the problem was some really messed up maps on the tickets. That made me pretty darn grouchy. I'm usually pretty good with maps and it messed my head up.
We persevered though and saw 7 of the 11. It would be a pretty long post if I put all in one some I'm going to break it up into pieces. I won't need 7 posts, because I didn't take as many photos at each house. But I did like the first house and have quite a few photos!

So this was a remodel of an Arcadia neighborhood ranch style home. It had a very big lot. There was lots of light which I like and clever use of some simpler materials. This is how the outside entrance looked. Lots of floor to ceiling windows throughout the house. And lots of windows up near the ceiling that didn't have any kind of covering that let a lot of light in.
I also like the grouped plantings. Besides the grasses and agaves here, there was a nice little forest of Palo Brea trees. They will be amazing when they get big and they have lighting on them.

This is the main formal living room. See the little blue panels of glass on the windows across the hall, above the entry way? Aren't they interesting?
And look at how the rock around the fireplace looks like basket weave! I loved that. And it was stone. The floors were very glossy polished concrete.


You know I guess I really love bathroom fixtures, because I have a lot of photos of them! I LOVE this tub! It was on a beautiful stone floor and that great unpainted cinder block wall behind it. Floor to ceiling window into the backyard. What a great place to soak and relax. I am into recreational bathing!

This is the sink area in the master bath where the tub was. They used a lot of the glass tile in this house. It is so beautiful. These are small, shades of gold ones. And lots of fun sinks. I love how the fixtures come out of the wall instead of the counter. Cleaner too.

This is in the master bedroom. Curtain panels for the lower windows, but the upper windows go all the way around the outside walls of the house with no covering. Nice.

Another bathroom. Brown glass tile and nice sink.

Isn't this a fun sink?

Grey glass tile and a fun sink.

Aravaipa Canyon 2010

Last year, Cindy and I hiked into Aravaipai Canyon from the West end. We decided to do it again this year. It was just about the same time of year. Last year we were pretty warm and we were both afraid it might be again. We got pretty dusty and dirty and saw both a very large snake and a javelina. This year, we had a sudden cold spell. So as we started this morning, we were afraid we were actually going to be cold. It's higher in elevation than Phoenix, plus you are in and out of the water all day.

This is what the area looks like, before you get to the trail head. It is really beautiful. All the brittle bush and desert marigolds were really bright yellow.

I don't know what got into me when I got dressed this morning, but I guess I decided it was really a bright blue day. I don't think Cindy was going to have any trouble keeping track of me.

Here we are at the trail head getting ready to head out. We had left Phoenix about 7AM and it was a 2 and 1/2 hour drive to the West end of the Canyon.

Heading down the hill towards the creek and water.

Penstomen and Desert Marigolds.

So last year, when we were coming back, we somehow missed the trail out. Not by a lot, but when you are ending a hike, you aren't really crazy about going a lot of extra steps. We decided to try and mark the way out a little better for us so we wouldn't miss it this time. We said "It's by the trees." Well that wasn't very bright as there are trees everywhere. This actually did work for us.

The first step in the water was a little cold, but it didn't seem to bad after that. We did leave our jackets on pretty much all day though. This was sort of interesting, there was some red orange algae growing on the grass just under the surface of the water along the edge where the sun shone. It looked like it was lined in red.



I thought this was a neat looking boulder.

Nice looking scenery.

First of several stops to empty sand and rocks out of our shoes.

Me the blue girl. Yes I know my legs are white. They don't ever tan.

Beautiful red orange penstomen.

We were a little better at finding some trails around and out of the water this year. There is still a fair amount of in and out, but not as much pure slogging through water as we did last year. It's flat, but the water, sand and distance still give you some good exercise.

A side canyon. I was looking at a map in a book I got tonight and I think it's Virgus Canyon. See the huge boulder wedged in it?

Some of the day it was pretty and sunny and some of the day, it was still pretty but cloudy. This is the start of the Narrows.

My feet in the water.

See the Saguaro coming out of the cliff at the top? This is where we saw a snake last year. It was too cold for snakes today. I'm glad.

Another shoe stop.

Storm clouds.

It briefly rained enough that we decided to try and shelter. We got sort of under a skimpy tree against the cliff side. Cindy looks freezing, but I think she was OK.

The rain.

And then the sun again.

We didn't see anybody most of the day. So this is the only photo of us together. That would be me in the blue. It's a wilderness area and they restrict entry by permit. We saw 4 people all day and they were always going the opposite direction than us, so it was pretty much our canyon.

Cindy hiking.

Me hiking.

A hop bush with pretty reddish pods.

Coming back out of the creek bed.

Beautiful Brittle Bush!

After looking at the maps in a couple of books I think we stopped at a little short of half way. I'm not positive though. It's 11 miles if you go from end to end. I think next time we should start on the west end, although it says you may need a high clearance vehicle there. And also it takes longer to drive to that end.

We are also thinking it would be fun to take some other folks with us and go late September or early October. There wouldn't be the pretty flowers, but it would still be nice. Who wants to go?

It's pretty flat hiking, but over lots of rocks, boulders, sand and water. I did do a nice face plant. Thank goodness I did in the middle of some soft decayed bark. I went down so fast, I couldn't even get my hands out to break my fall. It's a very good thing it wasn't in the water or on the rocks. I had my camera, watch and electronic car key with me, none of which should get wet. Cindy did a couple of graceful slides in the sand onto her backside, nothing quite as dramatic as my face plant.

So who's coming in the fall?

Must Love Dogs

I love dogs. And I love to go to dog shows and just look at all the dogs, talk to some dog people, take some pictures and pet a few. Penny likes to do that too. So today we hit the tail end of long weekend dog show. It was inside the Cardinals stadium.
When we came in there was a whole class of Rhodesian Ridgebacks. They are really nice looking dogs. Big, but nice looking. Here is a young girl getting her dog to look nice for the judge.


And you never know who you might meet! We ran into Sue and Donna from my work. They raise and show King Charles Cavalier Spaniels. Are not these two sisters the cutest thing you ever saw!! Good thing I don't have any space for another dog. They are so cute, they almost look fake!

Here she is getting the male to try and look pretty for the camera.

And then we saw so many fun and cute dogs. Look at how solid this Bulldog is . He was resting his head against the side of the cage when I first saw him/her, like his head was too heavy to hold up. I wouldn't be surprised if it was!

And the Standard Poodles were getting ready to go in. They all have some pretty interesting haircuts.

I think Tibetan Terriers are adorable. They kind of look like a Benji dog but are a really old purebred breed from Tibet. They come in several colors, but I liked this one.

And you know, you have to put up with all kinds of things to look beautiful. This King Charles had a snood on to keep her ears beautiful. She wasn't attached to her loop. Just patiently sitting and waiting.

And this setter also wasn't attached and was patiently waiting.

There were acres of Cocker Spaniels, all the different colors.

This guy's name is Scotch. His owner was very impressed that I figured out he was a Lakeland Terrier. He had wirehair and was very cute.

Cockers, galore!

This guy was so adorable. He is a Havanese. She took him out and let us pet him. He was super soft. He only weighs 11 pounds, he is mostly hair. She says she doesn't get hair all over the house. Owning a Japanese Chin that sheds like a fiend, I find that hard to believe.

But he was adorable! He had a little pony tail going on, on top, so you could see his eyes.

Ok, This was hilarious. I think I have mostly seen Shar Pei Mixes. This female is the top ranked Shar Pei in the country, her owner told us. She was very attached to Mr. Sharkey. I was overwhelmed with how broad her face and nose was. She was really rather ugly. The lady said they are supposed to look like a hippopotamus. Well she certainly did!

Look at her cute wrinkles on her back though. I wouldn't want one. They can be quite aggressive and although they are cute puppies, I don't think they are too cute as adults.

This adorable guy is a Briard. I had not seen one this color before. He really was mostly a pretty auburn. He was standing when we first got there and he was a pretty big dog. I have seen them used in security before. They can be tough if trained that way.

These babies are Irish wolfhounds. All piled on top of each other. Quite huge. The biggest dogs we saw were Mastiffs. They are amazingly big. I didn't get a photo though.















I believe this is a Pharaoh Hound. I am not a fan. They are pretty funny looking. I've never interacted with one though. Maybe they have nice personalities. They are a very old breed from Egypt.

And it's important to get your foot work just right! Pretty German Shepherd.