CACTI, CHIHULY, & CULTURE

It has been a couple of weeks since our life was evolving around spring training baseball and our social gatherings in Happy Trails RV Resort.

We did have a chance to experience more of the Phoenix area with our RVing friends Mike and Wendy Lawrence.

Our first outing was to the Desert Botanical Gardens and the featured glass works exhibit by Dale Chihuly. At the advice of the Lawrences, we signed up for the 4-8 pm time slot so we saw the exhibit during the daylight hours and then, after a dinner break, returned for the colorful exhibit under their unique lights. 

The array of cacti and other desert plants lined the walkways in a series of loops and special gardens.  Each plant was appropriately labeled and informational signs provided more details about the native environments of each area.

 

 

This Saguaro seemed to be communicating with a familiar hand gesture.

 

 

 

AMAZING CHIHULY EXHIBIT

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect since I hadn’t done much homework on our visit. 

WOW!!!

From the moment we entered the grounds, we knew we would see unique works of glass artwork incorporated into the existing landscape.  This exhibit is made of glass, and is not a plant.

As mentioned before, we saw the pieces during both during the day and with lights illuminated.  Here are a few of our favorites:

    

   

 

The Chihuly exhibit will continue at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens until May 18.  To learn more about the artist and his other glass works exhibits, visit his website (click here).

MORE CULTURE…

Mike and Wendy Lawrence are both veterans and have used a web service to get complementary tickets to various events.  I was surprised when we were invited to join them for the Phoenix Symphony. Now, I never imagined them as “symphony types” [no flaming my stereotyping], but, yes, they had four tickets for a Friday night concert featuring “The Music of the Rolling Stones”.

The evening included nearly 20 Stones hits performed by singer Brody Dolyniuk and a rock group that combined with the entire Phoenix Symphony.  There were plenty of “Mick Jagger” gyrations and prancing as Dolyniuk admitted he had “studied” Jagger’s moves on YouTube.

For the record, I did NOT take any photos during the concert, but my good friend Mike certainly stole some shots with his phone and his iPad.  With permission, here are a few of Mike’s photos:

BIG BOOMER FIX

From reading Facebook, Boomer discussion boards, and blogs, I knew there were a number of Escapee Club “Boomers” in the Mesa area.  Last time we were on the east side of town we organized a “boomerang” (get-together) at the Val Vista RV Resort.  Working with Bill Joyce and Diane Melde, we once again put together a ‘rang at Val Vista and posted it with a week’s advance notice.  This time we added the new “RVillage.com” website and used the “get together” tab to attract potential Boomers.

As it turned out, the pool area we used before was actually pre-booked for another party, but a another patio area was available.  While only 5 or 6 couples posted an RSVP, we actually ended up with 20+ attendees.  Since we were in possession of the “Boomer Banner” it was a natural to call for a group photo.

 

NEXT:  BACK TO CALIFORNIA