2/2/2022

Today I made the trek to a large nature park I’ve been seeing on the map, southwest of where I’m staying. It’s right near the city lines of Tempe, Guadalupe, and Phoenix, and it’s called South Mountain Park and Preserve.

One thing I’ve noticed on this journey, especially now that I’m here in the Southwest, is that I have to re-train my brain when I see greenspaces and parks on maps. My brain sees something like that and thinks, “Oh, a place with forested trails.” Haha! In the Northwest, yes. In the Southwest, no. It’s always a desert place here. I mean, duh… but my brain has to keep re-learning this by experience.

It took me at least an hour to bike to this place, and I got a late start, so the sun was starting to descend a bit even as I arrived.

Another thing struck me again: golf courses! Golf courses are absolutely everywhere here. I biked through miles of urban thoroughfares, and then finally saw some hills covered in cacti—and even went through a gatehouse indicating the park’s entrance—so I was pleased to know that I had reached my nature destination. And then… what should I see? A bunch of golf carts and golfers out playing right up next to the park. (See photo.) As I cycled along the paved bike trail, I had to dodge many golf carts, to the point where I wondered if someone was going to ask me to leave because it was a private course. No one did, and I think that path was shared right-of-way. But once again, I was struck by all the water use a golf course takes in a desert, and yet just how many of them there are in the Phoenix area.

When I got past the course, I arrived at the official park entrance, and selected a trail. Looking back toward the city, I was surprised and pleased to see some purple mountains in the distance. (Another realization I’ve had by being on this journey is just how many major US cities are surrounded by mountain ranges.)

I enjoyed a short hike in the waning sun, and then turned around to head back.

Along the way, I was pleased to find another nice bike path between thoroughfares, which took me through a neighborhood park with a beautiful flowering tree, and then onward to a bike bridge across a freeway, with some nice public art woven into it.

So many juxtapositions here in the Phoenix area.

My time here is running short; I plan to leave Tempe on Saturday. I didn’t post a blog yesterday, and I might skip another before I go, because not every day is filled with photogenic explorations. But I’m appreciating the days that are.

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1/31/22

Well, not a literal collage. But I’ve been taking lots of photos around town as I’ve been going to and from my various local adventures. And today was quiet, with no big adventure, so I thought I’d share some of these images that haven’t quite made it into the “storylines” of my posts from the past week or so. Here are some photos from my time in Tempe and Phoenix, heavy on the transportation infrastructure.

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1/30/22

Years ago (2006?) I visited a magical place in Arizona called Arcosanti. I’ll let you follow the link rather than trying to explain this complex place in my own inadequate words, but suffice it to say it left an impression on me.

I developed a curiosity about Paolo Soleri and his work and vision. Someone reminded me the other day that his former home and workspace, Cosanti, is here in the Phoenix area, much closer than Arcosanti which is 80 miles north.

So I decided to go check it out today. Cosanti, like Arcosanti, remains active in production of Soleri Bells. If you visit on a weekday, you can watch the workers actually pouring the molten metal over the molds to make the bells. I chose to go ahead and get a tour on a Sunday instead, so I didn’t see that, but the tour was very informative. I learned a lot, and appreciated being able to see a remarkable place, which was built in the 1950s when it was out in the middle of nowhere, not surrounded on all sides by lavish, wealthy residences and nearby auto thoroughfares as it is today in Paradise Valley.

After the tour, I bicycled back to Tempe, which took me a couple of hours. I was pleased to note how much of the distance I could cover on separated auto-free bike paths, although I was also chagrined to see one bright-green golf course after another throughout the Scottsdale area. What a wasteful use of water in the desert. Still, I appreciated the bicycle infrastructure and the setting-sun view behind the palms in one park where I rested on a bench.

Please enjoy these photos, and I encourage you to take a look at the website links above to learn more about Soleri’s visionary ideas. I find them inspiring.

Sadly, however, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention something that nagged in the back of my head during my tour: Soleri’s younger daughter spoke out some years ago—shortly after his death at age 93, in 2013—about her father’s abuse of her as an adolescent. I am continually struck, angered, bewildered, and perplexed to think of how many great visionaries, artists, politicians, and leaders in various fields have made tremendous contributions to society, while simultaneously victimizing women and/or children in private. I sincerely hope that with greater transparency and public scrutiny of such abuses, they will decrease in our society.

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1/29/22

My time in the Tempe/Phoenix area continues to unfold richly.

Today I met up with a local Tempe Servas host named Jeanne. I ended up not staying at her house since my awesome friend is hosting me instead, but I wanted to meet up with her because she seemed like a nonstop activist on many important issues, even at 80 years old. (So many amazing 80something women I have met and stayed with on this trip! To those of you who are reading: you are so inspiring to me!)

So Jeanne and I met up for a joint excursion today: a transportation open house at the Tempe Public Library, followed by an outing to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, 50 miles east of town.

The open house was informative, and reminded me of similar events I’ve attended in Portland over the years, which helped me to realize that similar cool work is being undertaken at the local level all over the country, to make transportation networks safer and more environmentally sustainable.

I saw a prototype of a new bus shelter; met ASU students who have a “heat robot” named MaRTy that helps design public spaces in this desert climate to be more comfortable for people using outdoor amenities; reconnected with the Culdesac Tempe folks; and saw a number of interactive planning boards for how streets can be maximized for community benefit to all users.

After we browsed all the booths, we hopped in her car for the trip out to the arboretum. This was a very large place, filled with many impressive desert-landscape views as well as individual trees and cacti that were really cool. Once again, I’ll let the pictures tell most of the story.

After our scenic and educational trek, we dined al fresco on almond-butter-and-marmalade sandwiches, then headed back to Tempe.

Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to visiting a cool local architectural site.

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1/27/22

Today I got to meet with some representatives of a really cool local venture, Culdesac Tempe. Follow the link to learn more, but in a nutshell, this is a planned 1000-resident car-free neighborhood here in Tempe. They plan to open later this year, and the model will also serve as a template for similar communities in other parts of the country.

My host here in Tempe, who is the head of her local neighborhood association, knew some of these folks from her work in that arena. (My previous Tempe hosts, from back in October, had initially told me about Culdesac; they knew it because of their bike-heavy lifestyle.) The build site is just about half a mile from where I’m staying now, right near the university campus and also right in the middle of the area’s light rail line.

However, their office is in downtown Tempe, and I got to visit their “parklet” today, to meet up for the chat. I also plan to see them this coming Saturday, when they will be attending a transportation open house at the Tempe public library.

I love their vision for this community. It brings back fond memories of my time with a now-long-defunct startup called CarSharing Portland. That was the first commercial car sharing organization in the United States, back before Zipcar and their ilk arrived on the scene and came to dominate it. CSP was founded by my then-boss, Dave Brook, in 1997, and I worked for the company from 1998 through 2001, when it merged with Seattle’s (also now-defunct) Flexcar, which was eventually swallowed up by Zipcar. I recall the early days at CSP, when several local Portland real estate developers—including Homer Williams, largely credited with revitalizing the Pearl District in the late 1990s—were building communities and excited to offer car sharing cars to keep on site as a benefit to promote to prospective residents.

Similarly, Culdesac will have car sharing cars on site—as well as scooters—and every tenant will receive a free platinum transit pass, to make living car free as attractive as possible.

The community will include a locally owned, non-chain grocery store, and they will also host an artist-in-residency program, offering free rent to a local artist who will create work as a part of the community.

I enjoyed talking about my own current multimodal journey with Alexys, Erin, and Ryan (and showing off to them how I fold my bike!) and I also thoroughly enjoyed hearing about their vision and plans.

These are the kinds of visionary folks—working to make the world a better place in creative and innovative ways—who I am excited to meet on this journey. I’m glad I got to connect with them today.

I’ve seen a lot of cool art in Tempe, too, including at least these four street-art examples I happened to see right in this neighborhood as I began my ride over to the Culdesac office. My host later explained that the city of Tempe is generous in funding public art.

I’m really enjoying exploring this place.

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1/26/22

You all know how much I appreciate Japanese gardens. I got to visit another one today. This one is relatively new: the original part—the teahouse, which was off limits today—was built in 1996 (though it had been in planning since 1976!) and the newer part—the koi pond and surrounds—was completed in 2002. I was surprised to learn this from the docent, since most American Japanese gardens are older, and the garden looked well established to me. (I suppose 2002 was twenty years ago, so that’s probably enough time for things to establish themselves somewhat.)

I found this garden to have a more lush look than the other Southwestern Japanese gardens I’ve seen, in Tucson and Albuquerque. The pond was the large, main feature of this garden. The docent told me that there were 250 koi fish in it, and that they multiply readily, so that when the population hits about 1000(!) the garden staff have to thin it out a bit. (I didn’t think to ask what they do with the excess fish; my guess is that they sell them to other gardens.) He also shocked me by telling me that koi fish can live to the age of 100; I had had no idea.

After I left the garden, I went to check out a nearby vegan Thai restaurant. The basil eggplant with tofu and vegetables hit the spot.

The sunlight and temperature were perfect after that, at 3:30 in the afternoon, to pedal back to my host’s place in Tempe. The ride took about an hour and a half, and most of it was along a dedicated, car-free bike path along the river and lakefront.

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1/25/22

Wow, I learned about a cool new place today. Papago Park, north of here in Phoenix, contains a section called Hole in the Rock, which looks just like it sounds. It was a popular destination today (though I luckily didn’t see any of the bees the sign cautioned about) and I enjoyed the brief hike to scale it.

Loving my time in the Phoenix area!

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1/23/22

This place has a lot of palm trees! I like it.

I got a very lazy, loungey start today, which was wonderful.

Then I slowly headed out to explore the riverfront/lakefront park a bit. The walkway/bikeway was nice, although the views themselves there weren’t too scenic. Mostly I enjoyed the palms lining the city streets… and one funny/notable shop sign right downtown. (I could smell the patchouli from where I took the photo!)

I continue to bask in, and thoroughly appreciate, this warm and sunny weather.

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1/22/22

I made it back up north to the Phoenix area today, in an effort to enjoy stretching out my southern Arizona weather before heading east to still-chilly Texas.

My Warmshowers host Lucia was so gracious and helpful this morning (thanks again, Lucia!) sending me off with a big bowl of oatmeal, giving me a ride to the Greyhound station, and even helping me get all my baggage on the bus.

Unfortunately, it was hectic at the station, and I was hurried onto the bus before I could say goodbye! Before that, I struggled with the staff to get all my baggage on board. They ended up charging me $40 (cash, which meant I also had to pay $3.50 in fees to use their ATM) to check my three items under the bus. (The bike, the trailer, and the suitcase.) Oof!! That brought my one-way total cost for the two-hour ride to $73.50. Luckily, it looks like a cool friend here in the Phoenix area, who had already planned to visit Tucson next weekend, may be able to give me a ride back.

Once here in Phoenix, I roughly retraced my path back to my new/old host’s house in Tempe. I was so grateful and happy that she was willing to let me stay here again; we had enjoyed each other’s company last time.

The ride was pleasantly off-road for the first section, including both riverbanks—and some nice bridges—of the riverfront parks along the Salt River. Later, as I got into the university area, what should I see but another visual reminder of the financial abundance I choose to trust in, during this year I’m taking with no paid work: the streets here are indeed paved with gold! 

Also along my way to my host’s place, I stopped by one of the two Loving Hut restaurants in the area, to get some veggies and tofu for a to-go dinner. Then I couldn’t resist stopping at a Baskin-Robbins on the way back to the house; I had been meaning to try their new vegan flavors. The salted chocolate fudge definitely did not disappoint!

I’m looking forward to a nice rest here in Tempe, for probably about a week. I don’t have much on the agenda, although I do look forward to exploring the Japanese garden and arboretum, and perhaps the musical instrument museum two people have recommended. It’s just nice to continue enjoying the warm, dry climate. I so appreciate it after 31 years of Portland’s chilly and wet winters.

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1/21/22

One of the coolest things about Tucson is that as of 2018, there has been a 54-mile unbroken car-free bike-and-pedestrian path surrounding the city, called “The Loop.” I cycled a short segment of it yesterday, but today I made a point to do a good chunk of it.

I started near where I’m staying in west Tucson. I began heading south along the river(bed—it’s dry at this point) and really enjoyed the feel of the path. There were many small parks and benches all along it, and I passed various smiling cyclists, walkers, and joggers.

I took a detour early on over to a cool food plaza next to a trolley station. There was a vegan burger place there, Beaut Burger, and I wanted to check it out. The burger was good, and it was pleasant to sit outside in the shade to eat it.

Afterward, I continued along the loop for maybe another 45 minutes or so, then decided I wanted to check out the cool 4th Avenue area of town, so I exited the loop and headed straight north for a mile or two. I popped into the co-op for a few items, then decided I wanted to visit the Brompton shop in town. Oddly enough, it is part of a music store! I took the bus most of the way from the co-op to the shop, which was cool and easy because buses and trains are free in Tucson this month!

When I got to the shop, I talked to the owner a bit. Apparently, it used to be just a music shop, but about seven years ago he got a Brompton, and several other local people he knew did also. They didn’t have a nearby place to get them serviced—they had to go to Phoenix or San Diego—so he decided to add a corner of the music shop as a bike shop. Now they sell and service several brands of folding bikes.

After I left there, I took a bus back west to 4th again, then cycled a few miles north to hit another segment of the loop, which took me back to my hosts’ place after another hour or two. I felt pleasantly spent at the end of the day, and loved all the scenery I saw, including murals, bridges, cacti, and those incredible mountains in the sunset.

Tomorrow I take the Greyhound to Phoenix!

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