In the late 1880s the Federal government encouraged westward expansion through the Homestead Act of 1862, but conditions in the West were harsh and the land mostly unfarmable. (Remember the wagon trains in those old western TV shows?) The arid, desert conditions of the American West made it unsuitable for agriculture.

To help motivate western settlement, Congress passed the National Reclamation Act in 1902. The Bureau of Reclamation oversaw projects to build dams on waterways, creating reservoirs and canals which enabled cultivation. The Hoover Dam, which forms Lake Mead, is the second largest dam in the country; Grand Coulee Dam in Central Washington State is the largest.

We’re staying in the Lake Mead Recreational Area for a few days. Our campsite gives us a front row seat of the Lake.

Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the country. It straddles Arizona and Nevada; the Colorado River being the border.  It was formed in 1935 with the completion of the Hoover Dam. It supplies water for about 25 million people across Nevada, Arizona, California.

Sometimes we stop in an area because there are friends or family we want to visit, what I call a friends and family stop; visiting people we care about is our primary goal for these stops. Phoenix is a friends and family stop.

Sometimes we can fit in some exploring which is always interesting. I wasn’t expecting to do anything in Phoenix other than visiting. But we had the opportunity to check out the Heard Museum and I’m so glad we did. (More about the Heard later.)

And I always enjoy learning about an area’s history. Phoenix’s is especially interesting, deeply rooted in its Native American history. So here’s what I’ve learned, some of it at the Heard Museum.

• There’s evidence that people lived in the Phoenix area as early as 9000 B.C.E.
• As early as 300 B.C.E, an indigenous group arrived and settled on the banks of the Salt River. The Salt River is the 200-mile tributary of the Gila River, which itself is a tributary of the Colorado River.
• Referred to as the Hohokam, this group developed a complex system of irrigation canals extending far from the banks of the Salt River. They built hundreds of miles of canals using wooden and stone tools, carting everything by hand; livestock had not been introduced to the Americas yet. The Spanish brought farm animals in the late 15th century. The canal system transformed the southern Arizona desert into farmland.
• In about 1400 C.E., the Hohokam abandoned their settlements, likely due to climate instability and drought. For a long time they were described has having “vanished.” It’s now understood that they reorganized, migrated, and evolved into other local Indigenous groups. (Early immigration?) They are considered ancestors to the modern Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Tohono O’odham nations.
• Archaeologists used the word Hohokam borrowed from the O’odham language which means “those who have gone.” The Tohono O’odham refer to this ancient civilization as Huhugam which translates as “those who have gone before” meaning ancestors.
• The Spanish arrived in what is now Arizona in the 16th century and established a chain of missions and small forts from northern Mexico along the Santa Cruz River valley.
• Spanish explorers had three goals, often summarized as “Gold, God, and Glory,”: add to Spain’s wealth by finding gold, convert indigenous populations to Catholicism, and claim territory for Spain to achieve global dominance.
• Native groups, including the Zuni and Apache, encountered and frequently resisted Spanish intrusions into their homelands. Mexican indigenous groups, like the  Caxcanes, Maya, Yaqui, and northern Chichimeca also resisted.
• In 1847, under the leadership of Brigham Young, the Mormons undertook a colonization campaign focused on establishing a self-sufficient “Kingdom of God.”  Their policy involved displacing Native Americans and, at times, coercive assimilation efforts. They established hundreds of communities throughout Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and Nevada, playing a significant role in settling the American West.
• Mormons called the area that’s now Phoenix “Pumpkinville” for the wild gourds they found along the Salt River.
• In 1867 early pioneers began to settle in the area and the town was renamed Phoenix by one of the town’s leaders who stated,  “A new city will spring phoenix-like upon the ruins of a former civilization,” referring to the Hohokam.
• Phoenix was incorporated in 1881 and beccame the territorial seat of government. Arizona became the 48th state in 1912  with Phoenix as its capital.
• Phoenix underwent a period of population growth when WWII veterans who had trained in the region settled in the area, combined with the mass adoption of air conditioning making the city more livable.
• Between 1950 and 2000, Phoenix’s population grew from 105,000 to over 1.3 million. The population is projected to reach 1.7 million residents in 2026, maintaining it as the 5th largest American city.

The Heard Museum

The museum is an internationally recognized museum founded in 1929 by Dwight and Maie Heard of Phoenix to house their personal collection. Over time, the museum shifted toward first-person narratives, focusing on the art and stories of Native Americans, especially from the Southwest.

Notice the hairstyle of the middle figure. It’s a Hopi style resembling butterfly wings or blooming squash blossoms; it represents maturity and signals a young Hopi woman’s readiness for marriage. Look familiar? George Lucas has confirmed that it was the  inspiration for Princess Leia’s hair in the Star Wars movies.

There was an exhibition with photographs and artifacts, honoring Navajo Code Talkers.

Navajo Code Talkers were WWII Marines who used their complex, unwritten indigenous language to create an unbreakable, highly efficient communication code in the Pacific Theater. Over 400 Navajo served, using specialized vocabularies to transmit vital messages faster than machines. During the month-long battle for Iwo Jima, six Navajo Code Talker Marines successfully transmitted more than 800 messages without error.

The Navajo code is the only one in modern history never broken by the enemy. The Code Talkers role was kept secret – even from their families – for over 20 years after the war to keep the code’s effectiveness secure for potential future use. The Code was decommissioned in 1968. Only 2 of the Code Talkers are still alive, both in their 90s.

Native Americans and Alaska Natives have a higher percentage of their population in the military than any other group.

On our last day here – tomorrow we’re heading to Phoenix – we checked out the Tucson Museum of Art in the historic Presidio district of downtown Tucson. The museum has permanent exhibits of Indigenous arts, art of the American West, Modern and Contemporary art and Latin American art. It also has a small sculpture garden.

The museum is housed in a beautiful, modern 3-story building. Inside there are no stairs, only a spiraling ramp that creates a continuous flow through the exhibits. As you walk along the ramp you can look down on the gallery below which offers a different perspective of the bigger art pieces.

Some of my favorite pieces

The Home of the Sacred

“Sublime landscapes were those places on earth where one had more chance than elsewhere to glimpse the face of God. These places are where the creators, God, deities and powerful beings live…The people simply don’t “catch a glimpse” of holy beings they sing them; they pray them in these places.”
— Ofelia Zepeda, PHD (Tohono O’odham)

The museum also manages five historic adobe buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located in the Presidio Historic Block.

Arizona is known for its beautiful sunsets and sunrises.

Low humidity allows light waves, particularly the longer red and orange wavelengths, to travel with less interference. Minimal pollution in the desert also allows longer wavelengths to pass through making the colors appear clearer and more vibrant. And the mountains – Tucson is flanked by 5 mountain ranges – reflect the pinks, purples, and golds of the sky. And what you get daily is a postcard picture.

We visited the San Xavier del Bac Mission on the Tohono O’odham Nation Indian Reservation just outside of Tucson. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. We had a lovely docent who shared the history of the mission and pointed out interesting features of the church.

The mission, considered the best-preserved example of Spanish colonial architecture in the U.S., was founded in 1692 by Italian Jesuit priest Eusebio Kino in the centuries-old settlement of the Sobaipuri O’odham. He named it San Xavier del Bac, for Saint Francis Xavier, a founder of the Jesuit Order.  “del Bac” comes from the O’odham word “Wa:k,” meaning “Water Place.” Father Kino founded the first mission in New Spain in 1661 and went on to establish 20 other missions.

Fearing the growing wealth and political influence of the Order, the Spanish king recalled all Jesuits from the territory. They were replaced by Franciscans in 1768.

The original mission was abandoned because of ongoing attacks from Apache raids. Construction of the current, better fortified structure was completed in 1797 by the Franciscans. The church was again abandoned when Mexico expelled all Spanish priests following its war of independence. This fifty-year span is referred to as the Mission’s “Dark Period.”

Restoration efforts began in 1989 following the discovery of significant structural damage; restoration is ongoing. Conservators use traditional materials to reverse damage caused by modern cement, like using sunbaked instead of kiln-baked bricks. And they are conserving and repairing, but not replacing missing features. For example, one of the towers is missing its dome. Funds ran out during construction of the current structure and the project was never finished.

Father Eusebio Francisco Kino is a notable figure in Arizona History. He opposed slavery and defended the native population against exploitation by Spanish settlers. He introduced agricultural practices to the indigenous community helping to strengthen their economy. He was known as a peacemaker, working to resolve conflicts between native groups and Spanish authorities.

The National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol building honors prominent historical individuals from each state. Each state contributes two statues to the gallery. Arizona’s contributions are Barry Goldwater and Father Kino.

Fun fact: National Statuary Hall started as a national hall of fame in 1864. Its first statue was of Rhode Island’s Revolutionary War hero, Nathanael Greene. (and the namesake of my kids’ middle school.)

San Xavier del Bac is an active Catholic church serving the local Tohono O’odham community. It is still run by Franciscans Friars.

We’re in Tucson for a few days. Tucson is currently experiencing unseasonably warm weather with temperatures in the low 90s, several degrees warmer than average for mid-to-late April. But it’s a “dry heat” as they say. Dry heat is still hot, just means you need lots of moisturizer and lip balm.

Now for a few fun facts

• Arizona is one of two states (Hawaii is the other) that doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time. It stays on Mountain Standard Time all year.
• Tucson averages 350 sunny days a year.
• Tucson’s population is about 560,000; it’s growing at an annual rate of 0.51%.  
• Tucson is surrounded by five distinct mountain ranges: Santa Catalina Mountains, Rincon Mountains, Santa Rita Mountains, Tucson Mountains, and Tortolita Mountains. The backdrop of the city looks like a picture postcard.
• Tucson is the headquarters of Dark Sky International founded in 1988 to promote the protection of the night sky from light pollution.
• Tucson is recognized as a Dark-Sky city, it’s taken steps to reduce light pollution, like regulating the brightness and number of outdoor bulbs, allowing for clearer views of the night sky.
• Founded in 1983, the non-profit Native Seeds/SEARCH (Southwestern Endangered Aridland Resource Clearing House) is based in Tucson. Its mission is to conserve, distribute, and document agricultural seed varieties native to the Southwest and northwest Mexico. It maintains a vault in the Santa Catalina Mountains safeguarding 2,000 varieties of seeds – humanity’s backup plan in case of agricultural disaster. The collection includes drought-resistant crops developed by ancient civilizations. Major seed companies have offered millions of dollars for access to the seed bank. Native Seeds/SEARCH has declined all offers.
• NASA used several Tucson locations to train Apollo astronauts for moon landings in the 1960s. The volcanic fields near Tucson so closely resembled lunar terrain that astronauts practiced moon walks and driving lunar rovers.
• Tucson is considered the “astronomy capital of the world” for its concentration of  astronomers, researchers, and observatories.
• The University of Arizona in Tucson was founded in 1891 – 21 years before Arizona became a state.
• In 2015, Tucson became the first U.S. city designated a UNESCO World City of Gastronomy, recognizing the region’s 4,000-year food heritage.

There are 2 roadside attractions in Las Cruces that I wanted to see, both are listed in Atlas Obscura, the listing of unusual, obscure or off the beaten path attractions. I always research a place’s hidden gems when we’re traveling.

In 1993, Las Cruces artist Olin Calk, wanted to draw attention to Americans’ consumption habits and underscore the importance of recycling. He created a 20-foot-tall sculpture of a roadrunner,  New Mexico’s State bird, using trash he collected at the local landfill.

It first stood at the Las Cruces Foothills Landfill. The sculpture has been rebuilt several times since and now stands at the Scenic View Rest area off I-10 as you approach Las Cruces. There are great views from the stop.

Located outside of the Big Chile Inn and Suites, the sculpture is 47ft long and made of  concrete. The former owner of the inn hoped it would attract tourists to the inn while celebrating the region’s agricultural heritage. New Mexico is the top producer of chile peppers in the U.S., growing about 77% of the chiles sold. Here they spell chile with an “e” not “i.”

Before heading back we stopped at the Rio Grande winery. They have a lovely patio looking out at the mountains. Pictures don’t do justice to the views.

New Mexico is the oldest wine region in the United States, starting back in 1629 – 200 years before Napa Valley – when Franciscan friars planted the first Vitis vinifera (Mission grapes from Spain.) Today, the region is known for its high-altitude vineyards along the Rio Grande. New Mexico has about 60 wineries.

Tomorrow we head to Tucson.

We’ve stopped for a few days in Las Cruces, New Mexico located in the Chihuahuan Desert.

Las Cruces is New Mexico’s 2nd largest city with a population of about 118,000 and growing. It sits between the Rio Grande and the Organ Mountains. The Rio Grande is the 4th longest river in the U.S.; it’s a major part of the border between Mexico and Texas. Las Cruces is 40 miles north of the Texas/Mexico border.

It was founded in 1849 as a planned settlement when the area became part of the U.S. following the end of the Mexican-American War. Las Cruces means “the crosses” in Spanish. It’s known as “The City of the Crosses.” Legend has it that the settlement was named for the three wooden crosses erected to mark the burial site of victims of Apache attacks. The name was already in use when the settlement was established.

Mesilla

On our first full day here, after a stop at the Visitor’s Center, we drove to the neighboring town of Mesilla. It’s a charming town of less than 2,000 people with adobe buildings and history dating back to when it was a Mexican settlement.

Mesilla was established by Mexico in 1848 as a town for Mexican citizens who wanted to stay on Mexican soil after the war. Five years later the United States purchased territory that is now present-day New Mexico and Arizona, an area that includes Mesilla. In 1854, the Mexican flag was lowered and the U.S. flag was raised in Mesilla plaza.

Michael’s fighting a cold complicated by allergies, the cactus flowers are blooming. So he sat in the plaza under the shade of a tree relaxing while I checked out the shops. I also spent some peaceful moments in the church.

The guide in the church told me proudly that the church is a basilica and that it’s a very active congregation with daily Mass, several Masses on the weekend and a busy Sunday school. I thought basilicas referred to large churches, like the National Shrine in Washington, D.C. But this Mesilla church was nothing as grand.

Basilica is an honor bestowed by the Pope recognizing a church’s historical or architectural importance. The major basilicas are in Rome and Jerusalem; minor basilicas are located throughout the world. There are about 100 basilicas in the U.S. San Albino Church was granted minor basilica status by the Vatican in 2008.

We started the day with lunch at La Posta. La Posta de Mesilla is an historic New Mexican restaurant and landmark just off the Mesilla Plaza. It opened in 1939 in an adobe compound that dates back to the 1840s. It was originally a stagecoach depot. It also housed a hotel with notable guests like Wild West icons Billy the Kid, Pancho Villa, and Kit Carson.

Sunset

We’ve seen our share of sunsets over water, but not over mountains. So we drove to a good spot for watching the setting sun.

Temple Beth-El Las Cruces

Friday night we went to services at Temple Beth-El Las Cruces. It was a warm and welcoming congregation of mostly retirees. A Reform synagogue, its erev Shabbat service was different from our home synagogue, but with enough familiarity to make it meaningful. And the congregants were so friendly. A couple of them recommended Las Cruces as a great place for retirement.

What I was most struck by was how relaxed they were about security. In an age of synagogue security guards, locked doors and walk through metal detectors, it was quite a contrast.

Some New Mexico Fun Facts

• Native Americans have been living in what’s now New Mexico for about twenty thousand years. The Pueblo, Apache, Comanche, Navajo, and Ute peoples were in the New Mexico region when Spanish explorers arrived in 1539.
• In 1912 New Mexico was admitted as the 47th state.
• New Mexico’s State Constitution officially states that New Mexico is a bilingual State; 1 out of 3 families in New Mexico speak Spanish at home. Around 48% of the population is Latino.
• New Mexico has more Ph.D.s per capita than any other state, mostly due to the many government and private research facilities that call the state home. About 2.1% of the adult population hold doctoral degrees.
• Albuquerque has more than 300 local hot air balloons, making it the Hot Air Ballooning Capital of the world. The weather in New Mexico is ideal for ballooning.
• The first atomic bomb test was conducted near Alamogordo in 1945 as part of the Manhattan Project. The site is now known as the Trinity Site.
• Santa Fe, New Mexico’s capital, was founded in 1610, making it the oldest capital city in the United States.
• Santa Fe is the highest capital city in the United States at 7,199 feet above sea level.

It was such a treat to learn that Austin has a literary culture that’s earned it the reputation of a “City of Books.” In a time when Amazon controls 50% of the print book market it’s a wonder that there are about 30 thriving independent bookstores in the city.

The granddaddy of them all is BookPeople. Founded in 1970, it’s the oldest and largest independent bookstore in Austin. Of course, I had to check it out.

BookPeople is a 40,000-square-foot 2-story building in downtown Austin. In addition to a vast collection of books, including an in-depth children’s section, it has a café, hosts frequent author events, book clubs and community events.

We visited on a rainy Friday late afternoon and it was a lively place; the café was busy, a YA event was taking place that had a long line of young women waiting in the rain for the event to start and lots of folks browsing.

We just missed the Austin Texas Book Trail – an annual self-guided, 2-day bookstore crawl that took place over the 1st weekend in April. This year’s trail featured 36 independent bookstores across Austin and nearby towns. Stores offer discounts, run raffles for gift cards, hold author signings and have special story times and other events. The Book Trail is entirely volunteer-run and self-financed. It’s become a highly anticipated community event.

Austin Central Library

My favorite part of our Austin visit was discovering Austin Central Library.

Austin Central Library opened in 2017  at a cost of $126.6 million and 10 years of planning. The state-of-the-art flagship of Austin’s public library system was designed to be a community hub. It’s referred to as Austin’s “living room.” The building has won awards for its sustainable design.

The interior is organized around a six-story sunlit atrium that floods all 6 floors with sunlight. It has a rooftop garden with solar panels, screened-in reading porches, an art gallery, a 350-seat event space. There’s a café just outside the entrance with a take out window in the library. And a gift store. The interior is stunning.

We went back to the library the following day to see the free concert performed by the SoCo Women’s Chorus.

The SoCo Women’s Chorus was founded in 2012 by two women who started singing together on South Congress Avenue, thus the name SoCo. Today it’s a 100-member non-profit community choir. They do 2 ticketed performances a year and lots of free events. The performance at the library was a preview of their upcoming concert. They were fabulous!

Michael and I were both sad to say good-bye to Austin. I loved the energy and friendliness of the city. It’s a creative, off beat – even their skyscrapers are non-traditional – big city that’s clearly community focused and family friendly. I wish it wasn’t 2000 miles from Rhode Island because I would definitely come back.

…and a few random facts

Part I

Texas’ Colorado River flows through Austin and contributes to the character of the city. The river is dammed at several places to create reservoirs. The reservoir that flows through downtown is called Lady Bird Lake, formerly Town Lake. It was built in 1960 as a cooling pond for a nearby power plant.

We biked along Lady Bird Lake

I loved the contrast of the city’s urban environment and the surrounding nature.

We took a guided tour of the Texas State Capitol

Sitting on a hilltop in downtown Austin, the Capitol building is made of locally quarried red granite giving it its distinctive rust colored hue. Completed in 1888, the Capitol was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

Life-size, white marble statues of two of the most influential men in  Texas history greet you in the South Foyer of the Capitol Building.

Bullock Texas State History Museum

After our visit to the Capitol,  we went to the history museum and learned all about Texas history from its start as a state of Mexico, to independence as the Republic of Texas, to becoming the 28th state in 1845 through to the present.

A few fun facts I learned at the museum

• There were over 350 different Native American languages spoken in North America when Europeans arrived.
• The name “Texas” comes from the Caddo word tejas– – for “friend.”  Caddo is the Indigenous language of several tribes from the region.
• The Texas State motto is “Friendship.”
• The original Six Flags amusement park opened in Texas in 1961. After visiting Disneyland, a developer decided Texas needed a theme park. He founded Six Flags Over Texas, referring to the 6 different flags that have flown over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederacy, and the United States.

The UMLAUF Sculpture Garden and Museum

Opened in 1991, the sculpture garden showcases the work of American sculptor Charles Umlauf (1910–1994). Umlauf taught for 40 years at UT Austin. The museum was established after the Umlaufs donated their home, studio, and collection of sculptures to the City of Austin in 1985.

After watching news reels of the Nazi invasion of Poland, Umlauf was moved to create a sculpture depicting the despair of the Polish refugees. He created the War Mother in the apartment he shared with his wife that also served as his studio. He submitted the work to a Chicago art expo. An art critic declared it the ugliest thing he’d ever seen.

The Chicago art community rallied to his defense. Someone at UT Austin heard about it and extended an offer to Umlauf to teach in their newly formed Art Dept.  He accepted and went on to teach there for 40 years.

We fit in some music and lots of good food

The guide at the Visitor’s Center recommended the Saxon Pub, an Austin institution. So we checked it out. I would have liked to have gone to The Continental Club, another Austin institution, but we didn’t make it.

Opened in 1990, the Saxon Pub feels like a bar, but sounds like a concert venue. It’s been described as a “listening room.” – a dark, cozy space with seating for 150, alcohol is flowing, but the expectation is that you’re there for the music. Some musicians have described the Saxon as playing in their living room. They have 3 different performers nightly, 7 days a week. That’s a lot of music! The Saxon is known for the quality of its sound system. The performance was great and it was loud.

Food

Austin rated #7 on Food & Wine magazine’s 2026 “best food-forward destinations.” It’s known for its barbecue, innovative food trucks, and Tex-Mex cuisine. We don’t do barbecue – does BBQ tempeh count? – but we made it to a food truck and tried Tex-Mex.

Joann’s Fine Foods is housed in the historic Austin Motel, it offered healthy food with a “Cali-Mex” twist. Next, we tried Ramen Tatsu-Ya, serving very yummy ramen that you could customize to your taste.

Austin has a strong food truck culture that evolved from a few taco stands in the 1990s, to “food truck parks” totaling 2000 vendors. A food park or food trailer park has several food trucks and other vendors in one location with shared amenities – like a food hall, but outside.

We checked out the Thicket Food Park, a fenced in, woodsy area with the trucks circled around an open space that included a playground; very family friendly. Besides food they had a barbershop trailer – get a haircut while you wait for your food!, PhotoBoof, where you can get a professionally taken picture of your dog and they had a stage where they host performances.

We ordered from the Revolution Vegan Kitchen. It has a plant-based menu of tacos, burgers and wraps. Unfortunately, it started raining, so we left as soon as we got our food. I got a mushroom taco that was very yummy.

The Bouldin Creek Cafe is a woman-owned vegetarian/vegan restaurant with an outdoor patio that’s been around since 2000. It’s another family friendly place. We sat on the patio. There were a couple of families with several kids each and at the table behind us, three guys ate and played cards. I had the aforementioned BBQ Tempeh; I think I’ll try making some at home.

Two friends had a vision of a fun and funky Tex-Mex restaurant that served fresh, authentic food made from scratch. They opened Chuy’s in an abandoned barbecue joint in 1982. The restaurant was so popular that they eventually added 15 locations and opened restaurants outside of Texas. In 2024, they sold the restaurants to the group that owns Olive Garden and other chains. We went to the original Chuy’s, but regardless of its origins, it’s now a chain restaurant. The food was average at best. It was our only disappointing meal.

We’re spending the week in Austin. I’m looking forward to good food and good music.

Austin Fun Facts

• Named for one of the its founding fathers, Stephen F. Austin, the capital city of Texas has a population of a little over a million people.
• Austin sits on the Colorado River – not the Colorado River of the Grand Canyon – the one that’s 862 miles long and begins and ends in Texas.
• Its official motto is “Live Music Capital of the World” The city has over 250 live music venues.
• Its unofficial slogan, “Keep Austin Weird” was coined by a local librarian and later adopted by a business group to promote shopping at local businesses.
• Whole Foods Market was founded in Austin in 1980. Purchased by Amazon in 2017 it’s still headquartered in Austin.
• Every spring and summer, about 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost under the Congress Avenue Bridge. At dusk, they emerge in a swirling cloud—a spectacle that draws crowds nightly.
  To learn more:  https://austinbatworks.com/pages/about-austins-bats?srsltid=AfmBOorURoELbvbcXezu3wMGQ6Z4ohrXxLwWLotylOt7s3cbMQ0PvL89
• Austin is Home to Hippie Hollow—the state’s only officially designated clothing-optional beach located on Lake Travis.