Christmas, Southwestern Style

The dusk skies were amazing as we drove there.

So for Cyber Monday, I bought two half-off tickets to go to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden Las Noches de las Luminarias event. We'd heard it was something different to do (than the usual Phoenix Zoo Lights, which is also fun), with beautiful Christmas lighting and lots of music throughout, but thought we might pass when we saw it was $30/pp. Ouch. When I saw the 1/2 off deal for Monday, I snagged it. A Monday - we went out on a Monday!

There were over 8,000 hand-lit luminaries throughout the park. That is a lot of work. A lot. And they have to do it every day for 31 days.

It really was that dark on some of the trails, people would unexpectedly come out of the gloom toward us. Spooky. There were also plenty of lights, many of them lighting up the Venetian-glass Chihuly sculptures scattered around.



Can you tell that these are quail?

What you can't see in a lot of these photos are the cacti around the artwork - you'd have tall saguaros next to tall, colorful glass, which was a pretty cool effect. I've adjusted a couple a little so you can get an idea of what I mean (I really need to get a better camera - Santa?).



Some of the sculptures were really large and intricate. Considering the little pieces in the gift store were $5,000 and up, what was around the park had to add up to a pretty penny.



While we wandered around, we'd pass different music stations. We'd go from a Mariachi band, to Dickinson carolers, to bell ringers, to blue grass. All were very good.

There were a couple of story tellers on-hand too.



The Apache family had the largest and most enrapt audience of anyone. The son would pick one of his favorite stories, and his dad might speak Apache for a bit, translate, and then tell us a story from his elders (and carried down to his son). Like the one about the stink bug and the coyote (the stink bug wins). All have morals, of course. Afterwards, they played flute music. I could have spent the rest of the evening there.

It was a really nice way to spend a couple of hours. Music, art, nature - we felt quite cultured. Just note if you go, there will be likely be different entertainers - they change it up.

Another reason we went last night was because the temps are about to take a tumble. 30s?! There is even a "special weather statement" to give us lots of details of the fun to come. NOOOooooOOO!

Speaking of freezing temperatures, I wanted to give a shout out to all you folks who came along from my previous blogs. How the heck I've ended up with so many Canadian readers, I don't know, but I appreciate every one of you. Don't forget to look us up if you find yourself in town.

A Hike Through the Fountain Hills Botanical Garden

This old trail (1975) was officially established as a Botanical Garden in 2006. A wash, normally just for rain and wild-animal egress, was cleared enough so humans could take a walk and enjoy the scenery. The trail basically runs in a small valley behind some houses, but is surprisingly private.

 

There were signs on various things, most looking exactly like the last thing we'd seen (it hasn't rained in awhile), but I did find it interesting that it takes a saguaro cactus over 50 years before it even begins to grow an arm (or spear). They get as high as 60 feet, and they can live to be 200 years old (per the brochure you can pick up at the start of the trail).

Oddly, we didn't see a single bird, no hawks, turkey buzzards, or even crows, until we ran into some quail at the very end. Quails are like pigeons, they're everywhere, but they make really funny noises that always make me laugh (click on Quail Call 1). There were quite a number of caves, which were kind of tempting to check out.



 

Peek-a-boo.

No, I don't recommend you do this. 

There are a few trails that loop around, none difficult, and even a little dam to wonder about.

You could easily traverse the area in 10 minutes, but there are lots of benches to sit on should you want to spend a little more time there. If you're quiet enough, you'll probably see a few interesting critters pass by. Hopefully not the creepy-crawly kind.