Amazing Arizona

Author: Sumner Andrews

Article:
A neighbor of ours said that after 20+ years in Arizona, they
have finally finished visiting all the key state attractions. We
didn't believe them. My wife and I have moved around quite a bit
and each time we quickly exhausted our host states tourist
resources. Not so with Arizona. Let me give you a couple of
examples.

As new residents, we had to make the Sedona pilgrimage. Sedona
is considered by many to be the center of the New Age movement.
Allegedly, it contains several natural energy vortexes. So we
had to visit just for the novelty of it. The first visit we
spent the entire time visiting the main town shops. Even by the
end of the day we hadn't exhausted the possibilities. On our
second visit to Sedona, we went directly to Tlaquepaque ,a
wonderful Spanish hacienda containing some of the best art in
the region. Despite half a dozen visits to Sedona since then, we
still haven't sampled the New Age offerings. Each visit we have
seen something new.

Not too long ago, my wife and I did a quick tour of the central
part of Route 17, the main artery linking Tucson, Phoenix, and
Flagstaff. We stopped off at Arcosanti, the inspiration of the
world renowned architect Paolo Soleri, to pick up one of his
famous bells. We swung around to view the Montezuma Castle, a
cliff dwelling where a tribe of Sinagua Indians lived. We then
visited a western town reproduction in Cottonwood where you can
get a complete dinner and cowboy show in one sitting.

We have seen more in a years time than we saw in ten elsewhere.
We have visited an ostrich farm outside of Tucson, walked safely
at night through downtown Phoenix for a Sun's basketball game,
cross country skied in Flagstaff, and horseback rode through a
Saquaro cactus forest. By now you would think we are close to
exhausting Arizona's resources. Hardly. It is just like our
neighbors said. We haven't begun. Let's see, I am planning to
visit Nogales on the border of Mexico to pick up some great
bargains. Then I want to visit Lake Havasu on my way to Las
Vegas. Well, you get the idea.

About the author:
is the author of ?Getting Away With The Family? at
http://www.srapplications.com/relax/family-vacation.htm and
other articles on careers, vacationing, relaxing, and stress
management. He also is the webmaster for
http://www.srapplications.com.