The South Riding RV Travels

713

6th-15th September - Scottsdale AZ

The 2012 tour starts with us flying from London Heathrow to Phoenix. We had left home the previous week but went to a wedding along the way. Phoenix welcomed us with a dust storm which delayed our landing slightly.
The following day we were further welcomed with rain, about an inch and a half, which considering that Phoenix only gets about seven inches a year, we felt was a little excessive.
We went for a walk down by Tempe Lake. The footbridge is over a rubber inflatable dam which controls the flow along the Salt River and creates a lake for recreational use.
It also attracts wildlife like this egret, which is no doubt after the fish. If you look carefully in the bottom left of the previous picture, you can just see it. I'm pleased with the zoom on my new camera.
The other side of the dam the river bed is quite marshy with only limited water flow.
The bridge is remarkably stable despite the seemingly flimsy construction.
Much older and much more substantial is the girder bridge carrying the railway. This style of bridge is very common for both road and rail.
There was an event commemorating 9/11 where they had planted 3000+ American flags and attached name tags to each for each of the people who died.
There are numerous walls and commemorations of 9/11 in the US. It made a huge impact. I commented that not everybody who died was American, there were for example 168 Britons. They hadn't thought of that.
The lake is right under the flight path into Phoenix airport and the planes cross quite low. There are two parallel runways and planes frequently land in pairs. There are heated discussions about a third runway.
In Scottsdale we travelled out  to a house that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his son David. There is great controversy because they want to flatten it because the real estate is quite valuable.
The outside is quite striking but the inside apparently is not up to modern standards.
The setting is very nice which is why the plot is so sought after. The sun settles on Camelback Mountain. Nightfall comes quickly in these latitudes.
The stormy weather leads to some spectacular skies as the late evening sun catches the clouds.