Another roadtrip through some of the US States I like best: the southwest of the US.
The mix this time was revisiting some parts I have visited 2 or 3 decades ago, travelling a part of the route I travelled with my parents (now
both deceased) in the 1990s. As well as the usual activities: giving maximum use to my camera, including aviation photography.
Here goes...

We flew to Houston-IAH, but got stranded there. Here's the scene early the next morning preparing for IAH-SLC.

Departing Salt Lake City, heading east, we crossed the mountains in rain and snow.
But after the mountains the sky soon cleared.

"I believe that much unseen is also here." ¬Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Moab. Initially my satnav sent me to a 'Moab' closer to Las Vegas, but we noticed it in time.
Since my last visit to Moab, in 1983, things have changed a lot here. The town is flooded now with visitors, for Arches NP but also
for activity sports such as mountain biking and off-road driving. Shops have opened for the outdoor activities plus an increased
number of restaurants. But it also kept close to its identity and I found it a very pleasant town to visit.

ZAX is a popular place to dine.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

Standing Rock.
Besides the arches there are plenty of other remarkable rockformations to admire.

Skyline Arch

Making our way to Double Arch.
Earlier I had mistaken the Double O Arch for this one and walked that -long- trail. Unfortunately an attack of vertigo
prevented me from reaching the Double O Arch, the trail also being much more strenuous than I remembered it.
Quite rightly, as I had never walked that trail...

The people are reduced to ant-size here at the Double Arch. Awesome!

Near Double Arch are several more arches.
The trail for Turret Arch (above) also heads out to The Windows Section, North Window en South Window arches.

Landscape Arch
When I visited it in the 1980s one could still walk up to it, but during the 1990s a large chunk of stone fell from it and
for safety reasons a barrier has been placed on a safe distance.

At Moab we had a very nice stay. For the best breakfast in town I can recommend The Pancake Haus, esspecially for
their 'Banana Split Pancakes'! Another good breakfast was enjoyed at The Jailhouse.
We took our dinners at Zax and Eddie McStiff's, both very nice places and a good selection of specialty beers.

A few images from the road, making our way in Colorado, destination Silverton.
I think this is Ouray,CO

Remains of mining here in the mountains.

SILVERTON, CO

Silverton is a beautiful little town, -Wikipedia-

These 'all-road' buggies are a frequent sight in these rugged mountains.

As it once was here...
Photo from a framed picture in a restaurant.

Plenty of restaurants here, we had breakfast at Big Bear Restaurant (on the right).

In the early morning sun we had a nice stroll in this enchanting town.

The second part of the Million Dollar Highway is easier to drive. The part Ouray-Silverton had more switchbacks and
the width of the road seemed more narrow than the part Silverton-Durango.

Indian country
Unfortunately the program for this day could not include a revisit to Mesa Verde NP as we had a long drive to Winslow,AZ
En route I took some photos, mainly while driving. In October the days are getting notably shorter.

A procession of Native Americans on horseback

We did make a quick stop at Window Rock, just across the border of New Mexico in Arizona.
It seemed to me the site is getting a makeover for tourism and why not. Next time we'll visit the museum here.

Next stop was at Hubbell Trading Post [wikipedia], a National Historic Site.
We had only some 15 minutes to check what was inside, as we arrived just before closing time.
It is a working store and one can buy souvenirs too. We bought some lip balm.

Well I'm rolling down the highway
Smile upon my face
All the things that hurt me
Disappear without a trace
Only me on the inside
And the big wide open sky
I'm always happy at the wheel
I see it all go drifting by

Ten thousand sorrows
Ten million tears
All part of the making
How you got to be here
Relax, listen to her engine
Leave your troubles for awhile
Dream your darkest secret
The one that always makes you smile

I'm happy, I'm happy on the road
Yeah, I'm happy, I'm happy on the road

Sometimes you're standing still
Let your troubles do the same
Let the pressure fall away
Let it go and start again
There's only me on the inside
And the big wide open sky
I'm always happy at the wheel
See it all go drifting by

I'm happy on the road
I'm happy on the road, yeah!
¬Chris Rea, 'Happy on the Road'

The sun setting, heading for Winslow.

Got her doors locked doin' 75
Don't care to be caught now, dead or alive
Seen enough to kill anyone's soul
Keepin' her eyes on the open road
Keepin' her eyes on the open road

The open road where the hopeless come
To see if hope still runs
One by one they bring their broke down loads
And leave 'em where the hobo dreams are stowed
Out on the open road
Out on the open road
...
¬John Hiatt, The Open Road (part)

WINSLOW, AZ

Besides the Route 66 aspect of Winslow,AZ I wanted to visit this town for the photobook Stephen Shore had produced on it.
Stephen Shore is a photographer I much admire.

The 'Standing On A Corner of Winslow Arizona' in the song 'Take It Easy', by The Eagles, was an added bonus.

Winslow has modest restaurant facilities and we opted for the Brown Mug.
This Mexican restaurant has a framed picture on the wall, "Harrison Ford was here!"

Winslow by daylight

On the road again!

We drove through Apache-Sitgreaves Nat'l Forest and we arrived at Globe, which made a distinct rundown impression on me.
With some difficulty we found a place to have lunch, at 'Envida e Coffee': they had some cakes left.

Another long day on the road and we arrived under darkness at Bisbee.
We had two close encounters with deer caught in our headlights, fortunately no one got hurt.

BISBEE, AZ

My first visit to Bisbee ever! It was recommended to me as a good place to find live music, and so it was!
We checked in at the beautiful Bisbee Inn/LaMore Hotel and made haste to find food and drinks at the Copper City Saloon, next door.

Celeste is the energetic owner of the Copper City Saloon and had taken over the place only six months prior to our visit!
Only she and the DJ (playing 1980s music) had given heed to the 1980s theme of this evening. I liked Celeste's outfit best and paid
the DJ a drink. A really nice place and high on the list for an extended revisit. We'll be back...

In the evening we walked around in the Historic District and from several places we heard live music being played.
More next time!

TOMBSTONE, AZ

Tombstone certainly had grown since our last visit, decades ago!
Hard-core tourist stuff here, but ever so nice to spend a sunny morning.

A nice lunch in Big Nose Kate's Saloon, a tavern dating back to 1881

The museum, The Bird Cage Theatre

I got lucky when this enormous motorcade drove through town.

With 88 F / 31 C in the sun it was a very nice day for a cool drive!

Heading for Tucson we soon came across this roadblock outside Tombstone. But we were waved through.

First things I noticed in Tucson was the fine graffiti and I recorded a few places.

How's that for a mural?!!

I love shopping for books and Antigone Bookstore provided a few titles.
Always glad to see a kid reading a book rather an iPad.

I visited the Center for Creative Arts and Photography for this exhibition of work by Wynn Bullock.
Wynn Bullock (b.18Apr1902 - d.16Nov1975) was an American photographer whose work is included in over 90 major museum collections
around the world. He received substantial critical acclaim during his lifetime, published numerous books and is mentioned in all the
standard histories of modern photography. [en.wikipedia.org:_Wynn_Bullock]

I had not heard from him but enjoyed his (early) work. The location was a little hard to find as it is a building within the University of
Arizona complex and when we located it we had to look hard for a place to park.

Trail Dust Town: not quite what we expected: a very faux set up.

Trail Dust Town has seen Tucson grow up around it since it was built in 1961. www.traildusttown.com

Playing hide and seek

A wedding festivity in progress, almost looks like they were lining up for me!

We went for a cold brew to the Cowpony bar; not far from the Trail Dust Town. A cool place.
Any bar in the US serving cold Guinness gets extra points from me!

One from my bucketlist!
I have visited Tucson several times over the years, but never went for the flightseeing over this legendary boneyard!
The AMARG is adjacent to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and one can get groundtours from the nearby Pima Air and Space Museum.
But I went for a flight over this place (my report)

The flight, an hour long, continued over Tucson.
We see the Tucson Mall here, note the ample parking facilities!

Crossing over to the landscape surrounding Tucson Metro is striking.

Pinal Airpark is a boneyard for civilian airplanes.
Some of these airliners leave here flying, refurbished for a new owner, others get scrapped.

The Pima Air and Space Museum is not to be missed, a huge amount of aeroplanes: see my report