As promised, here is a brief travelogue in between the two shitstorms that have defined mid to late February 2015. Before I start, I want to mention that the siege (to be discussed in the last part) has ended, hopefully forever, and that I can properly eulogize my friend without the fear of getting attacked by, truly, the worst of the internet. But no more of that talk right now. I went away!

I have no idea why my four-day jaunt seemed to appear to be some kind of multi-week vacation to so many, but quite a few people have approached me (in person and online) saying a version of “oh! you’re back from all your travels!” I love this and I don’t know how I pulled it off — to seem like a traveling, experience-having fool without actually spending the money and taking unpaid time off!

So, my dear Molly has jumped from a non-profit to a for-profit life in the hotel industry. So when she suggested a mini Southwest vacation with sweet and discounted boutique hotel action — over Valentine’s weekend, no less — I said “yes, darling, a thousand times yes!” So we got engaged. In the business of eating, drinking, relaxing, and driving the open roads. A little throwback to our fantastic 10-day road trip, almost exactly 5 years ago.

First stop, Sedona. A bit of irony here, as we blew past this town as fast as we could the last time. My drive from my town to Sedona was insanely long; though I was in the right zombie state of mind to endure the travel (having lost my friend a couple days before), it did not afford me a lot of time there. I got at night in just enough time to have a surprisingly delicious bite to eat in the only restaurant open past 10pm. In the AM, we had some good hipster artisan resort breakfast then hit the road. Though this was a resort, I was not in the frame of mind to dawdle in the pool area and do some resort-ing, while red rocks towered above, though it looked very nice. Fortunately M had already had a couple relaxing days there (including a massage I am not allowed to talk about), so I could scoop her up and we could head due south.

First stop, Arcosanti, “focused on innovative design, community, and environmental accountability. Our goal is to actively pursue lean alternatives to urban sprawl based on Paolo Soleri’s theory of compact city design, Arcology (architecture + ecology).

This project was planned in the mid-60s and started being built in 1970, so it is the best of the best of retro-modern utopian hippie excellence. People live in the complexes, and the whole Arcosanti/Cosanti (another area closer to Phoenix) empire makes serious bank from their silt-cast ceramics and their bronze wind chimes (the ceramics studio is the second picture above). It’s beautiful, it’s crumbling, it’s sort of forgotten, it’s a little spooky. In other words: it’s perfect.

I can’t wait to see Cosanti next time I’m over there. I have vague memories of going to Arcosanti as a child and I’m wondering if Cosanti was also a stop.

I am dying, dying to purchase a 1964 silkscreen print of Soleri’s original drawn plans, which are groovy, colorful and organic. Hot undeniable desire. While I was wrestling with myself about this, Molly and I developed a new grading system for my object lust. The yardstick by which all other objects are measured is the Navajo crown, spotted by me at a Trading Post in NM on our last SW road trip:

[A] sterling silver, turquoise-studded crown that was inscribed “Navajo Queen.” I wanted it so badly I got a little dizzy.

That thing is, even 5 years later, is a shiny, quivering, expensive, beautiful/weird ultimate symbol of pure desire — desire to own the living daylights out of it. Which I do not.

Working the complicated equation of desirability, usability, attainability, and jenesaisquoisbility, the Soleri print ranks 50% on the Navajo Queen grading scale. This is a high number, trust me. The percentage may actually rise soon, as the sustained desire is not flagging and is in fact increasing. This is thanks to the attainability (it’s a decent price and mine with a credit card number and a quick call to the gift shop). However, framing, wall space, and thriftiness are keeping the print at bay. For the time being.

Woof, I went on a tangent! Anyway! After tromping around in the noble experiment, we continued to Phoenix and had a glass of wine with my family friend Jo Ann, who is a delight and who is recovering from some health problems and who is dearer to me than any damn Navajo Queen crown.

We had plans to see improv that night but my demeanor crumbled a bit and Molly developed a cold so we found some delicious Italian food in downtown PHX that wasn’t too romantic-couply (this was Feb 14, a Saturday, yuk) then headed to our deluxe hotel, which was outfitted with wine, snacks and valentines from M’s hotel colleague. I’m never allowing Molly to quit this job.

I’m going to have to break this account in two, since there is so much more mystical hippie fantasticness yet to come. And jerky, lots of jerky.

More Arcosanti:

 

Go to part two-point-five of this saga: road trip part 2