Recognizing International Women’s Day 2021 and Choosing to Challenge! We will advocate for and support the women in our lives. #ChooseToChallenge #IWD2021
See IWD 2024, 2021, 2020, 2020 @ SPS, and 2018.
Silver King Smokehouse
We took a drive today and for lunch stopped at Silver King Smokehouse in Superior. It was a spectacular lunch most centered around brisket. Their brisket was phenomenal and they had a great outdoor area with picnic tables. If you find yourself in the area, get yourself some delicious barbecue.
It was family movie night and we watched Flora & Ulysses. It is a fun story about a squirrel with superpowers. 🍿
Desert Botanical Garden
Wanting to experience even more desert plant life we visited the Desert Botanical Garden today and it was incredible. Everywhere you looked there were great displays. It was a great day to walk around and take in the great scenery and learn more about various cactus and plants.
*A dense field of various cactus.*
*I loved the red needles on these cactus.*
*Saguaro cactus with Cholla cactus in the foreground.*
*At first we thought these giants were Saguaro but they are actually [Cardon cactus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachycereus_pringlei) that grow even bigger. They are less resilient to cold so they do not grow native in Arizona.*
*Very rare [Crested Saguaro](https://www.nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/why_crested.htm) cactus.*
*These [Chihuly](https://www.chihuly.com) glass sculptures were incredible.*
Music Instrument Museum
We visited the Music Instrument Museum today. This place was absolutely incredible. You could spend an entire day here pretty easily. They had an amazing breadth of musical instruments and musician specific content. You got a wireless headphone that you wore and as you approached various displays you would start hearing the sound, automatically.
We could have used more time to explore. They also did very good with COVID-19 precautions. They sold only timed tickets and only allowed a limited number of people. Everyone wore masks all the time. It felt very safe. This is the only indoor thing we have done here in Arizona.
*Mazie posing in front of the Music Instrument Museum.*
*Giant string instrument.*
*They many of these artist displays and the sound would just start in your headphones as you approached.*
*The video that went with this about how a Steinway piano is created was amazing.*
*There were displays for various countries and their specific music. They had a well populated section on Ukraine.*
*Family selfie in front of a variety of guitars.*
I’m trying to mint an NFT on Zora.co and am shocked by the variability in the network fee. I’ve checked multiple times and the price has ranged 500% in one day. The gwei price moves a lot each day, but closer to 200% difference.
Observation about the Phoenix area — everything is a 30 minute drive away. No matter where you are or where you are going. It is such a sprawling area.
Arizona Chimney Cakes
We tried Trdelník for the first time with a visit to Arizona Chimney Cakes. Tammy came across this unique offering and it was compared to churros which is a big family favorite of ours. Tammy got the Berliner and the rest of us got the Nana. The Nutella was too tempting to pass up. We all liked them but thought if we went again we might get the traditional ones because the bread itself was really good and it would be much easier to eat.
After our hike at the Lost Dutchman and the delightful drive on Arizona State Route 88 we stopped at Tortilla Flat, proudly stated population 6. It is very much a tourist trap, but it was fun to see and goof around with the kids for a bit. We got there just moments before they closed up shop, just in time to get some water and head back to Mesa.
Arizona State Route 88 goes right along Canyon Lake on the way to Tortilla Flat. It even has two fun single-lane bridges that you have to negotiate with other cars. The rock and water is striking with the right sunlight.
