River Road ~ FM 170 ~ Big Bend, Texas

The River Road

TX FM 170 From Lajitas to east of Presidio

Running along the Rio Grande adjacent to Big Bend Ranch State Park (TX)

Closed Canyon ~ Slot Canyon Running Down To the River

Wind In One’s Hair

Height of Land Looking West and South Across the Rio Grande In To Mexico

Where Would You Build a Wall?

Road Side Cobbles and Hoo DoosEnd of Day – Heading East

End of Day – Heading East In a Well Watered Healthy Looking Chihuahuan Desert

Chihuahuan Desert

Indian Lodge State Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife

Davis Mountains State Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife

Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute

West Texas Mix

West Texas ~ Presidio, Jeff Davis & Brewster Counties

Alpine, Fort Davis, Marfa, Marathon, & Terlingua

Expanded Image Gallery ~ West Texas Lines

Apache Station Sunset

Apache Station Sunset

Cochise County, Arizona

WOW ~ Wings Over Willcox, 2017

Chiricahua National Monument ~ Echo Canyon

Chiricahua National Monument

Cochise County, Arizona

Echo Canyon Trail

All Smiles Frazzled But Upright No Smile

Uptown Tribal ~ Bisbee, Arizona

Uptown Tribal

Bisbee, Arizona

Moments with Kate Drew-Wilkinson at her design bench.

Pausing At a Live Window Display We Are Beckoned In Off the Street By One Colorful Woman, One Accomplished ArtisanOnly To Return the Next Day With Time and Camera In Hand The Work Space Proved As Interesting As the Work ItselfColorful, Colorful, Colorful Kate Drew-Wilkinson : As Interesting, As Colorful and As Multi-Faceted As Her Work Space

Thank You Kate D-W

Erie Street, Lowell District ~ Bisbee, Arizona

Erie Street, Lowell District

Bisbee, Arizona

Thriving Ghost Town or  Americana Preserved  or another  Moneyed Playground ??

Lowell was at one time a sizable mining town located just to the southeast of Old Bisbee. The majority of the original townsite was consumed by the excavation of the Lavender Pit mine during the 1950s. All that is left today is a small portion of Erie Street, along with Evergreen Cemetery, Saginaw subdivision and Lowell Middle School. These days Lowell is considered by most of the local residents to be more of a place name than an actual community.
http://www.westernmininghistory.com/towns/arizona/lowellHome of The Bisbee Breakfast Club

Home of The Bisbee Americana Music Fest

One end, maybe a couple ends of Lowell is owned by one Jay Allen of The Broken Spoke Saloon of Sturgis and Laconia Bike Week Fame Expanded Image Gallery

Upper Valley Vixens ~ 10/2016

Upper Valley Vixens

Twin State Derby

Final Bout 2016

A Little Smug Streak In This Jammer & Rightly So …

Apex Jump & Landing

Jammer Jammed & Off the Ground

Aftermath

On the Toe Stop

Eyes On the Prize

Slip Slidin’ Away

Did I Hear Someone Say Rookie !?!Squeeeeze …Boom

~~~

A Representative 1% of the Best Images Captured ~ My Apologies For the Time Taken

Expanded Image Gallery

Tucson Auto Museum

Tucson Auto Museum

Wayne’s Toys

990 South Cherry Avenue

Tucson, Arizona

A retired steel-guy from Pittsburgh, PA now Tucson, AZ and a college-kid mechanic hanging out mid-day Saturdays in a warehouse full antique and classic cars.

They seem to have a vision and the desire and resources to bring it to fruition.

An eclectic collection of automobiles spanning the years and the manufacturers.

Well maintained road-worthy machines; from antique to vintage to classic including the oddities as well.

An extremely accessible collection with a gregarious, proud and open collector-owner.

Many ways to ‘see’ automobiles. Red was the color of the day. The warehouse building is unique in and of itself lending a certain authenticity to the collection and it’s ‘presentation’.

A mechanic’s bay with a lift and enough space to work on numerous vehicles presents itself on your way in.

The auto memorabilia is tastefully done and the background music matches the era and speaks to the automobile experience.

Many vehicles but a couple seemed to draw me in and dominate my vision. Nicely Done Wayne. Thank You.

Expanded Image Gallery Link

Mission San Xavier

Mission San Xavier del Bac

South of Tucson on I-19 at Exit 92 San Xavier Road.

Mission San Xavier del Bac : ‘The White Dove of the Desert’ ~ Ansel Adams

A Short History

As a national historical landmark and the only remaining intact mission in Arizona, Mission San Xavier del Bac is considered the finest example of Mexican Baroque architecture in the United States.

The Mission remains a working parish for the Tohono O’odham people,many of whom live nearby.

First founded in 1692, the Mission is part of a series of missions established by Jesuit missionary Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, who traveled throughout the northern part of Mexico and the Southwestern parts of the United States, bringing Catholicism to the indigenous peoples of the area.

Earlier, simple churches were constructed near the site, but the current structure was begun in 1783 by a Franciscan, Father Velderrain, using 7,000 pesos borrowed from Antonio Herreros, a rancher from Sonora. Designed by Ignacio Gaona, a Spanish architect, the villagers from Bac helped from start to finish. They gathered sand lime, clay, rock and wood; built kilns and excavated trenches. Thirty-three inch foundations were built and brick was laid up for both the inside and outside faces of the wall; rock rubble and a lime-sand grout was poured between. Artists from central New Spain (now Mexico) worked to complete the interior.

Work on the Mission continued for 14 years before the money ran out, causing the artists and master artisans to be discharged. The east tower was left with bare brick and no dome or lantern while, in the choir loft and baptistry, paintings were left unfinished. But Bac’s parishioners were still at work – dismantling their old Jesuit church from the 1750s and rebuilding it as the mud adobe wing to the east of the East Tower. This structure enclosed the north side of the plaza in front of the church, providing for better defense against raids and attacks.

The flags of four nations have hung over the Mission: It fell under the jurisdiction of Spain until Mexico won independence in 1821. The Gadsden Purchase brought San Xavier into the United States in 1854. Today, following the creation of the Tohon O’odham reservations, the flag of the Tohono O’odham Nation now flies over the Mission.

The Parish and its School

San Xavier remains a working church. The Franciscan pastor and the parochial vicar provide spiritual leadership to the parish. Services occur throughout the week.

Next to the Mission and dating back to 1873 is the mission school. Run by the Franciscan Sisters of Charity, the school operates grades K-8 and continues a tradition of educating students from the surrounding area.

(Text quoted from a four page pamphlet produced by the Patronato San Xavier – italics for added emphasis, are mine)

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