Scottsdale

Pleasantly warm, around 80 deg. F in Scottsdale. In the morning we returned our rental car at PHX's Alamo Station. In total we have driven 4,057 km or 2,536 mi in our comfortable six-seater Hyundai Santa Fe. Our friend Lisa drove us back from the airport and brought us into Old Scottsdale, with a historic mission and blacksmithery (pics below) and many, many shops (mostly jewellery), boutiques and art galleries.

After a brief lunch in downtown we drove to Cosanti in Paradise Valley, the residence and sculpture studios of famous architect Paolo Soleri (1919-2013) and his staff. Soleri began work on the experimental buildings of Cosanti in the mid 1950’s and created a unique bio-climatic architectural environment. He also constructed Arcosanti, an experimental town in the desert of Arizona. Aside from interesting, organic architecture - reminding us of Gaudi or Hundertwasser -, the Cosanti Studios produce windbells and sculptures. We drove through Paradise Valley, where real estate is one of the most expensive in the U.S. and mansions are gorgeous.

After running a couple of errands, we had a manicure/pedicure and, later, supper at home. Got to get ready for our planned excursion to Mexico on Thursday.