Estrella Day Mostly 2: Salt River Canyon

Near the end of the first day, having gotten a good feel for how Tyrava pulls, I decided that I would challenge myself & see how well I was REALLY doing with this towing-a-big-trailer thing. I decided to do this by taking AZ60 through Salt River Canyon. Down through Salt River Canyon. The one with all the switchbacks.

… I didn’t say it was a GOOD idea.

But I VERY SLOWLY white-knuckled it all the way down, pulled into the rest stop conveniently placed next to the river, stayed awake just long enough to use the facilities & move the boys from the van into Tyrava, & went to bed. Right about 6pm. NO REGRETS.

Especially once I got up the next morning, because it’s a really pretty spot. I spent probably an hour or so exploring, along with Hades & Loiosh; Tom felt it was a bit too close to the road for him to be comfortable outside.

The bridge you drive across now is the new bridge, which means you can walk across the old bridge. The old bridge is REALLY PRETTY.

The photo is taken from on the old bridge, which curves attractively off to the right. The pavement is pale & a bit pebbly; beyond the bridge rises a forested hill.

I mean. Check out the Art Deco … decorations!

A section of the railing, instead of simple X shapes, instead arches between two upright sections, with quatrefoils cut into the arch. Below that twisted bars run vertically the height of the railing. I hope this description makes any damn sense.

& the bigger Art Deco decorations! Or is this Art Nouveau? I think they’re Art Deco. Doesn’t Art Nouveau have more swooshy?

This decorative railing section has everything the last one did, plus a center section that is twice as tall, with more of the twisted bars & another arch at the top.

The new bridge, while not NEAR as pretty as the old bridge, is also cool. I feel very strongly that public works like bridges should have STUFF on them & not just be plain & boring.

The new bridge, seen from the side. The supporting arches holding up the roadbed are painted red; the railing is concrete, but it has shapes cut into it -- arrowheads & stylized saguaros.

I mean. I feel that EVERYTHING should have STUFF on it & not be boring but I’m not gonna tell y’all what to do with your stuff. Because I would tell you to put STUFF on it.

ANYWAY here is a cat.

Hades, in his cute blue harness, sits on the old bridge, facing away from the camera, his fur tossing in the breeze.

Hades was having too much fun walking up to people & getting loves for me to get a better picture of him but here at least he is looking windblown & dramatic.

Loiosh sprinted across the bridge & kept going, in the direction of the NEW road, which required me to sprint after him, which means the only picture I have of him is after all of that was resolved & he was willing to let me do all the walking. Also the panting. Y’all, I don’t sprint well.

Loiosh sits in his stroller, looking over his shoulder & away from the camera. Have I mentioned the sky was really blue that day?

Here’s the river itself. Next time perhaps I will go down the stairs & put my feet in it, but this time I was dissuaded by the thought of having to go back UP the stairs afterwards.

The river is a goodly distance down from the level of the bridge -- maybe a hundred feet? It's also a pretty blue-green & mostly running over rocks.

Also there were tiny flowers! Of a kind I am not familiar with! & a bee!

It's a close shot -- the leaves are oval, slightly rough, & olive green; the flowers are tiny pink bells that bloom in hanging-down clusters.

(the bee is actually in this one)

More flowers, this time with a small bee hanging upside-down from one.

It was a lovely way to spend the morning before getting back on the road. A++ good decision, go me!

This was posted originally to my Patreon, a little over a week ago.

If you want to see these posts sooner, & not incidentally help support me & my cats in our travels & such, the way to do that is to sign up as one of my Patrons for as little as a buck a month.

I’d REALLY like that.

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