Gallery: 10 Things to Love About Adventure in Arizona
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- by Mark Stephens on Tue Feb 14, 2012 - (12) Comments
Today Arizona celebrates 100 years of statehood. Most states in the union have already celebrated the centennial mark, only Hawaii and Alaska have yet to hit 100 years — Arizona was the last of the 48 contiguous to be admitted. As a state, Arizona is young, but it's been here a long time before the Pilgrims were setting up shop in Plymouth. The people of the Territory tried to become a state for some 50 years, but the folks in Washington D.C. resisted. Arizona,they claimed, was full of rough, unsavory, disreputable folk. But who's to say they were wrong?
If you're a personal friend of mine, you've heard this next part a hundred times. When I was in college, at a little place in Virginia where I only lasted one semester, you wouldn't believe how many of my classmates
- Didn't know Arizona was a state
- Assumed Arizona neighbored Hawaii
- Thought we got around on camels
These are true misconceptions I experienced first hand by well meaning Confederacy supporters, er, Southerners. At a party one night, for example, a cute brunette from North Carolina asked me straight to my face, "Yer from Arizona? Is that where y'all git 'round on camels 'n stuff? What's it like to live with all them sand dunes around?" Ah, the lucid thoughts of a college freshman with all the education a high school diploma assumes.
I was born in Arizona in 1976 and learned to ride a bike, drive a car, kiss a girl, rig a belay, pack a backpack, mount a horse, winch a Jeep, get a job, paddle a kayak, leap into a swimming hole all right here in this fine state. Indeed, the conception of my own daughter took place in a cozy tent under a moonless sky out there in the Bradshaws. I have yet to explore it all, but I'm trying. And if there's anything I've learned, Arizona has just about everything to give you your fix. Here are 10 of 'em as seen through my camera.
1. Trees
2. Wildflowers
3. Cactus
4. Snow
5. Dirt Roads
6. Local Music
7. Local beer
8. Canyons
9. Rocks
10. Rivers
11. Honorable Mention. Arizona State Cheerleaders.
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Great post, Mark. Loved the part about the trees. I'm going to have to make the boat-ride and visit AZ one of these days.
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