One thing Jasmine and I encountered in Arizona was a plethora of Native American art and cultural references, which I feel is something I haven’t really encountered very much in California. Mostly, as far as I could tell, it was Navajo and some Hopi, but I believe there were other tribes as well. I will note that I assume there exists fake “Native American” art that is just mass-produced in order to make money off of tourists, but I’m giving the stuff we saw the benefit of the doubt.
That being typed, go past this cute sign to see some art.
Here’s a good bear we encountered in a store.
Here’s a friendly face.
“Hopi Matriarch” by Evelyn Fredericks.
Fancy drum.
I believe these two are Zuni?
A good friend.
I don’t think the “Hopi Pottery” sign applies to this, but I like its face.
A couple pictures of Katsina/Kachina figurines.
Dancing owl man, perhaps?
Owl basket.
Not certain what’s happening here but I like it.
Ohh, she!
Storyteller figures made famous by Helen Cordero.
A good raven. For those who don’t know, Raven is a trickster deity in several Native American folklores.
Some very good birds (Erin, I feel like you’d like these).
Finally, here’s a series of paintings on the walls of a tower.
Go past the AHHHHH signs to see more Arid Zone pictures.
Arizona was an interesting place in general. Being there often reminded me of being at my mom’s house, which is out in the middle of the desert. It was kind of like that at times. Here, look, they even have a cactus running for Congress:
I also just liked these.
Here we have a fake Dr. Seuss book. I mean, it looks legit, but you’ll notice that the appellation “Dr. Seuss” doesn’t appear anywhere on the book. Interesting.
Someone lost a sandal.
Can you see the monster in this image?
Here’s a close-up.
Here’s some words by people who saw the Grand Canyon before us.
Apparently someone called “T-Roy” wanted his name to be known.
Someone else thought the Grand Canyon was pretty funny I guess.
And here’s someone who I guess just wasn’t impressed.
P.
Shoeprints in the sand.
HATI.
Dancer at Antelope Canyon.
Finally, I really liked this artwork I saw at the airport. I wish I knew who made it or what it was called.
Yesterday’s link is probably the biggest part of the Arid Zone series, but I still have a few other posts to post. This one is mostly about this place Jasmine and I ate at, a humble vegan restaurant called Tumerico.
We ordered two things that day: enchilada-style tamale and carne asada plate.
The enchilada-style tamale was basically a (vegan) tamale with sauce on it like an enchilada, and it was good. But holy cannoly, the carne asada plate. That was one of the best foods I’ve had. The carne asada consisted of three different fake meats and tortilla. Those fake meats were simply amazing. They were all different, I think made of different vegetables (one definitely jackfruit, another definitely eggplant, and the last possibly soy).
I believe this restaurant switches up their menu so I couldn’t guarantee that anyone who visited would get this same dish, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other great dishes there.
Anyway here’s an unrelated picture of Jasmine looking unimpressed at my Thai iced tea when we went to a Thai restaurant later on in the trip.
