Electric Desert

We have once again been hit with what seems like an endless series of weather systems giving us cool and wet weather conditions.  Highs in the low 50's with cloudy skies and rain in the forecast every few days.  We even have a few days with overnight snow flurries in the forecast.  Not the hot and dry desert weather that we have come to expect on our Snowbird trips.  On the positive side there should be lots of wild flowers in the desert come March. 

The inclement weather has provided me with downtime which I have used to slowly make my way around, washing and waxing the rig.  The popular movie phrase "Wax on, Wax off" is frequently  shouted by people driving or walking by.  Another favourite is "you missed a spot".   Such great people.  So encouraging.  I only have the front remaining and should have that done this weekend and then I can get back to my regular hikes and other activities.  I have purchased a liquid spray-on detailer, called "The Solution", for the next time I choose to undertake this task.  Mark has used it on his motorhome and it does a great job and is much less work than the wash, wax and buff process I am currently using.  The weather also provides an opportunity to catch up on my picture editing and blog posting.  

Jan, Lori and I went to the Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale a few weeks ago while  Mark was up in Utah doing his work thing.  The Garden is similar to Boyce Thompson Arboretum which we have visited frequently.  For much of the winter they are running the "Electric Desert" which is a sound and light show set up amongst the desert plants.  I had heard that it was quite the show and we were not disappointed.  I brought my tripod and took a few hundred pictures.  Jan and Lori were very patient.

This large hill was lit up in a series of lighting effects.

Pretty cool but more still to come

The way the lights were moving it looked like an underwater scene. 

This looked like a collection of drums covered with coloured translucent
paper backlit with a series of spot lights. 

You might be able to just make out some ghosts walking in the shadows
on the right side of the picture.  Lots of people walking around
but with a long enough exposure they just about disappear. 

The long exposures allowed me to zoom the lens mid exposure.

A few days later we stopped in at Organ Stop Pizza for lunch.  We were here last year but this time I did not have to negotiate the narrow aisles with crutches.  

The organ and the sound is pretty amazing so a little history on the organ.  It's a Wurlitzer theatre organ and was built for the Denver Theatre and was installed in 1927. The organ was unused for a number of years but came back into service in 1975 when Organ Stop Pizza opened. 

The Organ has 4 manual consoles or keyboards with 6000 pipes including a set of 32' wood diaphones. The organ sits on a rotating platform which rises from below floor level.  There are additional xylophones, glockenspiels and drums installed in the dining room, all coordinated with the play of the organ for greater audience appeal.  It is not only the largest Wurlitzer theatre organ in the world, it’s the largest Theatre Pipe Organ of any type to ever be assembled.  I know squat about organs but it sure did a good job banging out Bohemian Rhapsody. 

Lori snapped this picture with her iPhone. 

Thanks for tuning in.  
High of 50 tomorrow so may finally get caught up on my blogs.