You, dude!
Phoenix area offers a lot more than golf

Author: By Jan Shepherd, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, January 24, 1999

Page: M1

Section: Travel

But it doesn't have to be that way. Why not break out of that rut and get away from the artificiality of the golfer's environment? With some planning and the spirit of new adventure and discovery, you can stay at a dude ranch, visit a desert garden, learn about Native American cultures and art, browse for antiques in a historic town, go gallery hopping, or tour architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. After a few days or a week, the vacation will be unlike any you've shared with the duffer.

These suggestions for activities are in the Phoenix area, although most of them can be adapted to other parts of the state. These are starter ideas; pick and choose what suits your time and interests. Besides, you can always go back.

Calling all dudes. Western ranches have been welcoming guests or dudes (novices) since the late 19th century when the railroad made it easy for Easterners to travel great distances and get a taste of the Wild, Wild West. Staying at a ranch is still a good way to experience life on the range.

When I scrolled through the Dude Ranchers' Association Web site's descriptions of 10 guest ranches around Arizona, I made my choice based on location, size, and style of operation -- I had no desire to be part of a cattle drive, an incentive at some ranches. I settled on Kay El Bar Ranch in Wickenburg because of its 73-year history as a guest ranch and the maximum number of guests is 24 -- I didn't want to hang out at a mega-ranch-resort. It also offered stays under a week (four-night minimum in high season beginning mid-February) and welcomed singles.

The ranch was an easy drive from Phoenix, but as I turned off Highway 93/89, I wondered what I would find at the end of the two-mile dirt road. But once I arrived, owner-managers John and Nancy Loftis quickly came out to greet me. It was obvious after a few minutes that they do their darndest to make guests feel welcome at their rustic, very comfortable ranch.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the original buildings such as the Main Lodge are made of thick adobe bricks that were hand-built on site by five Indians. The setting -- on the Hassayampa River with vistas of the Bradshaw Mountains (yes, Arizona has mountains, lots of them) -- makes it seem as if civilization were thousands of miles away, yet the town of Wickenburg is only three miles away and Phoenix 60 miles.

During a walking tour of the grounds, one of the owners explains ranch and guest procedures. The home-cooked meals are served family style, with guests and ranch hands eating together in the light-filled dining room, a separate building that the Loftises have turned into the history room with wonderful old photos and artifacts from early ranch days. A social hour in the inviting Western-style lodge room precedes the evening meal; in mid-December, conversation around a crackling fire was a welcome break after a day out in the wind and sun. The meals were delicious; each was different. A lunchtime meal featured fajitas made with sausages (meat or vegetarian) that John had smoked over a mesquite fire. (He smokes or grills most of their meats.)

Riding begins on the first morning at a 45-minute orientation with head wrangler Norm, who wants each guest to learn how to control the horse, gently, using the bit as the communicator, and to know the rules of the ride. As a beginner, I found the orientation invaluable, instilling confidence about handling the horse. Then it's time to hit the trail. The maximum number on a ride is six people, who are grouped together based on ability and length of ride (from two hours to all day).

The rides are through the desert landscape in the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains, even going through a high-walled wash they jokingly call their Little Grand Canyon. Wranglers answer questions about plants, animals (deer, jackrabbit, longhorn steers, and occasionally javelina pigs are some of the critters that live out here), and other curiosities. On a ride with Norm, he entertained by reciting cowboy poems at two sites and demonstrated why it's important to avoid jumping chollas -- if a branch of this cactus jumps on you, only pliers will pull out the needles.

As a first-time dude, I found it was easy to get into the rhythm of the ranch. It turned out to be a wonderful travel idea, even though at the end of my two-night, three-ride stay, my legs were wobbly even after I got back to Phoenix. Would I do it again? Absolutely.

If you ever thought all cactuses are created equal, then a visit to the Desert Botanical Garden in Papago Park in Phoenix will change that notion. Some of the names say it best: organ pipe, compass barrel, golden barrel, octopus, saguaro, prickly pear. Or take the cholla (pronounced CHOY-a) family: teddy bear, jumping, diamond, buckhorn, pencil, devil. Two unusual cactuses are towering: boojum, a rare treelike member of the ocotillo family, and cardon, a multi-armed cactus growing on top of a treelike base. Names like Indian fig prickly pear and the wait-a-minute bush also caught my attention.

It's not a guessing game to figure out individual plants. The garden's labels identify plants with Latin names -- that's how to know that teddy bear and jumping chollas are different cactuses -- common names, and region of origin. Docents also are on hand to answer questions and lead tours.

The 145-acre garden has 45 acres of display plantings. The garden was opened to the public in 1939 by the Arizona Cactus and Native Flora Society to exhibit, conserve, and showcase arid plants of the world. The founders wanted to preserve plants -- rare and common -- knowing if they weren't saved, they would be lost forever. Today, the founders would be even more concerned if they could witness the LA-type urban sprawl that is devouring the Southwest's desert lands.

The garden's collection of 4,000 arid land flora -- cactus, succulents, trees -- is a reminder that the desert is a diverse ecological system supporting all types of plants, birds, reptiles, and mammals that adapt to the harsh environment where temperatures can plunge quickly from searing heat to freezing cold and the average annual rainfall in Phoenix is 7.5 inches.

A good time to visit is early in the day -- it's not as crowded, birds are active and singing, the light accentuates the plants, and on hot days, it's cooler. Four self-guided, themed trails -- Desert Discovery Trail, Plants & People of the Sonoran Desert, Sonoran Desert Nature, Center for Desert Living -- allow you to do one or all at your own pace. A cafe on the Ullman Terrace is a peaceful oasis for breakfast, light lunch, or snacks. There are drinking fountains throughout the gardens, but carry your own water, a requirement in a desert environment.

A special place will become even more special beginning Feb. 28. That's when the Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art celebrates the opening of an $18 million, 50,000-square-foot expansion that adds three galleries, an auditorium, a cafe, and educational facilities.

The expansion is a welcome development at this private, nonprofit museum that Dwight B. and Maie Bartlett Heard founded in 1929 to house their own collection of Native American art and artifacts. Today, the museum continues to offer insight into the complex and fascinating history and cultures of Native Americans. No one would be likely to visit all the tribes in the United States, if any (Arizona has 21 tribes within its borders), so the museum is an efficient way to learn about many tribes in one place. One can easily spend hours here, which is one reason the museum included a cafe in the expansion.

One gallery in particular can occupy most of your time. ``Native Peoples of the Southwest'' opens with a continuous audiovisual program in which members of Southwest tribes talk about their lives and how they pass on traditions and wisdom to younger generations. The displays focus on their lands -- covering the Sonoran Desert to the Colorado Plateu -- grouped by individual tribes such as Zuni, Apache, Navajo, Hopi, and Pima, detailing their history, where they live and work. Exhibits of ancient pots, beadwork, weavings, textiles, basketry, leather work, and silver work for each tribe are reminders that these were functional objects, created for daily life, and occasionally for trade. Yet these pieces are beautiful in their simplicity, establishing clear links to what contemporary Native American craftsmen and artists create now.

The final room in ``Native Peoples of the Southwest'' is the stunning Katsina Doll Gallery of some 500 carved figures that represent the individual spirits, deities, and other ceremonial figures for the Hopi pueblo. The katsinas (Hopi pronunciation for the more commonly used word ``kachina'') were given to the museum by the late Senator Barry Goldwater, who started collecting them as a young man when he visited Hopi lands. The rest are from the Fred Harvey Co., a trading company in the Southwest. The museum collection is amazing in scope and details; each one is hand-carved and painted, and identified by name and ceremonial role.

The museum's impressive retail gallery and bookstore will double its space in a freestanding building in the expansion. It's a must-stop because it sells some of the finest contemporary Native American jewelry, pottery, baskets, weavings, and contemporary katsinas in all price ranges. The books by and about Native Americans are far-ranging in topics.

If you want to visit a prehistoric native site, there's one within the city limits of Phoenix. An oasis of history between skyscrapers and freeways, the Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park tells the story of the Hohokam peoples whose civilization collapsed in the 15th century. Since 1929, the ruins have been protected and overseen by the city archeologist. The site is believed to be a major village and part *of the canal system built by Hohokam, an agricultural tribe that lived in the Salt River Valley from AD 1 to 1450. On the south side of Phoenix, the visitor center and museum houses artifacts from digs around the area; an interpretative trail helps visitors understand current theories on how the tribe lived.

To most visitors, Glendale, a community adjacent to Phoenix, is just another name on an Interstate 17 exit. But the Glendale Avenue exit eastbound will lead to an old-fashioned Western town that is preserving and promoting its early 20th-century atmosphere. Over the last decade, downtown Glendale around City Hall, Public Library, and Murphy Park has become a destination for people who love antiques because almost every store is an antiques shop.

I spent four hours going in and out of group shops and still hadn't seen them all. On the non-antiques front, Cowpoke Western Store, across from Murphy Park, was a good stop for cowboy duds and funny Arizona T-shirts.

Two blocks away from Murphy Park is Historic Catlin Court, an original residential neighborhood with wonderful bungalow-style houses, picket fences, climbing roses, and ornamental fruit trees. Some of the homes have been converted into retail spaces with boutiques specializing in folk art, angels, garden antiques, beads and adornments, rubber stamps, and papers.

On the eastern edge of downtown is the Cerreta Candy Co., a retail store and factory all rolled into one. Founded in 1968, the Glendale Avenue company specializes in chocolates, caramels, creams, and nuts and sells primarily wholesale and corporate orders. Visitors are welcome to watch the operations such as creams moving on a conveyor belt through their chocolate bath. At preset times each day, a guide with a microphone explains machinery and candy decorating, and hands out a sample or two. Before or after the tour, temptations reign at retail section.

Old Scottsdale is easily overlooked because new Scottsdale is flashier and bigger, particularly the monster-sized mall known as Fashion Square. But skip it and head to the city's downtown area and Arts District, where you'll find more than 100 galleries specializing in visual arts and contemporary crafts.

In addition, Feb. 14 marks the grand opening of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the first museum in Arizona devoted exclusively to contemporary art, architecture, and design. Under the direction of Arizona architect Will Bruder, an old cinema complex has been turned into what he calls a Museum without Walls. The Gerald L. Cafesijian Pavilion has five galleries, an outdoor sculpture garden, and an 80-foot-long dichroic glass installation by New York artist James Fraser Carpenter.

You can easily spend a day wandering in and out of the scores of galleries along Fifth Avenue, Main Street (on both sides of Scottsdale Road), Marshall Way, Second Street (where the new museum and adjacent Scottsdale Center for the Arts are located). The scene offers plenty of cafes and restaurants for lunch or dinner. The Arts District sponsors ArtWalk, Thursdays 7-9 p.m., when galleries stay open.

You won't be able to see every gallery because after a while, you begin to zone out with overload on Western images, but don't judge a gallery by its window display; walk in and discover other artists. I certainly didn't see every gallery, but I enjoyed Mind's Eye, a contemporary crafts gallery; and Mind and Spirit, a dual gallery overlooking a sculpture courtyard, with exquisite exhibits in clay, jewelry, fiber, and wood. Leona King's Gallery has small groupings of choice regional artists including Denise Meyers, an amazing gourd artist.

The late Frank Lloyd Wright, probably best known as the architect of the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the subject of a Ken Burns PBS documentary last fall, came to the desert in the 1920s to collaborate on designing the Biltmore Hotel and Cottages in Phoenix. But he returned often and in 1937, he, at age 70, and his architecture students built Taliesin West as a winter home and school in the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, northeast of Phoenix. Built in -- not on -- is an important distinction because Wright did not believe in dominating a landscape; he wanted to become part of it, to be a grace note.

Taliesin West, a National Historic Landmark and home of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, still operates as a school with 70 architecture fellows there from September to June. It is open to the public for tours; taking one is a good introduction to his philosophy and how he built this most unusual site, which he described as ``a look over the rim of the world.''

Wright's first Phoenix building still stands at 24th and Missouri, just off Camelback Road. The Biltmore Hotel, known as the ``Jewel of the Desert,'' opened in 1929. To get a sense of what it was like then, the hotel has hung historic photographs of the construction, including those of celebrities hanging out at the pool; newspaper articles tout its construction and opening.

The hotel reflects Wright's aptitude for simplicity and use of natural materials: sandstone exteriors, sun-shielding verandas to catch cooling breezes, glass blocks to capture light, and wood and earth colors for the interior. The sandstone ``Biltmore Block'' was designed by Emry Kopta, and Wright cleverly adapted its design in many ways inside and out. The restaurants and bars offer a good way to enjoy the public spaces. There's also a lavish Sunday brunch ($37.95 a person) in the luxurious main dining room. An artificial environment is nearby, however, in the grassy center courtyard and in the golf courses and private homes around the complex. Without this private enclave and an influx of money to restore the hotel in the late '80s, the Biltmore probably would have gone the way of Wright's famous Imperial Hotel in Toyko that was demolished in the name of progress.

In nearby Tempe, Arizona State University's Grady Gramage Auditorium was designed by Wright, but it wasn't built until after his death, which was April 9, 1959.

As for contemporary architecture, Phoenix has a great deal, but the three-year-old Burton Barr Central Library is a striking presence on busy Central Avenue. Arizona architect William Bruder's design is a marvel of glass, steel, and copper. Like Wright, he considers function, history, and location in his designs. Thus, steel louvers on the south side automatically adjust to sunlight to protect the interior. The reading room is spacious, to say the least: 300 feet long by 170 feet wide, 30 feet high.

It could be the perfect place to settle in and read even more about this fascinating desert state.

Dude Ranchers' Association -- Umbrella organization of 100 guest ranches in 12 states and Canada. To find ranches in Arizona and other states, write to PO Box F-471, LaPorte, Co. 80534 or, on the Web, visit www.duderanch.org.

Desert Botanical Garden, Papago Park, 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, off McDowell Road, Phoenix. Telephone 602-941-1225, 941-1217. Adults, $7.50; 60 and older, $6.50; ages 5-12, $1.50; under 5, free. Open October through April, 8 a.m.-8 p.m., May through September, 7 a.m.-8 p.m.

Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art, 22 East Monte Vista Road (one block east of Central Avenue), Phoenix. Telephone 602-252-8840, shop and bookstore 252-8344. Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m. adults, $6; 65 and older, $5; ages 4-12, $3. Call for guided-tour times. Events: Feb. 28, free celebration of opening of new wing. March 6-7, annual Guild Indian Fair and Market. March 20-21, World Championship Hoop Dance Contest. Heard Museum North at el Pedregal Festival Marketplace, Carefree Highway and Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Telephone 602-488-9817. Adults, $2; ages 4-12, $1. Exhibit gallery, retail shop, classroom.

Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park, 4619 East Washington St., Phoenix. Telephone 602-495-0901. Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.-4:45 p.m.; Sunday, 1-4:45 p.m. Call 602-495-0900 for admission and program information.

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation -- Oversees Taliesin West and protects heritage of famed architect. Web site: www.franklloydwright.org. Taliesin West: Cactus Road and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Scottsdale. October through May, four theme tours, from one to three hours. Telephone 602-860-8810 for recorded tour information or, on the Web, visit www.franklloydwright.org/3taliesins/twest.html.

Art in Old Scottsdale -- The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates its grand opening Feb. 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., at 7380 Second St., adjacent to Scottsdale Center for the Arts. Call 602-994-ARTS. In the galleries, pick up Art Life, a small, full-color magazine devoted to galleries and museums in Arizona, grouped by area with maps and listings for Tucson, Sedona, Prescott, Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Scottsdale.

Burton Barr Central Library, 1221 North Central Ave., Phoenix. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, until 6 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Telephone 602-262-6372 to schedule a tour.

Cerreta Candy Co., 5345 West Glendale Ave., Glendale. Telephone 602-930-1000, or visit www.cerreta.com. Self-conducted video daily, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Guided tours weekdays, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Free.