Having a faithful dotter here means door-to-door limo service to venues that are well away from my regular routes. The Prescott Resort & Casino, for example, for the annual Christmas gingerbread house competition. One prize-winner among many, the topical White House (above); FYI, even the spun-sugar poinsettias were made in the kitchen.
Not quite as professional, but great fun -- our very own Courthouse scene, complete to gazebo and the Bucky O'Neill equestrian statue.
Scenes from the big display, top and below. What I really like about the competition is that is open to anyone. Entries come from professional chefs, from clubs and classrooms, from individuals and individual families. The dotter was so taken with the exhibit that she hopes to get something similar introduced up in the frozen north country next year.
This particular scene was made by employees at the local med center and, true to their calling, they included a Santa being subjected to a CATscan (below).
There were two versions of Noah, his ark, his animals and his rainbow. Version 2 was positioned immediately above a splendid gingerbread map of the world. (Those are not crumbs in the South Seas, but many islands.)
Oz was populated by a roo and a koala; India (below) had an elephant, China a panda, and a tiger sits north of the gingerbread Himalayas. Appropriately enough, the world map was the brainstorm of a local travel/cruise company.
I suspect that the train that regularly circled the gingerbread village was a feature to make the display more boy-friendly.
Regional touches included a Spanish-style adobe -- and the gingerbread saguaro at right.
And of course, there were churches. Dotter (
OmegaMom) spent some time studying the roof of the church above, finally figuring out that the roof was made from chewing gum. When she returns home, she'll complete her tale of this year's roasted and toasted gingerbread house -- and its successor. In the meantime, you might check out what she's currently saying about Arizona and the gingerbread tragedy.
Having breakfasted at the Hassayampa last week, why not up the hill to the Prescott Resort/Casino, for those great windows overlooking our fair city. So we did just that this morning. Cheapskate tip: I had a classic Continental breakfast of croissant, juice and coffee, just $3.75. Plus another opportunity for panoramic views of Prescott and its mountain vicinity.
Here's an overview of the new SRs 69/89 interchange that you don't get when you're down there hugging the ground. As one who walks (if it's not too strenuous), I'm happy to see nice wide paved sidewalks to the north and the south of the highway spaghetti.
Looking south by southwest across town to Mt. Francis. How did I know? Actually, I made an educated guess based upon seeing communication towers in the picture enlarged. We were suffering smoke from the Woodchute fire and the monsoon moisture streaming into the area; hence the soft, pale colors in today's pictures.
A more southerly view (above) that includes the Peridot as a long roof line at the right. Below, the old Ft. Whipple officer's houses on the grounds of the VA Hospital, taken last December when the dotter and I visited the gingerbread exhibit at the hotel. Today, the grounds below were verdant.
New houses cheek-by-jowl encroach the hillsides looking from the resort parking lot toward Prescott Valley.
I believe the major mountains here are Two Rock and Little Granite; in the enlargement of the picture a highway was visible across the foot of the mountain to the left, possibly Iron Springs Road as it heads toward Skull Valley.
Glassford Hill from the parking lot and a very wispy Woodchute.
A fine angle on a moody, shadowed Granite Mountain, showing the climbers' favorite cliff at the far left, and a different way to see Thumb Butte (below).
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