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At the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, the sculpture "Instrument for 4 persons"
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Judy plays the Steinway in the MIM lobby
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In the Mechanical Instruments Gallery, some marvelous objects
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So many things we never knew played by punched paper rolls . . .
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This wonderful band organ was played in a very loud demonstration
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It drew quite a crowd, but nobody got too close . . .
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This French musical automaton "Mask Seller Doll" dates to 1910, and has lots of motion when played
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They had videos of most of these player organs playing
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This was a portable, worn around ones neck
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In the Artists Gallery, a fascinating display of the music of the Kronos Quartet
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Leonard Bernstein's vest. Must have been a compact guy . . .
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This is the very first Steinway grand, built in 1836 - on loan from Steinway
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That's a Dale Chihuly Steinway, created for the 2002 Utah Winter Olympics
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We have many CDs by Native American flutist R Carlos Nakai . . .
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This is one of 2008 identical drums played during the opening ceremonies of the '08 Beijing Olympics
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Violinist Joshua Bell's first violin, after being backed over by the father of the subsequent owner
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Rock guitarist Steve Vai had this unique instrument built in Japan.
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A special show "Women Who Rock" had a few videos and lots of costumes of folks like The Supremes
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Guess who? Cher, of course
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That belonged to Mama Cass Elliot
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In a museum courtyard, the sculpture "Phoenix" slowly rotated in the sun
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In the museum's restoration shop, they were preparing for a Rio Carnival weekend
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About as musical as Al gets - banging on something
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We saw that impressive two-person Octobass Violin in 2011. Now we've seen it again.
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We tried to focus on galleries we'd rushed through on our last visit
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Many displays show instruments in context.
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Judy was naturally drawn to things that resembled lyres and harps
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Oil can guitars are still commercially produced in parts of Africa
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This harp is a Ngombi, from the Ubangi Rver region of Central Africa
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These Seto (arched harps) come from the same part of Africa
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This "long drum" from Thailand reminded us of the Wright Brothers original wind tunnel design.
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As we left the MIM, one more wonderful sculpture in a courtyard.
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Now we're at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, with some marvelous artifacts
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These baskets are typical of those made by tribes of the area
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The workmanship is outstanding
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Due to sensitivity to native reverence of ancestors, very little archaeological digging happens these days
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So archaeologists and the National Park System focus on reinterpreting things already found
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Many members of area tribes have contributed to the growing knowledge of these ancestral people
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Preservation is also crucial
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The roof protects the ruins from the elements, but also attract lots of pigeons - that can't be good.
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Interpretive signs convey a lot of information about the ruins and their inhabitants
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We're fascinated by the many permutations of the saguaro cactus
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There are a few in this park that are huge
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Anything that makes Al look small is a good thing . . .
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As we leave Casa Grande, we spotted hot air balloons in a field. We like hot air balloons
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We also like Texas.
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Our first stop was a free overnight at the Sunland Casino outsde El Paso
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Next day, we ran into a major traffic jam
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As we got closer, we could see the remains of a motorhome being hosed down
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We think that's the driver standing there, probably wearing all he has left . . .
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A sculpture on a hilltop as we rolled along outside Fort Stockton TX
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At the Medina Lake RV Resort outside San Antonio, the locals came calling . . .
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Most were wary, but some were not afraid to eat field corn wherever they found it
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Took some coaxing to encourage this buck . . .
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We could usually draw a crowd of 20 or so deer with a few handfuls of corn
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And when the corn was gone, they'd sometimes come looking for more
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Deer bed down across the street from our motorhome. We think we can see five in there. Can you?
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There are probably more - they blend in really well
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They don't always get along, so they tend to space themselves
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We needed to flush the water heater, and Al was trying to help the water get outside the compartment
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It mostly worked
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Judy said she likes this picture
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We don't know the story behind this old house in the RV park, but it's obviously been neglected
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Inside the factory store at the SAS Shoe Factory in San Antonio. It's a neat store
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There are lots of decorative windmills about - this one's outside a Hyatt Hotel.
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Last time we were here, we spotted this house with a tower shaped like a propane tank.
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This time, we noticed these two "doors to nowhere". The mystery deepens. We'll end on this as we ponder . . .