SkyWatch Friday: Flight

A Southwest Airliner landing at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.

See more SkyWatch Friday photos here.
(Note: According to SkyWatch Friday, it's "National Joe Day," and coincidentally my middle name is "Jo" - spelled a bit differently, but I think it works!)

Cactus Flowers

During our visit to Phoenix, we got a few glipses of some cactus flowers while hiking along the North Mountain trails. A very tiny cactus with super-long spikes displayed a pretty pink flower (above) and a barrel cactus (below) had a top crown of yellow flowers,

Below is a panoramic view of Phoenix taken from the trail.

Green Bay Packers vs Arizona Cardinals

While in Arizona last week, we attended the Packers-Cardinals game where the Pack won handily: 33-7. This week, in the play-offs, they meet again down in Phoenix and Green Bay is expected to repeat their win, although probably not by that stretch. It's amazing how many Packers fans there were in Phoenix, although much of it was probably due to timing. It was, after all, the holidays - when thousands of midwest "snow-birds" flock down south to warmer weather. But there are also lots of midwest transplants living in the southwest, many originally from Wisconsin - hence the Packers allegiance.

I was able to catch a few good crowd shots to demonstrate the rivalry. The cheese-adorned fan above does not exactly represent Green Bay's finest ambassador. However, the banner below illustrates what I've just described.

The commentary represented by this Arizona fan's helmet (below) shows what he hopes happens to the Packers.

And, finally - this cardboard cut-out of Brett Favre, all "gussied" up by some Cardinals fans, depicts what they think of him - (and since this is a PG-rated blog, I can't even show what was going on below the waist...) but let's remember, he's no longer a Packer!

All I can say is: GO PACK!

Sky Harbor Airport: Skywatch Friday

We're back! And even though this blog is supposed to be about Pewaukee, there were just a few things we saw on our trip to Arizona that I might have to post. The first is this airplane hanging beneath a prairie-style stained glass ceiling which is the focal point of Sky Harbor's terminal 3 in Phoenix.

The stained glass ceiling, designed and created by artist Ken Toney, was installed when terminal 3 opened in 1979. Because the original bulbs that illuminated this work of art lasted for only a few years, Sky Harbor officials could not justify the expense of building scaffolding every time the bulbs needed to be changed. Therefore, the ceiling remained dark for almost 20 years. In 2004, it was re-lit. Because lighting technology has improved so much in the past few years, the bulbs which now illuminate the stained glass will last for 10 years or more without needing to be changed.

See all SkyWatch entries here.