The New Mexico Museum of Natural History has a nice collection of dinosaurs and other exhibits. Here are some photos from a visit. Dino statues out front “Stan”, a T rex Diatryma, a “terror bird” Pseudopalatus, a phytosaur Seismosaurus, one of the biggest dinosaur species, threatened by a carnivorous Saurophaganax Stegosaurus California Saber-Tooth Cat Ancient … More New Mexico Museum of Natural History

Albuquerque has a number of interesting museums, some big and some small. The Museum of Art and History is one of the big ones. It has a collection of art by New Mexico natives and Natives, and also has a collection of historical artifacts. Here are some photos from a visit. “Prayer”, a bronze by … More Albuquerque Museum of Art and History

Albuquerque has a lot of cool little museums.Now that I can finally “Walmart” again, I can go back to my normal routine, so I’ll be here till after Thanksgiving, then heading to Texas for the winter. Some photos of Albuquerque. Civic Plaza Fountain The Art District has lots of cool murals The Convention Center has … More Greetings From Albuquerque

The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona actually consists of two parks side by side. At one end is the Petrified Forest, and at the other end is the Painted Desert. Here are some photos from a day at the parks. The Visitors Center A mural depicting the area as it was at the time … More Petrified Forest

There are not many intact meteor impact craters on Earth’s surface—erosion usually wipes them away pretty quickly. I had previously visited an impact crater at Tswaing in South Africa. Yesterday I got to visit Meteor Crater, near Winslow AZ. It is about the same size as Tswaing but is much younger and therefore much better preserved. … More Meteor Crater

The Commemorative Air Force has two museums, and one of these is in Phoenix AZ (actually I think it is in Mesa, but not being from here I’m not sure where the border is between the two cities). Here are some photos from a visit. The museum F-4N Phantom II Inside the F-4’s cockpit Hungarian … More Commemorative Air Force Museum

This is a really cool place. It has a vast collection of musical instruments, both modern and traditional, from dozens of cultures all around the world, divided into geographic areas. There are also traditional dance costumes from some areas. And finally, you are issued a set of earphones which automatically play a selection of traditional … More Musical Instrument Museum

This is a pretty big zoo, and it had a number of species that I have not seen before. Some photos from a day at the zoo: The zoo has very nice landscaping Saw-Scaled Viper Alligator Lizard. I had one of these as a pet when i was a kid. Texas Horned Lizard–often incorrectly called … More The Phoenix Zoo

Most cities have science centers like this. They are usually aimed at kids, and contain lots of kinetic displays that illustrate basic science. But they usually have some stuff for the adults too. The museum Inside the museum Early motorcycle–a steam-powered velocipede made in 1883 Phoenix’s first city water pipes, made from wood planks bound … More Arizona Science Center

Everyone has of course heard of the Gunfight at the OK Corral. But when the incident actually happened in October 1881, it was a minor blip, barely noticed or remembered outside of Arizona. It wasn’t until Wyatt Earp became the hero of pulp Western dime novels in the 1920s that the gunfight became a legend. … More The OK Corral, Tombstone AZ