TAKING THE OFF-RAMP

taking the off-ramp Fragile Icons

"I PAINT BECAUSE I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY," asserts figurative artist Tina Mion.

Her visual narrative “The Last Harvey Girl” depicts the passing of an era. Harvey girls served Santa Fe Railway passengers at Harvey House hotels, such as Winslow's La Posada, recently restored by Mion and her husband, Allen Affeldt.

Architect Mary Colter designed Southwest-themed uniforms especially for La Posada's Harvey girls. In a life-sized portrait of the late Dorothy Hunt (right), and Ruby McHood, two of the last Harvey girls from Winslow, Mion captures their fragile essences offering to passersby one last cup of tea and a cake with flickering candles.

An art school dropout, Mion realized her childhood dream when her painting “Glory” was chosen for display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery, which reopened July 1, 2006. She'll have her own room as part of a seven-month, five-artist exhibit, “Portraiture Now,” beginning May 25 and continuing until January 6, 2008. Information: (928) 289-4366; www.tinamion.com.

Come On Down to the C.O.D. Ranch

IN THE LATE 1800s, Bill and Elna Huggett settled in the juniper-and-mesquite woodlands north of Tucson along what is now the Arizona Trail. In those first days, the Huggetts received a saddle that was delivered with a C.O.D. stamp on a piece of leather-and the C.O.D. Ranch was born. The Huggetts and their daughter, Wilma, ran the ranch for more than 50 years, before moving operations and letting the property run wild. In 1995, poet Stephen Malkin purchased the ranch and spent the next five years restoring the old outbuildings.

Bordered by Coronado National Forest land, the old adobe buildings have hosted everything from Western-style weddings to Tohono O'odham youth camps. Chef Brent Warburton whips up a rancher's-style breakfast spread-a range of hearty favorites including scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, fresh fruit, yogurt and homemade granola. Malkin often stretches out on the porch of the main house, chatting about the history of the ranch, and if you're lucky, you might even get the chance to hear him recite a poem or two.

Information: toll-free, (800) 868-5617; www.codranch.com.

ARIZONA IS TRULY A LAND OF ANOMALIES. The town of Gila Bend isn't in Gila County, it's in Maricopa County. The town of Maricopa is in Pinal County. The ghost town of Pinal is in Gila County. The town of Pima isn't in Pima County, it's in Graham County. Fort Apache isn't in Apache County, it's in Navajo County, and Navajo is located in-now you're gettin' it-Apache County. If you're not confused by now, you just ain't thinking clearly.

THE PRO-EARP TOMBSTONE EPITAPH on April 24, 1882, commented on the cowboy-outlaw element's undue influence on Tombstone's civic life: "The Honorable Jesse James, late of Missouri, is being made the recipient of much gush and 'sym,' while his 'murderers' are being severely condemned. Mr. James's great mistake was in not settling down in Cochise County while here last summer. He would probably have received the appointment of deputy sheriff, and more than likely would have been a member of the next Arizona Legislature from San Simon. But we are all liable to make mistakes."

off-ramp Children's Desert Tour

"BUGS, HOLES IN THE GROUND, anything that moves," says Susan Quillen of what her tiny tourists like to see. She and her husband, Jack, lead children on tours of Tohono Chul Park in northwest Tucson. The children set the itinerary. The parents follow along.

"If they're really into lizards, we will go on a lizard hunt," says Susan, who can also take them off on a hunt for rocks, plants or birds. She carries a backpack filled with the kind of paraphernalia guaranteed to please anyone under 3 feet tall-dead bugs, pieces of cactus, magnifying glasses, magnets and some story books.

Dubbed the Family Ed-Venture, the tours within this urban desert park start at 2 P.M. on the second Sunday of every month and include a free desert-activity book for each child. Paid admission to the park is required.

Information: (520) 742-6455.

Starry Starry Nights in Greer

FLAGSTAFF MAY BE the world's first international "dark sky" city, but at 8,300 feet elevation, the little town of Greer can hold its own when it comes to celestial observation. Combine the area's elevation with its low light pollution and you have a stargazing mecca. And if you add in high-tech equipment like a computerized telescope that pinpoints nightsky objects, you can set your sights for dazzling beauty.

The Peaks Lodge in Greer offers area visitors and residents a chance to see the rings of Saturn and the craters of the moon from the lodge's "star deck." A computerized, high-power telescope (Celestron Starbright) lets Peaks owner Don Poyas choose which stars or planets are the best for viewing depending on the time of year. Summertime is an optimal season to gaze at M13, a globular star cluster 23,000 light years from Earth, or in winter, view Saturn and its rings. If you happen to visit during a full moon, view its surface, pockmarked with craters.

Information: (928) 735-9977; www.peaksaz.com.

1950s Navajo Nation Remembered in Photographs

IN 1950, YOUNG SCIENTIST-IN-TRAINING Jonathan Wittenberg decided to visit the Navajo Nation, and lugged along his twin-lens reflex camera. More than 50 years later, the images of the summers of 1951 to 1953 have become a book titled Navajo Nation 1950: Traditional Life in Photographs, a celebration of history, culture, fine art, photography and the rich heritage of the Navajo people.

Others perhaps found his blend of cutting-edge studies and fascination with Navajo heritage incongruous, but Wittenberg found it natural-literally. "By innate bent perhaps, I am a naturalist," Wittenberg declares in the book's introduction. The naturalist bent spurred him to study biochemistry and biophysics, to learn about marine life and microbiology-and to learn traditional Navajo ways.

Wittenberg's coffee-table volume, an illustrated, intimate narrative of his time spent with the Navajo people the only non-native to do so at the time-includes 100 black-andwhite photographs and captures traditions and customs now fading away.