Monsoon season in Phoenix

After a lazy morning at the BnB, we visited with my parents in Sun City West again had a delicious dinner, prepared by my Dad.  He is really an excellent chef and has many recipes that he prepares for the two of them.  He plans, shops, and prepares such tasty, nutritious meals.  Leave it to an engineer to get all that down to a smooth running machine.  He's an inspiration.

While there was still some daylight, Steve and I drove around Sun City West and Surprise, AZ to see what kind of possibilities there are for renting.  We are considering settling here for a couple years after returning from Europe.  There are quite a few condos (so there must be a few for rent) and some apartments.  Rent price will probably determine how close we can be to Sun City West and my folks. We'll be talking with a realtor to get a better idea of what can be done.

We already know that, if we have decent air conditioning, Steve and I can handle the Arizona summers.  This is monsoon season.  There are very hot days; mingled with windy days that include some rain and lightening.  The rain cools the day off and makes it more bearable.  Today, on the way to the folks house it was 105 degrees, but it cooled down to 98 degrees with the rain that seems to come and go.  It's 9:30pm now and the temp is down to 92 degrees.  All of this makes from some pretty sunsets.

Can you see the rain coming down?  We drove down a dry corridor between showers.

Sunset from Surprise, AZ.

The thing is that during this monsoon season people (mainly tourists) need to be very aware of their surrounds.  There are flash floods during this time and in a split second you can be facing a wall of water and debris when you though you were just walking in a dry river bed or, as in a recent incident, paddling around in a small swimming hole.  An extended family went to their favorite swimming hole on a hot day the day before we arrived here.  They were celebrating a young woman's 26th birthday.  They were hit by a flash flood and 9 members of their family died: the young woman having a birthday, her husband, and their 3 children were all among the dead.  This is not a rare occurrence and we are being extremely careful.

We drove through a pelting rainstorm yesterday to get to Sedona and passed flashing "Watch for flooding" signs several times.  Because the road pavement gets so dry here, when the rain comes down especially that quickly, the water just beads up and creates puddles and runoff.  It was alarming to see some drivers not seem to take that into consideration and still drive 75 mph, as the law allows under normal circumstances.  With a few sharp curves, it was a pretty hair raising leg of the journey.

Of course, I didn't take a pic while we were trying not to skid on the curves, but this is how it looked.

Tomorrow, we hope to arrive early in the Peoria, Surprise, Sun City West area and do some more exploring.  Then, it off to the Gestson's house for my Dad's super specialty - Spaghetti and meatballs.  I craved this meal for much of my childhood.  It took a very long time for him to make, so it only happened on special occasions.  This spaghetti is like nothing I've tasted anywhere else.  It has such delicious, tender meatballs; mushrooms, bay leave, and cloves.  It is a secret recipe, known only to the men in my family, so I couldn't make it for myself.  And... tomorrow I get to taste it again.  I just can't wait!  I promise spaghetti pictures in tomorrow's post, but don't ask me for the recipe.  It is guarded by Gestsons and cannot be revealed.

Sedona, AZ the beautiful - it's a fairyland, really

I expected Sedona, AZ to be beautiful, having heard of the Red Rock country and seen photographs of the area.  But, it is so much more.  The scenery is art, really natural art.  When the sunlight hits at the right angle, the rock formations light up in the most beautiful way.  My photographs don't even come close to capturing this.  But, I tried.

Sedona is a two-edged sword, though.  Along with the incredible, indescribable beauty comes commercialization.  Yes, the shops can be interesting, but Sedona has way, way more than it's share of shopping, dining, and resort living.  This is truly where the elite meet.

This area is also supposed to be a place of unexplained energy and a source of supernatural power.  Just to be clear, I did not sense an energy vortex.  And, I consider myself very sensitive.  Maybe I needed a crystal or two, but no vortex or vortexes spoke to me or Steve in Sedona.  Maybe that requires walking out into the high desert.  If so, it will need to wait for more toe healing because Donnie is only just starting to walk as human rather than ape.

We walked around the main shopping area, though, which was set smack in front of some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.  It was a constant puzzle to me that all of these people were shopping, walking, and chatting, but rarely looking up at this heart stopping beauty.  I guess we become immune to beauty after a while.  To a certain extent it happened to me, too, because I found more horse sculptures to photograph.  [I never thought I would say this, but "I love Arizona for it's amazing outdoor horse sculptures".  There - I said it.  A conservative bastion can be loved for other things.]

So, without further ado, here are the best of my photographs, which could not capture what I wanted them to show.

Havolinas.  You rub their snouts for luck.

The dancers' sculpture twirled around and around.

Magnificent horse.  Tempting to just mount up.

More horses. Arizona and I have a love-hate relationship.

It seems like blasphemy to shop and eat in front of that. So, I just photographed it.

Steve and I plan to go back soon and try to capture the afternoon light.  Today there were rain storms and the clouds were pretty dark.  My brother spend years trying to duplicate the sort of light that Vermeer had in his paintings.  Light is elusive, but we will try.

Tomorrow, our itinerary is undecided.  We are going to be here a while, so we thought we'd hunt for the nearest Public library and camp out in the AC to do some research on the subject.  In a conservative state, that could be a tall order.

Scottsdale, AZ - the shopping Mecca and sculpture garden

Scottsdale, Arizona looks like a western resort town.  The old town area is full of expensive jewelry and high end fashions and western wear alongside souvenir shops and cheap imports.  On top of that, there are several shopping malls with even higher end merchandise.  If shopping doesn't bring you joy, Scottsdale may not be the place for you.  There are many beautiful and expensive looking resorts, including golf courses and spas.  Seems like a playground for the rich, but we thought we might be able to sneak in and get a peek.

So, today, Steve and I got up late, ate brunch and headed for the shops.  Shopping isn't really my thing, but I am still acclimatizing and don't have the energy or the money for golf or the spa.  We browsed the jewelry shops and I found a great place to get a few of my pieces repaired.  (I have a small jewelry collection because my parents were in the business many years back and traveled the country selling at the big gem and jewelry shows. Birthdays, Christmas, unbirthdays, my gifts were jewelry.  I loved it!)  But, parts fall off well-loved jewelry or break and then what do you do?  It's either get them repaired or learn to do it myself.  Now that I'm retired maybe I will learn, but for now...

It was a balmy 98 to 101 degrees today because of the cooling rain of the monsoon season, but even going from air conditioned shop to air conditioned shop left me enervated.  So, we cruised the town and found some great sculptures.  You'll notice a theme because I love horses and that is pretty much all they had.  It got to be too late and, now, I have to go back to get a pic of the bucking bronco sculpture on one corner in Old Scottsdale.  You'll love that one!

It's buried, but the sign says, "Welcome to Old Town Scottsdale".

This was such a striking sculpture that it is actually what drew me back to Scottsdale.

Look at the colors.  It is so dramatic, energetic and just magnificent.

More horses galloping through the Old Town square.  Don't you just love it, too?

The Scottsdale version of a bus stop.  It was so lovely that I couldn't help myself.

So, if we feel well enough, it's off to Sedona tomorrow.  I suspect that, if we were to live in Arizona, it would be in the higher elevations near Sedona among the red rock formations (assuming that we could afford it}.  My brother, Mark, says that Cottonwood, AZ on the way to Sedona might be a good place to retire.  We'll see tomorrow... or the next day.  We are retired.  We have time.

Arrival in Arizona and rules for travel

We did arrive at my parents' house in Sun City West, Arizona on Saturday.  It was so good to see them.  Dad will be 91 at the end of July and they are both so sharp and independent still.  Mom's staying home for a while to get a medical issue stabilized, but not many of us would be living independently, I think, at that age.  They live simply, enjoy each other's company, and take care of each other.  What more could one ask?  Their 70th wedding anniversary is in February and we will be celebrating that and both Mom and Dad's birthdays soon.

We just heard that my oldest of two younger brothers, Gary, will be arriving August 1!  What a welcome surprise!  He's bringing his wife, Natalie, and youngest child, Lilia (she's an adult now).  It will be so, so good to see them again.  I last saw Gary during Mom's medical emergency about two years ago and haven't seen Natalie and Lilia since 2004, when Meghan and I went to the March for Women's Lives in Washington, D. C.  Needless to say, Lilia has changed a lot since then.  She's no longer an Olympic level gymnast and is now dancing with the Pittsburgh Ballet, on leave recovering from surgery to both feet.  I'm very proud of her.

So, instead of posting on my blog, I have been visiting with parents, computer troubleshooting (Dad and I fixed it!!! Yesss!), and touring the "acres", as Dad calls walking around the yard.   Because we arrived two days early (due to beach burnout), we stayed at Mom and Dad's house until Monday, when our BnB was ready for us.

Toe and room, both nice.

We are now settled into a very nice AirBnb in Phoenix for the next month.  We have three rooms: a bedroom with two queen beds (I feel like the Mad Hatter, "on to the next bed"), a large connecting bathroom, and a really nice, carpeted TV room/office with a foldout sofa and a huge TV (2, actually, one in each room) with cable and Roku (hog heaven).  I think we'll be able to manage. :)

Peoria, AZ is very close by.  I imagine this place that will sleep 6 would be great for a family coming to watch baseball spring training.  They even have another room available downstairs.

Steve's head for perspective.

Visited my younger brother, Mark, at his home in Phoenix.  He's about 7 years younger than I , white-headed, too, and he looks like Hemingway with his white beard.  His dog, Yogi, is so sweet and sooo big (115 lbs); this Akita looks like a polar bear when sitting up.  Mark is 6'3" with long legs and Yogi's head is at Mark's hip.  He's a great guard dog because all it would take is one look and a deep bark to send an intruder running.








The Akita personality-type, according to Mark, is intelligent, but not prone to separation anxiety, and is very comfortable with being alone.  Mark worked a full-time job until recently and Yogi came and went through the dog-door during the day.  They got a nice long walk when Mark got home; now it's at 5am.  He seems to be a very happy dog and he adores Mark.


My toe is healing nicely (as you can see in the photo of the room), but I'm still walking funny because my 69 year old big toe joint doesn't appear to like the way I've been limping.  Got new/different shoes and it's better, even normal looking occasionally.  Another week and I will be able to pass for uninjured.  I'm looking so forward to that and getting into my hiking boots (when it's not 115 degrees outside).  Our Sedona visit may be a good place for that [coming soon, with lots of pix].

So, we have been treating this Arizona trip like a shakedown "cruise" for our European adventure in September and we have learned a great deal so far:

1. Pack less than you want and maybe a little more than you think you absolutely need.
2. Remember, you aren't going to the wilderness; there will be hair dryers and stores.
3. Remember to live in the moment; maybe you need to see it more than you need to photograph it.
4. Get your medications refilled before travel.
5. Beware of aggressive drivers and don't let yourself be goaded. Arizona is rife with them.
6. Camping isn't for everyone (okay, it isn't for Donnie).
7. Expect problems and concentrate on positive creativity.
8. Compromise is essential to traveling with others (oh, boy, is it).
9. Listen carefully to your hosts, they have their own problems.
10. Give yourself time to adjust and to heal; it will all still be there.

California to Phoenix is a rather boring trip, I must say

Okay, I got up late, "I confess, Officer."  Steve partook of the free brunch and I slept in, took my time showering, etc., and dragged Steve to Denny's for a parting root beer and breakfast after check out.  This was the first (possibly the last) nice motel that we've stayed at.  You can see our different priorities.  I have been up at 7am almost every day of this trip, so don't judge.

We had an arduous 2.5 hour drive to Sun City West, AZ today, during which there was literally nothing to photograph and very few places to pull off to photograph that nothing.  We saw our first saguaro cactus immediately after crossing the virtual line into Arizona.  There must be a law, or maybe there is a custom of Arizonans riding across the border and capturing stray saguaros.  It was rather odd.

The high point of this Arizona leg of the trip was pulling into Tonapah, AZ.  Does anyone remember the old song with this lyric "And I been from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tahachapi to Tonapah"?  [Willin' by Steve Earle.]  Well, Steve and I just solved another musical mystery: where the heck is Tonapah?  The place is just a truckers' wide place in the road for gas and vehicle services, but they were civilized enough to have a Subway Restaurant and Barq's Root Beer; a very enlightened truck stop, I must say.

We are now safely tucked up at my parents' house in Sun City West and are contemplating our next move.  Stay tuned.