...with Tommy, Emily, and Callie, here at the airport Bob Evans,
...then catching a nap, ...before catching our flight to Phoenix, Arizona. Our ultimate destination was Wickenburg, Arizona for the Quinceañera* of Claire's husband Miguel's sister-in-law's younger sister. Miguel and Claire. Our whole family was invited by Miguel's family, so we all decided to go. Our plan was to meet up with Maria, Justin, and our grand daughters, who were flying in from Los Angeles, in Phoenix in an Airbnb that Maria had reserved for us, spend the night, then the following day drive to Wickenburg and meet up there with Claire and Miguel. Which is, in fact, what came to pass.
…which we found at a place we came upon called Uncle Bear's located in a pretty strip mall,
For some reason Arizona has particularly pretty palm trees and lots of them.
...with long, bone-shaped tables,
And though, as everybody knows, I am not a dog person (see post from 7/28/2017), still I had to give the place snaps for the food if not the doggie decor.
...as was Emily's better-than-usual pizza,
...with the grilled steak and onions served on the side,
After lunch Tommy and Emily headed for their hotel in downtown Phoenix while the rest of us headed for our Airbnb. We drove along brown desert hills,
…and cactuses. …until we reached our Airbnb, a big, desert- hued house, ...in a neighborhood in which the all the houses and yards were shades of desert, …on a street that dead-ended in a mountain, …that took on a surreal glow at sunset, …as did all the mountains in the area. As it turned out the keypad lock on the front door of our Airbnb denied us access. We contacted the owner of the house who admitted that she’d been having problems with the keypad and would need a few minutes to figure out how to get it functioning, but asked us to stand by. However, it being 1:30 in the afternoon, 98 degrees, and the Phoenix sun beating down on us Ohio folk like a demon, we opted to seek refuge and air conditioning in a nearby Target until the owner got the door issue squared away. Our trip to Target in fact turned out to be an auspicious one, as while wandering the toy department I discovered that LOL dolls, now so wildly popular that they are virtually unattainable in Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio, both cities where I’d recently sought them out (see post from 4/26/2018 ), have not yet found a following in Phoenix:
…but also of the even rarer LOL L’il Sisters. And the LOLs here were several dollars cheaper than in either L.A. or Columbus. I grabbed a couple of each for my (very lucky) granddaughters. By the time we returned to our Airbnb the owner had apparently ironed out the kinks in the door’s keypad lock as Maria and family had already arrived, and were happy to see us, as we were them. The house was beautiful and spacious,
The house had a welcoming feel (once the keypad was repaired), was well-equipped for one’s comfort and convenience, and we quickly settled in,
…including the house toys.
When dinner time rolled around Maria and Justin went out for a date night at a nearby resort, Callie and Theresa opted to stay home, watch TV and forage among the house snacks we’d acquired from Target, and Tom and I took the children out for dinner. Other than fast-food, the restaurant pickings in these particular environs were slim; however we did come upon an IHOP, which we figured the girls would enjoy. And perhaps they would have, had it not taken over an hour for our orders to arrive, piecemeal and incomplete – the tired-looking, harried-looking waitress informed us that that our grand daughter’s egg had fallen onto the floor and advised us not to even attempt ordering another one. In exchange she wouldn’t charge us for the children’s meals, also in gratitude for the girls not having morphed into wild things during the wait for their food, such as it was by the time it arrived. We made a mental note not to attempt to go out for breakfast around here.
…but with a much more beautiful view than I’d ever seen from any other Kroger’s parking lot, …where we purchased fresh-from-the-oven bagels, pastries, fruit and cheese, which was greatly appreciated by our housemates, much more, we assumed, than would have been a foray to the local IHOP. After breakfast Maria, Justin, Tom, the girls and I drove to nearby South Mountain, ...for a hike in the desert hills. In this part of Arizona at this time of year hikers should start out early - ideally no later than 6 am, though we didn't quite meet that deadline - because the heat becomes so intense so quickly that by late morning heat stroke becomes a danger. There was a sign at the beginning of the trail warning hikers to hydrate well before starting out and to turn back before their water supply was half depleted. All of which we did.
The climb was worth the spectacular views, ...including distant panoramas of Phoenix. We also saw many glorious saguaro cactuses, ...all in bloom.
But a little rest was all we needed. We hiked for a little over an hour, then headed back to our Airbnb, catching a great view of downtown Phoenix in the distance. We spent some time resting,
...playing,
Then we said good-bye to Phoenix and our delightful Airbnb, ...and we were on the road to Wickenburg. *In Mexican culture the Quinceañera is the traditional coming out celebration in honor of a girl's 15th birthday.
5 Comments
Kathy
5/22/2018 10:13:43 am
Sounds like a great trip! Enjoy! I remember when we went to Claire and Miguel's wedding how hot it was!
Reply
Patti
5/22/2018 02:58:28 pm
Oh, thanks, Kathy - yes it was a great trip. And Phoenix is as a rule about 10 degrees hotter than Wickenburg!
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12/6/2021 08:16:56 am
Excellent article! Your post is essential today. Thanks for sharing, by the way.
Reply
Patti
12/7/2021 09:21:39 am
You're quite welcome! Glad you enjoyed!
Reply
2/14/2022 08:46:17 pm
Thank you for sharing informative content. It means a lot to me hope you do more articles to post.
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