Arizona with Janis and Lloyd....winter of 2007

With Janis and Lloyd here from Ontario we are keeping quite busy.  On Friday we went down to Phoenix to ride our bikes on the canal trail and once again we drove past Camelback Mountain (the one I climbed a few weeks ago).  On Saturday Fred and I drove the motorcycle to Wickenburg to meet up with Janis and Lloyd who had driven there earlier (we were working) for the "Goldrush Days".  Unfortunately we missed the parade that featured 1,000 horses, saloon girls, cowboys etc.  After rendezvousing with the Nelsons we watched a rodeo for an hour or so.  The bleachers were full when we arrived and because the corral is in a valley we were able to watch from the top of a hill without paying admission.  Whenever the announcer introduced any cowboys from the Canadian prairies Janis and I would hoot and holler enthusiastically.

On Sunday we drove down to Tempe as there was a Greek Festival at the Tempe Town Lake.  We tried some Greek beer, Janis sampled Greek wine and we all tried some fried cheese.  We watched the cook saute the cheese in a frying pan and then just before serving it he drizzled it with brandy.  It was delicious but very rich.  Of course one can't attend a Greek Festival without eating a Gyro  (pronounced heeroh) and while we ate were entertained by young dancers attired in colourful costumes.  The Festival was not well attended and after an hour or so there was little else to do so off we drove to a Swap Meet in Apache Junction.  This Swap Meet had about 1600 booths and there was something there for everybody.  We bought a new RV mat that we badly needed.

After leaving Apache Junction we drove up to Carefree and Cave Creek that is just north of Scottsdale and is very scenic as the mountains up there are so different from the other mountains in Phoenix.  It is as if a giant tossed humungous boulders from above and large, million dollar homes perch on top of these boulders.  One thinks immediately that one shudder of the earth would bring catastrophic results but Arizona does not experience earthquakes.  We made a quick stop to view a 62 foot sundial that points directly at the North Star.  Solar time is 27.7 minutes different than mountain time so while looking at the shadow of the sundial on the numbers below, you must add those minutes to tell accurate time.

Today we drove to Prescott (locals pronounce it press-kit and know you are a tourist if you say it any other way), a pretty town that houses many retired northerners.  The focal point of Prescott is a massive courthouse that serves all of Yavapai County.  Tall trees line the walkway and these are the first tall trees that we have seen in Arizona south of Flagstaff.  We ambled down Whiskey Row, stopping for a latte and peeked in shop windows at the western-themed merchandising in most.  Prescott is known for its Victorian homes that both Janis and I simply adore, so a walk to find them was on our agenda.  They are not as majestic as most Victorian homes are, a bit more compact but pleasing to the eye nonetheless.  Pretty lace curtains in windows, windows with leaded panes and porches that invited you to sit a while were pleasing to our senses.  While walking past one house we smiled and said hello to a lady just unloading her car in the driveway.  Janis mentioned how pretty her house was and to our utter surprise she asked if we would like a tour.  Would we?  You bet.  Even our hubbies followed in behind us.  The house had been built in the early 1900s and was absolutely charming.  One room led to another and each room had high ceilings, wooden wainscotting, old fashioned lace curtains and beautiful oak furniture that was clearly antique.  The owner uses the house as a halfway house for women with drug and alcohol addictions and this setting must surely be conducive to making one feel at ease.  What used to be the front parlour was the owner's bedroom and the focal point was a beautiful corner fireplace.  She showed us the old fashioned front doorbell that has to be wound up.  When someone rings, it would wake up the dead, it was so loud.

From Prescott we headed toward Jerome and on a hill overlooking a lake we had a tailgate picnic lunch, not aware that just around the corner was a park with an abundance of picnic tables.  After crossing the Mingus Mountains we stopped in Jerome for a while and continued on to Sedona where we did an hour hike surrounded by the red rocks that have made Sedona so renowned.