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Cooling Off

Altogether we spent close to two weeks in Phoenix, as it happened, five or six days each time. This was rather a surprise to us as we had expected only one of these stays before heading off to Mexico.. Each time we stayed with Gerry's brother Allen and his wife Barbara enjoying their lovely house and the pool that goes with the house, which helped give relief from the weather that goes with Phoenix. Being there was like being at home, and we did lots of the things one does at home. We played cards, and scrabble, and trivial pursuit. We looked at family photos and caught up on lots of family news. And we caught up on laundry and more.

Our first trip had long been planned as Phoenix was directly on our route from northern Mexico to southern California. It was early May and the weather was very nice. It was warm enough to take the cover off their backyard pool once or twice and take a dip, but not too hot to want to go out and about. We took the opportunity to get to know another of Gerry's cousins (yes, they are almost numberless) as well as to catch up on all of Allen and Barbara's news and that of their children and grandchild.

Catching Up

Our second visit was planned during the first, as we had already decided we would go to San Francisco and Yosemite and it seemed natural to return to Mexico via Las Vegas, Nevada and Phoenix once again. By the time we got back around our circle it was late June and Phoenix and Allen and Barbara's pool were much warmer. So warm in fact that even Barbara would venture in. A special pleasure for them both is a pre-dinner soak in the pool (it's almost warm enough to be a jacuzzi). It washes off the dust of the day, relaxes tired muscles, and cools the body down making it easier to sleep.

Our third trip was not at all planned. During trip number two, taking advantage of the fact that we had a bona fide address that we could use, we sent away Gerry's computer to be fixed. Since we knew in advance that it would be in the shop for at least a week and probably ten days, we jumped at the chance to go off to Indian country. We came back in the second week of July and so our third trip began with a celebration of Allen and Barbara's 33rd wedding anniversary.

At the Heard Museum

During the various stays we saw the Heard museum, a very extensive collection of American Indian artifacts collected by Mr. Heard and probably the best museum of its kind in the United States. We visited the Deer Valley Petroglyphs on a very hot afternoon when we were very glad of the new-fangled technology called "misting". Because the Arizona climate is so dry, adding a little moisture to the air makes you feel much cooler. Many restaurants, shopping malls, and so on, provide misters in shaded outside seating areas to keep the customers comfortable. Deer Valley Petroglyph center, went one better. Every so often on their nature trail, they provided shelters from the sun that were equipped with misters.

It was also in Phoenix that we equipped our car with anti-sun devices. Stick-on screens for the back door windows and sunshades for the windshield and the back window to keep the temperature in the car down when the car is parked in the sun. We have been heartily glad of them especially as unlike most southerners our car windows are not tinted. It was here also that we found the time to put together our California web pages.