Road Trip to Phoenix

Leaving Las Vegas.

August 5 we got up bright and early and headed to Phoenix, Arizona.  I was there in 1981, just out of college, and Dan was there in 1999, for work. This summer we were attending the Arizona Order of Eastern Star Grand Chapter Session.

Not sure what type of plants these were but I like the blossoms.

I was excited to see saguaro cactus everywhere on the to Phoenix.

These are Joshua Trees. There was a whole forest of them.

Round-abouts (traffic circles) in Arizona usually have some kind of statue or monument in the center. These gigantic spurs and the bronc rider were in the town of Wickenburg about an hour northwest of Phoenix.

The Grand Chapter event was held at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel just north of the center of Phoenix. 

This is Phil who is the Grand Representative of Vermont in Arizona. I am the Grand Representative of Arizona in Vermont.  As Grand Representatives we try to visit the other person's state and be friendly ambassadors. Phil was very friendly and we had a nice visit. He was in Vermont last year!

Dan cleans up pretty good.  He even put on trousers for the event. ; )

Friday morning we made return trips to South Mountain.  From the top you can see across the Phoenix valley.  Things change some in 34 years.  Phoenix has grown and camera technology has greatly improved! Here are some retro photos and some modern ones!

Nancy photo July 1981 - We looked all over for this same location.  I think the rounded structure has been removed. I'm pretty sure I took the picture with a Kodak 110 camera.

Pretty hazy day but there was still some open space back then.

Dan's photo in 1981. More of everything downtown.

Looks like some open space still out there in 1999. The next photos are panoramic from my Iphone and regular digital photos from my Canon.

When I was here in 1981 I didn't get close to a saguaro cactus so we made a quick stop for a photo op.

Of course on our way home we had to take a different route so we headed north out of town on I17 where we would veer left on state highway 69 toward Prescott.  

A pickup full of antlers!
Some excitement on the way however delayed us slightly. A car fire in the distance. We were moving toward it quite nicely until the firetrucks arrived.  Black smoke, then white smoke, then nothing.

We don't think anyone was killed. But it was scary to see.

Traffic was backed up for miles on the other side of the road.

When we got on Route 69 we saw smoke from a forest fire in the distance. 

A rare green hill.

Nice wheels.

Wide open spaces looking toward Flagstaff.

Ranch hands. I don't know if they were loading or unloading!

Get you very own windmills here.  I don't think our homeowners association would approve.

Cattle.

Running horses.

A ginormous cement plant in the middle of nowhere!

We intended to get on Interstate 40 in the town of Ash Fork however a little detour down old Route 66 was required. Kind of sad it was so run down. We did make a pit stop at a Trading Post.  It was packed with stuff and tourists!

Home in the late afternoon.  The kitties were happy to see us after being gone for 3 days.  But they were well cared for by our neighbor, Jan.  Thank you, thank you!

Things are heating up here again.  Excessive heat warnings for the next few days.  Really our first ones since June.  Bad storms south of us yesterday afternoon took down a bunch of powerlines.  The Red Cross has set up shelters for those people without power for the next few days.  Bad timing for them.

I still have written about our trip to Tonapah.  Perhaps I'll work on it this weekend while we are inside staying cool.  All of you Vermonters just think of it as a few days in a row when the temperature stays below zero.  You just stay inside as much as possible.

Have a great weekend!  Love to all.

It's all about the journey!

Nancy and Dan