Scottsdale Trip

Every once in awhile one needs to leave the mountains and get out to see parts of the world. On this particular venture I went out to Scottsdale to visit my momma and step-father. I have been to lots of places but this was uncharted territory for me.

In the morning, after we had our coffee we would take Nicki for a walk. There was a huge park right next to the Le Cordon Bleu school. We would see the students heading in every day carrying their knives, friendly bunch.


On my first full day in town we headed over to the old portion of Scottsdale. I wanted to do this with all our cayenne peppers last fall but Richard had other ideas.


Old Town is rather interesting, old buildings mixing with new in a small part of the town.


We went to a cute little bar called The Rusty Spur. It has been around for 60 years. The building was originally used as a bank and now the vault is used as a walk-in refrigerator for all the beer. They have live music all day, every day. Here is momma and I in the Rusty Spur.


I had to include a shot of Nicki, she is such a sweetie.


We were watching TV one afternoon and Momma commented on how ugly the TV cabinet was. I thought the lower doors were ugly but when I closed the upper doors I wondered why anyone would buy such a hideous thing.


Every afternoon Nicki gets to go for a walk through the neighborhood. I was amazed by all the fruit trees and more. This is a pomegranate tree with one fruit left on and no leaves for the winter.


I picked one of the fruits and cut it open when I got home just to make sure I was right about the type of tree it was.


I saw this palm tree one afternoon. It is without a doubt the tallest palm tree I have ever seen.


My friend Angie said that she had been to Scottsdale before and could find any pine trees. Here are two of the ten that were in the neighborhood.


There were orange trees. You could pick the fruit that hung over the public areas and eat it.


I had forgotten had beautiful bougainvillea can be.


There were grapefruit trees.


Tangerine trees, and their fruit was really sweet.


Here is the start of dinner on my last night. Some cooked bacon and in the container chunks of chicken breasts with garlic and some barbecue sauce.


Here is Chef Jim a/k/a my step-father preparing our salad for dinner. It was awesome.


They say all good things must come to an end and this was true after a good week in Scottsdale. I arrived at the airport to find my flight had been delayed. The flight crew had come in very late the night before and the FAA requires they get 8 hours of rest and the clock does not start until they reach the hotel. So, I sat and waited, and waited and waited. We finally left Scottsdale an hour and 15 minutes late.

When I got to Dallas,,later than planned I got some lunch and headed over to my gate. A few years back there was a movie called "Dude, Where's My Car?" While in Dallas I got to play "Dude, Where's My Plane?" There is where it is supposed to be. It finally showed up late,,that seemed to be the way my day was going.


By Sunday morning the previous day's travel plans were forgotten as I got to cuddle with my Kele girl.


It was a chilly day so Lili curled up on the down filled sofa in the master bedroom. I tucked a towel over her to keep her warm.


By the afternoon all things were back to normal as Richard and Morgan napped on the sofa and Kele slept nearby.


It is good to get away but it is always good to come home.