Sorry for confusing some people yesterday. From the title of the post it seemed like yesterday was the last day of our vacation. Actually that would be today and we fly home tomorrow. By the title “Back to Reality” I was referring to leaving the incredible beauty of the National Parks and returning to the city of Phoenix.
Don’t get me wrong, Phoenix is a very attractive and clean city with lots of things to do but it is beyond me how anyone can live here. For example the high temperature today was 91 degrees and it is only May 23rd!
I think the cactus say it all. Doesn’t this cactus look like a hand giving you the single finger salute as you enter the greater Phoenix area? This isn’t my photo (actually I don’t think it is was taken in Phoenix) but we saw others on the road similar to this.
Today we attempted to stay cool and went to the Phoenix Hall of Flame. Doesn’t sound like a cool place but it really is. The Hall of Flame is a firefighter museum. We had a great time seeing numerous old time fire engines. The most recent apparatus was from 1961 and most were much, much older. They had many that had been drawn by horses and many others that were drawn by human power. The units were all refurbished and looked beautiful. We also learned a lot about the history of firefighting. There was a section for honoring those who lost their lives in service and for those who had performed feats of heroism. I even found an article (and picture) of one of my patients.
At night we got together with our daughter-in-law Robyn’s brother, Corey. We met at Olive and Ivy, a restaurant in Scottsdale. We had a wonderful night talking about Phoenix, family, movies, medicine and all sorts of other issues. It was a great time. And the meal was fantastic. If you are in these parts I would definitely recommend Olive and Ivy for dinner (the Sweet Potato Cannelloni was superb). It was the best meal we had on the trip. Yes, even better than our meals in Mexican Hat, Page, Flagstaff and Moab as hard as that might be to believe.
Tomorrow we fly home. Our next trip will be to visit David and Robyn’s family in June for David’s birthday. I doubt I will be writing about that. I will be too busy trying to beat my 7 year old grandson in chess. After that we will be going to England and Ireland at the end of June and early July. I will definitely write to you then.
Thanks for your comments and speak to you soon.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 