Day 20 – By the Time We Get to Phoenix

Our building

Started the day with an early morning walk…saying goodbye to all our friends: the geese, the coots, the rabbits, the doves and Zipper.  It’s been great visiting, but it’s time to move on. 

Border Patrol

Just as we got out of the valley we started seeing signs that the border patrol was inspecting cars ahead.  This is the fourth time on our trip that we’ve been stopped by the border patrol.  We stop as instructed and three scary looking dudes come to inspect our car.  One leans in and asks us questions, “Where are you from?  Are you US citizens?”  The second guy walks around the car with a dog…damn, hope he doesn’t trigger off our coffee!  The third agent just stands there and looks at us.  He’s heavily armed and wearing body armor.  He looks just like we’d expect Ranger to look like: Bad Ass!

We pass inspection and east we go.  Amazing how the saguaros start immediately after you cross the Colorado River.  Same desert, you cross one river and bam, saguaros!  We cross into Arizona and see a McD’s sign.  Bob has been reviewing fish sandwiches and he’s got us primed for a Filet-o-Fish.  Yum!

We arrive in Phoenix and reunite with M&A at our hotel on Central Avenue.  We check in and head to the Heard Museum a few blocks away.  They have a special exhibit on Geronimo that all four of us want to see.  The exhibit takes away the myths of Geronimo and tells the real story of him and his fellow chiefs of the period.  Once again we are reminded of how horribly the U.S. has treated Indians throughout history.

Now that's a bloom!

Heard Museum has many exhibits about the Indians of the Southwest.  It’s fascinating to learn how they prospered in the desert and the mountains of Arizona.  Their pottery, weaving and basket making are all works of art and utility. 

Rattlesnake for dinner!

Yep, we're still us.

After Heard, we head to Rustler’s Rooste.  Monte had visited this restaurant “a hundred years ago” and he highly recommended it.  On the way there we watch planes seemingly land on the interstate.  Very cool and Mona snaps pic after pic.

We are greeted at the restaurant by a huge long horn steer.  Huge!  We walk into the restaurant and are immediately assailed by the smell of beef…beef being cooked over coals...Yum!  We start our meal with rattlesnake.  Wow…good stuff!  Much more fun to eat them than to encounter them on the trails!  Next, we get our meals….great food!  Love the sides of corn on the cob and cowboy beans!  We ended up with bread pudding.  O.M.G!

We stroll through the building grounds.  Wonderful views of Phoenix twinkling below us and Venus and Jupiter above us.  Loving the Valley of the Sun!