Tuesday

Our prescriptions were ready today so after our morning coffees in the sun we set off to Scottsdale to pick them up.

our beach umbrella does duty here to make a bit of shade for the dogs

 WOW, has Scottsdale changed since we were here last.     Lots of the road names were the same, but not all of them.  We drove around marveling at all the new buildings and,  feeling pretty overwhelmed, decided to have lunch at a familiar spot.   The restaurant at the Scottsdale Municipal airport used to be called "the Left Seat", and is now  "Zulu Caffe", but the views are exactly as we remembered them, and that is a good thing.  New is wonderful and interesting, but old is like a big sigh.   We took a table outside under a yellow umbrella, right on the edge of the tarmac and enjoyed an excellent lunch while watching the comings and goings of a very busy airport.  Dave was in his glory, but our conversation was somewhat stilted due to the air traffic control chatter quietly piped in through the restaurants speakers.   I knew this would be the case before we sat down, its an airport restaurant "thing" that Dave particularly enjoys.   When we did talk, it was reminiscing about our old Bonanza and Cessna 172,  past flights and experiences and other small plane related topics.    Nice lunch.

reflection of the outdoor seating at Zulu Caffe

We picked up those prescriptions and took a different, much more beautiful drive back around the McDowell Mountains to our campground.  McDowell Mountain Regional Park is set in the desert at the foot of those mountains directly east of Scottsdale.   Only thing is, you can't get there from here.....You must go around the peaks to the south on Shea Rd., or to the north on Dynamite Road.  Shea is through beautiful Fountain Hills, a city so planned and perfect that even their big garbage totes are color coordinated with its desert colored homes!    Dynamite Rd. takes us through sparsely populated desert on big, quiet roads with very little traffic.    For those of you familiar with the greater Phoenix area, this route takes us north  almost to Carefree.  The homes that are nestled in the desert are beautiful and this route will be our choice from now on.

On our way back, Dave got a call from Linda, our Accountant at Papago, all those years ago.  She played an important part in the success of the company and it will be wonderful to see her again.  She and her husband live here in Scottsdale, and we made plans to get together this week.

It was 4:30 by the time we finally pulled into site 43 and we found Sasha  stretched out on Beluga's dashboard, right in the windshield, so she could be the first to welcome us home.   Her equivalent of the top of the dog house we think.    I'd love to be able to get a picture of her, but all that the camera captures is the big windshield and her grizzly, white chin appearing to float in its middle.

this is what a full campground looks like here....my kind of place

the desert is really beginning to green

No beautiful sunset pictures here.   The sky is so clear and cloudless, the sun slips smoothly and quietly behind the McDowells and thats all there is to it!