It is warming up in South Central Arizona. Temperatures up to mid-60’s this Sunday. After a slow start, we loaded up the host’s vehicle and headed to Litchfield Park, some 30 miles to the south and west of our Anthem location. Some comments on Phoenix in general: traffic is heavy at the quietest of times and rush hour is a nightmare. With a metropolitan population of nearly 5 million and all of them impatiently wanting to get some where, driving is a joy. Geographically, Phoenix is the 11th largest, both in population and in area, in the U.S. Unless you are traveling to the neighborhood grocery store, any trip is 10 miles or more. Although they are building a light rail system, commute times between the various areas is an easy 45-60 minutes.
We pointed the vehicle south to Litchfield Park for an Arts and Crafts fair. Our actual destination was Wigwam Resort, one of the oldest and largest Senior living developments in the area.We arrived around noon and the area was crawling with people - mostly old (like us!) We walked in and out and up and down, looking at all the wares and crafts. Food stalls galore with everything from street tacos to barbecues to “fresh” lobster and seafood. Eventually we stopped into a sports bar, The Lazy Palm Sports Grill. We enjoyed a couple of chicken salad sandwiches, some chicken strips and sides of fries and potato salad, washed down with some beer and fruity Prosecco. We enjoyed the various basketball games on the multiple TV sets, and stretched out our stay to watch the finish of the Nebraska-Iowa contest, which Nebraska won! Deb ended up with a new “spring” purse as the only purchase of the day; the afternoon was enjoyable.
We motored north back to Anthem for cocktails and a soak in the hot spa - our first of this entire trip. We then enjoyed the Sennentz hospitality as Dell grilled a huge side of salmon and Karen prepared a salad and some boiled potatoes. Good food and a quiet evening.
We headed south again, past downtown Phoenix to South Mountain. This is a municipal owned area known as South Mountain Park, the second largest municipal park in the world! We drove up the winding road to the Dobbins Point observation area for a view of the Salt River Valley and the entire Phoenix Metro laid out at our feet. A stunning site. We then drove back through downtown Phoenix noting the tall buildings interspersed with squat, typically southwester structures We passed the Phoenix Art Museum and the Heard Museum, both of which will make interesting day trips on our next visit.
We returned home just at sunset, enjoyed a cocktail and then Dell fired up the grill again. This evening we dined on huge filet mignon and fettuccine Alfredo with some steamed vegetables with cheese sauce, again a most filling meal. We watched a movie, read, and poured ourselves into bed around 11:00.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, is our travel day. We will return to Omaha with memories of 4inches of snow, cool to freezing temperatures, sunshine and a soak in the hot tub, and hours upon hours of visiting and eating with good friends. Not bad for a pair of aging freeloaders from the plains. Thanks to both sets of hosts; we never felt uneasy nor intrusive. We will be glad to return if they allow. As always, we will be happy to arrive home to our usual routine of eating, reading, watching TV and starting over again. Thanks.
