Another whirlwind trip home, but with a more solemn purpose than the holidays. Mom came through her double Mastectomy at age 81 like a trooper. Surgery on Tuesday, home on Thursday -- out for a walk the same day, showering and moving around remarkedly well. Her spirits were buoyed, as were the family's. I was even able to get away to attend a friends wedding shower on Saturday and host a small dinner party on Sunday night.
Most days were taken up with running errands, helping Mom around the house and getting her ready to be self sufficient again -- with a little help during the day. Then, unexpectedly, on Monday morning a red rash developed on one side, but we were due to the Dr. that afternoon. The Dr. was a bit alarmed at how quickly it came on. He gave her a big shot and started antibiotics immediately. The next day was no better, and on Wednesday, with us back on our way to Phoenix, Mom lands back in the hospital with a roaring infection.
We couldn't have left, except daughter Andrea was on her way down from Seattle for her turn with Grandma. Little did we know, it would be tending to her in the hospital. By Thursday, her fever had broken, and the Dr. says she was much better.
Meanwhile, we arrive in Phoenix to 106 degree temperatures. We planned to stay and golf and go to a restaurant recommended by our friend Haley, but Philip, was too hot and just wanted to get on the road again, so we headed for the hills, literally. We stopped for lunch at The Boulders, and Phil took it as his personal challenge to see how far he could talk them down in their rates. They started at $465 plus $220 pp for golf. Phil wanted them to give us their summer rate that starts next month, but the best he could get was $297 for the room and $120 each for golf. That was still $500+ for the day -- we decided to come back another time!
By late afternoon we arrived in Prescott (Press-kit), AZ at 5,600 feet. Much cooler -- very pleasant. We looked at a development here, but found it is too cold in the winter here for our liking -- even though they boast over 350 days of sunshine a year! 20 inches of snow in the winter with an average high of 55 just doesn't do it for us -- scratch another location off our list!
Another really nice town that is growing too fast -- the streets just can't keep up with the development -- and we're not even here during the tourist season. Very nice downtown, a wonderful square, and lots of old Wild West buildings that used to be saloons, brothels, and banks! All the necessary accouterments for a thriving mining town.
Our next stop is Montezuma's Castle and a wonderful cliff dwelling from the Anasazi era, although it is neither a castle, or was it inhabited by Montezuma! It is still a wonderful ruin perched high in the cliffs.
Flagstaff Az, another stop on Route 66 that still has many of it's attractions in operation. We found a room at the Monte Vista Hotel in historic old Flagstaff. They have taken a lot of pride in preserving this piece of Americana, in a town that values its roots on Route 66. The old train station is still there, only a couple of blocks from the hotel, and the trains still come through regularly -- in fact, I think every train in the US came through the night we were there! Between the trains, and the reveling N. Arizona State grads who enjoyed their graduation that night, we were a little short on sleep that night! But it was still fun -- probably more so because of the graduation and all the excitement in town. We sat on the balcony of the Wetherill Hotel, watched the sun go down, and the kids enjoy their big evening.
A long day's drive will take us through the 4 corners, where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet in one spot, and on to Cortez, Co where we will get ready to explore Mesa Verde National Park. A most beautiful drive with spectacular scenery all the way along. The highway passes along the edge of Monument Valley and passes through valley's and along Mesa's. A Big WOW!!
A pleasant evening in a campground with a million dollar view of the Mesa's and the southern end of the Rocky Mountains. Big clouds rolled all around us, and you could see rain and thundershowers in the mountains, but we got to be just spectators to a dramatic sky.
Mesa Verde hides its face behind a highway of hairpin turns and switch backs up and down the Mesas. But what a special treat when you get there. The Cliff Palace, the largest ruin of it's type in the country, the Spruce Tree House and other well preserved ruins peak out all over this World Heritage site. We spent most of the day crawling up and down ladders and stairs as we took advantage of this one of a kind location. The end of the day took us back through these winding roads and on to Durango, Co. where we nestled in for what was left of our Mother's Day.
A call to Mom to make sure Eric and Kristen (and Kris's Mom) had gotten Mom out of the hospital and out for a nice Mother's Day dinner. She seems pretty perky, but tired after her first outing in over 2 weeks. She seemed to enjoy visiting with them, but was ready to hit the sack. Just glad she is home and doing better.