All Fired Up...

Since the last report, we spent a few more days in the Phoenix area, visiting friends and sightseeing. It's taken me a while to get used to the fact that nobody has a lawn in Arizona! Generally gardens are covered with pebbles, decorative stone and assorted desert flora. Coming from the east coast this seemed strange at first, but I've come to appreciate the arty and tranquil beauty of the southwest style of garden. Not having to mow the grass isn't a bad thing either! We like the desert so much we've even purchased a small potted cactus for Mia's dining area.

Northeast of Phoenix we enjoyed a day-long scenic drive through the Tonto National Forest (which is a desert, not a forest - ?!). We picnicked at the edge of man-made Lake Roosevelt (created by nearby Roosevelt Dam), admired the beautiful Mazatzal Mountains, and climbed a steep half-mile path to explore Indian cave dwellings from the 1300's. The natives built a complex of adobe brick rooms inside elevated caves; both the cave and the height provided protection for the families who lived there.

Our next destination was Quartzsite Arizona (about two hours west of Phoenix), the winter getaway of our friends Kathy and Fred Kaiser. Their family has been coming to Quartzsite for years and has a "compound" there with two 70's-era trailers on it. We arrived before Kathy and Fred, left our motor home on their property and then set out for the Phoenix airport to fly to North Carolina to visit family (more on that to follow).

The night before Kathy and Fred arrived in Quartzsite, a fire erupted in one of their empty trailers. Luckily nobody was hurt, but the trailer was engulfed by flame, leaving a black, charred mess. Our motor home was about three feet away from the fire, and could have easily been destroyed too. The fire department told us they made a special effort to save our motor home since they could see it was new. There was minor damage to a few of our storage compartment doors, which buckled in the heat. The cause of the fire is undetermined, although the fire marshal ruled out electric or propane gas as the cause. The incident reminded us that crazy things can happen without warning, and that "stuff" is just that, not important in the grand scheme of things. If Mia had been caught up in the conflagration though, it would have altered the future of our trip.

Quartzsite is unlike anyplace we've seen before. Hard to explain. It's not really a town, but an area in the middle of the desert, with very few buildings. The road going through is dotted with a couple of truck stops, and that's about it. The town "appears" each January, February and March, when thousands of motor homes and trailers descend on the area, creating a massive, instant community. RVers come from near and far to escape cold weather, but also for the shopping experience. Hundreds of vendors sell their wares from tents, tables and stands in the big (dusty) lots. Once the winter months are over, the "town" disappears again, leaving just a few locals to brave the heat of the summer months.

Quartzsite has become known for its gem/mineral/rock vendors; we got a quick education on the many varieties of stone (quartz, citrine, rosasite, malachite, and amethyst, to name a few). The rocks come in many forms (large, small, cut, shaped, natural), and are varied in color (including bright blue, yellow, purple); the prices were surprising to us (higher than we'd have guessed). But there's plenty more besides rocks: antiques, RVs, clothes, tools, jewelry, flea market items, you name it. Anything you could imagine can be found here. It was fun to browse the full gamut of merchandise, ranging from junk to treasures, depending on your point of view.

Back to the story of our North Carolina trip. My side of the family has a long-standing tradition of getting together in January for a Christmas celebration, with the location varying from year to year. This year we met in Chapel Hill at the home of my cousins Susan and Ricky. My siblings Susie and Brucie also attended. We had three relaxing days together, taking walks, playing Scrabble, looking at family photos, enjoying home-cooked meals, and of course there was also our version of a grab-bag-type gift exchange.

On the way back from North Carolina we were fortunate to meet up with family members Bob and Judy Stauder as we each passed through Phoenix. We are constantly amazed at what a small world it seems to have become, and how many friends and family we've managed to connect with during our travels.

Happy New Year! Love, Patty