Day 8 – Friday and the return

Happy Trails to you!

The time has come to begin our journey back to Virginia. One of the major benefits of being retired is that we no longer have to rush to get home only to go to work the next day. Embracing this benefit, we decided to take the back way to Phoenix on a bit of a less direct track. Our flight does not leave until Saturday around lunch so we can now ease back gracefully into the home life mode. The scenic route also makes an abundance of sense because the weatherman on the TV is calling for a high of 105 F in Phoenix today. Who wants to sit by the pool with that temperature?

Now with the 4 Runner packed, we said are goodbyes to Highland Ridge timeshare and started south. The funky birdman pointed the way, so we turned left and got on 89A once again. We began to retrace our drive up to Jerome, where we had such a wonderful day just a few short days ago. Unfortunately, we are not stopping but cruised through the downtown, and instead of turning right for the public parking we veer left and began to climb.

The roads are very well maintained, but boy are there some ups and downs along the way. The drive was not scary, but did stimulate the conversation regarding the smell of car brakes. There were a few cars that we encountered that left no doubt that the driver had been riding their brakes hard.

Our destination was Prescott, Arizona, a town long known for its western appeal where miners took respite after long hours in the mines and cowboys gathered for cattle drives. By the late 1800s, the Arizona Central Railway had connected Prescott to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the town was booming. Probably one of the most notable places in Prescott is South Montezuma Street, or as it is better known - “Whiskey Row”. In its heyday on this street of just a few blocks, there were over forty saloons. The Yavapai County Courthouse sits on the opposite side of the street from these historic blocks.

We headed down Whiskey Row to find us a saloon and enjoy a libation and some chow. After weaving through the curvy roads in the mountains, a cool drink was well deserved. We chose the historic The Palace Restaurant and Saloon as our watering hole and were greeted at the door by the sheriff. Thinking instead of pulling a gun, he would whip out a pistol thermometer and check to see if we were carrying the germ and take our temperatures. But no, he just smiled and welcomed us into the saloon. Stepping inside from the bright outdoors was like stepping into history. Granted the walls are covered in memorabilia now, but The Palace still has the aura of days gone by. We bellied up to the bar because sitting at a table just did not seem right. The bar itself was quite a piece of woodworking and the bartender could see us studying the details of the bar.

The bartender told us the story of the bar, which is the original one of The Palace, and of the great fire. A fire burned down Whiskey Row and a large portion of the business district of Prescott in July of 1900. During the fire customers broke the bar loose and carried it across the street to the grounds across the street on the court house lawn. The fire was put out with no loss of life or major injury, but for the most part the downtown was gone.

A major rebuilding effort was started almost immediately using bricks to replace the burnt wooden structures. As for the bar it was serving customers the next day in a tent across the street. Clean up crews, just like miners and cowboys, need a drink at the end of the day. The black and white picture is of Whiskey Row from the top of the courthouse a few days after the fire. And as Paul Harvey use to say and here is “the rest of the story” -  Prescott's Big Fire - a link to True West Magazine.

After the story, which she told quickly, it was back to work. The lunch crowd was flowing in and The Palace gets some kind of busy! We enjoyed our drinks and were mesmerized by all the historical paraphernalia on the walls around us. The Palace not only makes a good cocktail – the food is right good too!

We decided it best to walk off our lunch and do a little window shopping before we started the final leg to Phoenix. There are some very nice shops and very friendly people as we popped in and out shops. Prescott is truly worth the stop and enjoy a little history of the wild west.

Back on the road we both commented on how the panoramic views we had experienced in the last week were over the top - just breathtaking!

At one pull off to take it all in, we had to chuckle and what we saw left us with an unanswered question.

Had this woman just found a cell signal and was checking in or was she telling someone… “I do not know where I am! I just followed GPS and it is telling me that I am in the Paradise Valley Mall parking lot in Phoenix”. We will never know what the conversation was but it did bring us a smile.

After driving a little longer, we knew that Phoenix must be getting close. The famous saguaro cactus could be seen along the road, some with their white flowers in bloom.

Then 30 minutes later looking down and seeing the temperature gauge was reading over 100 F, we could see the city skyline.

Afternoon traffic in Phoenix was really intense going into the city, which surprised us. We had stayed off the interstate and entered into the city from the NW on 60. When we hit I-10 traffic pretty much came to a slow crawl. We thought everyone would be leaving the city heading out to the suburbs. Not so – both directions were crawling and the temperature gauge was rising.

By the time we arrived at the hotel in Tempe, near the airport, it had reached 106 F. It was time to head into the air conditioning!

We chilled in the hotel room because even going out to the pool was unthinkable. The last thing we wanted was a 95 degrees bath. The room would be our hideout for the rest of the day enjoying reading and chatting about the week.

We did go to a very nice restaurant for dinner. The House of Tricks, in Tempe, is across the street from of the Arizona State University. It was still in the 90s when we arrived at the restaurant, and believe it or not, we ate outside. It was a shady garden like setting, there was a misting device and it was absolutely lovely. We had even found a parking space right at the front door, albeit Tom was upset. He will never accept parking meters that require a credit card! However, he used his card while grumbling about quarters blah blah blah… It was the first night we did not choose from the Arizona wine selections available and went with one of our favorites, a Bandol Rosé.

Our journey home was uneventful and almost relaxing as travel goes. Our departure was not until 1 pm, so we slept in and had a wonderful breakfast before heading to the airport. As at DCA when we left, PHX was a hopping place! We found a quiet corner and waited for the flight.

The one thing of note on our return occurred as we were boarding the airplane. We had early boarding and had gotten settled when the announcement that the doors would be closing was broadcasted. A frazzled mother with two children had just boarded and was struggling to get seated behind us with her kids. The older child, maybe three, was giving mom a fit and in complete desperation she looked at Janet and said, “Here… Hold the Baby!” Janet did as she had been directed, and was astounded that a someone would just hand her a baby. Grandmother instincts kicked in and all was well until baby realized that she was not her mother. The picture says it all!

Now with everyone strapped in and motors running we began our journey home as it began - With a little John Prine on the monitor and a long nap until touchdown in DC.

Thoughts of home and with the lyrics of John Prine ringing in Tom’s ear buds “Blow up your TV, throw away your paper… Go to the country, build you a home… Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches… Try an' find Jesus on your own” Our trip had officially come to an end. 

Until next time, which we hope will be in November, unless the damn germ is still here! Join us as we do a Transatlantic Cruise with three other couples. Rome to New York with 9 stops and lots of pictures!