VISITING THE ROZAKS

Today we travel from Amarillo Texas, to outside Flagstaff, near Williams, Arizona to set up camp and prepare to visit Jerry and Nancy Rozak in Scottsdale.  The original plan was to drive to Petrified Forest Arizona (which we have seen several times) and stop overnight, then get up early, drive a couple more hours to William, Arizona outside the Grand Canyon National Park, leave the trailer and head south to the Rozaks for lunch or early afternoon.

A couple of things changed that plan.  First of all, thanks to doing some of the “take down” chores the night before we got a slightly early start in the morning. Then to our surprise we gained TWO hours of clock time, not just one, as we changed time zones. It turns out while Arizona is in Mountain Time they don’t subscribe to daylight savings time (guess they have so much daylight normally they don’t need to save any).  These combined with 75 mph speed limits (though we can only do 65 with the trailer) put us at our planned stopping place a little after 3 pm.  It made no sense to stop and just sit, so we pushed on the Williams the same day.   While this is a sensible plan it meant we were actually driving 12 HOURS plus stops so when we got settled we crashed.  

Nancy had called us enroute to see if we could get to their place in time for lunch (so it was a good thing we had gained those hours) because they needed to pick Barbara Fletcher up at the airport after lunch. It seem Tully, Barbara’s son who lives in Phoenix, was scheduled for some surgery and she was coming out to help.  So twice in one week we get to see Barbara.  (Tully's surgery went well.)

When we arrived at the Rozak’s it was around 11 am. What a wonderful home they have!

 And we had our own private guest house just off the patio.

  The patio has a fountain and Nancy is cultivating a variety of beautiful flowers that brighten the whole area. The morning temperatures, surprisingly, are perfect for sitting on the patio and enjoying conversation accompanied by the sounds of the fountain and of nearby birds.

For lunch, Jerry had made one of my favorite salads from our Duke Tailgate days…wild rice, dried cranberry….chicken medallions….you will have to ask him for the recipe…and Nancy had made a terrific blueberry pie…her first time with blueberry…and definitely a success!  We overate and enjoyed every mouthful!

After a short break to walk the dogs, we got a tour of a portion of Scottsdale.  In particular we visited the Memorial Garden at the Presbyterian Church where Nancy’s mother is laid to rest.  It is a huge church, and beautiful garden and was all bedecked in American Flags for Memorial Day.  Again the beautiful sunshine, clouds and blue sky could become addictive. (except for the heat...which is DRY).

Later in the afternoon we headed out of town to visit some fun places to browse before dinner.  One of Jerry’s favorites, the Town Dump,  was great fun and we picked up a Mexican rug for the entryway to the camper.  Nancy’s pick was a magnificent storefront which was more like a museum.  It showcases geodes, stonework, incredible glassware and handmade beautiful jewelry.  We timed it wrong so we could only peer through the window …it closed at 5 pm…but the owner came around the side and we had a fun conversation with him for 15-20 minutes.  It appears he gives parties twice a year. Nancy and Jerry need to get on his email list!

Dinner was at a restaurant in the town of Carefree!   It was a Southwestern Cuisine place…great food, and we enjoyed eating outdoors on the patio.  Once again fully satiated with food, we headed back home to the Rozaks. 

After a good night’s sleep, and a chance to read more about the sights of the Grand Canyon in Arizona Highways Magazine (remember those from when we were young? They still exist!), we had a leisurely breakfast, chatted in the beautiful morning  air on the patio, and waited while Nancy delivered a salad to her church for a “do” later in the day.  Once she returned, we headed out …back to our “home “ further north.

As is typical of me, we did not take the most direct route back.  I found a smaller route, marked as scenic, that left Scottsdale going Northeast through the mountains.   It truly is scenic…really awesome. The route then turns sharply back Northwest ending up at Sedona.

On the way into Sedona, we stopped and took a short hike at the Red Rock State Park.  The trail crossed a stream (Oak Creek) and climbed a hill and had incredible views of the surrounding mountains and red rock formations. This land is a 286 acre nature preserve and environmental education center.   The park was opened in 1991. The land had been private property, then owned by a religious cult before becoming a park.

When we came into Sedona we were very disappointed.  There was mile after mile of modern, tourist, hotel, jewelry store, four lane street. Our memory of a western town below the shadow of the overhanging red rocks seemed to be just an imagined visit.  As we were tired of being in THIS Sedona, we went through a couple of the now-ever-present-roundabouts in Arizona, and wa-la—we came upon the Old Sedona we remembered.  Yes it is quite a bit updated, but it still looks like Sedona not like very other tourist town in America.   So we stopped, found a cowboy bar, had a beer, walked up and down the streets and decided to go home and have supper there.

Back at Snoopy, Chick started the charcoal in the grill and while he grilled the steak,  I microwaved the potato, and we enjoyed being home once again.   It did not take us long to hit the hay.  What a great 2 days!