7:40 PM Tuesday February 8, 2005

On Monday, January 31st, we closed up the motorhome and took to the road following Don and Ardella’s Lincoln north with our little Ranger pickup toward Payson. First stop was lunch at the “Red Lobster” restaurant in Mesa, D & A’s favorite place to eat for a special dinner. Being so recently from the northwest, where seafood is plentiful and usually only hours from the sea to the table, Phil and I were dreaming of big bowls of steamer clams and lightly breaded fried oysters as we ordered our dinners. We’ll have to wait until April or May to enjoy either of those very special Puget Sound delicacies again and my mouth waters just thinking about it! ~~ Ardella no longer has a guest room and after a glitch in communication which caused the travel trailer owned by Ardella’s daughter, not to be delivered to A’s house before we arrived, Phil and I decided to simplify the problem by going to a motel across the street for the night. I’ve already written about our troubles to get on the Internet that night! Thankfully, the trailer was delivered and set up for us by the second night so we had our own cozy space. This year, according to the natives, the weather is Payson is unseasonably cold (down to the 20s at night and only climbing into the 50s with plenty of wind during the day) so we were grateful for the good little furnace in the trailer. ~~ Ardella and Don took care of some legal details (they’re selling some real estate and their candy business … “Gollipops”) and she was also taking care of some medical visits and tests she needed. ~~ On Thursday, February 3rd, we piled into the Lincoln and drove north to Sedona. A dream come true for me after many years of seeing this beautiful place on TV or in magazines. As expected, the red rock cliffs are even more spectacular in person. This little city is bursting with growth in every direction but even so, the small town atmosphere prevails and a young lady behind the counter at the ice cream shop (yes, we went back for dessert) directed us to a little restaurant called “The Hideaway” where the view from our table on the enclosed patio complimented lunch for free. It was the perfect end to our day-trip from Payson. On another day, Phil and I drove east to the tiny town of Heber which is located in high desert country across the top of the “ Mongollon (Tonto) Rim” but ran out of daylight and had to turn around before reaching the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park. More pictures and another adventure next time!