Day 62: Camping under tall ponderosa pines in Prescott National Forest was a pleasant contrast to the heat wave in “the valley” (the Sonoran Desert) while we went visiting.
We had not seen Susan, my first cousin (once removed) for about 35-40 years. We joined Susan, her friend Betty, and Betty’s daughters Ann and Ellen at the Desert Caballero History Museum in Wickenburg—a good place to get the flavor of a western town, get a glimpse of its early days, and savor some good Mexican cooking followed by ice cream. I particularly appreciated hearing Susan’s memories of her Grandfather Lowry (my great grandfather), who died at Falmouth when Susan was nine and I was only a little over a month old. Driving back to our campground we saw our first roadrunner, as it darted across the road.
Day 63: We had originally hoped to visit our friends Teresa and Randy in Colorado on this trip, until we heard they had moved away, but luckily they ended up in Prescott, only about a mile and a half from the campground where we were staying. While at Normandeau 19 years ago, Teresa inspired me and several colleagues to start running. Chef Randy served a gourmet breakfast and they gave us a tour of their beautiful home. Randy had also helped us by charging our run-down camper battery overnight.
In the afternoon we headed off for our next destination, the red rock country of Sedona we had heard so much about. We took the scenic route, over yet another twisty mountain road, this one passing through the town of Jerome, incredibly nestled into a steep mountainside high above the valley below.
Oh my, I never would have recognized Susan!