A Weekend in Phoenix

Becky and Stephen made it to San Diego last Sunday, July 27th. Actually, Becky, Stephen and Becky’s Mom flew to Phoenix on Friday the 25th and I drove to Phoenix to pick them up at the airport. Yes, I know that’s a long way to drive to the airport and yes, they do have an airport right here in San Diego. Here’s the deal - Becky’s sister Cathy lives in Phoenix with her husband, Tim, and 5 year old daughter Phoebe. We were going there to visit with them.

The drive from San Diego to Phoenix wasn’t too bad. 355 miles through some very nice scenery (which I’ll tell about in my next blog entry). The drive took me through Yuma, Arizona. I’m very familiar with Yuma because, back in 1995-1997, I did a lot of work there upgrading a laser used by the Army to track aircraft and other objects which fly (or fall) through the air. Yuma has changed a little, but it still was very familiar to me. It was kinda’ fun to visit there again. On the way back, we stopped at a Chinese restaurant in Yuma that I used to really enjoy when I was working there. I had told Becky about it many times saying it was the best Chinese food I’d had. Well, after all the hype, the place had really gone downhill and it was not a very pleasant experience. Oh, well. I guess in 11 years, things can change a lot.

So, back to the story…

As I was saying, we went to Phoenix to see Becky’s Sister Cathy. Actually, we planned the trip so that we could be there for Phoebe’s 5th birthday party on Saturday. Phoebe did not know we were coming and was very surprised when she answered the door and Stephen was there saying “Hello”. She was really excited, I think. Her party was fun – 17 kids were invited. Cathy and Tim brought in Jungle Jill the animal trainer to entertain the kids. She brought with her all kinds of animals including a monitor lizard, Colorado bullfrog, a long-haired rabbit, a silky chicken and, just for fun, a rather large boa constrictor. The kids really seemed to love it. Here’s a picture of Phoebe holding the boa.

Phoenix was hot – over 110 degrees during the day. At night, it cooled down some - enough to be outside for a little bit without sweating too much. It was good, though, because it really made me appreciate the weather in San Diego that much more. It’s monsoon season in Arizona and, in the evenings, there were some really amazing sunsets and cloud formations. In the distance, you could even see it raining, although the rain never reached us.

It was a good visit. We had a pleasant time together. Stephen and Phoebe got to play together and had a lot of fun.

Oh, I almost forgot. Liz Kiernan, an old friend from Chatham Youth Group days, drove down from Bullhead City, Arizona to be at Phoebe’s party. That’s a 5-hour drive for her. Liz has been a great friend to Becky and me and had gotten to know Tim, Cathy, and Phoebe from her time in college in Lincoln, Nebraska. Tim and Cathy lived in Lincoln, briefly. When they needed someone to watch Phoebe a couple of times, Becky connected them with Liz and it worked out great. Liz is sooooooo good with both Phoebe and Stephen. She really has a great way of communicating with young children and it was a joy to see her interacting with them.

We all had a good time, and Sunday morning, we packed the car and headed to San Diego… that story will be in the next entry.

Allen