Phoenix Vacation--Day 3

Sunday, March 11

We got up and Hal made a wonderful breakfast for us…pancakes, bacon, applesauce, and strawberries. Andy’s mom made cole slaw and apple pie for our picnic later with Uncle Geoff and Aunt Mimi. We ate breakfast and then we headed out to Paradise Valley to see some homes that Hal had designed. Very nice. We drove around some mountains and saw the homes that were built up on the mountains too. Then, we headed off for Geoff and Mimi’s place in Tempe. They have a very nice little 2-story condo and we swam in their heated pool. They had to borrow a key from their neighbor as it seems they had lost their pool key somewhere, but we had fun and Deidra learned to swim on her own with the helpful aid of some swimmies. She was scared, but thrilled when she figured out how to do it. After swimming, we headed back to their condo to have some lunch and it was so yummy. It had been awhile since we had a picnic like that. Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad from scratch, cole slow from scratch, pickles that someone had canned and were so good, deviled eggs, and chips and dip. Then for dessert we had some of Grandma’s famous apple pie that she had also made from scratch and vanilla bean ice cream. We visited for awhile and then we headed off for a drive to South Mountain to see the sunset. The drive up the mountain was a little scary as again there are no guardrails or should I say very very few, but the views were spectacular. Deidra was happy to see the cactuses and we got some great pictures. I also called my Mom from the top of it to tell her how beautiful it was and to get a chance to say hello. We drove down (they were trying to get Andy to do it for some great mountain driving experience but he said no) and then headed back to Grandma’s for a snack of popcorn. Then, we went to go get Deidra a stuffed animal (for learning how to swim) and a slushie from 7-11 before it was time to go home and hit the hay.

The pictures show South Mountain...one is on the drive up the mountain...the second one is of one of the views of Phoenix from the top.