PHOENIX

We left Tucson and headed to Phoenix where we spent March at Leaf Verde RV resort in Buckeye, AZ.  It was a lovely park, convenient to everything but with no shade. Although we had a palm tree in our spot, it provided no relief and the trailer next to us was to small to add any shade relief. 

 

Since we were in Phoenix partly for baseball spring training, the next day we went to our first game. We had great seats along the first base side at Surprise Stadium where we saw the Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 10-0. Larry secured several autographs and was very happy. 

 

That weekend we went to Melrose on 7th Ave Street Fair & Car show.   It was not like the craft fairs or art festivals we had been too. It was mostly vender types (like infomercials) and food trucks plus lots of classic cars. You know the guys liked it. 

 

On a local PBS tv station, we saw a program called "Check Please" where they rated local restaurants. One looked especially yummy so we all headed out to Flavors of Louisiana.  We went several times during our stay in Phoenix and had: Dunkin' Catfish (fried catfish strips over rice covered with crawfish etouffee), Cajun-fried shrimp and catfish, fried pickles and green tomatoes, hushpuppies, coleslaw, red beans and rice, dirty rice and beignets. Yum. Yum. 

 

Our church while in Phoenix was First Southern Baptist Church-Buckeye. It was a little more reminiscent of our Longview church but with a much smaller choir.  We really liked the preacher  and the messages he brought. He identified our accent (especially Larry's) right away and knew we were from Texas. 

 

We visited Goodyear Stadium was where we saw the Texas Rangers beat the Cincinnati Reds 11-5. Great seats again and a good time was had by all. 

 

Cafe 25:35 was a great find for us. Their mission statement scripture was Matthew 25:35, which explains their name and desire as a business.  They had wonderful breakfast and lunch which we had several times. The cafe and the business next to them, had free fast wifi so it was a great place to get a good meal and update apps at the same time. 

 

 

 

NASCAR was in town so we went to the race. Beverly knew nothing about NASCAR racing so it was a lot of fun seeing her enthusiasm and excitement leading up to the race.  We got there early so we could check out all the displays. When we saw Richard Petty and told her to take a picture of him, her response was "Which one is he.".  Oh Beverly, we have lots more to teach you. 

 

 

 

 

One night we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens to see the Bruno Munro's Sonoran Lights. The

artist used fiber optic lights to create beautiful displays throughout the gardens. One display used water filled 2 liter bottles with fiber optics inside in different colors. Contrary to the norm, this was one time when a picture was better than the real thing. The colors were much more vibrant in pictures. 

 

 

 

While Larry and Beverly went to a local music festival/workshop, we went to a local car show. Since it was sponsored by a Cougar Club, there were lots of older Cougars and Mustangs from old to new. 

California was next. Will report on that soon.