A Day in Phoenix and Scottsdale

This was a slightly different kind of trip for us: instead of making our own arrangements, or using a travel agent to arrange a trip specifically designed for us, we took Jan Cordell’s advice and joined a Collette tour. As it turned out, we enjoyed it, though from time to time we might have made different choices.

To be fair, I have to start with June 12, the day we left Birmingham for the great southwest. We didn’t get to see any of the beautiful sights we were expecting that day, but it wasn’t without excitement of sorts.

You see, we got up at 4:30 AM to get to the airport for a 6:30 flight to Atlanta and from there on to Phoenix, Arizona to meet the tour group we would be with for a week. Great idea, but I had misread the information, and the flight left BHM at 6:00.

Without us.

Luckily a very kind lady helped us, so even though most flights were full, we eventually boarded a plane. For a 3:26 flight. Thanks to good people like Mark Hayes and Paul McCracken, we were able to go home and twiddle our thumbs there instead of at the airport. Then we had a little more thumb-twiddling time in Atlanta, and a further delayed flight to Phoenix. We got to the hotel well after dinner. We crashed.

June 13 – Phoenix and Scottsdale

Hotel Sculpture

We were in a nice enough hotel, and that was a good thing, because the two-hour time difference had us up and around early. Real early. We walked around a bit, looking at the cacti and unfamiliar trees on the property, enjoyed a big breakfast, met the rest of the tour group, and boarded the bus for a tour of the city.

The first thing we did was attend a lecture-demonstration on Hopi culture, and I enjoyed that very much. Good information about Hopi history, arts, and culture in general, and their relationships with the Navaho.

Postcard

Old Capitol

After that the day took a little turn to the left, to speak cryptically and metaphorically. We boarded a bus for a two-hour ride through Phoenix and Paradise Valley. We had a very pleasant local guide, but the obvious intent of the tour was to tout Phoenix and its growth, including too much about downtown’s revival. That wasn’t why we were on this tour, and I “fretted” a little. I did enjoy the visit to the old capitol building, now a museum. We bought a postcard that was sort of prophetic. You’ll find out what I mean if you wait till you read about temperatures down in the Grand Canyon.

Scottsdale Mission

Judy fins a bell!

The day wasn’t a total loss, however. We stopped in Scottsdale, and got off the bus in the section with shops and restaurants. Judy and I walked around a bit, not too happy with the touristy bits but charmed by some of the older buildings. There were shops for all sorts of taste and expense. We went in a couple of jewelry shops and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant sort of on the edge of the touristy part. The family-owned place had been in business since 1958 and served really good food.

After two hours in Scottsdale, we boarded the bus again for a short drive to Chief Dodge Jewelry. We were treated to a short talk about the history and technique of Navaho and Hopi Jewelry. The visit there was both informative and interesting, but it wasn’t the “demonstration” I expected from the description we got ahead of time.

By 3:30 I was at the pool.