Friday March 8 2019

The purpose of this one week adventure is to drive down to Peoria AZ and catch a couple of Mariner's spring training games. Since is kinda on the way, we'll spend a couple of days at Death Valley NP.

This Friday we headed our, after dropping Max at the kitty hotel, and went down through Murphy, Grandview , Owyhee to Elko. The elevation gets pretty high down in Nevada. From Wild Horse Reservoir on down to Elko we hit some fairly heavy snow, although none was sticking to the road.

We stayed at a pretty good Comfort Inn, had dinner at our favorite Stockman's Casino and went to the movies to see Captain Marvel.

Saturday March 9 2019

Today we drove from Elko down through the wilds of Nevada. The skies cleared but it was still cold, in the 30s. Beautiful road running south between the mountain  ranges. We crossed over one range on Rt 50 through Austin at an elevation of about 7500. Looks like they'd had a foot of snow overnight.

As we headed south the temperature rose a little bit, but still in the 40s. Obligatory stop at the Candy Store in Beatty then on down the hill into Death Valley. By the time we got there the temperature had risen to the upper 60s.

This was our first look at the new facilities that have been built at Furnace Creek Ranch. The restaurant/bar/store just opened Dec 1. Its very attractive, with the same southwestern architecture that they used up at the Inn across the way.

We have discovered that this place is incredibly expensive! And since you have to have reservations for the main dining room, and the "buffet" costs a ridiculous $30 per person, we were relegated to the snack bar for dinner.

We thought we had reserved a "cabin" but since they had some maintenance issues, we got upgraded to the main hotel...which was very cool!

Sunday March 10 2019

Today was our day to hike the Ubehebe Crater trail. We had been up there once before but never hiked the rim trail. The weather was perfect for a hike - temp in the low 50s with a light breeze. The trail was steep in places, especially at the beginning, but it was a good footing gravel surface. Its about 2 miles around and it took us about and hour and 45 minutes. Spectacular!

After the hike, we stopped at Stovepipe Wells and the Sand Dunes on the way back. We also checked out the Inn to see what renovations they had made this year. Wow!

We got back in time for a swim in the AWESOME warm swimming pool! The dinner reservation at 6:30 for an excellent and very expensive meal!

Tomorrow we head across the desert for Phoenix.

Monday March 11 2019

The weather in Death Valley was so spectacular this morning, we didn't want to leave! But, alas, we have to get to Peoria for tonight's ballgame.

We headed south through the park, a quick stop at Badwater, then a slight detour to visit Tecopa Hot springs. Tecopa is a weird place. The only reason we know of it is that its on the way to the Date Ranch. The first time stopped there we noticed all these clay pots everywhere. They were all for sale, so we've bought two. This time, the pots are still there but apparently not for sale? We couldn't find anybody in authority. We didn't have time to visit the Date Ranch...Tecopa Hot Springs is NOT worth a visit by itself!

We continued south across the desert, through Baker, Searchlight, Bull Head City and Kingman. The scenery is spectacular, good roads, no traffic. Until, that is, you get on Rt 93 and 60 to go directly some 150 miles from Kingman to Peoria (Phoenix). This is a bad road....future I-7 the sign says.

By mid-afternoon the clouds a had rolled in and rain was threatening. The forecast we'd heard last night was for rain for the next few days. Not good baseball weather. And does it rain in Arizona? As we left Kingman it started raining hard and we were preparing ourselves for a rain-out. But, as luck would have it, as we neared Phoenix the rain stopped! Must be we outran it.

We found our hotel, right across the street from the ballpark, checked into our room and got to the game just a Ichiro was earning a walk in the 2nd inning. Nice little ballpark which the Mariners share with the Padres.We had our ballpark hot dog for dinner and left in the 8th inning as the rains began again. M's lost 4-1. Lots of new names..the M's are in rebuild mode.

Tomorrow afternoon we'll see another game at the White Sox in Glendale, then meet our Boise friends the Nappi's for dinner.

Tuesday March 12 2019

Not raining at the moment, but the forecast makes it pretty clear that our 1:00 PM game is in jeopardy! The Dodgers/White Sox park in Glendale is about a 30 minute drive. We left early so we could stop and check out the Sun City Grand community which was on the way. Its beautiful! 9700 homes, four golf courses, every amenity one could want. Of course, we couldn't imagine living in a place like that! While we were in their community center enjoying a complimentary cup of coffee, the skies opened....we could hear rain pounding on the roof.

There was no way this ballgame would be played. Nevertheless, we went over to the ballpark to take a look.

So, what does one do in Phoenix when its raining? We still had to meet our friends at 5:00 in Scottsdale.  We Googled Shopping Malls and came up with Biltmore Fashion Park- very nice mallish place with exclusive brands like Brooks Brothers, Saks, etc.

By now the sun was shining, sort of, but it was still cool - mid 50s. With more time on the clock we headed over to Scottsdale and walked around the historic arts district. Beautiful works of art!

We met our friends the Nappi's at a favorite Italian restaurant called Oregano's for an awesome pizza! They have lived in Scottsdale for years, only recently moving to Boise for the summer. A fun visit!

By the time day ended, we had driven a complete circle around Phoenix. Of course, as we headed up Rt 101 on the way back to our hotel, it started to rain!

Heading home tomorrow.

S cottsdale Artist row