Quartz Hill

Having arrived late in Gallup, we were a little slow heading out. However we were on a mission to make it to Phoenix by 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The free breakfast in the motel was the same as it had been in other motels, sustaining but not quite satisfying.

After breakfast we hit the road with our goal in mind and stopped only for gas or the bathroom. At one of our stops, Joyce discovered a blacksmith plying the anvil a short distance from the food mart/gas station. We all went over to investigate. I love to watch a craftsman working his magic with metal. He had all sorts of iron and brass items for sale, from key chains to dinner bells. The thing that caught our eye was an iron cross with a brass heart around it. We decided that was a perfect gift for Rich and Judy. So we bought one.

The drive through the mountains was wonderful. The air was cool; the smell of pines, delicious. Off and on there were rain showers. Mostly the sun gently beamed on us.

As we descended into the desert, the temperature began to climb. Before we knew it, it was hot, hot, hot! The temp was 111 when we pulled into the parking lot of our Comfort Inn in Goodyear, a suburb of Phoenix.

We had been in contact with Richard and Judy a few times. The plan was to freshen up in the hotel and then drive a few minutes to their house in Buckeye. While we were changing into our sister shirts, Janet was talking to Tracie, and Joyce was complaining about her spider bite. After a close examination, it was decided that we should take Joyce to an urgent care clinic and check it out. The bite looked the same, but her skin was hot and hurt when it was touched. Patsy and I took Joyce to a nearby clinic while Janet finished talking with Tracie and then called Richard and Judy to let them know what was up.

While Joyce was filling out paperwork, Patsy kept her company and I walked to the Safeway and bought a pretty bag to put our iron and brass cross into. It turns out the spider bite was infected and had turned into a boil. The doctor lanced it, gave Joyce a prescription for antibiotics, and sent us on our way. We drove by the hotel to pick up Janet and headed for Buckeye.

Rich and Judy have a huge white dog, a pyranese (?). When we knocked on the door, the dog stood on its hind legs and barked at us. He was as tall as Janet! We could see him through the side glass right by the door. Richard put him outside before Judy opened the door. That was too much dog for the sisters.

By this time it was after 7 and we were all pretty hungry. Because we had unloaded all our stuff at the hotel, we were able to put up the way back seats and all 6 of us climbed into the Chevy and headed back to Goodyear to eat.

Richard told us he was being tested for Parkinson's Disease. We told him about Tim's diagnosis of Charko-Marie-Tooth, and that both Patsy and I had tremors. We suggested he talk to his neurologist about that. CMT isn't any fun, but it is not fatal like Parkinson's. I think Richard was glad to hear all of this.

We looked at photographs that Richard had hanging, and took pictures of them. They were from his and Judy's wedding. We also looked at his scrapbook of pictures of the castle. It was pretty late by the time we got back to the motel and fell into bed.Read more