| Phoenix January, 2026 | |
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Play slide show — just for looking at the pictures. | |
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We got sad news last November: David's Aunt Betty passed away in Phoenix on the 18th. She was the last of his mother's generation. Betty's son Kevin and his wife, Meg, invited us (and Loren and Steve) to the Celebration of Life last week. That was a very heartfelt, moving and memory rich service. The next day, we joined the extended family in sharing some of her ashes at a lovely spot Kevin and Meg found on the trail to Wind Cave in Maricopa's Usery Mountain Park. Most of the group continued up the desert trail to the Wind Cave (and Kevin, Steve and Helen continued on to the peak). |
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| The spot for the ashes was still on floor of valley, which made it very quick and easy to get to. From there the trail headed up Scarface to near the top. I'm sure Betty, who loved her desert home, would be very pleased to share it with all of us. |
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Kevin and Meg welcomed everyone to their house after the hike (and a shower) for dinner. And Loren enjoyed their piano — and we all enjoyed his serenade. The next day, we (Loren, Susan, Sarah and I — Steve and Helen flew back to Florida to continue their boating and camping trip with Hank and Sally) drove up to Sedona, stopping first at Montezuma's Castle — the first time I was able to use my new (thank you for the birthday present, Sarah!) lifetime national parks pass. |
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| After a lovely lunch, we continued on to Soldier Pass trail. Another lovely spot to hike around, this time several thousand feet higher than Phoenix, so a very different environment; still under towering cliff faces though, this time Sedona's red rock. |
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The next day, we headed back to Phoenix via Talisen West, a Frank Lloyd Wright house / camp / studio. There were several of the asian sculptures at various spots around the grounds. The tour noted that it started as a camp, with canvas walls. So when they decided to replace the canvas with glass, they opted not to move anything — thus the hole in the glass to accomodate the stone urn. We flew home the next day (on the same flight with Loren and Susan to Atlanta, which was convenient). It is a very different locale that we're used to and we look forward to visiting again soon — especially with Kevin and Meg — but not likely in the summer. |
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Vacation notes:
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