May | 2022 | lariyasui

Trip to AZ

April 24 to May 2, 2022

Cliff & I have friends in Arizona and we had planned to visit them in Feb, but changed our plans and went to Tasmania instead. This time we actually did go to AZ. First to Prescott to visit my friends, Derrill & Sandy Fulkerson and then to Phoenix to visit Cliff’s friends Steve Hood & Alise. In all we were gone for a week.

Fulkerson’s live out in the countryside of Prescott, where the lots are large and neighbors are far apart. An ideal location with no light pollution, for Cliff to take evening photos of the milky way, which he did every night, just stepping out the front door. They had dinners reserved for every night at really great places with great food. First day, we went to downtown Prescott where we walked on Whiskey Row that has many historical saloons. The most famous is the Palace Saloon, where we sat at the bar and enjoyed a beer and crispy french fries. That evening they took us to a wonderful restaurant called Essence where they serve all kinds of fish.

The next day, we drove to Sedona and saw many views of the red rocks. We went to the Chapel of the Holy Cross on a hill surrounded with great views of red rocks. That evening we enjoyed a tapas dinner at El Gato Azul. On our last day in Prescott, Derrill took us around their neighborhood to visit friends with fancy cars, like Bentleys and Rolls. That evening we enjoyed Thai dinner with their son John, grandson Tyler and daughter Cindy.

They drove us to Phoenix where we met Steve & Alise at Mountauk restaurant in Scottsdale. We switched our luggage to Steve’s car and they drove us to Desert Botanical Garden to see Chihuly in the Desert. We loved the Chihuly sculptures all through the gardens and had dinner at Gertrudes with delicious offerings. We saw more Chihuly sculptures in a building and at dark we revisited the outdoor sculptures which were lit up and glorious to see. The next day we went to Tempe Marketplace mall to see Ken Koshio’s taiko group perform. We had a Japanese lunch and went to shop at Trader Joes before heading home to relax in the pool. Steve made huge margaritas along with guacamole & chips. The third day, we had a leisurely breakfast and drove out to Queen Olive Mill. We looked at all the various olive oils and flavored balsamic vinegars. We had lunch there and shopped.

We are so grateful for wonderful friends who hosted us and drove us around their areas. Cliff and I flew home via San Francisco and were lucky to participate in the United 75th Anniversary of flying to Hawaii. There were festivities at the SFO gate, on the plane and at the HNL gate. There was Hawaiian music and hulas, gifts for us, free beer to toast on the plane and much more!