Wednesday, 13 March 2019 Scottsdale to Regina

Going home today. We spent the morning cleaning up and packing. Kevin and I adjusted the garage door because it was catching on a rivet and reversing. We went for an afternoon walk to the nearby shopping district and returned by a round about route in time for our pickup at 5:30.

Our scheduled departure time was 8:15 PM, but we did not lift off until 9:10. After airborne, our pilot explained that the crew had to clear US customs before going back to the airplane for the return flight. He said there was a long lineup that delayed them. I assume that they then also had to return through security screening. That might have been part of the problem too.

We touched down in Regina at 12:40 AM Regina time, after 2.5 hours in the air. The scheduled time was only 12:20, so they must have allowed a high margin for error. We breezed quickly through customs but ran into a delay with baggage claim. We had left our car at the airport, so offered to drive Kevin and Linda home. We had traveled with only carry on luggage, but at the gate, they said the flight was 100% full and offered to check bags for free to reduce congestion. Since Linda had a checked bag anyway, she decided to also check her larger carry on, and we thought we might as well also. At the luggage carousel, the Kuntz bags came off quite quickly. Celeste’s took a while longer, but mine was the third last bag to arrive, and even then, came after a long pause that made us start to think it was lost. It finally arrived; we drove Kevin and Linda home; arrived home ourselves about 2 AM; and were soon in bed awaiting our 7 AM alarm for babysitting in the morning.

Tuesday, 12 March 2019 Scottsdale

Another leisurely start today. We left about 10 AM for Old Town Scottsdale where we had a booking for a food tour at 11. We wandered around a bit first and then joined our tour. We hit five establishments over the next three hours, sampling several different food options, all of which were delicious. (How did I not think to take pictures? Maybe Celeste has some that I can add later.) Our guide also included much history and other information about Scottsdale. We then shopped a bit in the old downtown before wandering over a few blocks to another shopping street. (Hint, this was not Kevin’s or my idea.)

When the girls gave up shopping, we hopped on the free tourist bus and rode around on a guided tour for awhile. This guide and our previous one both talked about “Historic Downtown Scottsdale.” Although the town dates to the 1880s or 1890s, almost all the historic buildings downtown date back to the 1950s. I guess that makes the four of us “historic.”

With all our touring complete at 5 PM, we returned to our car, where we had been parked for almost six hours in a three-hour zone. Our food tour guide had told us he has rarely seen it enforced, so we took our chances. We headed for home and stopped for Chinese food near the condo, returning for an evening of relaxing. We had rain showers (some substantial) off and on all day, although the sun occasionally broke through. We were glad to have our umbrellas.

The weather was on the cool side for our whole stay with rain the last two days, but much better than at home.

Monday, 11 March 2019 Scottsdale

The day began clear and sunny. After a leisurely morning, we left at 10 AM for Canyon Lake and a ride on the Dolly Steamship. Canyon Lake is an hour or more away, created by damming the Salt River in a steep mountain canyon. The last fifteen + miles were on a narrow mountain road with continuous switchbacks and hairpin turns, some labeled as 25 mph, and many labeled as 20 mph and 15 mph. It was slow and stressful driving, but very scenic. The sun-bathed desert views were beautiful. However, by the time we reached our departure point, the sky had clouded over. The resulting dullness did not do the scenery justice.

Linda had tried to book our seats for the cruise online, but, as we did not have a printer, could not print any tickets. So, we decided to take our chances and just show up. When we got there the 12 PM and 2 PM sailings were full, but we decided to wait it out and see if there were any no-shows. One fellow with two extra tickets observed us and offered his tickets. We scored another couple of no-show tickets and we were on our way at noon.

The 90-minute cruise was quite scenic, although dulled by the lack of sunlight. They hyped the possibility of seeing wildlife, but, other than birds, it was pretty slim pickings. We did see some mountain goats high up on the mountain, an eagle on its perch, quite a few turkey buzzards, and many ducks.

After the cruise, we went another couple of miles down the precarious mountain road to Tortilla Flat, where we planned to get a bite to eat. However, the small collection of buildings was swarming with tourists and we decided to head back to the city. It began to rain lightly as we started back and was raining pretty steadily most of the way. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant near the condo and ate about 4:30, and then returned to the condo for visiting, playing cribbage, and playing Rummikub, a rummy game that uses tiles instead of cards.

Sunday, 10 March 2019 Scottsdale

We arrived at the Musical Instrument Museum shortly after 9:30 AM. I found that “MIM” is a bit if a misnomer. It was much broader and would more correctly be called a music museum. It was divided into galleries that more or less corresponded to the continents. Within each gallery there were displays for each country of the region. Each display, of course, had a selection of musical instruments native to that country. (Who knew that pretty much every country in Europe had some kind of bag pipes?) But each one also had a TV screen. When you enter the museum, you are issued a head set. When you approach the TV screen, the head set picks up the audio which accompanies what is on the screen. Each screen had an average of four videos showing some traditional and modern music from the region using some of the instruments in the display. They also often included singing and folk dancing. The European exhibit often included pieces from classical masters. The North American exhibit included several different genres, such as rock, country, bluegrass, jazz, native music, and many more. There was also a gallery dedicated to specific artists from around the world, including Randy Bachman from Canada. It was all very, very interesting and much more than I expected. I would recommend it highly to anyone visiting Phoenix, especially if you are interested in music and especially if you don’t have children.

By lunch time we had only finished the European and North American galleries. We decided to check out the on-site cafeteria. Again, it was surprisingly good – much more than you would expect. 

After lunch we toured the rest of the museum until about 4 PM. From there we went to a nearby mall for a stop at the Target store. Then it was back to the condo for a light supper and visiting on the patio around the gas fire. Later we walked to a nearby shopping district and toured around. Being a Sunday, most of the stores, except restaurants, were closed, but we were only window shopping anyway as most of the stores were high end places (including a Tesla store) where we would not shop anyway.

Saturday, 9 March 2019 Regina to Scottsdale

Celeste’s brother, Kevin, and wife, Linda, invited us to join them at a condo in Phoenix for a few days. The condo is owned by Linda’s sister, Karen, and her husband, Doug. As Doug is still working (although at a less hectic pace than he used to) they only use it for a few weeks every year. The rest of the time it is available for their immediate family, and then, to extended family. Kevin and Linda had booked it for about ten days, and we were able to get away for five.

We left home about 4:30 AM for a 7:10 departure and arrived in Phoenix on time about 9:30 (I hour time difference). We met our ride, Mo, and reached the condo about 10:30. After getting settled, we walked a short distance to a nearby mall for lunch. We both had Ruebens – as good as any we have ever had with great rye bread.

After lunch we drove to McDowell Mountain Regional Park for a three-mile hike. We took a leisurely pace and the terrain was fairly level, so it was not too strenuous. There was a printed guide with 34 stopping points, so it was quite interesting. Lots of info about the local flora.

From our hike we went to the community of Fountain Hills for a short walk around and a stop for dinner at an Italian restaurant. We stopped at the mall near the condo for a few groceries and returned for a short evening of conversation before retiring fairly early.