The mild weather was perfect at the end of February with temperatures in the low 20s and sunny for the most part. We were able to wander around in shorts and t-shirts, spending an active 3 days hiking on the Butcher Jones trail around Saguaro Lake, playing tennis while admiring the mountains and various varieties of cactus in the background, and going for an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) ride through Bulldog Canyon where we saw some breathtaking desert landscape as we bounced along the rugged terrain.
One evening, we watched a fascinating play at the Phoenix Theatre called Five Presidents, which imagines what might have been discussed when the five living past and current presidents of the United States congregated to attend Richard Nixon's funeral.
Several furniture stores also had some interesting item on display including some really intricately decorated Native Indian pottery, a mosaic-covered guitar which is now probably more decorative than functional, a cool lamp whose base formed a humanoid sculpture, and some kitschy items that simulate a spill of various substances including coffee, pop, ice cream, nail polish. I was momentarily fooled when passing by one of these spill contraptions, placed strategically atop a beautiful end table.
We stopped by the saloon for a quick snack, pretending to be cowboys by sitting in saddle bar stools and drinking sarsaparilla (which is like root beer). The walls were lined with US $1 bills as well as currency from other exotic countries like Canada, China, and Costa Rica. There were so many bills mounted on the walls that you wouldn't need to break into the tills to rob this place–just go around and strip the money off the walls. The ladies washroom stalls were decorated with the torsos of old saloon dancing girls, with the thought that you could put your head over the stall door and take a photo. Unfortunately, the stalls were made for giants (or people taller than 5 feet) since only half of my head made it over the door.
Our final stop was to the Arizona wing of the Commemorative Air Force Museum to feed Rich's love of aircraft. The highlight was a tour of a Boeing B17 plane used to bomb Germany during World War II. It was nicknamed the "Flying Fortress" because it had so many machine guns. On the bottom of the plane was a ball turret, which was a small sphere from which a gunner could shoot at enemy aircraft attacking from below. The tour included the opportunity to climb into and walk through the B17, but the space was so small and tight that I was the only one in my party that decided to try it. In one portion of the plane, even I had to walk sideways to squeeze through. At the other end of the plane were a set of machine guns that tourists could hold and pretend to shoot.
This short but sweet trip was a great respite from the chilling Toronto winter weather.
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