Phoenix and beyond

After we left Springerville we had to decide whether to go to Flagstaff or Phoenix to do truck winterizing and veggie processing upgrades. We decided to go to Flagstaff because our friend Katie Irwin had loaned us the use of her house while she is rafting in the Grand Canyon. We were rolling down I-40 in this photo when the full moon was rising over this stretch from Holbrook to Flagstaff.

We found that there was plenty of crusty snow and ice on the ground in Flagstaff and that it would be necessary to do the repairs on the street since the driveway had vehicles already. Plus that, it was cold except at mid-day and storm is following storm right now.
Sooo, we took the Sedona road for the beautiful red rock canyon and valley extrusions even though the traffic and “yup” was disappointing for a weekday in mid-winter. Example, you can’t pull out anywhere to just savor the view without paying 8$ to the Forest Service. This was the first place we had seen this scenic viewpoint rip-off phenomenon.
The road to Phoenix reminded me a lot of I-5 to L.A. over the grapevine as it spirals down and down. Even the buildings seemed to mirror Southern California. The one difference was the appearance of sentinel saguaro cacti everywhere, beautiful and unique in their thousands.

It's good to be with Jim, Michael's brother. Michael has already done a lot on the truck and the weather is warm.

The hard news is that Sally Praiser, mother of Sheldon and grandmother of Orien, has died. It was said to be peaceful and in her sleep. Now I fly to LA to be with them for this dear woman's funeral.
I'm so glad we got to visit her in Ontario in October on this life voyage. Precious Life.