Day 27--Scottsdale

So much for our gorgeous Arizona weather. We dropped the camper tire off at a Discount Tire. As we drove to a tribal cultural center and museum near Scottsdale it began to rain. To add to our disappointment the museum, which includes a walk-up window for food made by native women, was closed. We decided to drive to Scottsdale and find the historical museum and library near Old Scottsdale. We had a terrible time getting there because of closed-off streets, which we deduced must mean there was a parade. Passing the staging area, we knew it involved a lot of horses. By the time we got to the general area, parked the truck at a mini-mall and walked the right direction we figured we must have missed the parade because everyone else was walking towards us. The rain had let up and we approached a dripping wet young police officer who asked us if we had enjoyed the parade. He told us it was the Rodeo del Sol parade. We continued on to Old Scottsdale where they were having a street fair and had lots of signs welcoming the rodeo. We found the museum in the Old Red Schoolhouse and then walked around the area and went to the Farmers’ Market. On our way back we stopped by the Scottsdale library and admired the architecture. We picked up the tire and returned to the campsite where the temperature was 53° but the clouds were breaking up a bit. Marv wanted to put the new tire on and move the spare over to the other side but encouraged me to go to the hot tub. As the sun came out more, the temperature eventually climbed into the mid 60s. I went back and forth between the very hot tub and sitting in the somewhat cool sunshine. Marv joined me, quickly followed by our new next door neighbor, an interesting guy from Preston who welds nuts and bolts into little people and sells them at craft shows and online at www.boltpeople.com. Soon we had to get changed to go to Uncle Don and Aunt Mary’s, where Mary served us a nice spaghetti dinner and we visited. While there we could hear a couple of heavy rainstorms go through. But it was just sprinkling as we returned to the campsite to begin getting ready to leave tomorrow.