Sunday, March 18, 2012

A Rainy Sunday Drive With My Mom & Dad Looking For Turkey Legs & A Giant Fountain

Mom Navigating Heading North In A Rainstorm
The theme for today in Arizona is rain. A lot of rain. Torrential downpour type rain.

Because of the stormy weather my mom thought it'd be fun to drive north towards the Grand Canyon and go to Jerome and Prescott.

I checked the weather conditions for Jerome and Prescott and found both to be freezing with heavy snow and a Severe Winter Weather Warning.

So, the plan to head towards northern Arizona was altered to going on a hunt for an illusive turkey leg and then to Fountain Hills to see one of the world's tallest fountains.

The Fountain Hill Fountain In Dormant Mode
We were not long on the road when we came to the Wal-Mart Supercenter. We walked in, after a lengthy hunt for a close to the door parking space, to find turkey legs, already cooked, in the deli. I told my mom and dad I'd walk ahead to find the raw turkey legs.

A short time later I was walking back to my mom and dad with an armful of the formerly illusive turkey legs. After determining which of the turkey legs I was holding were the biggest, we purchased them and continued on our way.

After what seemed a short while we were in the desert. Soon we were at Fountain Hills. It was raining hard. We had trouble finding the fountain. Had the fountain been spouting water I suspect we could have found it. At its highest the fountain spouts well over 500 feet.

The Roller Coaster Ride Into A Zion Like Canyon
I tried calling my sister to ask if she knew where the fountain was. She was not answering. So, I went into McDonald's and asked the first person I saw. He pointed me towards the road we had just been on. That road led us to the fountain which was not scheduled to erupt for another 45 minutes.

So, we continued on our way. Further north.

I was totally bum puzzled. It looked to me that we had mountains to our left and to our right. How could going north get us going back south, towards Phoenix?

After awhile my bum puzzlement was alleviated when we came to a road that led us towards Saguaro Lake and behind the mountains, which I had thought, erroneously, were a barrier.

Saguaros Near Saguaro Lake
With A Snowy Mountain Background
This two lane mountain highway was the wildest road ride I have ridden in a long time. Without my mom being able to actively monitor my dad's speed he seems to push right to the edge of the limit. And maybe a bit beyond.

Soon the scenery reminded me very much of Zion National Park. I had not eye witnessed such scenic scenery in a long time, not since the last time I was in Washington.

Not long after leaving the wild scenic wonderland we were back in semi-civilization in the form of Apache Junction. Apache Junction turned into another town and then another and then another and eventually we were back in Chandler and then our home port in Sun Lakes.

When we left Sun Lakes, this morning, the rain was falling hard. When we returned to Sun Lakes, hours later, the rain was falling even harder.

A meatloaf was waiting for us in the oven. Soon a late Sunday lunch was on the table. Along with the meatloaf  we had baked spuds with sour cream, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, green salad, tomatoes, fruit salad and lemon meringue pie. This type diet is how I grew up. Is it any wonder I have an eating disorder?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have disordered thinking about an eating disorder. Your moms cooking sounds really good. Just go light on the sour cream and go heavy on the vegies.
You really should not be whining about your moms cooking. Some of us have to eat what we create with our own hands. And some of us are lousy cooks.

Durango said...

Anonymous, if that is your real name, I was being ironic with the eating disorder remark. As in I was raised always eating right, which is why I don't have an eating disorder. And it was fat free sour cream. My mom thought it was funny someone named Anonymous thought my thinking was disordered though.

CatsPaw said...

Well, you're brave. The last ten years or so when I went home, I always drove so as to give my mother a *break* - yeah, that's what it was. I didn't want to be continually slamming on the imaginary brakes in terror as a passenger.

I'm a bit distressed to think there are turkeys out there requiring prosthetics because Walmart was pimping their legs. Maybe they supplied the turkeys with little scooters?

Durango said...

CatsPaw, I offered to drive. My offer was refused. When they came to D/FW I drove them all over with me driving their vehicle. Due to me being familiar with where I was driving. Today I had no backseat driver impulses, except ever so slightly on that roller coaster highway a few times. I also worry about all the crippled turkeys.

Betty Jo Bouvier said...

Sounds like you are having the most wonderful time with your parents. I think I will make meatloaf for dinner, it sounded so good.