The First Day of the Journey

Thursday 24 April, Donna, Kris's aunt, arrived early from SLC and we loaded up the Pilot and headed for Mesa, Arizona. Donna spent the two weeks with the other Beck girls in Arizona. The trip down went well and rather quickly. We made it to the Phoenix city limits in just nine hours, and that included a short stop for lunch at Glen Canyon Dam. Getting to Mesa took another hour. Maren, Gavin, and the boys drove to Mesa from Peoria so we could visit a bit before we flew off to Houston the next morning. Grandmother made one of her wonderful suppers with bread, cheeses, cold cuts, and other good things to nibble. The aunts were all there as well.

Grandmother Boynton was kind enough to take care of Winnie while we were in Texas. She and her sisters treated Winnie like a princess; she never had it so good. She was spoon fed on at least one occasion.

A cool and breezy lunch at the dam with Aunt Donna

Dickie doing bug abatement at the Maverick in Flagstaff

Harry David, Junior, Junior

We spent a short night in Mesa before flying to Texas. The adventure continues in the next post.

OXO

D.

Eating One's Way Across Houston

Friday 25 April at o-dark-thirty in the morning, Bonnie picked us up at Grandmother's for a "shuttle" to Sky Harbor Airport where we caught a very early flight to Houston. Debra Sue Darling Gibbs met us at Hobby Airport in her spiffy new Acura MDX. She set the GPS, affectionately know as Pearl, and we headed for Houston's, a great restaurant that has wonderful stuff of all sorts to eat. After lunch, before heading north to Kingwood, we stopped at Central Market, purveyors of every good comestible known to mankind - seriously. The quality is remarkable. We picked up some odds and ends that we really never had time to eat. Because, for example, that night we went to Raffa's, a new restaurant on Lake Houston near Deb's house. Ian was driving his brother Brian home from BYU and so we were joined by Hilary who was spending the weekend alone.

Saturday 26 April, we had chance to see Hilary and Ian's great new home before going back into Houston for lunch at Chacho's. It is probably my favorite place we ate. The carne assada quesadilla was spectacular. We kept the Mexican theme going with an afternoon viewing of Under the Same Moon. It was great and I would highly recommend it to y'all. That evening we had some Brazilian food at the Emporio Brazilian Cafe.

Leavin' on a jet plane

Katy, Kris, and Deb at Houston's

Central Market makes your mouth water

Hilary and Katy posing in Debby's fantastic new kitchen -
note those spectacular hand-blown glass pendants

Mr. and Mrs. Brown's spiffy new home in Kingwood,
not too far from Debby's

Hilary looking great in her new living room

Kris, David, Katy, and Debby at Chacho's

Those silly Taylor and Gibbs girls at Chacho's

A really good film

Oba, Brasil!

The Emporio Brazilian Cafe

Sunday, we went to church and then made roast beast Sunday dinner for Deb, Hilary, and Chris Brown, Ian's mother. Yum!

That was just the beginning. The fun continued unabated!

OXO

D.

The Fun Just Never Ends

On Monday 28 April we went to the Woodlands on the other side of Houston to visit some shopping venues. There, Debby taught me one of those essential life lessons that had heretofore evaded me somehow: men are hunters, women are gatherers! We started at the Korean stuff dealers and ended up at Jones New York where Katy found a very cute frock that required a cardigan in white or yellow. We broke for lunch at Tommy Bahama's and then continued the search for the cardigan (or so I thought). I was anxious to head straight for the cardigans and that is when Debby taught me the critical life lesson. I, as a hunter, wanted to go straight for the prey while they as gatherers were gathering all kinds of things along the way; the real prey was essentially immaterial. Now I get it! When the gathering was completed (the hunt for the cardy was also a success, in spite of lots of gathering along the way) we returned to Kingwood and had supper with Ian's mom, Chris, at a Thai/Japanese restaurant close to home -- satay and sushi. Yummy.

Debby works in the temple on Tuesdays so we met her there where she accompanied our session. Afterwards we went to Lupe Tortilla for lunch. We had to pace ourselves for later so Katy and I split our lunch. That afternoon Katy and I mowed Brown's lawn so Chris could be ready for a shower at her home that night. We had supper later that evening in downtown Houston at Dolce Vita with Ian, Hilary, and Ian's brother, Brian. Those men had just arrived from Utah. The restaurant is set in an old Craftsman-era home and has a great menu.

Wednesday morning we packed, hung by the pool (it has been cool and beautiful in Houston and the pool is still cold), and then headed to town for lunch at Yia Yia Mary's Greek restaurant. After lunch there was just enough time for a little gathering (no hunting) at Dillard's at the Galleria. With our gathering baskets full, we headed to Hobby airport where we bid fond farewell to Debby and headed back to Phoenix.

Finishing up the key lime pie at Tommy Bahama's

The new king of the gatherers -- as if!

Katy Kathryn strikes a celebratory pose

This Texano-Italianato shopping center is quite amazing,
but has the most common stores imaginable

Debby, Katy, and Kris at the temple

The Houston Temple

Happy Dickie enjoying lunch at Lupe Tortilla

Katy, Brian, Ian, Hilary, Deb, and Kris at Dolce Vita

Katy cooling her heels

After lunch at Yia Yia Mary's

The gatherers squeezing in a few items
before flying back to Phoenix

We had wonderful time in Houston! Thanks Gibbs and Browns!

OXO

D.

Phoenix - Peoria, to Be Exact

Wednesday 30 April, we flew from Houston to Phoenix. We had a slight delay in Houston with a "broken" aircraft, but arrived only about a half an hour late. Bonnie and Grandmother met us at Sky Harbor and we picked up Winnie and the car in Mesa. We headed up to Peoria in the north-west corner of greater Phoenix to spend a couple of days with Maren, Gavin, Finn, and Harry.

Thursday May 1, we drove back into Phoenix to the Museum of Art and spent a few pleasant hours there. They have a nice collection, and the building has become quite wonderful. While in Phoenix we drove around the downtown area, including the capitol. We returned to Peoria and had lunch at the In-N-Out Burger -- always a treat for us deprived Utahns. That evening Gavin feted us with dinner at Pei Wei and we reciprocated with ice cream at Cold Stone.

Friday May 2, The girls went out gathering and I played Wii with Finn at home. He killed me at golf and tennis, but I beat him at bowling -- wahoo! Gavin got away from work a little early and we drove way the heck out west of Glendale to a Brazilian restaurant. Katy had a nice missionary moment with the woman who runs the place. She is currently studying with the missionaries and even had her Portuguese BofM with her at work. We headed back up the 101 to the HUGE Cardinals' stadium (where the Super Bowl was played). There is a lively new development in that area called the Westgate, with shops and restaurants. There we ejoyed the rest of the beautiful Arizona-spring evening.

Kris, Katy, Maren, Finn, and Harry at the Phoenix Museum of Art

Finn relishing being able to touch the art in the kids area

Katy and Harry taking note of the view from an unusually placed window

Lunch at In-N-Out

The gang at the Brazilian restaurant

Finn chose not to be photographed

Enjoying the fountains at the Westgate

They crank up the tunes and turn up the water pressure
for a Bellagio-like experience - very fun

Pop Pop and Grammy watching Finn and Harry
flirting with the geysers in the splash plaza

The weather was beautiful and the evening was so pleasant that it was hard to believe the temperature will soon be in the triple digits.

OXO

D.

Saturday With Frank

On Saturday 3 May, we spent the day with Frank Lloyd Wright -- well, at least with his design. We motored over from Peoria to Scottsdale, to the Arizona Biltmore, built by FLW in 1929. It is in splendid condition and still evokes the feeling of the heydays of Hollywood. We lunched at the California Pizza Kitchen and then drove north to Taliesin West. Lloyd Wright built Taliesin West after falling in love with the desert while spending time in Arizona working on the Biltmore. He bought the land with his fees from Falling Water. Wright established a school there for students who wanted to study with him. He had a great racket going: they had to pay to study there and then along with their studies, they did all the work around the place. They still have a racket going; they charge $27 entry fee for a partial tour. It seemed like a lot to pay, but I have always wanted to visit and, heck, when will I be there again? It was very interesting, but both Maren and I felt that it was rather run-down. It needs a bit of freshening up

The Arizona Biltmore as it appeared in the early thirties

As it appeared on the day of our visit

Katy, Kris, Maren and Harry in the Biltmore gardens

The Biltmore dining room retains much of its original flavor

The logo on the gate at Taliesin West was taken from
petroglyphs found on the site

Taliesin West is one of FLW's best-known works

The arbor along the back of the drafting room

A small pool just outside the "kiva," a windowless room
used as a movie theatre/conference room

Maren and Katy Kathryn, two of the silliest girls in all of Arizona

It made us happy to see these two important FLW designs. We had a great day.

OXO

D.

Mesa With Grandmother

On Sunday 4 May, we went to church with the Youngs and then made Sunday dinner. After dinner we packed the car and headed to Mesa to stay with Grandmother Boynton. The Youngs also made the one-hour trip from Peoria and spent the evening with us. We went to the Mesa Temple grounds to enjoy the twilight hours in that beautiful spot.

Kris, Katy, Maren, Gavin w/ Harry, and Grandmother at the Temple -
Finn doesn't like to have his picture taken

On Monday, we spent the day getting Grandmother's computer needs squared away. She needed a new printer, but her computer was so old that it would no longer interface with newer printers (and it was so slow that the internet was a nightmare). We helped her choose a new laptop and printer and set her up with a wireless system. That evening, the Youngs came to Mesa and we celebrated Cinco de Mayo at the Chipotle Grill. After dinner the troops had a night swim at the Verde Groves (Grandmother's development) pool. The weather in Mesa was spectacular with highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s so the pool was heated and comfortable.

Kris, Grandmother, Maren, Gavin w/ Harry, and Katy
after dinner at the Chipotle Grill

Tuesday 6 May, we ran a number of errands including the pick up of all the computer stuff. Katy spent the day getting everything transferred from the old computer to the new. We had a nice lunch break at Tia Rosa's Taqueria, then returned to finish the computer installation. Tuesday evening the Boynton uncles, aunts, and cousins came over for a visit. Ryan and Chris also helped out with a few computer issues. Those wild and crazy boys convinced Grandmother to climb on Chris's motorcycle.

Katy and Grandmother getting computer stuff sorted out

The ladies at Tia Rosa's Taqueria

Ryan and Chris

That Grandmother is something else!

Wednesday 7 May, we headed home. The trip home was beautiful. Utah was fresh and green after (and during) a spring rain storm.

The Beck sisters (plus Kris and Lynna, Raye's daughter) as we were leaving Mesa
L to R: Lynna, Raye, Donna, Kris, Carol, and Bonnie

We had a wonderful time in Texas and Arizona. Thanks to the the Gibbs, the Youngs, and Grandmother for making it such a great trip, and thanks to Bonnie for running the airport shuttle.

OXO

D.