Cottonwood Road Trip

We took the Highlander for a spin today. We had yet to take it out on the highway, and with a trip to the Midwest just over a week away, a performance check was needed. A perfect excuse - an astronomical garage sale in the center of Arizona - Cottonwood!

Bill Kelley hosted an astronomy garage sale 2.5 years ago - it happened to coincide with a visit by Melinda and she got her first 5" telescope there. Bill is an avid amateur astronomer and telescope maker and he had copious amounts of useful stuff last time as he downsized (made space in his garage). We got a late start today, not arriving until after 1pm, and I hear there were some gongas (bargains) early. Oh well, no worms for these birds! I got a couple small dodads, but the greatest joy was in seeing friends again - Steve Coe from Phoenix, Dennis Young of Sedona, space artist turned home renovation specialist Doug Ostroski, and of course, Bill and his lovely wife Lois. Also making the trip down from the Oak Creek area to see us was Margie - a friend I've had for a decade and a half from Grand Canyon Star Party connections.

Margie recently moved into a house in the area, and while she has been bugging us for a while to visit and stay, this was the first time we were in the area, so made the side trip to check it out. It turns out she only lives a few miles from former presidential candidate John McCain. Her house is beautiful, in a nice quiet neighborhood with gated entry. She has some spectacular furnishings and art work. One of the more interesting nooks in the house is near the kitchen where a beautiful hand carved and painted Mexican table holds a Hopi Indian kachina doll representing gluttony. Note the smear of watermelon juice down his front. We're both still nursing our colds and had cats waiting for us to feed in Tucson, so left just before sunset with a promise to return for a stay.

The Highlander performed great. No trouble with the little 4 cylinder going the speed limit (you would not believe the number of speed cameras between Tucson and the center of Arizona!). Even with the hills north of Phoenix we got 27+ miles per gallon on the 420 mile trip today - not bad!