Our time in Prescott comes to an end, Aug. 29, 2018

One of the things we did this month was to go to several open houses, learning about neighborhoods, the 150+ HOAs (and lack of zoning), house prices and more.  One house we visited had this nice bike parked nearby.

I went back to Phoenix on the 21st.  One thing we noticed in Prescott was all kinds of signs for the many Republicans running for office.  In Phoenix, I walked the half mile from our home to The Windsor for dinner with Anne.  While there were many signs in Phoenix, I saw none for Republicans, only signs for Democrats.

Tuesday the 28th was my last day volunteering at the Prescott Habitat ReStore.  Near the end of my shift, they had a small cake, a card and a gift of a paperweight for me.  I have really enjoyed my time there - both the staff and volunteers do a great job of creating order out of the chaos of donations and manage to make a profit to build more homes.

Wednesday we pack for our departure on Thursday to attend to appointments in Phoenix before we leave for our Flagstaff rental on Saturday.  Adios, Prescott - I hope we visit again.

More sights around Prescott, weekend of August 11 - 12, 2018

On one of my walks, I passed by another group of homes built in, around and on top of the granite boulders that make up the Granite Dells.  These photos show homes on the hills above and behind a couple of the big box stores on the northern end of Gail Gardner Way.

I could see Thumb Butte in the distance; the flat tan space at bottom left is the side of the Wal-Mart store.

These homes are on the hills directly behind the Wal-Mart on Gail Gardner Way.  They had to remove a lot of the boulders and you can see some of the fencing they installed.

On a car ride to check out different areas of Prescott, we went to the end of Kile Street, where there is a parking lot and from which we could access the middle of the Centennial Trail we had hiked a month ago.  There was this interesting artwork at the entrance of a home just before the trail head and parking lot.

Fort Whipple Museum, Savannah Sipping Society, Saturday Aug. 4, 2018

Anne and Shawn came to visit for the weekend, arriving Friday evening for dinner and leaving after noon on Sunday.  On Saturday afternoon, Patty, Shawn and I visited the Fort Whipple Museum located in what had been the commander's home when it was active U.S. Army post.  The fort started in the 1860s in the so-called "Indian Wars" against the Apache and other tribes that resisted settlement by Anglos (Europeans descendants).  During WWI, the fort eventually became an Army hospital for treatment of tuberculosis, and later a Veteran's Administration hospital - it now has some 30 buildings on the remaining acreage (much of the original land has been transferred to the Yavapai Reservation, the state of Arizona for Yavapai Community College and other purposes).  Here is a link to the center's website,  The museum had a lot of interesting historical information about the fort and Arizona, and much about the health care aspects as well.

Saturday evening, Anne, Shawn, Patty and I went to have dinner at Bin 239, a favorite restaurant.  I had looked at their website online and had even called their phone - both indicated the restaurant was open and did not take reservations.  When we arrived, the building was dark and the doors closed - we later discovered that the owners closed the restaurant July 16 - after 13 years, they decided to retire.  So we ended up walking to Murphy's Restaurant, where we enjoyed a pleasant dinner.  And then we headed to Prescott Center for the Arts Stage Too for a show.  Patty and I had been to PCA's Main Stage, a theater in a former church which has about 200 seats, but this was our first visit to Stage Too which has only 50 seats - a very intimate setting for a show.  We watched "Savannah Sipping Society" - it was wonderful, with all of us (and the rest of the audience) laughing uproariously.  Here is a link to a promo for the show.  A wonderful time was had by all.