Prescott to Goodyear

We made the journey from Prescott southtoward Phoenix to visit my cousins in Goodyear, Arizona. The day wasbeautiful. The further south we pressed, we began to see saguarocactus and then more. Some grew to 25 or 30 feet tall. They are theicon of the wild west, and Wile E. Coyote. The land was parched, andI made note that out here, Arizonians take liberties with thelanguage, calling things “rivers” that have no water. How darethey. Five days later, those gullies would become dangerous rapidsas rainwaters raced down mountains washing anything in their path,including stupid people.

But on this day, the modest cloudspainted the blue sky and temperatures climbed into the high 60s. Thefamily gathering was exciting, but brief. Sara and Cory have twoadorable kids, Max and Addison. I have a new appreciation for myWestern family.

On the way home, we made a few stops, just for fun. We visited Cabela's, an outdoor store. My familiarity withCabela's comes from the Iditarod, because they sponsor the websitewith race results. What we found was a very frog-friendlyatmosphere. Frog Angel approved heartily, and really made his firstappearance in what FA calls “Angelzona.” FA's excitement atCabela's skyrocketed when we entered and saw “The Fly Store.” Frog Angel was in heaven. Again.

Cabela's features all kinds oftaxidermied wildlife. It's outdoor clothes and gear are top of theline, but I wasn't really there for shopping, just photo-opping! Cousin Paul helped with some of the pictures. FA got my attention topoint out a line of clothing that made us both laugh – Frog-Toggs!

Froggtoggs... wings sold separately.

Regal beasts.


Frog Angel says the polar bear needed an attitude adjustment.

Then, it was off to Trader Joe's. Butwe couldn't find it in the maze of retail stores on Bell Road nearGlendale. I stopped a couple who looked it up on their iphone,called the store, and directed us – we were only off by one trafficlight. They kindly posed with FA.

Trader Joe's has awesome merchandise. We were in search of these dried, candied ginger pieces that are outof this world, but, well, they are out of this world because youcan't get them anymore at Trader Joes. While Paul scarfed samples,Lois stocked up on some of their favorite items. I found a packageof dark chocolate-covered ginger. Wow! Is it ever good!

We made it back to Prescott in time towatch “24.” Cousin Lois is a fanatic, and even though I skippedout on last season, I'm an avowed Jack Bauer freak. A word ofadvice: don't visit the Internet Movie Database online, because itlists how many episodes the characters will last. They might as welllabel that page Buzzkill.com.

The Snows of Arizona

Snow fell in the higher altitudesWednesday, and the road was glazed with ice. This was enough forCousin Paul to break out the antique Flexible Flyer and the raccoontail hat. The giant snowflakes made the news in Phoenix.

The next day, the trees bent beneaththe weight of the snow that fell gently. Cousin Paul broke out theplastic toboggan, carfully waxing it before heading to the street. Neighbors come out to watch him, which Cousin Lois says onlyencourages him. Don, the neighbor up the hill, came out with hisfour dogs, who chased Paul down the hill, barking and jumping on himwhen he coasted to a stop. This time, I joined him and rode the sleddown the street. The walk back up the quarter-mile track was brutal. The snow turned to rain, and Paul's creekbed and dam system heldthe water better than any Fox News story.

Next: Fox News stories, and myconversion.

All photographs copyright Kerry Gleason 2010