Traveling in Arizona

I’ve been out of town for about a week. First I went to the Arizona mountains for a celebration of my brother in law L’s life. It was a bittersweet day — sad because of the loss of my sister S’s husband, but sweet because I got to see so many family members that I haven’t seen for a long time – my brother, three sisters, my birth Mom, and a bunch of nieces and nephews.

I flew into Phoenix, and my sister T and a caravan of people on their way to the service picked me up at the airport, and we continued on our way. We still had a 4 hour drive ahead of us. There was a lot of beautiful scenery along the way. Most of the shots were taken through the window of a car going 70 miles an hour so they aren’t the clearest photos.

But I kind of liked the blurry yellow flowers in this one.

Late in the drive, the skies turned a bit stormy

The following day, we took a walk through the town we were staying in. I tried to capture the town feeling by taking photos of a few of the signs.

And one photo of the mountains that still have a bit of snow on their peaks.

After our walk and breakfast, we went to help get things ready for the lunch that would follow the service for my brother in law. Friends and neighbors brought tons of food. I wish I would have taken a photo of all of it but it was pretty hectic in the kitchen.

A color guard was present for the service.

After the minister spoke, some family members and friends got up and talked about L. He was known as a man who was always helping people out. It’s a wonderfully, close mountain community. The community center where we had the service and lunch was my brother in law’s dream and there will be a special plaque there commemorating him.

L used to played guitar with this group of men, who were at the service as part of the celebration.

A few people danced along with the music.

The next day, I rode back to California with my little sister T to visit with her for a couple days.

It was a whopping 10 hour drive to California. I’ll continue with the California part of the story in my next post.

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9 Comments

  1. Maery Rose…I’m sorry for the circumstances that got you out of town, but it is good that you were able to hook up with so many family members. Spending time with your sister will be great…and I imagine you will see your son?

    Was it difficult to find someone to watch all your critters? Enjoy the rest of your break.

  2. I’m so sorry about your family’s loss. You all must be so sad. At the very least, you got to reconnect with your large family, which must have felt good.

    Beautiful photos. I love the blurred yellow flowers too. I also love the photo of you and your sister.

  3. I am very sorry for your loss. At the same time it is good to re-connect with your family and share some warm memories.

  4. I’m sorry for your family’s loss, but you captured the flavor of the town and the spirit of the people there very well.
    And I love that last photo very much.
    I hope you and your sis are enjoying your time together.

    ~Lisa

  5. My heart and prayers go out to your family. Have a good visit with them and a grand time with your sis. Your pics are amazing!!!

    God bless you and I’ll keep ya in my prayers!!!

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