The 5 and Diner, 27th St Phoenix, AZ

I am in love with the 5 & Diner Cafe. We happened to find this place when we went to get my ultrasound done. The atmosphere is all 50's, with the waitresses wearing bobby socks and ponytails and poodle skirts. And of course there is a neat counter there, why else would I love it? This day we didn't sit there so all I could do was stare at it lovingly across the room.



One consolation of sitting in a booth, though, was the cute old time juke boxes on all the tables. Of course the didn't work, but you COULD flip through all the old song titles and reminisce about the good old days..



The breakfast wasn't bad either. Yeah, I order my eggs over medium, then mash them up with a fork. FabGrandpa had a patty melt, which looked and smelled divine.

The prices aren't that bad--comparable to what we would pay at Cracker Barrel or Denny's, plus they had a frequent diner card that let's you get your 5th meal at half price, and your 10th one free. too bad we're leaving town tomorrow.

A Holiday Thought For You

The weather in Phoenix today started out sunny and warm. It was such a nice day that I did not think about taking an umbrella with me when we went out to do our weekly shopping. So, as I was walking along the sidewalk from one store to another, in the rain, I brushed past a young man on the sidewalk with a scowl on my face, not making eye contact with him when he asked for 30 cents so he could “catch the bus.”

In an instant after I walked past him, I felt so guilty, because I have always believed myself to be a nice, benevolent person. Because there have been many times in my life when I needed something, and thanks to the generosity of friends, strangers or acquaintances I barely knew, I received whatever it was I needed without asking for it.

I have not thought about my friend Michelle in many years. She was one of those people who came into my life “for a season”, and who helped me out the kindness of her heart. I had known her for a couple of years, when I found out that my then husband had been unfaithful to me in a most awful way, a way that I can not talk about here. I went to an attorney to talk about a divorce, and found out that I needed $1800 to pay for it.

Later that same day, when I needed someone to talk to, I turned to Michelle for the comforting shoulder to cry on and the ear to listen. When I told her what was going on, she immediately, without hesitation, offered to pay for my divorce. I was astounded, as it had not been my intention to ask for a loan---I just needed to vent over what was happening. She told me that she had been left a trust fund several years earlier, that meted out to her $1800 every year once a year, and that she usually gave that money to her church, but that she thought I needed it more and that she thought her church would understand. And she made it perfectly clear that it would not be a loan—it was a gift from her to me. The thought of Michelle went through my head in those few steps I took away from the tatooed young man.

So, I turned around and walked back to the young man on the sidewalk. He had a surprised look on his face, but told me that he rode his bicycle to town, and did not want to ride it home in the rain. He was short just 30 cents for a bus ticket. He said he would give me a postage stamp in exchange. I gave him all the change in my purse, and shooed away his offers of an AA battery out his MP3 player, or the offer to play a song in his harmonica.

As I walked away, I still felt ashamed of myself, for not IMMEDIATELY offering to give him the 30 cents. I have always believed that we should be kind to everyone we meet, because we never know which one is going to be our guardian angel. That elderly woman, who is tottering along, blocking your path? That obnoxious child who is screaming at the top of his lungs in the grocery store checkout? That tattooed, multi-pierced young man on the sidewalk? Which one will it be? And because that 30 cents? Will it still “count” as a good deed done, because I walked on past with a hardness in my heart first?

Some Random Pic From My Camera

FabGrandpa says I take pictures all the time, and he is right. This morning when I took the card out of the camera to upload the pics onto the computer, I had quite a variety of stuff on there.

Here is the mountain across the highway from the Christmas tree lot (behind the outlet mall) at sunset the other day:




It rained most of the week in Phoenix. The day we had to break down the trailer to take it two blocks across I-17 for warranty work to be done, it was pouring down. We both got soaked.



You never know what you will see in an RV park. Here, obviously, is a chair having a picnic.



My new scarf. While I was out Christmas shopping, there was a deal too good to pass up. I love wearing scarves in winter. It also helps prevent those sore throats I am prone to get.


An experiment with light. I was playing around with the camera during one of the many dull moments at the Christmas tree lot. This turned out pretty cool.

A Friendly Visit

Yesterday I had some visitors at the Christmas tree lot. Harlan and Arnette, a couple from California who are workamping in Mesa, stopped by to say Hi! Arnette introduced herself and said she reads my blog. She really introduced herself as "Anonymous", as she has commented a couple of times anonymously. It was great to meet them.

This is their first time workamping. Arnette just retired in May, but Harlan has been retired for 12 years. Lucky dog! They described their job as being "food service", but what they do is serve punch and coffee and oversee whoever is serving the food at meal functions at the campground where they are staying. It sounded like a pretty good gig.

Oh, I just LOVE being recognized. It is so much fun.

Project 365 Day 55 Sunrise In Phoenix

I am almost never up before the sun comes up, but FabGrandpa wanted to get the oil changed in the truck today. He wanted to be first in line so we had to be there before 7:00 a.m.!! While he was getting the truck stuff done, I bought groceries. We had everything done and back home before 8:30. Can you say NAP?

Project 365 Day 51 Cloudy Day

It was a cloudy, rainy day in Phoenix.

Got Herbs?

I know I have told you that we have both been sick since we got to Phoenix, but this is getting to be really ridiculous. We got here October 29^th, so that it has been, what, more than two weeks that we have been grumpy, frumpy, whiney, snotty, and all the other seven dwarves combined. And quite frankly, I am sick to death of being sick. I want to go play, I want to have some fun, I want to be able to just sit down and read or play computer games without having to blow my dang nose every five minutes!!!

We have decided we must be allergic to Phoenix. We have lived in very rural areas for about two years now, first in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, then in north Georgia, and then at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Because it is so rural in those places, there is not much traffic, therefore, not much pollution. We have had no nasal/sinus/breathing problems, except when we were in Atlanta and now in Phoenix.

So, when we went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we borrowed their yellow pages book, and called about a dozen health food stores and herb stores, looking for one that sells our favorite brand of herbs. No luck. No one here sells them, except for one store way down in Tempe about a hundred (or 35) miles away. Through a lot of traffic.

Then, we decided to go to Target, which is just a couple blocks down the road from Cracker Barrel, because FabGrandpa needed some new pajamas. Well, he wears those long flannel pants that tie at the waist, but he calls them his pajamas. After we found him some of those, we paid and started to leave, but then I saw a Salon Supply place. We needed some of that way expensive shampoo and conditioner that is the only one he will use, so I went in to see if they had some. Of course, they did, and whoo hooo! It was buy two get one free. So, for ONLY $49 I got one bottle of shampoo and two bottles of conditioner, which is good because I use the conditioner, too.

In the same shopping center, there was an herb shop called Hi-Health. We decided to go in to see if they had our brand of herbs. They did not. But they did have another brand that had the same combination we were looking for—Fenugreek and Thyme. The combination of Fenugreek and Thyme will dry up clogged nasal passages and get rid of sinus problems for us in just a few minutes. We got those and a bottle of Echinacea and Goldenseal. We have never used that particular combo, but it is supposed to clear up chest congestion.

We both took some in the truck before we left the parking lot. And, let me tell you, I feel better already. Maybe tomorrow we can go outside and play.

Wandering Lost In The Desert, But Finding Great Gluten Free Pizza Saves The Day!

I sat at my computer for at least an hour this morning mapping out our day. We were going to Mesa to the Camping World store to get a few things we needed, like a water filter for the trailer (to try to alter the taste of the Phoenix water supply, ick) and a new light fixture for over the sink. I wrote down the address of each place we wanted to go, and consulted my map program, Microsoft Trips and Streets, then wrote down the directions for how to get there. This would have all worked out if I had actually READ the directions again once we got on the road.


And, those roads didn't look like BIG roads on the map, they looked like maybe four lanes with a median in between. But, when we got up there on that 101, it looked like a major interstate highway, four lanes on each side, with construction going on and SHIT! And I was driving, and FabGrandpa was sitting over there grumping and fussing and making me all nervous... Anway, we wound up going all the way to Glendale by way of Scottsdale, which is like driving all the way around I-285 in Atlanta during rush hour. Crap!


Finally, we stopped at a gas station and called Camping World, and got found again, and he started driving and I sat over there and fumed steam out my ears. So, after driving farther than we did yesterday to get to Phoenix from Flagstaff, we arrived at Camping World and spent some more money.


As we made our way back home, we had a couple of other places we wanted to go, but since we had actually seen the road they were on before we got lost going to Camping World, we knew where we were going. Sort of. And here is where I have to tell you that Phoenix has some very cool road art on their highways. Bridge abutments, overpasses, and concrete walls display some really neat artwork: (click on the pictures to make them bigger so you can see the art)





Our destination for lunch was Picazzo's Pizza on Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard in Scottsdale. I read about the place on the Phoenix Celiac Support Group's web page. They not only have gluten free pizza available, they have an entire 4 page gluten free menu. They even have gluten free beer on tap. And gluten free deserts! I was in gluten free heaven. The first thing I noticed, though, was the artwork on the walls. This was a classy place, too.


This mural was on the wall near our table. It made me feel like I was in a busy place, even though there weren't many customers in there at the time.



We ordered the medium Puttanesca pizza with white sauce. It had olive oil and garlic sauce, mozzarella, fresh Roma tomatoes, Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and feta cheese topped with fresh basil. OMG! FabGrandpa and I ate every bite!



And, FabGrandpa said he would be inclined to lick his plate if it wouldn't make him look so much like a pig. Very yum, he said. We will probably go there to eat at least once a week while we are in this town. Oh, and they have one in Sedona and one in Flagstaff, too.


Click on the picture below to see their menu:

Gone To Phoenix

We left Flagstaff around 10:00 a.m. this morning. We had one last look at the San Franscisco Peaks from I-40 as we left town:


We got on I-17 headed south. We only had to go about 120 miles so it was a short trip.

The road had a lot of 6% mountain grades and curves. I was pinching a hole in my seat! It was quite a ride!

About half way there, we started seeing lots of cacti on the side of the road.

Then as we got close to Phoenix, there were armies of Saguara cacti, standing watch:

The mountains here look naked compared to the Kaibab Plateau: