Our Just Deserts

Desert – Dessert get it?

During a recent trip to Portland, our friends Wayne and Jane mentioned that they were planning to sell their condo in Scottsdale, Arizona. This made me sad because they have been kind enough to let us use it many times.

Driving back to Seattle, I said to Mary Anne, “Why don’t we buy it?”

And so we did.

We will travel to Scottsdale in early February for a month or two to enjoy some warmth and sunshine not readily available in the Pacific Northwest at that time of year. It will be an easy move-in since we purchased all the furnishings (sheets! forks!) and the plucky Toyota Corolla that lives in the garage.

Why Arizona? Until recently, their politics left much to be desired. Unless you have an appreciation for desert scenery you may miss the lush green of more moist climes. But, like the Australian Outback, there’s something about the arid terrain that grows on you. Or me, at least.

I don’t have a photo of our unit, but here are a few shots taken while walking around the development.

Here’s a corner of our living room. There are two bedrooms and two baths. The living, dining, kitchen all share the same open space.

The condo is at the northeastern edge of Scottsdale, just across the road from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and its miles and miles of trails. I could show you hundreds of photos taken while hiking, but I won’t. Here are a couple.

If your idea of nature extends to more than rocks and thorns, you just need to pick your season.

There are many things to do in the area. Let’s start with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West and the home he built for his son, David. The Gammage Auditorium on the Arizona State University campus is Frank’s work, too. The design was originally done for a Middle Eastern client who never followed through with construction.

Some events have become traditions for us, like evening visits to the Desert Botanical Gardens, Christmas dinner at the Arizona Biltmore, the Scottsdale craft market and the Musical Instrument Museum.

We’ll use the condo as a base for visiting places like the Grand Canyon and other parks, Sedona, Tucson, Palm Springs, maybe even Santa Fe and Taos.

Closer to home, there are other things to enjoy.