Tuesday July 2nd 2002 to
Tuesday July 9th, 2002
Day 76 thru 83

Start: Austin, TX
Finish: Scottsdale, AZ
and return

Miles Today: 0
Miles to Date: 7485
Trooper Mileage: 176406

I've decided to lump this week into one journal entry, since I didn't take a lot of pictures.

It was good to leave the floods in Texas behind, and get back to the desert for a while to dry out. Temperatures here in Ar1zona ranged up to about 115 degrees, but it felt kind of good.

I got my business taken care of and had some really nice visits with some old friends. I also got out to Bartlett Lake for an afternoon to do a little swimming (and get just a little sunburn). From the lake I tried to go out to Geoff's cabin on Camp Creek (Geoff being my dear departed friend who drowned in in the Verde River about a year and a half ago). Unfortunately, due to the fire hazard, the back roads into Tonto National Forest were closed to non-residents.

In spite of all of the interesting towns and beautiful parts of the country that I have had the opportunity to experience on this little odyssey, I haven't been to any one place that I find so compelling that I would choose it as a place to settle as opposed to returning to Arizona. There simply is no place that has sunsets like the Sonoran Desert..