Covid in Phoenix-Extended Stay

When we arrived in Phoenix, Kathy still wasn't feeling well so she got tested for Covid-19. We received the test results the next day and she came back positive. We were suppose to head home to CT on the 22nd and with a ten day quarantine, we'd be good to go. That same day Brad got tested, and, the day after, his results came back negative. He gave it two more days and got retested. This time he came back positive. Now, with the ten day time-frame to travel our plans were in the shitter. Connecticut was now a no go!

Kathy had chest congestion, was tired, and had cold symptoms. Brad had very minor symptoms but we now had to postpone our travel which sucked! We were really looking forward to coming home for a couple weeks. Deana (Kathy's daughter-Brad's Stepdaughter) had her baby two weeks before, Chelsie's (Brad's daughter-Kathy's Stepdaughter) b-day was coming up and we were super excited to seeing everybody. Bummer! It's all on hold now. We're going to see if we can reschedule when we get to LA.

What was supposed to be a week in Phoenix turned into two. Our longest stay anywhere by far. We were fortunate enough to be able to extend our stay at the Palm Gardens in Mesa, Az an extra six days. We did have to move from our original site to a different one, but, it sure beat shopping for another campground entirely.

It wasn't a bad place to have to quarantine. Although we would have much rather have been on our way to CT, we made do. The campground had plenty of amenities to help us as we isolated. Kathy would win the majority of bocce, Brad won in shuffleboard, we are usually pretty even in 500 Gin Rummy (advantage Brad), and they had two pools.

We took full advantage of the facilities. Once we were past our quarantine time, our first day, we went to Scottsdale which is just north of Phoenix. Kathy loved it there! We walked the Scottsdale waterfront near the fashion district where they have a canal that runs ten miles through the city. We ran into Old Town Scottsdale which had a lot of personality but since we literally "ran into it". We stayed for lunch at a Diners, Drive-ins and Dive restaurant there called Bootleggers. We did a handful of appetizers that were 1/2 half off for happy hour. Tasty stop as per Triple D, which often is. After we walkEd the water front in Scottsdale (below).

The next day we went to downtown Phoenix. While we cruised the city we ran into Chase Field where the Arizona Diamondbacks play along with the Footprint Center home of the Phoenix Suns. Our first downtown stop was the Arizona Capital Museum. When we arrived we first toured the grounds surrounding the Capital known as the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza. It was a splendid display of memorials, statues, and tributes, to veterans, firefighters and police. It was a beautiful, splendid and heartfelt visit. The Capital Museum, Arizona's original state government building was replaced in 1912 by a newer building. The old building was turned into a museum and made available to the public. It had a unique originality to it along with reveling in historic tradition and artifacts.

The next few days we covered a lot of ground. We had to make up for loss time. We're going to let the pictures speak for themselves. You'll see pictures from Papago Park, Dobbins Lookout, The Japanese Friendship Garden, Wrigley Mansion, Tempe Twin Lake and the Dessert Botanical Garden. Papago Park and Dobbin’s Outlook...We went for a sunset one evening and a bike ride a second day. Both rocked!

The Japanese Friendship Garden was an add on when we originally intended on touring Roosevelt Row which is a downtown district in Phoenix.

Wrigley Mansion was one of five homes of the chewing gum magnet's. It now embodies three restaurants, a bar, and event space. Wonderful space in a fascinating location. Splendid!

We did a Dessert Botanical Garden in Tucson so we saved the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden for our last day. It was well manicured and well attended too with these blown glass art pieces added to some of natural pieces of the garden. Kathy liked this one more where Brad preferred Tucson. Both were winners.

Since we needed to fill the days we were suppose to be in Ct. we booked one additional stop and extended a second. One, at the Grand Canyon and we also added a few days to our Sedona stop. We tried turning crappy circumstances into a positive.

Thanks for following us and god bless President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people. Give them strength and "F" Vladimir Putin. Kathy and Brad