Mesa

Saturday evening after work and supper, we drove to Mesa.  Three hours and twenty minutes.  An old friend of the family lives there.  R has called her Aunt Gerry since she was six years old.  Gerry thinks of us as her kids.  Sunday was spent relaxing and visiting.  Monday I had my appointment with my cardiologist.  ( "See you next year.") and R saw a Physical Therapist (PT) nearby.  We will be driving to Mesa for 5 more weeks so that R can continue to work her knee.  I hope all the pain and time spent is worth it in the end for her.  She's working like a trooper to get a good result.
   Mesa.  One of many towns that is part of the Phoenix metro area.  Lots of people. Lots of things to do.  Lots of stores surrounded with housing areas and mobile home parks and RV parks.  Each one has a name like "Palm Acres", or "Sun City", or "Fountain of the Sun" so they sound unique, but are pretty much the same.  The roads are full of vehicles with license plates from north states and provinces.  People are happy to be there.  Happy to be away from the cold, the rain, the snow.
   But it is the city.  Traffic, stop lights, congestion (mostly from locals going to and from work).  Also, country is some distance away.   It is not real desert.  Most of the cacti and other plants have been planted.  The environment is artificial.  The three hours we drove from ORPI puts us in a totally different world.