Quesadilla Hot

Grandpa visited again. This time was more of an adventure. But before we could have our adventure, we met the first night for dinner at P.F. Changs. I had heard a lot of good things about their food but had only experienced it catered, which was just ok. I had dali chicken and Grandpa had mu shu pork and it didn't disappoint!

The next morning, I joined Grandpa for breakfast at the hotel as I had done before. Then we couldn't figure out what to do. After some calling around, we found a guitar store that stocked portable amps. We went there and Grandpa bought me an amp small enough to travel with (as well as a cord, as I hadn't packed one). The guy at the guitar shop recommended we drive out to Tortilla Flat.

On the way to Tortilla Flat, we stopped at Goldfield Ghost Town There, we had some wonderful lemonade and poked around the shops for a while. It's a neat, authentic ghost town - touristy, but not too commercial (contrast Rawhide below).

After Goldfield, we headed further down the twisting highway and took a break at Canyon Lake, a popular recreation area. We stopped there just long enough for a restroom break and to see the many people boating, swimming, fishing, and picnicing.

From there, we headed to Tortilla Flat. It's not much more than a restaurant, general store, and post office. Tortilla Flat, of course, is featured in John Steinbeck's book of the same name. Inside the restaurant, we found every square inch of wall and ceiling papered with one dollar bills - tips inscribed with patrons' names. Neat-o! After, we headed back to Mesa to rest before the ballgame.

I picked up Grandpa at 5:00p and we headed to Chase Field to watch the Diamondbacks take on the Padres. Oddly enough, the Padres were the only opponent that would cause me to cheer for the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks were in 3rd place and the Padres were fighting with my Dodgers for 1st place. If the Dodgers were in the cellar, I'd be cheering for the Padres. Back home, I cheer for the Portland Beavers, AAA affiliate of the Padres. And Grandpa often sees the Lake Elsinore Storm, A affiliate of the Padres. The Eugene Ems are also an A affiliate of the Padres.

I wanted to get baseline reserve seats on the first baseline. When we got to the ticket office, we found that the entire first level was sold out. Probably because it was a weekend game with a giveaway (trading cards for the first 35,000 in attendance) and fireworks. We got upper deck seats that overlooked the infield. Not a bad view, really. Grandpa is used to watching the Storm in Lake Elsinore from directly behind the catcher. I guess he was disappointed and upgraded our seats to the first level. He was unable to get seats together, but he was ok with it. He said that we were there to watch the game not each other. Anyway, I went from section 322 in the upper deck to section D (a lettered section!) behind the Diamondbacks dugout. Sweet! Side note: in his quest for better seats, Grandpa found out that seats behind the catcher were $175! Anyway, it was an odd feeling cheering for the D-Backs, but I managed and they won.

Before

After

Our first seats as viewed from our second seats

After the game, we ate at Village Inn. They have delicious pies. I know because Grandpa sent me home with two to put away...in the fridge. Strawberry rhubarb and Key lime.

On Sunday, it took a while, but we finally decided do visit Rawhide. Grandpa's navigator took us in the wrong direction, totally...miles and miles away. I finally called Rawhide's recording for directions. We got there and found it didn't open until 5:00p. It was still morning. So we turned around, had lunch at Waffle House, and returned to Mesa for a nap before trying Rawhide again.

That evening, we drove back to Chandler and found Rawhide open. However, we were disappointed by how commercial it was. Everything there was either a store or an attraction you had to pay for...and the lemonade wasn't as good as Goldfield's. We didn't even eat at their overpriced, 45-minute wait restaurant.

Sign: This cannon featured in the movie Wild Wild West starring Will Smith. I wouldn't say the cannon was featured in the movie.

Instead, we had our final meal together at Marie Callender's. I don't think I'd eaten at a Marie Callender's before. It was very good. Grandpa had a salad and I had artichoke & mushroom chicken. After dinner, we parted ways. Me to work the next day, and Grandpa to Nebraska.