After the arboretum yesterday, we drove part of the Apache Trail for some scenic views of central Arizona. While the mountains and plentiful saguaro cacti were indeed nice, the powerlines dominating every scene were a disappointing distraction. In fact, several ‘scenic pullout’ vistas were marred by their presence. We managed to get some good shots from other pullouts and once or twice by stopping in the roadway (not recommended, but we were there mid-day and mid-week so traffic was very light).

After walking Eric to his first talk of the day this morning, I wandered around campus and downtown looking for places to eat/things to see. It was already ridiculously hot by 9:30am, so I headed back to the hotel pool to sit in the shade and read an Agatha Christie novel. We met up again for lunch and a group of us had a delicious meal at House of Tricks. The service was poor, but I hear that’s a common problem here, unfortunately.

Here’s a shot of the restaurant with a very noisy (and common) grackle out front…