FROM ONE HOT PLACE TO ANOTHER

Lots has happened to the wandering Hartnetts since our last blog.  We stayed at the rental house in Sedona until July 31st.  During the last few weeks we did a lot of sightseeing -- including Bearizona (a drive-through wildlife park in Williams AZ), Montezuma’s Castle (cliff dwellings from the 1400s), and other ancient Indian settlements, such as Montezuma Well and Tuzigoot.  There is much to see there, but not a lot to do in the town.  We now know why they call Sedona “Slowdona."  Being there that long gave us a good taste of the area and we made the decision that we don’t want to live in Sedona.  It is certainly beautiful, but not for us. 

We decided that we wanted to go back to Texas (the Boerne area) to see if it might be the place for us to settle down.  We had good memories of it from when we were there in May.  We left early on Sunday (we got in the habit of getting up very early because it started to get light about 4:30 a.m.) for the long drive.  We spent the first night in  Roswell, NM then drove into Boerne Monday afternoon.

So far, so good.  We are really enjoying it.  The people we have met are just great and the food, just what we like.  We have had 3 meals here -- Mexican, barbecue and hamburgers.  We think we died and went to heaven.   Our eating habits are why we must always be close to a gym.  

The best news is we found a house to rent.  It is called a “casita” which sits on 10.5 acres in the hills, about 6 miles north of town.  It is adorable and has great air conditioning.  The woman that owns it lives up the road about a mile and is so friendly and helpful.  She recommended that we join the YMCA in town -- I told you we need to exercise.   It is a very nice, fully equipped facility with friendly people running it.  We also “joined” the brand new Public Library.  It has only been open two months and is light, airy and full of books.  We are starting to feel at home already. 

Well, we must get down to what you are all thinking about -- the heat.  Yes, it is hot.  Yes, it is summertime and it seems to be hot almost everywhere.  Sedona was surprisingly hot.  The people down here think it is humid, but after Hilton Head, we don’t feel it at all.  In fact, I think is it 103 right now and we just sat outside at a diner for our hamburgers at 2:00 p.m.  They had fans on and it didn’t seem that bad.  Of course, we would like it to be a little cooler.  Everyone says that it is an exceptionally hot summer.  Also, they are in the most severe drought they have experienced since the 1950’s.  We think that if we like it now, we will love it when it cools down and they finally get rain. 

We are very optimistic, but have not made any decisions.  We will get settled in and then maybe start looking at some houses.  The  cost of living is very low here.  Also, the 100 year old town (a “real” town with old buildings fully occupied, not abandoned, like some places we have been in the last year) is actually growing and prosperous.

America White Bison - Bearizona

Adult Black Bear - Bearizona

Baby Wolf - Bearizona

Black Bear Cub - Bearizona

Matt on hike

Even Judy went for a hike

Montezuma Well

Judy at Montezuma Well

Some of the reasons we didn't like Sedona

More reasons

Cute carton -- is that about the Hartnetts?

Longhorn seen from our hotel room in Boerne