Escape from the heat.

Tucson really heats up this time of the year. Except for the days when the monsoon rains provide some relief (and unusual humidity) the daily high temperature is routinely between 100° and 110°. To get a break from the unrelenting heat my wife and I headed north for a road trip. First stop was Sedona in northern Arizona where we relished the quiet and mountain views, hit the pool, had an excellent dinner and breakfasted the next morning next to a stream where birds also sought their morning meal. And yes the brook babbled pleasingly.

The following day we motored up to Cedar City, Utah where we stayed in a B&B. Our reason for staying there was to catch two plays the subsequent day which were part of the annual Shakespeare festival. Both were excellent which is typical for this award-winning festival.

Then we struck out north to Montana with an overnight in Pocatello, ID. We arrived in Big Sky and found the cabin we had rented. To our surprise and dismay birds had pecked holes in cabin walls in at least two places and were flying in and out. In hopes that would be tolerable we drove into town for dinner. When we returned the birds were fluttering and thrashing about so that sleep was impossible. We had to leave and spend the night in a hotel. After unsuccessful attempts to contact the owner who, to shorten a longer story, has refused to acknowledge the untenable living conditions and return our payment. The moral is be very careful when you rent through VRBO.

Forced to change our plans, we headed for Vegas where my wife found very nice hotel arrangements, quite reasonably priced (it’s their off season) and away from the hectic activity on the strip. We had a relaxing day and two nights before driving back to Tucson.

All in all it was a pleasurable road trip but the VRBO/Montana experience did leave a bad taste.