Thursday 6.8. (Phoenix)

We get up around 9 and go for a trip that Chuck recommended us -- about 200 kilometers through the Arizona desert. We see the gost town at the former golden mine, everywhere present cactuses and silent mountains as from some horror movie. We drive beside several water reservoars, but the water here surprisingly does not change the desert character of the surrounding country. We have a sandwich in Tortilla Flats and continue further on the windy dirt road, where hardly two cars can get one beside another; beautiful views at the desert. We head back to Chuck and his family in the afternoon and with pleasure we try the pleasant water of their outside pool (outside is around 43 degrees and the water is around 31, about twice as warm as the ocean, in which we swimmed the day before yesterday). In the evening we get from Denise excellent Mexican meal.