Happy 4th of July

There is one thing that I have learned from living here, Utah sure knows how to party it up in July. Lets see, you have parades, fairs, fireworks....down here....not so much. I don't blame many people for not wanting to attend a parade in temperatures that soar above 110 regularly. Brando and I were supposed to go to Mexico for the 4th, but we learned on Friday evening that the Explorer needs new brakes and I was not about to take my car over the border. So....we stayed in town.

Believe me, this is not a joke, this really was the temperature:

I will tell you this, 100 - 105 feels about the same. Anything above 105 is truly hot and yes, it does feel much hotter than 100. BUT...119 is just a whole other level of heat. You feel like a blow dryer is on full blast the second you step outside. Of course, Brando and I wait to run our errands until the afternoon when it seems to be the hottest, so we got to experience the temps full force.

We decided on Monday that we needed to beat the heat. So, we left early Monday morning, (6 am) for Flagstaff. Oh Flagstaff was lovely!! With a daytime high of 75, believe we, I was in heaven. Flagstaff also promised a parade that is considered a "beloved jewel of Arizona." The parade was 2 hours long, a hundred parade entries....and bless their hearts, didn't match up to any parade in Utah. Needless to say, I was extremely happy for a parade at all and there were some very interesting people there...totally worth it.

After the parade and Art in the Park, we decided to head to Jerome to eat at the Haunted Hamburger. Jerome is an old mining town on the side of the mountain that was abandoned and then repopulated by artists. Its filled with winding little roads and little shops that hug the side of the mountain. I really, really liked Jerome.

The altitude here is 3,000 feet higher than Phoenix and you could definitely tell by the vegetation there.


















Jerome is my kind of town, supposedly most of the buildings are haunted. They have ghost tours throughout most of the year. When my sister in law comes to visit I am definitely going to take her on a tour of the Jerome Grand Hotel. They give you ghost buster type equipment for tracking of ghosts!

I love the windows of this restaurant, who doesn't love a ghost in the window?

It was a great 4th of July, a great way to beat the heat and an opportunity to see more of Arizona.