Before leaving New Westminster, we had made tentative plans to stop and see some parents of friends. In fact Jim and Nancy were once my bosses during the days I worked summers in NH after college. A few years ago, the Beckers stopped by to visit us when they were up in British Columbia, so we wanted to see them out in the city of Surprise, AZ. They were available at about 2:00 PM. We were passing the exit on the way to Phoenix but were a little early. I thought it'd be smarter to drive into downtown and get a hotel early. Then, we could pop back to see 'em.
Well, this area looks like one city on Google Earth, but it's enormous. We finally checked into this hotel at about 3:00 and gave a call. My cell phone doesn't provide free roaming here. We got some new directions and found out that they are about 45 minutes from here. A majority of the trip was backtracking.
It was definitely worth it. It was nice to visit and they had thrown together dinner. We ate outside on the patio type enclosure at the back of their lovely home. The whole valley is similar housing. It's really a whole different way of life than we are used to.
We drove back and just walked around the downtown area near all the bank buildings. Not much is going on on a Friday evening but we don't feel like going out to look for crowds. Interstate 10 was crowded enough. I guess this city is now the fourth largest in the United States after the big three of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.