Would you believe it?

Having left behind a month’s worth of rainy days in favour of a destination in the desert, where the temperature has been into the 100s in the last few days, we woke this morning to cloudy skies and a coolish breeze.

Aah, said the residents of Scottsdale, how lucky you are to have a cool day here.  Make the most of it because it won’t last long.

It being the 4th July, we expected some places to be closed for the holiday, but in Old Town Scottsdale, most places were open – not that there were many customers in evidence.

We decided to take the self-guided walking tour.

But really, we didn’t find it terribly inspiring and many of the goods on sale in the stores in the old town weren’t quite what we had in mind.

After peering in a few jewellery store windows and shops selling Native American Art, we ventured inside the shop selling light reactive things where we bought a couple of bottles of colour changing nail polish.  By now, the dark clouds were gathering but even so, the chap in there assured us that it wouldn’t rain – no, not here.

But not long afterwards, there was a drop or two on the windscreen.  Those few spots soon became more than a few and shortly after that it was pouring with rain.

Hmmm.  There were we, suitably equipped for strong sunshine and high temperatures, with extreme factor sunscreen in the bag along with our hats and dark sunglasses.  Did we have an umbrella?

Actually, it didn’t matter.  We spent the afternoon with friends Sue and Ivars, celebrating Independence Day with their family at their home, sitting by their pool and actually agreeing with whoever-it-was who remarked that a drop of rain was better than extreme temperatures.  As we drove back to our hotel this evening, the sky looked more settled and the forecast for tomorrow is for fine, more usual July weather.  Fireworks have been lighting up the sky for the last fifteen minutes or so and it sounds like the grand finale is drawing the celebrations to a close.

Good night from Scottsdale, Arizona!