Day 15 ~ In which #KiwiChickInUSA visits a museum…

After a day relaxing with family and lounging in their pool the whole bunch of us descended on the Heard Museum in Phoenix. The museum was fascinating with displays of Native American art and history. I was moved by the amazing (and sometimes heart-wrenching) displays and the incredible talent of the artists, not to mention the incredible skill of past generations who’d created amazing woven creations, pottery and basketry. 

After the museum, we drove to Scottsdale for lunch. I was hoping to bump into ‘Outlander’ author, Diana Gabaldon, there, but no such luck. Because my cousins were missing Kiwi food, we went to a cafe selling the next best thing – an Australian bakery. We feasted on mince pies, sausage rolls, lamingtons and vanilla slices. We also couldn’t resist doing a little shopping at the pretty touristy shops in Scottsdale, but OMG the heat – 113 F (45 degrees C) – unbelievable!

Day 16 ~ In which #KiwiChickInUSA and her DH have a run in with the law…

Up early this morning to say goodbye to family and hello to looooong straight roads leading from Arizona to New Mexico. We stopped in Casa Grande for a Cracker Barrel breakfast. Cracker Barrel is our FAVORITE chain restaurant in the USA, so we were buzzing to finally go to one again. One filling breakfast later (I had bacon, eggs & this amazing blueberry/lemon stuffed French Toast) and we hit the road again.

Just after the border to New Mexico, DH said, “Uh-oh, I think those flashing lights are for us.” And sure enough, we were being pulled over by the State Police. Ooops. The officer that approached us was very nice though, and mentioned that DH had overtaken a car that wasn’t pulling over in the fast lane (a no-no here, even though many other cars were doing the same thing) plus going a wee bit over the posted speed-limit. Luckily he was kind enough to let us go with a warning. And yes, he was a very fine looking member of law enforcement. LOL

The rest of the drive through New Mexico and into Texas was thankfully uneventful and we arrived in El Paso without further brushes with the law!

Dinner tonight was our first experience of barbecue at Rudy’s Barbecue and it was pretty tasty once we got the hang of ordering.