This is a beautiful place! We arrived Monday, and I was amazed at the scenery. Everything is quite green (for the desert) due to the rains. In fact, it rained quite a bit on Wednesday. There was quite a bit of water along the road and in low spots. 
The second one is taken through the windshield, but it shows the view I get to see.
Thursday we went to the Desert Botanic Garden on the far side of Phoenix. It was totally worth the drive and the money! Take a look:
We also had lunch at the upscale restaurant inside. They also had a wonderful plant store where I forced myself to not buy a thing! It was very hard since the succulents were incredible. I love desert landscaping and succulents, but there is no room in the coach and the cacti won’t be happy at the house with the cold weather.
One of the nice things about being in civilization again is that we can eat regular food. I have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they are mostly balanced. It is lovely to have fresh veggies, fruits, fish, and meats. Those were hard to come by in the boondocks. I have enjoyed cooking, and I will definitely keep it up until we leave. We are planning on just heading to Alabama from here, and I want to have some food in the freezer before we leave.