With jet lag in full effect, Jutta puts on her best face and says, “Let’s go.” I presented her with the option of taking the day off so she could rest, but she insisted on going with me to drop her daughter at work; Caroline’s vacation doesn’t start until late afternoon on Thursday.

From Scottsdale Jutta and I are going to take a drive southeast to chase some of the spring blooms that Caroline and I were out looking at a couple of weeks before. This incredible specimen is the blossom from the ocotillo plant.

We make it as far south as Winkelman, where we stop to check out the high water of the Gila River. While not flood stage, this is high for what feels more like a creek than a river.

This horse was just wandering around; Jutta found it interesting because you won’t be finding random horses just anywhere in Germany. Our road back north through the Mescal mountains is to the east of the one that brought us through Kearny to the riverside. Along the way, Jutta and I talk, and she practices her English, which she insists is horrible, but it is not.

Seeing Caroline couldn’t join us, I did the next best thing and drew her likeness so she could be with us in spirit. I would have loved for Jutta to join me with Caroline’s and my favorite spicy guacamole, but anything much spicier than ketchup for my mother-in-law will create such drama that you won’t be asking her to try a second time. We are at Ed’s La Casita East in Globe. We used to visit La Casita West in Superior, but it has since closed down.

Looking back into the Superstition Mountains I stop where I can for Jutta to gather impressions of the wild desert landscape that she’s oft to tell me how beautiful it is and how amazed she is to be back in Arizona. Back in Phoenix, we stop at Indo Euro for Jutta to meet Sonal who Caroline has been telling her about during her weekly multi-hour phone calls. From there we go pick up Caroline and head home so these two can start going through the loot Jutta brought with her from Germany. Don’t go thinking jewelry or anything like that; imagine candy and knickknacks.