Arizona day 1

August 12

We arrived in Phoenix without a plan. We had many people to see, but getting in touch with them wasn't working out all that well. I made calls and left messages; there wasn't much else I could do. I called my friend Deryl in Troy, Ohio about the issues with the van. He appreciated knowing what I'd learned about the van's functions and knowing what repairs had been done so far. I knew that this evening we would be eating with David and Susan and that my Aunt Mildred would be there. I have been to Phoenix before (in 1993) and had seen the botanical gardens then. After seeing the Huntington collections, it would have been overkill to see the same thing in Phoenix, and Razelle wouldn't have been interested, so such an "attraction" wasn't (an attraction). A review of the top attractions in Phoenix listed on the "Trip Advisor" website (always a good way to quickly locate such things) turned up an obscure museum in the downtown area that really piqued our curiosity. It is called the Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center. We drove in baking heat in the middle of the day to do a little shopping (Razelle bought socks at Target and I bought a new GPS mount because the problematic one Jeanne's husband Steve fixed in Riverside didn't stay fixed in Phoenix's heat).

David and Susan knew of a kosher restaurant near their home, run by Israelis, called Chompie's, and took us there for lunch. I explained a menu item to Susan she wasn't familiar with and she tried it out. I ordered an Israeli Salad (finely chopped vegetables) and onion soup. We chatted over our meal awhile; then we excused ourselves to drive to the museum we wanted to see. 

The Cutler Plotkin Museum was supposed to close at 3:00 PM, but since we were the only visitors at that time and because the curator was thrilled that we world-traveling Israelis were there, he let us stay a while after closing time. I mentioned the Arnstein family name in connection with Phoenix and he, being an old-timer, knew an Arnstein, but I my self cannot say now which Arnstein individual he recalled by name. This museum was small, but very informative of what the tiny Jewish community of this remote location endured a century ago, isolated as it was from the mainstream of Jewish existence. Compromises had to be made in many ways for this community to survive as a Jewish community, and those were chronicled in diary entries from those early days. For example, the story of the Goldwater family that produced presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was elucidated – a success story for the family, but the loss of Jewish identity in the process, though not the loss of Jewish association.

On the way back to David and Susan's we stopped at a Macy's store in the Paradise Valley Mall, where Razelle bought another set of clip-on earrings. Her ears are not pierced. This mall is very large and extensive. The pavement and the air temperature was hot to the point that, even though Razelle and I live in a desert, we found it oppressive to be out of doors in that parking lot, particularly because the air-conditioning in the van was so inadequate.

By the time we reached David and Susan's we had wilted. My Aunt Mildred pulled up in her car as I was closing up the van and she tried to give me a hug, but I felt so salty by now from the heat I warned her it might not be a good idea. We saved the hugs for later. Inside the house we caught up with current family events and recalled past events. I talked about my Uncle Harold, but it seemed to upset Aunt Mildred so I tried to find something else to talk about. That's when the topic with David and Susan turned to politics. My cousins very strongly identify with the Tea Party and the rest of the evening was spent covering the philosophy espoused by them. This was my first exposure to such strong proponents of this philosophy and I found it to be very educational. Aunt Mildred and Razelle chatted in another part of the house, and then Aunt Mildred come over to me to say she was going home. I felt remiss because I hadn't spent more time with her.

Her leaving was a good time to call it a day, so we bid Susan and David good night, turned in and went to sleep.