After spending some time in Joshua Tree National Park our next big destination was the Grand Canyon. In order to get there we made a stop in Phoenix for a night, spent a day walking through Red Rock Country and chilled out in the tiny little town of Jerome.

We ended up passing through Phoenix very quickly, arriving fairly late at night and leaving again at the crack of dawn the next morning. None the less, we had a great time staying with Lori, a proud mother, self proclaimed "gym rat" real estate agent who had a lovely big house all to herself for the night. We cooked up a meal, shared some wine and enjoyed the little time we had there.

Between Phoenix and Jerome we spent the day in Red Rock Country, Sedona which was spectacular but, again, very hot.

In Jerome we were staying with Chad who was super nice and easy to get along with. His house was dubbed the "Tree House" and it was clear why. The doors were never closed, let alone locked, skunks happily passed through at night, there was no TV, wifi or air conditioning and yet it was a lovely, comfortable, free space to stay in. On the first night we were there, it felt like half the town popped by (with a population of 400, Jerome was the smallest town we had stayed in), each person bringing a vegetable, wine or something to share, soon Chad had cooked up a feast and we found ourselves in the middle of a Friday night party.

Chad and his adorable girlfriend, Abbey, took us for a tour of all their favourite hidden gems around the town. When Abbey had to start her shift at a wine tasting room, we happened to stop by for a visit and were treated with the full tasting experience, which included healthy samples of 12 different wines. Needless to say, we have good memories of our stay.