Pat and Kelly's Last Day in Williams

We made arrangements to meet at Cruisers for lunch.  Pat and Kelly went into town while I balanced my checkbook, paid our estimated taxes and did a few things that I had been neglecting.  The four of us drove into town and we all arrived at the restaurant at the same time.

It was too cool to sit outside and rain threatened so we asked for inside and were shown to the last table in the back of the restaurant.  A waitress stopped and asked us to give her 3 minutes while she delivered some drinks.  We said OK.  This place may have Route 66 ambiance but their prices are more like New York!  The offerings were normal fare but at greatly inflated prices.  We are not into $20 burgers and $18 brisket plates.  But we all settled on something we could live with ... and we waited.  There were 5 employees standing around and no sign of the waitress who approached us.  Finally I said "I am game to get up and leave if you all want to."  They couldn't get out of their seats fast enough.  We went to the Pine Country restaurant around the corner where we had soup and pie earlier in the week.

From there we headed to Flagstaff to visit the Riorden Mansion, built in 1904 for two Riorden brothers and their families.  They owned and operated the sawmill in town.  No pictures were allowed. The house is built from Ponderosa Pine and was two 6000 square foot wings attached in the middle by a 1000 square foot common room that both families shared as a family recreation room.  It had hot and cold running water, indoor bathrooms and electricity.  Many of the furnishings, including Stickley furniture, belonged to the families.  Lots of photos and a family tree were also displayed.

Our tour guide was a work camper staying on the property.  She was delightful and made sure we had a great visit.  There were so many interesting facts she knew because until recently one of the granddaughters, in her 90s, would come and sit in the house and talk to visitors.  Anita listened to her stories and has added these tidbits into her tour.

Here are a few plagiarized internet photos.  None of them show the house totally from the front where you can see the two "wing" houses and the common room in between so use your imagination.

From the corner of the west wing.

Most complete front photo I could find.

Nice close up view of the east wing.  The arches in the back are to the front door porch.  This allowed comings and goings in either house out of view of the other wing.  Note the use of local volcanic rock in the foundation and arches.

It was almost 5:00 when we started back so we had a bit of traffic and some rain during the drive home.  We went to Eileen's motorhome for some ice cream and then Pat and Kelly left to pack.  They are driving to the Phoenix airport this morning for a noon flight.  It is cool and raining in earnest this morning so the fireplace going and the pitter patter of the rain on the roof will make for a cozy day inside.