Today has been a very nice day. It started out with muffins outside in the pleasant morning air. Then Greg and I decided to drive to Wickenberg, AZ. Why, you might ask? Well, we'd driven through there on our way to Vegas, and we thought it looked more pleasant than we expected. Also, we didn't feel like going to a mall or something mundane like that.

A trip to Wickenberg entails driving across all of metro Phoenix and through about 45 minutes of desert. We stopped off at a Circle K to buy water and had the following strange interaction with the clerk behind the counter. He was a man of middle eastern descent, and this is what transpired:

I like your dress.

"Thank you," I said.

It's like a Muslim dress.

"Thank you," I said.

Are you a Muslim?

"No, I'm not."

Well, you should be.

I told him that I take that under consideration. I wasn't aware that a black t-shirt and straight denim skirt with sandals and an anklet was standard Muslim dress. Odd. Funny, though. Laughed all the way to the car. Greg thinks the guy was hitting on me. Like I said, odd.

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Wickenburg was a pleasant Old West town. We went to a museum, poked our heads into scary antique shops, and ate at a cafe. The best part was the Hassayampa River Preserve, which is run by the Nature Conservency (proud members, we are). The Hassayampa is the last free-flowing year-round river in central Arizona. It was barely more than a trickle, but the wetlands were lovely and the water was clear and cold. Old trees arched over several of the trails, and when I peered up at a knot in one of the branches, I noticed a large lizard hanging from the branch right above my head. Eek! "City Girl Survives Brush With Wildlife."

All in all, a nice day.