Planes, plains and plans

With Davis-Monthan Air Force Base nearby every day is a mini-air show around here. On Wednesday morning a flight of A-10 Warthogs took off about every three minutes flying into a beautiful desert sunrise. I could only imagine what a view those pilots had of the mountains and desert coming to life for a new day under them.

Two A-10 Warthogs taking off from the Air Force Base

We’ve been waiting a week for our permanent RV identification cards and today we found out the reason they hadn’t found them is that they filed them under “Petersen” rather than Smith. Joan’s hyphenated last name is a frequent target for confusion.

But now we have our cards and no longer look like the new kids on the block.

Joan went to her first water aerobics class and although it tired her out she really enjoyed it. As a reward for her work, the instructor told all of them to hit the large Jacuzzi next to one of the pools. She really enjoyed that.

After she returned home and got cleaned up we went and enjoyed the large Farmer’s Market and Craft displays that come here every two weeks. We were surprised at how large and diverse the market was and Joan entered two raffles for two separate quilts. Donations are going to the Ronald McDonald House charities.

Sunrise in Tucson

This afternoon Joan sent me to ATM as our cash is running short and there is a fee free one about nine miles from here. So I drove there and found that the machine was broken. So we burned up $4 worth of gas and had to use the ATM at the resort with its $2 fee because of the broken machine. From now on we’ll save the gas and just top off the wallet at the park ATM.

Joan went to the spa here at the resort and had her nails done. I stayed home, soaked up the sunshine and nearly finished my book.

On Wednesday night we had tickets to the Arizona Symphonic Winds concert at the resort and it turned out to be quite good. The 56-piece band/orchestra is all volunteers and the director/conductor, Laszlo Veres, was an entertaining and engaging personality who really made the night.

The music was a mix of recognizable show and classical offerings with a lot of patriotic music mixed in. Veres, who speaks with a marked Hungarian accent, was a refugee from the Communists in 1956 and is a retired public school teacher who keeps busy leading three different musical groups in Tucson.

Just a small part of the Farmer's Market at the Resort

He reminded Joan and me a lot of Flint’s Symphony director/conductor Enrique Diemecke who mixes a thick accent with jokes and humor to entertain the audience along with the music.  Veres is probably not on the same level as Diemecke, but in this area he is beloved music provider.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

After an early workout I returned to the trailer, woke Joan so we could get ready for an early start and a trip to make a donation to the Arizona Native Americans.

We signed up for a casino bus trip and that trip left at 9 a.m.  We arrived at 8:50 a.m. and found we were the very last folks to show up. The bus was one of those huge double decker luxury buses, but the tickets were only $5 each. On arrival to the casino we got $20 in free play at the casino so it was a pretty good deal.

Heading off on our hike

We spent four hours at the casino and then caught the same bus for the return trip to the RV resort. Joan made hamburgers for dinner and then we went to our next adventure, which was a Reminiscence Dance in the ballroom.

The musicians are all volunteer musicians who stay in the park and they were very, very good. We danced a little and then headed back to the trailer about 9:15 p.m.

Friday, January 25, 2013

On Friday, the weather predictions sounded like my “easy” hike day might get washed out, but the rain held off and I left with a group of seven for a hike in the “High Grass Desert” south of Tucson.

While I was off hiking, Joan took part in her water aerobics class and she seems to be enjoying that even if it is leaving her a little tired out.

Someones Federal Mining Claim along the trail

The hike was very easy and almost entirely on a well graded dirt road that alternated between public and private lands. We were accompanied on the hike by a very well-behaved Yellow Labrador Retriever, which always reminds me of our old dog, Colby.

We walked 2.5-miles in and then hiked the same route back out. Brad, our fearless hike leader, suggested that we had finished early and that a little driving detour could have us hike into Kentucky Camp – a former 1880s gold mine camp – in time for lunch.

So we headed off on a rough and tumbled dirt road for a three mile-trip to the trail head for the Camp. The trail head is part of the Arizona Trail, which you will remember was our easy hike last Friday.

Lunch at Kentucky Camp

The hill down to the camp was steep, which meant the climb back to the vehicles was equally steep in the other direction.

The camp is undergoing renovations back to what it looked like in the 1880s and for a fee you can stay overnight in a cabin, which has a sign out front that says: “Bed and (no) Breakfast.”

We ate our lunch on a picnic table at the camp, spent some time looking around and then hiking back to our vehicles. Brad then took us out an even rougher road (I almost had to switch into four-wheel drive) to get us back to the main highway.

After a very enjoyable day we arrived back at the resort and then Joan and I headed to a local grocery store for our weekly stocking up trip.

At the trailer we had breakfast for dinner (pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast) and settled in for a nice evening at home. It is supposed to rain – and rain hard – here starting about midnight and through Saturday and Sunday. We’ll let you know.