Church, two hikes and songs from the 1960s

Sunday was all about church and football.

Church was wonderful and then we spent the afternoon watching hockey and NFL playoff football.

Because of our location we see a lot of Phoenix Coyotes games, but not so much of the Detroit Red Wings. But hey, it’s hockey and that’s good.  Besides, there is no pressure about who wins.

First time we have seen a cloud in the sky

We watched all of both NFL games and were pleased with the results of the first and I was disappointed that the Niners lost to the Seattle Seahawks. So I’ll be rooting for the Broncos in the Superbowl now.

I also learned a fact the hard way about my lovely bride. She likes peanuts. We’ve been married going on 15 years and I don’t think I ever saw her eat a peanut before. Cashews, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, but never peanuts.

How I learned this the hard way was on the way home from church here in the resort we stopped at the little market to buy a Sunday paper and I decided to get a small sleeve of salted peanuts.

While in the store, Joan suggested I buy two sleeves, but I told her I only wanted one. She had a puzzled look and we left the store with a newspaper and one sleeve of peanuts.

An easy hike in a wetlands area

Back at the trailer, I was kind of getting the cold shoulder. Every married man knows what I’m talking about. Not exactly the silent treatment, but the you-messed-up-big-time treatment.

Finally in a burst of honesty, Joan said “why can’t I have peanuts?”  Of course, that caught me off guard.

“You can have peanuts, but you don’t like peanuts,” I said.

“I like peanuts,” Joan said.

“I’ve never seen you even eat a peanut,” I said.

Suffice it to say I made a trip back to the store to purchase a second sleeve of peanuts.

For dinner we just had snacks. Cheese and crackers with salami and pepperoni took the place of what would have been a regular dinner. We always do that once a year for the Super Bowl, but this year we will be in Las Vegas with our friends Ed and Betty so we moved our annual “snack dinner” up to yesterday.

On Monday, I went on the ‘easy’ hike and by easy this one wasn’t really a hike at all. More like a walk in the park, but a very nice park for sure.

This is a part of Tucson that looks more like Florida

The Sweetwater Wetlands park is a manmade swamp which uses the water cleaned up at a local water treatment plant with plants and is a stopover for many migratory birds.

There were only six folks on the hike, but we had a short but good time walking around the park.

Prior to leaving for the hike this morning there was a moment of anxiety when I couldn’t find my wallet. I imagined leaving it behind in the shower, at the fitness center or any number of places. I started to panic just a little.

Joan and I went through every pair of pants I have worn the past two days (there were only two) with no luck. I went through the trailer several times without success.

Finally Joan, who is convinced a woman’s uterus has a special hormone that makes finding things easier, walked up and asked what the lump was in my lower thigh pocket of my hiking pants. You guessed it my wallet had been in my secondary pocket all the time.

Now I’m going to have to buy yet another sleeve of peanuts for Joan.

After my hike and lunch we headed to a local REI outlet to purchase Joan a good pair of hiking boots as she has proclaimed herself ready to hike some simple trails.

A turtle enjoying the sunshine

When we parked in the lot we parked next to a Michigan car that had a Spartan license plate and a bumper sticker that said: “Have you hit a Wolverine today?” Of course, my camera was back at the trailer, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

We saw a young lady get out of the car, but it wasn’t until we saw her again in the REI store that we learned she was an MSU student and that she lives in Lansing, Michigan. Kind of a small world, although there are plenty of Michigan folks here right now.

With our shopping complete we headed to the local theater (Monday is senior citizen day) and saw “Sole Survivor” which was a great movie, but left us both exhausted. The story is based on a true event and involves a SEAL mission that fell apart in Afghanistan.

It is hard to imagine the courage those sailors have.

After the movie we stopped at a local Red Lobster and cashed in a $4 off coupon and had dinner at the seafood restaurant. We are such seniors.

Another day, another hike only harder

Tuesday’s hike was a tough one. The 7-mile round trip include some very steep steps and an elevation change of 1,600 feet in just three miles. We ended up at 4,800-feet and what goes up must come down so it is almost as hard to go down 1,600 feet as it is to go up.

My knees are talking to me and what they are saying is probably not fit for a family newsletter.

The hike was beautiful and followed a ridge line that allowed wonderful views on both sides of the mountain. Once again, we had a large number of hikers so we split into two groups and I went with the first one.

On the way down, the weather considerably warmed and one man suffered debilitating cramps so we had to leave a couple folks behind to hydrate him until the cramps released and he was able to climb down the mountain. (To see more photos of the hike to to the entry below this one)

Me at the farthest end of the hike

Tonight is potluck Tuesday and Joan baked a pumpkin pie in our trailer oven, only the second time she has used the appliance for cooking. Although the pie came out a little softer than Joan wanted it still tasted pretty darn good. Heck pumpkin pudding is just as good as pumpkin pie.

 We continue to meet new folks and one of the men, “Hap”,  invited me to a wood carver’s class in the park so even though my talent for woodworking pretty much stops at the end of my fingers, I’m going to give it a try. If nothing else it will offer me an introduction to some new folks.

So next Christmas, you may be on my list for a wooden eagle carving, a carved Biblical saying or some other carved wooden trinket so get your orders in early. Then again I may be horrible at it and it will be a hobby that ends with this season.

First order of business was to go to the wood shop (different than wood carving) and make friends with one of the hobbyists there to cut up my block of wood into strips that could be glued together to form a canvas for wood carving project. I dropped $5 into the donation bucket and voila!  a nice man took care of my work on a band saw. I left with my cut up boards and all my fingers.

A Tucson sunrise Wednesday

Last year all we heard from the longtime residents of the resort were complaints about the new management here. Folks complained they were being nickled and dimed to death for stuff the original owner never charged for. Room rental fees and other annoying charges were creating a lot of discontent among the longtime permanent residents.

Fast forward to this year. All is quiet. Amazing what firing one guy will do. We learned that the park manager was fired by the corporation that owns the resort and the new guy has much enhanced people skills and has won over the vast majority of the folks we have talked with.

Why a company would put a guy who lacks people skills in charge of a resort that pretty much relies on goodwill and loyalty is beyond me. 

It’s much more pleasant not to hear all the griping about the park at least this year.

Wednesday was another busy day that started with a weight workout at the fitness center for me and some water aerobics for Joan. Later we went to “Market Days” which is a biweekly craft fair in the resort. There are lots of jewelry, craft and other vendors as well as a small farmer’s market where we bought some great apples.

Joan spending the kids' inheritance

Joan bought a few trinkets for some of the loved ones in our lives and then we hung out at the trailer for the afternoon. I was finishing up the study for the Bible Study that I was to lead Thursday morning. I also attended my first wood carving session and picked out a project and some wood to work on.

As the newcomer I got a little “carving up” but I had been warned so I accepted it in all good fun.

The concert Wednesday night was “Class of 64” and as you can imagine included all the great hits from that year.  So all the greats were there (not the artists, the songs) Beatles (“I Want to Hold Your Hand”), Louis Armstrong (“Hello Dolly!), Roy Orbison (“Oh, Pretty Woman”),  Mary Wells (“My Guy”), Gale Garnett (“We’ll Sing in the Sunshine”),  Barbara Streisand (“People”) and many, many more.

The show included great television ads from 1964 including Ford and Chevy ads that were really fun to watch. The woman singer in the show we saw last year when she starred in the “Do Wop Divas” show at the park. The Lonely Street Productions have always been great at the park.

We are at the shallow end of the pool age wise in the park, but many of the folks our age and older were up dancing and singing by the end of the show.

Lots of fun for sure.

On Thursday morning 12 men showed for Bible study and we had a lively and interesting hour of discussion about Revelations, the last book of the Bible.

After Bible Study I stopped by the wood carving class and “Hap” took me to his home in the park and we glued my strips together into a wooden canvas.