Snow in Tucson |
This was truly a season to remember for a number of reasons. The weather was not as good as it usually is in Tucson. This year we were on the receiving end of much of the winter weather that also visited California. In the 12 years we have been coming to Arizona we had snow twice. This year we had snow three times.
One time we received about 3-inches overnight. Fortunately it was gone by noon.
Dad and Major |
One of the things
we never complain about is rain. Arizona desperately needs rain and so when
they get it we are happy for them. The pickleball players complain though, but
then they complain about wind, court availability, line calls, new players, old
players and a myriad of other things.
This year I took on
my usual Thursday night mixed Bible study, but added the coordination of the
Thursday morning Men’s Bible study as well. Fortunately a number of the men
stepped up and helped lead lessons, so that didn’t fall all on me. The Men’s
Bible study did an in depth study of 2 Corinthians and our night study focused
on the Book of Hebrews. Both were well attended and I always end up learning
way more than the other people in the class.
Dad, Major, Me |
Joan and Diane Bible study |
But I did a couple new hikes this year, one very challenging one – Agua Caliente – and one more moderate hike – Quilters Trail. The Agua Caliente hike was difficult and involved many long sections of climbing. The views were tremendous and if I get in better shape, which I am working on I may give it another go next year.
Agua Caliente hike |
Dad and Tim skydive |
One of the first
things we decided after the struggles with getting the trailer up and going in
Flagstaff that we are going to store the trailer in Tucson in the future. We
had avoided that previously because of the summer heat the expense of covered
storage, but we’re going to bite the bullet spend the extra cash for covered
storage and save the extreme hassle of trying to dig the trailer out of the
snow in Flagstaff.
Not mentioned in my
previous post is that we began to see evidence that our annual rodent visitors
had not left the trailer in Flagstaff. With definitive evidence they were still
on board, I began setting mouse traps and the body count got to 10 before the
killing stopped. This is another reason we are not storing in the frozen north
of Arizona next year.
Bridal Wreath hike |
New storage |
I didn’t have the code so I called back to
the office and the lady I had talked to earlier and she found it quite amusing
but did provide us with a gate code that allowed us to leave. In a ridiculous turn of events we booked this
place on March 10 only to find out they sold the place to a national storage
company with a whole new price schedule (more than what we agreed to with the
previous company) and so we had to make a quick pivot three days before our
departure in April for another storage lot a little farther away. We are still
in the process of trying to get back our deposit money from the original owner.
Dad and Cousin Becky |
Tucson Auto museum |
So Bob and Karen
were there when we arrived on Dec. 31, but the string of visitors started in
earnest in February. My 97-year-old father arrived on Feb. 18, followed quickly
by my former boss and his wife, Roger and Jessica. While Roger and Jessica were
there we did our annual Southwestern wine tasting tour in Sonoita along with
our friends Mike and Suzy who live at Voyager.
Wine tasting day is
always fun and we ended it this year at the Copper Brothel Restaurant, which
has become our traditional dinner spot for the wine tasting tour. A good time
was had by all.
Voyager table and chair team |
Because of a
mixup, the landlord accidentally double booked the place with another person,
but thanks to Bob and Karen we got that straightened out before Diane and Denny
arrived.
During my father’s stay we visited the
Franklin Car Museum which I didn’t know about until my sister Pam and her
husband, Jeff, found online before their visit which started on March 11. They
also stayed for a week and we had a great time with them.
Me and Denny hiking |
Another visitor was
our son Tim who came for the weekend of March 4. That was a truly special
weekend as my father did his second tandem skydive (he did his first the
previous year) and our son wanted to go with him. As before a tandem skydive is
not on my bucket list so I didn’t go.
In addition to Dad
and Tim another couple at the resort, Bob and Jean, also decided to join in the
jump which was successfully accomplished on Saturday March 4. We’re hoping to
get Tim back for another time so he and I can do some hiking together.
On Dad's way out of town on March 11 we stopped in Scottsdale, Arizona to meet his niece, my cousin Becky. It was great to see her after so many years.
Quilter's Trail hike |
Delivering underwear |
In between those
concerts we also saw Cowboy Brad Fitch doing a John Denver tribute in a Friday
concert. We also saw the Wildcat Jazz Band which is made up of music faculty
from the University of Arizona and a great band.
All the concerts
were good or great and we look forward to them each year.
Chuck, Jane, Joan and me |
Jeff also found
another great car museum, The Tucson Car Museum, which I didn’t know about.
Since we left they are doing some major renovations to the place so I look
forward to going back to see the improvements.
If you remember from last year, during my Dad’s visit in addition to his sky dive I got him a personalized tour of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the A-10 base there. During that visit he met an Air Force Major who took a liking to my Dad.
Sonoita wine tasting group (I'm taking photo) |
So this year I
contacted the major and we made plans to meet with him, his wife and son for
dinner while my Dad was in town. In addition the major invited us to a special
in house base air show. This is an annual training event for pilots who perform
at nationwide air shows and is just for base personnel.
The major was kind
enough to get us onto the base and to visit the flight line during the air
show. It was truly a wonderful memory for my father. He was with his at the Voyager for 3 weeks.
There was some
sadness at the resort as several of our longtime friends have either died or
not returned to the resort for health reasons. One of those, Frank, a
96-year-old World War II veteran I used to hike with died at his home in Nevada
in October on the eve of his scheduled departure to his home at Voyager. We had
a nice memorial for him. Also attended a memorial for my friend Ron, who used
to attend my Bible study and for TC, another Bible study friend.
Tucson superbloom at Picacho Peak |
One good thing the Men's Bible study did (besides studying the Bible) was to collect new men's underwear and socks for the Gospel Rescue Mission in Tucson. On the second to the last day in Tucson we delivered several containers full of the donated items to the Mission.
One other excitement
that occurred while we were there was the fatal accident just outside the
resort on I-10 that involved a truck carrying Nitric Acid. The truck began
leaking the toxic chemical and for more than 24 hours we were on lockdown in
our trailer (we actually violated that order a couple times to go shopping and
to a doctor’s appointment). Fortunately the wind was blowing in a direction
favorable to us so we were never in real danger, but it did cause a day’s worth
of activities to be cancelled or postponed at the resort.
Newman Mountain Petroglyphs |
It's amazing to see ancient writings that were done on rocks more than 1,200 years ago.
So all in all a
successful and fun time in Arizona. I will be putting together another post
about our trip home from Tucson in a day or two. Again sorry for the delay.
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