Shows, potlucks, dances, crafts and volunteer activities abound

Snow in the desert

    So much for not procrastinating and keeping up to date on my blog posts!  My plans were to try and post weekly so that I wouldn’t have to strain my meager brain to remember all the things we have done, but time has once again gotten away from me and now I’m nearly three weeks behind.

    When last we visited on this blog, our friends, Roger and Jessica, had just arrived and now they are just a week away from completing their one month here with us and leaving.

    We have not seen as much of them as we would like, some because of the weather and also because they are busy here with grandchildren in Phoenix and park activities. We have gone to dinner with them a few times and they have also attended a couple shows with us here.

    Fortunately for us, I bought them tickets to the shows before they ever arrived here because nearly all of the Wednesday night concerts have been sell-outs this year.

Headline in Tucson paper

   My last post was on Feb. 18. We skipped Meet Me at Maynard’s that night because of the lousy weather and we had to skip it again on March 4 because we hosted the Michigan Party again. Joan does a great job organizing the Michigan Party and although the attendance was down a little this year (44 people came) we had a good selection of potluck dinners and everyone seemed to have a good time.

   Most importantly we obtained a couple volunteers to help us with next year’s party so Joan (and me) won’t have to do the whole things ourselves.

   In the time intervening since the last post we had a major snowstorm in Tucson. It is only the second time in our visits here we have seen snow in the valley and at the resort. The locals go crazy over the snow and actually seem to enjoy it when it comes.

  

Snowman in the courtyard

    The mountains surrounding the valley are beautiful when they are completely covered in snow although it doesn't help my hiking much.

    Because we have done a lot of touring here in the past years, we don't do as much of that now. But Roger, Jessica, Joan and I decided to travel to Tubac to see the Tumacori Mission there.

We have previously visited San Xavier del Bac Mission, but we had never gone to Tumacacori.

After touring this 400 year-old mission we decided that we wanted to travel down to Nogales to see what all the fuss was on the border wall down there. 

Tumacacori

    In recent months layers upon layers of razor wire have been added to the wall that was there previously (previous to the current adminstration) and the folks in Nogales are not happy how it makes the city look now.

   Our speaker this year was a man who is visiting the park from Michigan who played in two Rose Bowl games as a fullback with Michigan State University in the 1950s. One of them his coach was Biggie Munn and the second was the legendary Duffy Daugherty. Very interesting man and history.

    My work with the table and chair set up squad continues as does Joan’s volunteer duties at the health clinic. We keep very busy here in the desert.

    Weather has really played havoc with my hiking schedule and the planned hikes in Ventana Canyon and at Bug Springs had to be diverted due to high water and deep snow.  With a suggestion from a fellow coordinator we did a shorter and easier hike on the Hope Camp Trail on one of the days when weather kept us from the more difficult hike.

Border wall with wire in Nogales

    For my February month as coordinator my main goal was to keep us from getting lost or anyone hurt so in that measure it was a complete success.

    The Hope Camp hike was good, but pretty easy for us.

   As March came around, a new coordinator took over the hike responsibilities and last week (March 5) we did the hardest climb that we do – Blackett’s Ridge.

Top of Blackett's Ridge

   Blackett’s Ridge is a relatively short hike of 6 miles, but the last 1.7 miles of the ascent covers an altitude increase of 1,700 feet with many difficult stone steps (both up and down). At least one hiker had to drop out because of dizziness which was likely due to the high temperatures. We had our first 80 degree day of the season on this day so the altitude combined with the temperatures made this a very grueling hike.

   We also had to deal with some heavy snow melt as the one bridge crossing to get to the Blackett's Ridge trailhead was underwater. The water was flowing over the bridge and in great quantity. Because it is snow met it is really, really cold too.

Icy stream crossing

   All the hikers had to remove shoes and socks and wade the stream so as not to let the water overtop the boots.

    At the top we had a short memorial for Dave – a man whose ashes we hiked up to Blackett’s Ridge last year. Dave loved this hike and asked that his ashes be taken there after he died last year. Any time we do this hike in the future we will likely remember Dave.

    Because of the hike’s difficulty we were down a little on attendance because some folks made the wise decision to skip this hike because of fitness issues.

Bridal Wreath Falls

    I had a harder time making the climb this year than last because last year. Getting ready for the Grand Canyon adventure last year and much better weather had me hiking many more times than has happened this year.

    There are still some great hikes on the schedule for this year, but only if weather permits.

   The show schedule this year has been outstanding and since the last post we have attended two great concerts.

  “The Diamonds” (their most famous song “Little Darlin’”) were here and gave a really good performance and “The Brothers Four” (who sang the Academy Award nominated Best Song in a Motion Picture back in the 1970s for the movie “The Alamo) were on tap the other week.

   The third week, March 6, was Ash Wednesday so there was no show as we had church services in the ballroom that night. Next week’s show is a Glen Campbell tribute show which we are looking forward to that. (More on that after the fact).

View from Bridal Wreath Falls Trail

   One of the shows (and dinners) that we went to with Roger and Jessica was the “Stars & Stripes Show” on Friday, Feb. 22. The show included a wonderful band and three young women who sang the songs of the 40s in the style of the Andrew Sisters. “Chatanooga Choo-Choo” and other classics of that day were featured in the show.

    They also recognized all the veterans in the audience having us stand during the playing and singing of our service anthems. Dinner was good too.

    We also continue to attend the Tuesday night potlucks and also attended our first vegetarian potluck during this period.

Joan at "Show and Tell"

   In addition to the regular hikes, I went on a spontaneous hike with my friend Chuck on March 1. We climbed up Brown Mountain in the Tucson Mountain Park, which is a hike I have never done before. It was a really pleasant, but sometime steep hike that overlooks the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum.

    The hike actually crosses three peaks, all part of Brown Mountain with spectacular views of Tucson and the area west of Tucson. It is only five miles but worth the time when you only have a little of it.

"Two Rose Bowl" Joe on right

    Yesterday, March 8, I was supposed to go hiking with Chuck and Dallas but they both had to bail so I went alone up to Bridal Wreath Falls. This is the second time I have been to the falls this season and the third time I have climbed this trail. I have done it twice alone and I did part of the ascent with Mahlon and then we took a spur trail and went down the Carillo Loop Trail that heads off the Bridal Wreath Falls Trail before you actually get to the falls.

  

   In the time since the last post and the missing hiker in Madera Canyon, there have been two more hiker rescues in the Tucson area most likely due to the unseasonable weather we have been experiencing.

   Joan has been busy with her own activities as well. She continues to go to her aquacise classes three days a week and her once a week polymer clay jewelry class.

   This past Wednesday she took part in the “Show and Tell” exhibition in the ballroom. Annually all the many arts and craft groups show off their creations in this one show. Joan took some of her jewelry and sat at the table for the four-hour event.

Michigan Party Table at coffee and donuts

   The Thursday lecture series has been really good this year. During this period we missed one lecture because the speaker was sick and the lecture was cancelled. One of the lectures was on hospice care, the other one was on, let’s see, I’m forgetting. Oh yeah, it was on Alzheimer’s and dementia issues. (See what I did there?)

Both of us continue in our various Bible studies and the Thursday night study that I lead has been very satisfying. I have a faithful group of 12 people who come each week prepared and full of questions and thoughts about what we have been studying. It has been an honor and pleasure to learn with them.

   On Saturday, March 2, we attended our second Retro Rockets Dance. This is a very good group and draws almost 400 people to this sell out dance. They play mostly 50s, 60s and 70s music and the woman singer has a good set of pipes.

    We love getting to dance here almost every week.

Saturday coffee and donuts at the resort

    Our time in the desert is drawing short though. I’ve made our appointment to get the trailer winterized on March 29, which is the day we pull out of the park and begin our long trek home.

    What is bitter sweet is that we have learned that two of the couples that we have become friends with her over the years are not coming back due to health reasons. Both are selling their park models and making plans to move into more friendly facilities back home.

    My friend Roger nearly broke into tears describing how hard it was to sell their place and then not coming back. It was nearly as hard for Joan and I when we also heard the news.

Brown Mountain Hike

    The attraction of this place is not just the great activities, but the great people that we have and continue to meet here.

  

    We also have a couple other friends in town from Michigan and we hope to see them soon as well.

   So until the next time, which I hope is sooner than later, this will catch everyone up on what we are doing here in the desert.

Unfortunately we just learned that our lovely Aunt Norma in Buffalo, New York has died. Our trips to Buffalo will never be the same without her. Everywhere we went with her she was like a local celebrity. When we took her to dinner she was always mobbed by folks who remembered her from her days helping to run the family funeral home.

   She was a dear, dear woman who we will miss terribly.

A reverse look at the last 2 1/2-weeks in cold Arizona

   Sitting here in our trailer at 6:45 p.m. on February 18, 2019, I am lamenting the really crappy weather outside. One the one hand, I’m happy for Arizona – they really need the rain – but selfishly this has been an unusually cool and wet winter in the desert.

The end of the La Milagrosa hike

   My former editor, Roger and his wife, Jessica, arrived here last Friday and we’ve barely seen them as everyone is locked inside escaping the cool weather. Well, I did spend an hour today talking to Roger and Jessica in their trailer this afternoon, so that was good.

   This morning I was supposed to lead the easy hike, but with the rain chances well above 20 percent I had to cancel. Enough people showed up and were disappointed at the cancellation that I went ahead and invited them to join me on a short hike to check out the conditions on the Ventana Canyon Trail – which is the hike I am supposed to lead tomorrow for the harder hiking group.

   My plan was to just hike the first 1 1/2-miles of the canyon to see how wet the creek was and to determine how doable the hike would be to do tomorrow.

Lunch on the mountain

    We got about a half mile in and were about to cross our third creek crossing when we had to abandon the hike due to high water. We probably could have crossed, but it would have required some major jumping from pointy rock to pointy rock and with all of us with ages north of 70 it seemed like a really bad idea.

   Rain clouds were forming and I just didn’t want to try anymore dangerous stream crossings and then possibly get stuck by a flash flood when the heavy rains came. So we turned back and drove a couple miles over to Sabino Canyon and walked 1.2-miles along the flat trail there until we came to a flooded bridge where we ended our hike and returned to the parking lot.

    Two days ago a local person had to be rescued from a flooded creek because they didn’t turn back. Just don’t want to make the news that way.

   When I got home from the hike I took the propane bottles off the trailer and drove them to a propane place to get them filled. With temperatures predicted in the high 20s at night for the next couple nights I did not want us to run out of the precious heating fuel in the middle of a freezing night.

  Later today Joan and I went grocery shopping and retired to our trailer to stay warm.

Gabe Zimmerman hike

   So headed backwards from today, we went to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor for Piano & Orchestra and Symphony No. 7 in E Major (CAHIS 13) by Anton Bruckner a composer who lived in the 1800s.

  People who really know me are probably surprised that I would spend any time with such culture, but I really do enjoy classical music and the Tucson Symphony, conducted by Jose Luis Gomez, is an incredibly talented group of musicians.

    The piano soloist for the Tchaikovsky piece was Barry Douglas, an Irishman with an international following. He was just incredibly good. He played the entire piece without music and wowed the crowd. He returned for three curtain calls at the end of the piece. If you are interested look him up on You Tube and you can see his incredible career.

    We went with the former Voyager chaplain and two of his friends. We had a wonderful time and had dinner at Macaroni Grill, a place we had never eaten before. We will eat there again, it was good.

    Saturday, 2/16, was special as Helen and her husband Tom, came for breakfast. Helen is a former Flint Journal colleague of mine and they were in Tucson for a brief visit and wanted to see us before they left town. We had a very nice visit at the Voyager Grill.

    Before they arrived I went to the “Coffee and Donuts” event in the ballroom to plug the Michigan Party which is coming up March 4. Hopefully we’ll have better weather by then. Otherwise the Michigan Party will very much resemble a Michigan party in winter.

Train on Cienega Curve

   Saturday night we attended the Renaissance Dance in the ballroom. Great fun and met some new friends there.

   As mentioned previously our friends Roger and Jessica arrived from Phoenix and will spend the next month parked just four spaces from us on 9^th Avenue here at the resort.  Joan attended both her Women’s Bible Study and polymer clay jewelry class.

   She met me in the Catalina Room where we got information on the “Early Bird” specials for booking our space for next year. Tucson, here we come again.

   Thursday was Bible study day, with my morning Men’s Bible Study and my evening mixed Bible Study which I lead.  It was also Valentine’s Day and Joan and I exchanged mushy cards for the holiday. We also attended the afternoon lecture and heard author Dave Hocking discuss the start of the Apache Wars, which was romanticized in the famous western movie “Broken Arrow.”

    The talk was fantastic and I ended up buying two of the author’s books on the Apache Wars. After the lecture I dropped Joan off at the Gem Show so she could pick up a few more shiny objects to use with her jewelry making.

   Now we are back to Wednesday, 2/13. The day started with Market Days and ended with a Linda Ronstadt Tribute Concert in the ballroom. I also helped take down the tables from Market Days and set up the chairs for the concert. Another busy day at Voyager.

Water on the La Milagrosa Trail

    Tuesday dawned with me finally getting to lead my first “hard” hike as a coordinator here. My first hike was supposed to be on February 5, but we were forced to cancel due to the threat of rain. I ended up calling my friend Mahlon who was visiting from Flint and we were able to get in a 9-mile hike before any rain came. We climb up the trail to Bridal Wreath Falls, but stopped short (this is my third time this season up this trail) and took a spur trail that led to a loop trail to get us back.

    OK, back to the Feb. 12 hike. The trail is called La Milagrosa and is a really difficult climb. Although the total elevation gain is only 1,300-feet (with incredible views) you actually climb a total of 2,000-feet because of several false summits that require you to climb up and down some fairly steep peaks on the way to a beautiful waterfall area which is 5-miles from the trailhead.

La Milagrosa views

   The way the hikes work is that one of the coordinators (in this case me) leads the hike, another coordinator is in the middle of the pack (we had about 17 people on the hike) and one brings up the read (they are called the ‘sweep’)

  That way if anyone is having difficulty they can tell a coordinator and we can get them help or take them back down. No one is allowed to go back alone. On this hike we had a couple folks who started struggling toward the last mile of the hike on the outbound leg and so the “sweep” stopped with them and waited for us to start back. As steep as the hike was up, it was really tough going down and my knees ached for several hours after the hike, but were much better the next day. The La Milagrosa hike is particularly difficult because the trail is not marked and you can make a wrong turn that takes you in the wrong direction at several spots in the trail.

   Because of that me, Mahlon, Norma and Dave did that complete hike the Friday before the Tuesday hike. That’s right, I did this grueling hike on Friday, Feb. 8, making it all the way to the end and back. But it gave me the confidence that I wouldn’t get the group lost when I did it for real on Tuesday. I’m not going to do it again this year though.

 Mahlon, you may recall, is my friend from Flint, who comes to Tucson for two weeks every winter. I always try to carve out a couple hike days with Mahlon who is a really, really good hiker. Our first hike on Saturday, Feb. 2, had to be cancelled because his wife had to be hospitalized with pneumonia just a couple days after they arrived here. We are praying that she is getting better at home. When she arrived back in Flint they went straight from the airport to McLaren Hospital in Flint where she spent nearly a week in the hospital.

   Well, my idea of doing this blog post backwards has now been derailed as I skipped Monday, Sunday and Saturday by talking about the Friday La Milagrosa hike.

Hike views

   So on Monday, Feb. 11, I took the easy hiking group on a trek on the Gabe Zimmerman Trail south of here. This is a relatively easy hike along the Arizona Trail and Cienega Creek. The trail is name for one of the people killed in the horrific shooting that targeted Congresswoman Gabby Giffords a number of years ago. Gabe Zimmerman was her aid and he lost his life in that shooting.

    The trail meanders along Cienega Creek and passes by a point called “The Cienega Curve” which is a popular spot for railroad photographers who stand her for hours taking photos of freight trains as they traverse the rail line next to the creek. Because of the vantage point and the curves in the tracks they get great shots of entire trains. If you google you can find hundreds of those photos. We were lucky a train came along while we were hiking and I snapped my own photo which I will post here.

    Everyone seemed to have a good time and everyone got back safely which is my definition of a successful hike.

   Monday night we headed to Meet Me at Maynard’s as we usually do (except for tonight Feb. 18 because it is pouring out).

    On Sunday, Feb. 10, we went to church and then met Mahlon and Colleen (our Flint friends) for lunch at Choice Greens. We had a very nice visit even though Colleen was not feeling well and not her usual self. After that Joan and I went shopping and then returned home for a quiet afternoon.

   On Saturday, Feb. 9, I went to Coffee and Donuts to plug the Michigan Party and then helped set up tables for the Valentine’s Dance with “Two’s Company.”  Later Joan and I went to that dance and had a great time.

   I already told you about Friday, so now I can get back with my clever reverse account of our last 18 or so days.  Except I forgot to , Feb. 7, I attended my Men’s Bible Study, led my evening mixed Bible study and in between Joan and I attended the lecture series at 1 p.m. This was a well attended event probably because the speaker was the granddaughter of Eleanor Roosevelt. She had fascinating stories about growing up with her famous grandparents. The woman now in her 80s lives here in Tucson.

   Except for Joan attending the Gem Show, the big event on Wednesday Feb. 6 was the concert in the ballroom. No music this time but two very funny comedians and one of them was an excellent ventriloquist. The ventriloquist name was Michael Paul and he has some very impressive appearances on his resume.

Frank on a hike

   He picked three people out of the audience and did a hilarious bit with them. He would tickle them on the back and they would move their lips and he would put words in their mouth. The poor woman chosen is a nice proper lady that I know and he kept making her say “I want sex!”

   Now every time people see her in the park they ask her “Do you still want sex?”  She doesn’t think she will ever live down that performance. She is probably right.

    I already mentioned that Tuesday’s hike was cancelled and that Mahlon and I did another hike. As usual on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Joan attends here aquacise class.

    On Monday, Feb. 4, Joan continued her volunteer reception duties at the resort health clinic and we headed downtown with our friends Bob and Joan for Meet Me at Maynard’s. We ate dinner at HiFi Restaurant downtown with them.

    Superbowl Sunday we went to church and watched football. That was pretty much it for that day.

    On Saturday Feb. 2, we went to “Dance with Dolores” in the ballroom.

    On Friday, I took Frank hiking again and he fell again cutting both knees and an elbow. At 92 he does really well, but I need to find a smoother trail for him because I am going to be in big trouble with his friends if he keeps falling on our hikes.  Joan did her usual Bible study and jewelry making.

   On Thursday was my Bible study day and Wednesday’s concert was a Peter, Paul and Mary Tribute that was, as they all are and have been, excellent.

    So now you are again up to date on all our activities here in the very wet, and cold desert.

Left our reservation to make reservations on two reservations

Joan at Besh Ba Gowah

     Time flies in the desert. Here we are already one month into our winter getaway. Like most of our time down here we have been extremely busy with our normal activities and a few abnormal ones this week.

    We spent three days off our reservation this week and on the reservations of two different Native American tribes. Joan is always welcome and the tribes frequently offer her free hotel stays to encourage her to visit their most cultural and sacred sites also known as casinos.

    We never spend a lot in the casino, but appreciate a nice night in a hotel where we don’t have to walk around the block to get a shower.

Salt River Canyon

   This week we spent a night at Desert Diamond in Tucson, which is a casino of the Tohono O’odham tribe and then Saturday and Sunday we drove to Globe, Arizona where we stayed at Apache Gold Resort and Casino.

   In addition to the time at the casino we spent Sunday playing tourist around the Globe area, which is an ancient and beautiful place. We love playing tourist so we spent Sunday traveling in and around the Apache reservation.

   Besh Ba Gowah, an ancient living site of the Salado people from 800 AD to 1200 AD, has been extensively restored and the museum was full of pottery, arrowheads and other artifacts found during archeological digs at the site.

Our dinner view at Apache Prime Steakhouse

   We spent about an hour touring the ruins, watching a film and visiting the museum. So many times in our travels we find some of the most interesting things off the beaten path. It is amazing to walk around a place knowing that more than 1,000-years-ago a vibrant and intelligent society was going about its business in exactly the same place you are standing.

    It is the same feeling I get standing on top of a mountain looking down and knowing that long before I ever came into the world and for a really long time after I leave it the place I am standing will remain largely unchanged. It is both a feeling that makes one feel small and awe struck at the same time.

Besh Ba Gowah sign

   After the visit to the Besh Ba Gowah ruins we took a drive up through the Salt River Canyon north of Globe, Arizona. The canyon was beautiful and was a small reminder of a much larger and “grander” canyon just a few hours away. One of the main differences between Salt River Canyon and the Grand Canyon is that due to the marvel of road engineering, you can drive to the bottom of the Salt River Canyon.

    We returned to our hotel in San Carlos, Arizona after the drive and had dinner for the second night at the Apache Prime Steakhouse. Part of the incentive for going back was the $10 off coupon the manager gave us the night before if we came back.

Phone Line hike

   The restaurant is attached to a large rodeo arena. With no show going on we had a great view of empty seats and darkened rodeo ring. But the food was good.

   On Monday, January 21, I went on the easy hike which was the last one for the long time hike coordinator Brad. We are going to carry on the hikes informally without a leader for the balance of the season. I felt badly for Brad because he has been forced to come to the realization that he can no longer keep up with a group of “youngsters” and needed to retire from the position he has held for about 10 years.

    Tuesday, January 22, brought me to Sabino Canyon with the more extreme hiking group and we did a nearly 9-mile hike up the Telephone Line trail and then back down the Sabino Canyon tram road. In past years we have purchased tram tickets to ride the tram back to the trail head, but since July the tram has been out of business.

My hiking buddy Frank

   The previous tram purveyor was not operating in a manner that made the National Park Service happy and when their permit expired it was not renewed. A new business operator was not able to get up and running in time to smoothly take over so for more than six months, no tram in the canyon.

    It made it a very long hike.

    Wednesday, January 23, was Market Daze and then the evening concert, which was a tribute show to Johnny Cash. We bought a couple raffle tickets at Market Daze and enjoyed the show very much.

   I also got my haircut at the local truck stop. The woman did a really good job and I'll see her again in February. 

    My men’s Bible study was Thursday morning and one that I led on Proverbs. Specifically on the issue of drinking. It is a topic that is very near and dear to me and we had a good and lively discussion on the topic.

   Then on Thursday night, I taught my Bible study that is centered on the Gospel of Mark and again we had a very good discussion. I really enjoy this group of people.

On top of Wasson Peak

    My friend Frank, a 91-year-old Nevada rancher, and a good friend in the park can no longer hike on the more aggressive hikes on Tuesday. But he continues to want to hike so members of our group take turns going with him on more level hikes.

    So on Friday, I picked up Frank at his manufactured home here in the resort and drove us to the Gabe Zimmerman Trail about 10 miles south of here. Despite his age, Frank moves along at a good clip and can do long distances.

    Unfortunately on Friday he caught the toe of his boot on a rock and went face down on the trail. He opened a nasty cut on his knee, but I always carry a first aid kit and was able to patch him up and get him back to the trailhead with a minimum of pain.

    He and I are already scheduled to hit another trail this coming Friday so Frank is no worse for wear.

    Friday night we had tickets to the dinner show in the ballroom where we had turkey ala king and then watched a performance by Missouri Opry who did a wonderful show on the music of the 1960s. We have heard them during previous visits here and they are very good.

My lunch time view from Wasson Peak

    Saturday, Sunday and part of Monday, as I previously mentioned, was spent in Apache territory.

   When Monday night rolled around we picked up Bob and Joan, some friends of ours in the park and took them with us to Meet Me at Maynard’s.

   Bob and Joan are from Minnesota and both are widowed. They have a really nice love story. When they were both married to their first spouses they lived on a lake and the families were friends. So his kids knew her kids and they knew each other very well.

    After both were widowed they found it natural to start dating and keeping company with each other. Now they travel together and we have known them since they first came to Voyager about three years ago. We met them at one of the resort dances.

Our hiking group on Wasson Peak

     They are both about 10 years older than Joan and I but we have such a good time with them. They didn’t walk far at Meet Me at Maynard’s but we left them at Maynard’s listening to music while we walked and then went out to dinner with them after.

   When I was trying to find out where they lived in the resort a week or so ago, I went to the street where I knew they lived and began asking neighbors if they knew “Bob and Joan.”  One man asked me to describe them and I said, “they are an elderly couple, with white hair.”

   “Yeah,” the man said. “That describes virtually everyone in the park.”

   On Tuesday, it was back to some extreme hiking with the Tuesday group and we headed up to Wasson Peak.  The hike is 7.2-miles and rises 1,800-feet from the trailhead to the top of Wasson Peak, which is the highest point in the Tucson Mountains.

Strange object outside barber shop

    Starting next Tuesday, and through February, it will be me leading the hikes. My first time doing that as a hiking coordinator at the resort.

   Back at the resort, I got cleaned up and we headed to dinner with our friends Mike and Susan. They were not here last season because they were on an around the world Viking cruise. This was our first time this season to hear about the wonderful trip they took.

     We had dinner at El Corral restaurant and had some really, really good prime rib.

     Was that busy enough for one week?

The circle of life, and death, at the resort

   If you are a frequent reader of this blog you know how much we love being at the Voyager RV Resort in Tucson. Over the 8 years we have been coming here we have made so many good friends. Truth be told one of the main reasons we keep returning is the friends and relationships we have made here.

     Each year when we arrive we have many happy reunions with old friends. Sadly, because of the nature of the resort we inevitably have to say good-bye to some of those friends. This year has been particularly difficult as two close friends died over the summer and fall.

RIP Don and Walt

     In the previous year it was the same thing, except one of those we lost was not from dying but from health reasons that kept them returning. Hap and Ann were the best and it was Hap that taught me how to do some simple wood carving.

    This year Walt, the man we always closed the season by having dinner with before we left and Don, died during the off season. Today, Sunday, January 20, we attended back-to-back memorial services for both men. We had a chance to meet their families and listen to more details of their lives than we knew previously.

    One of them, Walt, was 10 years older than me, and Don was a year younger and like me had served in the Navy. Both men were part of the Men’s Bible Study here and if you recall the story, it was Walt that always lent me his long ladder so I could get on the top of my trailer to do the work I needed to do before storing the trailer.

A Roadrunner at Sweetwater

    It was also Walt who used to ask me to come and pick the lemons off his prolific lemon tree. He would give us a couple and donate the rest to a local food bank. The picking always left me with shredded skin as the thorns of the tree tore through my thin flesh like a hot knife through butter.

   As I get older these memorial services seem to come at an ever increasing rate.

   But the week wasn’t all sadness as life goes on in the desert. On Monday, I went on the easy hike and Joan got checked out for volunteering at the Voyager medical clinic.  Monday night we attended Meet Me at Maynard’s and I won a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant in the drawing.

   During the afternoon Joan and I went shopping  - separately. Joan planned this shopping trip like a military maneuver. She had her list for Walmart and gave me mine for Fry’s (Kroger). I picked up some really good meat bargains and she got the rest of the groceries.   I picked up some nice steaks, pork roasts, ground beef and some produce that was on sale. The receipt said I saved $63. More important, Joan said I did good.

    I returned to Walmart where Joan had completed her shopping and we headed home making the most of the limited time we had.

Seven Falls

    On Tuesday, the hiking group went on a 7-mile trek along the Wild Burro Trail near Dove Mountain. It’s a bit of drive there, but the hike is well worth the drive. Tuesday night Joan made her wonderful scalloped potatoes and we brought them to the weekly potluck.

    Wednesday we kind of hung around the resort. Joan did some laundry and then on Wednesday night we went to the concert at the resort. “The Cowboy Way” turned out to be a pretty good show even though Joan’s favorite music does not usually involved country or western tunes. The three musicians were excellent on the guitar and the music was wonderful and “not twangy” which is the kind of country and western music Joan doesn’t like.

    Thursday brought my Men’s Bible study and later the Bible study I teach on Thursday night for a mixed group of people. Joan has been faithfully attending her aquacise class on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday as well as her Friday Woman’s Bible study.

    A small group of new people in the park asked if I would lead them on a hike to Seven Falls on Friday. Two couples and four singles, including me, headed out early Friday for the Falls, which is in Bear Canyon, which is part of the Sabino Canyon National Park.

Cotamundi wanting snacks

Despite the current government shutdown the trails are open and accessible although the recent rains and snow in the mountains have made the seven water crossings along the river very difficult for some folks to do.

     We took our time and only a couple folks got a little wet during the crossings. The payoff was that the Seven Falls were full of water and everyone enjoyed eating lunch in such an idyllic spot. We plan to do some future hikes together as well.  At the Seven Falls area we spotted two cotamundis (weird looking racoon creatures) begging for snacks. I told the group I charge extra for finding wildlife.

    Some folks don’t enjoy hiking with the Tuesday group because of the speed of the group. There is often not time to stop and take pictures at the pace we go so these extra hikes give folks a chance to move a little slower and stop and smell the cactus.

    For once we had a quiet Friday night with no organized activities planned so when I got home from the hike Joan announced we were going to the resort restaurant for fish fry. The fish fry was good, but certainly not up to Buffalo fish fry standards. But Joan didn’t have to cook and I didn’t have to wash dinners so there’s that.

Wild Burro hike

    Joan has been wanting to get back to the Sweetwater Nature area north of Tucson so we made time Saturday for that.  Joan is still hoping to see the bobcat that I saw there last year, but we are going to have to go earlier in the day to see it.

     We did see a Roadrunner, a ruddy duck, a plethora of coots, a hawk, a mallard, a green heron and a small woodpecker, so it wasn't a complete bust.

    We stopped at Walmart on the home to do a little grocery shopping and then went to the Retro Rockets dance Saturday night.

    The Retro Rockets are a very popular group down here and they packed the ballroom with 350 people for dancing.

    Sunday was church and the two memorials already discussed here.  In case you’ve been wondering the weather here is turning for the better and on Sunday it was 76 degrees and sunny.

The Tucson Adventure continues despite cool weather and government shutdown

   A very busy week ended with an afternoon of football watching today (Sunday, January 13) as the New England Patriots dismantled the Chargers and the New Orleans Saints got by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Joan and her MMM wine

    This past week was a pretty typical week for us here in the desert. On Monday I went on the “easy” hike which was a pretty boring trek along the Pantano Wash, but it was 5 miles so got a little exercise out of it. On Monday night (Jan. 7) Joan and I did our first Meet Me at Maynard’s for the season.

   It was our 40^th time and we are just 10 short of getting our 50 pin. We have already earned our t-shirts and our ball caps. We probably won’t make it this year, but next year for sure we’ll get our pin. The next award is a Century t-shirt, but at the rate we are here I may not live long enough to earn that one.

  Joan loves sitting on the Maynard’s patio sipping wine as they do the drawing for restaurant gift certificates at the end of the evening.

Madera Canyon hike

    On Tuesday, I went on the Madera Canyon hike which was a relatively simple hike of 6.5 miles and a total elevation of about 1,000 feet. I did get close to Mt. Wrightson which is where I hiked my brother’s ashes to a number of years ago. While I was sweating my way up the mountain Joan was sweating in the pool in her class.

    Since last year I have been one of the hike coordinators here at the resort which means I either help lead the hikes or bring up the rear and make sure we don't lose anyone. I was the last in line (we call it the "Sweep") for the Madera hike. I will be leading the hikes in February.

     For the first time this season we attended the Tuesday potluck. Joan made up her famous coleslaw and we reconnected with a number of friends there.

Bridal Wreath Falls

    Wednesday brought the first Market Daze, but the man who brings the delicious bags of oranges for $4 did not show so Joan was pretty disappointed. As part of the table and chair set up crew we were busy this week setting up Market Daze, tearing it down and then setting up for the Wednesday night show.

    After my table and chair duties Joan and I went off the reservation so she could get her allergy shot at our local Tucson doctor. While she waited for her shot she sent me on an errand to pick up some groceries at the nearby Trader Joe’s.

   After dinner Wednesday we attended the show which was a John Denver Tribute show done by Jim Curry. He did an incredible job of looking and sounding like John Denver and the show was very well received.

   On Thursday, I attended my second Men’s Bible Study and several more of my friends attended after arriving at the resort this weekend. Some of them are getting older, glad that I’m not.

    That evening I led the first mixed Bible study along with Rev. Ray Burgess who asked me to take the lead on the study of the Gospel of Mark this year. We had a wonderful group of 10 people with several more expected to show up this coming Thursday.

My squirrel buddy at the falls

    Try as I might I couldn’t find anyone available to hike with me on Friday so I went alone to the Garwood-Carillo Trail in the Saguaro National Park. The 6-mile in and out hike ends at Bridal Wreath Falls and I found them in full flow, which is unusual. The current water is a result of the recent rain and mountain snow we have had here in Tucson.

   This is part of the same trail I did last week with my friend Alan, but he couldn’t finish the climb so I went back and completed the hike.

Unfortunately, the government shutdown continues and there is a sign posted at the entrance of the trail warning hikers that they will be hiking at their own risk because all the government personnel are off and not patrolling. The fact is I’ve never seen a ranger on any of those trails, shutdown or not, so it is a pretty well traveled trail and hikers look out for each other. No worries.

   Joan attended her Women’s Bible study Friday morning and then her polymer clay class in the afternoon, but she has finished the projects from Friday so I have no pictures yet for that.

Trail shutdown warning

    We went to a DJ dance in the ballroom Friday night and met some friends there. We were tired and left a little early. Saturday brought some time to do chores around the trailer and I finished a really good book I’ve been reading called “The Great Halifax Explosion,” which is the story of a devastating collision between two ships in the Halifax Harbor during World War I. One of the ships was carrying millions of pounds of war explosives and the resulting explosion leveled much of the City of Halifax and killed about 2,000 people. It was a story I was unaware of but the book was a real page turner.

    Joan did our laundry Saturday and then we went to the “Two’s Company” dance in the ballroom Saturday night. It’s kind of funny that we don’t dance all year at home and then dance nearly every week while we are here during the winter.

  On Sunday (Jan. 13) we went to church and then due to the chilly temperatures hibernated in our trailer and watched the football games I mentioned at the beginning of this post. We’re hoping for better weather this week, but even bad weather here isn’t too bad.

A little snow, a little jewelry and a little hike

Tucson snow, ugh

    When we last met, I told you we were attending the New Year’s Party at the resort. The party was fun, but we were still over tired from the trip and turned in a little early (11:30 p.m.). Because of the advanced age of most people in the park, they had the champagne toast at 10 p.m. so the folks who wanted could go home early.

    The entertainment for the party was Albert Galli, a local resident of the resort who plays a mean clarinet and has a wonderful voice. Lots of music from our era and we sat with a very nice couple from British Columbia who are here in the park for the first time. They spent the evening, when we weren’t dancing, picking our brains about fun things to do around here.

    I was up early on New Year’s Day so I went to the gym for a little work out before returning to the trailer where we watched the Rose Parade and then gorged on football games for the rest of the day.

   The weather here has not been great. Actually it has been poor. At times it was warmer in Michigan than it was here in the desert, but by the end of the week that changed. But for the second time since we have been coming here we had snow on the ground.

A short, but nice hike

   When it snows here it is similar to when we have really bad weather back east as the television weather folks go bananas. The mountains surrounding Tucson are snow covered and it is really quite beautiful. The line for the locals to go up to the mountains is long and, of course, we have no interest in fighting traffic to play in the snow.

    Over the week, Joan has been processing the squash that I grew and that she brought from home. She cooks up the squash and then freezes it for use while we are here. That has become an annual ritual. As I mentioned in the previous post I am back working with the table and chair set up team as well as preparing to lead the Thursday night Bible study staring this week.

    On Friday, Alan, I friend I have met here over the years, and I did a test hike up the Garwood Trail in the National Park. With the shutdown there are no services, but the trails all seem to be open and we did just a short hike (a little over 3 miles and about 600-foot elevation) just to get our feet wet before the more major hikes that start next week.

   The weather has been so cool that Joan and I have been holed up in the trailer so much that on Thursday we decided to go see a movie. “The Mule” with Clint Eastwood ended up being our choice and it was quite good.

   Joan has rejoined her friends in the pool for aquasize and she attended both the Women’s Bible Study and her Polymer Clay jewelry class on Friday. She really enjoys the jewelry making and has really gotten good at it.

Joan's jewelry

    Of course, there have been plenty of minor chores, laundry, minor repairs to the trailer and cleaning that have occupied much of this week.

    One of the sad things about coming back is seeing how many of our friends here didn’t make it back either because they no longer can travel, or worse, have passed away. We are attending the memorial service later this month for my friend Walt Harmer who died suddenly this past fall. Walt, if you recall, is the man who used to loan me his ladder to get on the roof of my trailer and who let me pick lemons off his tree at his home in the resort.

   Each year we would always end the season having dinner with Walt, who lost his wife, the first year we were here. One year we would treat and the next he would treat at different restaurants. A couple other acquaintances have also passed away since we were here last. Guess that’s just part of getting old.

   On the plus side we have reconnected with many of our long time friends here so all the news is not bad.

   Things will really ramp up here next week as the first Market Daze and the first concert, a John Denver tribute, will happen.

   Church tomorrow and we’ll finish off watch Wild Card weekend football as the weather promises to be crappy tomorrow with rain coming into the valley for Saturday and Sunday.

   Lots of new building in the area, including the new Amazon distribution center which is only a mile down the road from the resort. When we left last year the area was a wild empty wilderness area. Now it is a huge building with a completed parking lot that looks like it could open fairly soon. Lots of jobs coming this way with it.

   There have been a number of personnel changes at the resort and the general manager, who we really liked, is no longer here but the new guy seems equally nice.

   We pray that the New Year will be good to all our family and friends. Check in next week and we’ll bring you up to date on our activities.