Temperatures are "plunging" but no worries still in the 60s

So when we last visited Joan and I had just finished an evening of dancing. On Sunday we got up and headed to church which is an interesting collection of denominations and people.

The Mayor of Tucson is somewhere in the crowd

Not too many Roman Catholics go to the service, opting rather for attending one of the 3,000 Catholic churches in Tucson. But many other denominations come together in a non-denominational service in the ballroom. A group of volunteers turn the ballroom into a pretty respectable church facility and as I have mentioned before the music is very good.

Service unofficially starts at 9:40 a.m. with a participation hymn sing in which a leader calls on members of the congregation to shout out the number of a favorite hymn and then the whole body sings one or two verses. The only exception to that rule is that you can’t suggest a song that is already scheduled to be sung during the service.

I had one of my favorites all ready to call out “No. 2 ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’” but the hymn leader started with that hymn leaving me high and dry on my shout.

Our Monday hike ended at this abandoned home site

The pastor is a nice man who I have gotten to know through the Men’s Bible Study here and gives a pretty good sermon often hitting on current issues in the park. I like him because he is gentle, but doesn’t pull any punches and reminds us a great deal of our own Pastor Dave back home in Michigan.

After church we came back and changed out of our Sunday best into our Thursday worst and sat outside reading the Sunday paper and my Civil War book until it was time for the two NFL Conference Championship games.

A lot of people in the park were very disappointed in the outcome of the Seattle versus Green Bay game, but we have enough Washington folks in the park that there are also happy campers here as well.

A dead Saguaro cactus along Monday's trail

After a full day of football we turned in for bed and then on Monday started a whole new round of fun for the week. I went on a nice easy hike near Dove Mountain and plan to take Joan and our friend Pam and Gloria there, if they want, when they are here next month for a hike.

Joan spent her morning in the pool at aquacise and then waited for me to come home from my hike. We spent the afternoon shopping for scrapbooking supplies for Joan at a couple specialty stores before heading downtown to the next installment of Meet Me at Maynard’s, the 2-mile walk we do each Monday in Tucson.

We are only two MMM’s away from our free t-shirt.

The Monday’s MMM was special because it was the fifth anniversary of the weekly event and the Mayor of Tucson showed up to thank the folks for their efforts in bringing people downtown and for helping to keep the city clean.

Part of the Meet Me at Maynard's crowd

One Monday a month a number of walkers take trash bags with them and fill them on the walk with garbage.

I had hoped to stop and have my photo taken with the Mayor but he had an “entourage” and bopped in gave his thanks and then surrounded by his entourage left  before I could corner him for a photo. I also wanted to tell him that my father had been named an honorary citizen of Tucson for his work here in the Pueblo in the early 1950s as part of a horseless carriage caravan.

I was sure that he would be impressed by my Tucson legacy, but alas I couldn’t get close enough to him to explain.

Usually we eat downtown after MMM but this week I had a Jones for some Kentucky Fried Chicken so we headed out to find a KFC franchise. Because we have OnStar I decided to ask them for help in finding the nearest KFC. The advisor found one between downtown and our resort and so we headed there.

Trailhead for Romero Canyon and Pool's Trail

We followed the directions and when we arrived at the location we discovered that while the building had all the classic styling of a KFC, the sign outside said “Nuevo Pollo,” which I believe means “New Chicken” in Spanish.

With my heart set on KFC we got back on the OnStar and they located another franchise just about 4 miles from “Nuevo Pollo”  and we fulfilled our desire for some KFC.

There is also a local chain called “Feliz Pollo” which means “Happy Chicken” which seems ironic considering that the only “happy chickens” are the ones who didn’t make the cut for the restaurant.

On Tuesday I headed off for my “hard” hike and this hike was in the Catalina Mountains and the Romero Pools as a destination. The hike was 2.8 miles uphill to the pools and then, of course, 2.8 miles downhill from the pools.Because of the wetter winter this year there was plenty of water in the pools this year over last.

Lunch at Romero Pools

We had 31 hikers today, so we split the group into two parts so we didn’t hog the trail too much as it is a popular hike and trail etiquette suggests that you keep your groups to a manageable size.

Unlike a previous hike to this spot we found the pools full and overflowing from recent high mountain snowfalls and our lunch destination was well worth the trek to get there.

While I was scaling the mountain, Joan was home working on her scrapbook class and did a really nice job on the first page of her proud grandparent book.

I arrived home from my hike to an empty trailer because she was still scrapbooking, but I did find a note asking me to stir the meatballs for the evening’s potluck in the ballroom. I stirred, showered and we headed to the dinner, which was particularly good.

Me at Romero Pools at lunch

We sat next to a man who spent his career in the Navy flying as an observer on a radar plan that flew between Midway and Adak, Alaska keeping track of the Russians during the Cold War. We had a nice Navy talk, no doubt boring everyone around us.

One of the interesting pieces of mail we received today was a 1-cent check (see photo) that our drug prescription plan sent to us. Can’t imagine how much it cost them to produce and send a 1-cent check. 

Stupid.

Wednesday dawned with the awful local TV news that our temperatures were set to “plunge” in to the low 60s for the next two or three days. Hey, we’re happy to take the plunge. As long as there is no cold white stuff blowing around the park, we’re happy.

A view along the Romero Canyon Trail

The morning saw me at the fitness center and Joan at her aquacise class. Later I went to my wood carving class. I’d like to describe the thing I am making but I am pretty sure that someone who may be the recipient of the item might be reading this and that would spoil the surprise.

The afternoon was spent doing laundry and my own preparation for leading tomorrow morning’s Bible study. Tonight we have tickets to a concert at the resort, “Putting on the Ritz.” This Lonely Street Production is part of the American Song Book series, this one obviously focus on Irving Berlin.

I’ll let you know how good it was in my next post.

Scroll down for a few extra photos from the Monday and Tuesday hikes.