Visitors from the chilly north spend 10 days in sunny Arizona

Arizona Trail hike

The past ten days have been busy and fun-filled. Since our last post we have been entertaining visitors from Michigan. Pam and Gloria arrived the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 12. I already wrote that we ate at the resort restaurant and Gloria and Pam turned in early to recover from a long travel day.

In the morning, the women headed to the pool for a little aquacise while I did my usual trip to the fitness center.

On Friday (Feb. 13) we headed north to Phoenix to visit our friends Chelsea and Ryan and have dinner with them. Now here’s what happens when I fail to write everyday – I forget things. I forget the name of the Mexican restaurant we went to, but it was really, really good. As was the company. Ryan and Chelsea still look like movie stars and they are very, very happy.

Pam, Joan and Gloria at Pichacho Peak park

On the way to Phoenix Joan, Pam, Gloria and I stopped at Picacho Peak State Park and took a short nature walk and a short visit to the Civil War Memorial there. Picacho Peak was the site of the farthest west battle of the Civil War. It was really more of a skirmish, but it is an interesting stop nonetheless.

The Michigan visitors were really enjoying the warmth of both the sun and the clear blue skies.

After visiting the park we headed a little more north and spent a couple hours at the Casa Grande Ruins. A fairly significant group of Native American people lived there some 1,000 years ago and then suddenly departed for greener pastures leaving behind a four-story building that was fairly sophisticated for its time.

Our tour guide took a nasty fall during our tour, but dusted himself off and continued his duties.

It's Margarita Ville for the ladies

After that we headed north to finish our journey to Chelsea and Ryan’s house. Joan delivered her bridal shower presents to Chelsea as she will not be able to attend Chelsea’s shower in Michigan in March.

We arrived home late Friday and made plans for a nice hike on Saturday.

The four of us headed to a section of the Arizona Trail near us off 83. We did about a 3-4 mile hike on a relatively level section of the Arizona Trail and were surprised to see so many things in bloom this time of year. We saw similar flowers at Picacho Peak the day before, but the result of rain two weeks before Pam and Gloria arrived has left a lot of blooming stuff in the desert.

The whole group at the unknown Mexican restaurant

We came home and had a little time in and around the pool and then had dinner outside the trailer as the sun set.

Pam and Gloria joined us for church at the resort on Sunday and then we headed to Saguaro National Park (East) on Sunday afternoon for a picnic lunch and tour of the beautiful cactus at the park. As it turned out it was “free” day in the park so we were definitely not alone in making the tour. We grabbed lots of photos and then returned home for dinner outside the trailer again.

Monday dawned with Pam and Joan hitting the pool again and then we headed to Kartchner Caverns for a tour of the caves Monday afternoon. We had lunch at a picnic table there and then took a tour of the amazing caverns which were only discovered and opened to the public in the 1980s.

Picnic at Saguaro National Park

After freshening up at home we headed to downtown Tucson for the weekly “Meet Me at Maynard’s” and Pam and Gloria were on hand to see Joan and I get our free t-shirts. Once you have done eight  Meet Me at Maynard’s events you earn a free t-shirt. You get a free ball cap after 15 and another t-shirt after 100. The cap is in reach, but with us only being here 3 months a year it will take us a decade to get that century shirt. And unless I live to a ripe old Biblical age there is no chance for a 200 MMM shirt.

After the event we headed to Thunder Canyon Brewery for dinner and Gloria was very kind to buy us all dinner.

On Tuesday we all headed to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum for a fun day of touring. We went to the hummingbird house, the live and loose venomous reptile show and then the afternoon free raptor flight program, which we all enjoyed. We always think of our granddaughter Addisen in the hummingbird house and Griffen when we stop to visit the javelinas. (Pronounced Ha-Va-Lee-Nas)

The Mirror Lab explorers

We did a little gift shop browsing and then it was home for dinner outside the trailer again.

The women hit the aquacise pool on Wednesday morning and then we headed to the University of Arizona for a tour of the telescope mirror lab at the football stadium. The mirror lab is manufacturing seven 8-meter mirrors that will eventually be placed on the top of a South American Mountain to research the heavens. It is an amazingly detailed process that takes several years to complete each mirror.

We headed home and had dinner and then ventured to the theater to see “The Theory of Everything,” which is one of the few Academy Award nominated movies that Pam and Gloria hadn’t seen yet. Of course Joan and I have seen very few of the nominated movies but this one was very, very good.

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum visit

Thursday dawned with plans for a pretty vigorous hike in the Catalina Mountains. The Telephone Line hike, which I have done twice from different directions is a great hike with wonderful views in Sabino Canyon. The four of us headed to the canyon and took the tram to the end of the line and then hiked our way back to Tram Stop 1 where we caught the tram back to the park entrance.

The hike is considered a “moderate” hike, but it was probably a little longer than I advertised. And I swear that I thought there was more than the Tram 1 escape route from the trail. Because of the recent rains the water in Sabino Creek was high and the crossing to Tram 1 stop was not as easy as it should have been. Joan slipped off a rock and got an icy bath in the creek. My popularity as a hike leader was at a very low ebb at this point.

Hiking up the Telephone Line Trail

Anyway, we caught the tram back and ended the day back at the trailer for dinner.

On Friday, the women started the day in the pool again and I made my visit to the fitness center. With plans to tour the Pima Air and Space Museum I have learned to get over there early to purchase Boneyard tour tickets as soon as the place opens as the tours quickly sell out and I knew Gloria and Pam wanted to take the tour.

We ended up with the 1:30 p.m. tour and I returned home to pick up the ladies and head back to the museum. Again we packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed it outside the museum. I save a place at the head of the line while the women walked the museum and then we headed out on the Boneyard tour. Davis Monthan Air Force Base stores about 4,000 aircraft in the desert and the tour takes you through parts of those storage areas.

No one was mad at me yet on the Telephone Line Trail

By the time we returned all Boneyard tours had sold out so it was a good thing I went first thing in the morning.

After the bus tour we spent a little more time at the museum and then returned home to get dressed for the nights jazz dinner at the resort ballroom. The Mardi Gras themed event was well decorated and the Jambalaya, corn bread, King Cake and cole slaw was pretty good. 

After dinner we were treated to a two-hour jazz concert that we all enjoyed.

Saturday brought more good weather (did I mention we had some of our very best weather of the year while Pam and Gloria were here?) and we left about 11 a.m. to visit Mission San Xavier del Bac in Grass Valley.  After visiting the mission and seeing the beautiful inside of the 300-plus hear old church we stopped for some Indian Frybread which is made on the grounds.

One of our dinner sunsets

As the women noted, homemade Indian Frybread is far from fast food but it is one of my favorite treats in the desert. Watching it being made is a little disconcerting as sanitation rules seem to be suspended on the reservation, but I figure once it is boiled in grease nothing dangerous could survive anyway.

We left the mission and headed south to Tubac, which is an artists’ colony about 19 miles north of the Mexican border. We spent about 90 minutes shopping there – and I believe Pam and Gloria enjoyed a tasty dairy treat there as well – before heading back to the resort for pizza at the restaurant here.

Having worn out our guests with much driving and touring we graciously gave them a day off on Sunday to sit around and enjoy the sunshine and warmth of Arizona before returning to the sunshine and frigid temperatures of Michigan.

Inside Mission San Xavier del Bac

Amazingly I, on the other hand, couldn’t convince anyone to join me at the Tucson Airport to tour four still flying World War II warbirds that were making a four-day stop here to give tours and rides on Sunday. The Commemorative Air Force has preserved and maintains a number of these vintage warplanes.

It was an enjoyable two hours of climbing in and out of airplanes and talking with the pilots and crew of these fine old aircraft. I could have flown on the C-47, but the $250 price tag for a 30-minute flight scared me away. It was considerably more expensive to fly on the B-29 and B-25 so that was never an option. I did get to see the two bombers flying overhead and what a great site that was.

Shopping in Tubac

Joan cooked a nice Sunday dinner and then we settled in for an evening of television watching. While some enjoyed the Oscars, Pam kept up on Masterpiece Theater on public television.

With an early departure set for Monday morning we all turned in about 10 p.m. and I picked Pam and Gloria up about 6 a.m. to drive them to the Tucson airport for their flight home.

After dropping the two women off at the airport I returned home and to soften the blow of the now empty nest, Joan and I went back to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum (we are members so we can go anytime for free) and watched the morning bird show and another auditorium show in which the stars were a skunk, a porcupine, a macaw and a great horned owl.

We then went shopping and spent a quiet night at home. Tuesday dawned with the cancellation of my hike (it was raining) and we finished our laundry. We also attended our first Tuesday night potluck in a month due to our traveling to California and visitors. Only two desserts were on hand, so not my favorite potluck.

Inside the cockpit of a B-29

Last year we had one potluck where virtually everyone brought a dessert. That was my favorite potluck.

On Wednesday we pretty much stayed around the resort and got caught up on our usual activities – Joan at aquacise and me at the fitness center. We visited the bi-weekly Market Daze and then headed that night to the Lonely Street Production “Travelin’ Man” a tribute concert to the great teen idols of the 50s and 60s. We have enjoyed all of the LSP productions this year and this one was near the top of our favorites for the past three years.

Thursday sent me to my morning Bible study (we are starting a new book on James) and then to the wood carving shop to complete my current project – actually Joan insisted I go – “for three hours,” in her words – so she could get her housework done. I offered to help with the housework, but apparently I make it more difficult.

The Thursday lecture was on “Memory Preservation” and as you can imagine at a 55+ resort it drew an overflow crowd. The speaker was a professor of psychology from the University of Arizona and she gave some very good tips on how to remember things. All of which I have already forgotten.

So now you are caught up.

For more photos simply scroll down.

More photos from Pam and Gloria's visit

The B-29 at the Tucson Airport

The mirror we saw being polished last year is done

Joan and Gloria at Saguaro National Park (east)

Joan rests on the Arizona Trail

Javelina Rock at Saguaro National Park

Gila Monster at the Desert Museum

One of the raptor stars at the desert museum

California here we come, California here we go

Completely stopped in the desert.

There are a number of reasons I would never consider living in California again. The cost of living is high, there are more crazies per square foot than anywhere else I can think, but the biggest reason of all is the traffic. I don’t care if it is 2 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, you can find a traffic jam in California.

So it is always with some trepidation that I drive into California. We love visiting the children and grandchildren, but you just never know what awaits you when you make the trip.

Our weekend at the park went quickly and included another rainy day on Saturday. So rainy that we decided that we had recovered enough from the bloody World War II fiction “Fury” we saw Monday to see “American Sniper.” (more on the rain at the end)

Making new friends on the road.

It was a stunningly good movie, although without giving away the ending, I was probably the only person in the theater who was shocked at what the final outcome of the movie and the sniper’s life was.

Sunday we went to church and then I took Joan to the nail salon so she could get her fingers and toes in shape for our California trip. On the way there asked me to go to the nearby grocery store to pick up a get well card for a friend.

Being the dutiful husband I entered the grocery store – did I mention this was Super Bowl Sunday – about four hours before the game and the inside of the store was a mob scene. I waited forever in a line for the self serve checkout to pay for one solitary greeting card. People thought I was crazy.

Joan at Rick's Picks

When I got back to the nail salon I walked over to the chair where Joan was dipping her toes and whispered to her: “You do realize that you made me go into the grocery store on Super Bowl Sunday.” She said she was sorry, but I’m not so sure she was.

Back home, Joan did laundry and I headed to a nearby pizza parlor to buy our Super Bowl dinner.

We watched the game and its incredible ending and then retired for the night.

Early Monday we got up and started our journey to California. My trip planning showed it would take us a little over seven hours to get to Burbank and my plan was to be through the LA freeway system before 3 p.m. and at our hotel.

More on why that didn’t happen later.

Joan and Cynthia

On the way out of Arizona on I-10 we first passed the slowing flying Met Life blimp that was leaving the weekend golf tournament in Phoenix. I don’t know how fast a blimp flies, but clearly it does not fly as fast as freeway traffic.

Well inside California and quite a while after leaving the Met Life blimp in our dust, we spotted yet another blimp flying above the freeway. This time is was the Goodyear blimp which we assume must have been at the Super Bowl the night before.

We quickly over took the blimp and put it in our rear view mirror. That, however, was to be short lived.

About 90 miles east of Indio we saw the first of two electronic signs that warned us that there was a traffic accident ahead and that there could be a two hour delay.

Me and Cynthia

Well, we guessed it might be cleaned up by the time we got there. About 21 miles east of Indio the traffic stopped. And I mean stopped. Some people turned around and went back, but for us there was no other route so we knew we had to wait it out.

And wait we did. Traffic stopped at 12:40 p.m. and we didn’t clear the accident which was only about 15 miles ahead until after 3 p.m. That also put us in the middle of Los Angeles rush hour traffic so a trip that should have taken us seven hours took us more than ten hours. I did stand outside the truck and talk to other motorists and work on my tan.

The accident involved a frozen chicken truck colliding with a truck load of bees. I found these photos and story online about the accident.

Me, William and Joan in Will's home

Along the route we crossed “Sore Finger Road” and a number of cars carrying very unhappy Seattle Seahawks fans heading home to California from the Super Bowl.

Last time we came through California the agriculture inspection station was closed so we took a chance this year and brought some clementines to eat on the trip. These small citrus fruits are our favorite but are likely not allowed across the border.

As luck would have it the border station was open and we quickly peeled the tangerines as we waited in the inspection line and tried to consume them before we got to the inspector. Joan was still eating hers when we pulled up and without a moment’s hesitation the inspector waved us through even though Joan had her fruit in her hand as we drove by.

Las Vegas

We also passed an interesting license plate in Arizona, one that we knew our son John might appreciate: “AZ JEDIS”

At the weekly free donut breakfast the park announced that they are participating in an anti-obesity program. Get it, they serve free donuts and are fighting obesity. Love it.

I was going to write about the rain at the park, but it is long gone and the warm temperatures have returned so, forget it.

The California leg of our trip was fun we got to see both boys – William and Tim – our wonderful new daughter-in-law Toni and both of our granddaughters – Brittany and Teri. Unfortunately while we were there “Moonlight,” Teri’s cat left the house and to this date has not returned. We are praying for a safe resolution to her missing cat.

The view of our hotel from Ed and Betty's room.

When my son Tim finally sends me some photos of our stay with him I'll post those photos too.

We also attended Teri’s play – she has the lead role in “Nymph” – a rather racy story about a wood nymph turned human. The play was in nearby Seaside, California and she was outstanding in the very funny play.

Joan also got a chance to stop at her favorite California fruit and vegetable stop near Watsonville and she loaded up on 4-for-a-dollar avocados. We picked up some artichokes and other goodies as well.

Lake Mead ahead

We all met for dinner at a local restaurant and celebrated February birthdays for Brittany, Teri and Toni at the dinner with a cake we bought in Danville during our short but wonderful visit with cousin Cynthia. The visit did provide us a chance to visit one of our favorite “junk” stores – Rik’s Picks – in downtown Danville. Lots of good stuff and some bad stuff there.

With the end of the California leg of our trip we headed back to Tucson by way of Las Vegas. Joan had “earned” two free nights at Treasure Island Resort so we used both of them as a chance to visit our friends Ed and Betty who winter for five weeks in sin city.

We ate dinner with them both nights (Sunday and Monday) and Joan of course did her level best to earn us a couple more “free” nights next year.

Pam and Gloria arrive to sunny Tucson

With guests from Michigan headed our way on Thursday we finished our journey home to Tucson on Tuesday afternoon. We had our usual routine on Wednesday, except we added a lot of cleaning and preparation work to it. I had my workout in the fitness center – Joan had her aquacise and I spent an hour in the wood carving shop.

The show Wednesday in the ballroom was “Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds” a classic country show, so we stayed home.

Thursday brought Bible study – the men finished our Revelations study – and then Joan and I went shopping to stock up on food for our guests. We headed to the Tucson airport about 3:40 p.m. and the flight carrying Pam and Gloria was right on time and so we only waited about 5 minutes in the cell phone lot until they called and said they were ready to be picked up.

The flooded dog park

Back at the resort they checked into the hotel and we went to dinner at the resort restaurant. Unfortunately, the wind was a little too brisk to sit outside, even though temperatures were in the high 60s.

After a long day traveling Pam and Gloria turned in early as we have a big day planned for Friday, including a visit to Phoenix and our friends Ryan and Chelsea for dinner. Sorry for the delayed post, but sometimes life gets in the way.

In our last post I mentioned the approaching rainstorm. Well, it arrived and it arrived in Biblical proportions (for this area). In just over a day more than 2-inches of rain fell within a 48-hour time period (the most since 2010).

The Tahoe and trailer in the rain.

The washes were full, people (hikers) had to be rescued from overflowing canyons and the news was full of gasping reporters talking about the rainstorm. We stayed mostly in except to go and see American Sniper, which was really good. I know I mentioned that earlier, but it was really, really good. 

Just as the rain ended and the weather improved we headed to northern California (see above) where it rained again for two days. But they need the rain there too, so we never complain when folks who need rain get it.

I’m adding a couple photos from the park of the rain that fell on us. The photo of the flooded dog park is probably the most telling as we’ve never seen water in there before.

If I've forgotten anything Joan will let me know and I'll include it in the next post. See you soon.