A big party and a 'hysterical cow' highlight week 8 in Tucson

Michigan Party set up

 This week was another busy one here at Voyager.  As I teased in the last post, much of Monday was spent getting things ready for the big Michigan State Party in the afternoon. In 2012, the year we first began coming to Voyager we were disappointed to learn that Michigan was pretty much the only state that didn’t have a day set aside for a party.

As it turned out, the folks who had been organizing and running the party for the previous 15-plus years had justifiably tired of doing all the work and collecting money for dinner tickets as the previous party was held at a swanky restaurant in the foothills of Tucson.

So for the past few years the party languished until last winter when Joan met up with Marcia (of Marcia and Jerry of Michigan) and they decided it was time to revive the party, but in a simpler form. So over the summer last year they stayed in touch and when we arrived here in January the planning began in full steam.

The guests line up for chow

The date we reserved was Feb. 29, leap day, and the one concern we had was that we had no back up for the party if the weather was bad. 99 out of hundred days that’s not a problem, but there can be days when bad weather blows in and if that had happened to put it in a word we were – screwed.

Our party was going to be on the Voyager patio and there was no room available to move in the event of inclement weather. Our concerns were unfounded as we were blessed with a bright, clear day with temperatures in the low 80s at party time.

The other concern was whether people would sign up and show up. By the Saturday before the party we had 47 people signed up for the party and when the party started we had more than 60 people on hand, so another unfounded fear.  People, mostly from the Grand Rapids and west Michigan area, showed up and brought great food. The party was only supposed to be snacks, but they were substantial enough that no one needed dinner after.

The Michigan flag

Jerry, a former school principal handled the MC duties well and I ran a little Michigan trivia contest that was great fun. We collected donations and by the end of the evening everyone declared the party a success and urged us to duplicate it next year. Simple is good, they all said. The donations covered the cost of paper products, our portion of the BYOB liquor license and we had $28 left over to prime the pump for next year.

We have already submitted an application for another party in 2017, but we have asked for a back up room in case we aren’t as lucky next year with the weather as we were this year. What really helped was that as the party broke up everyone pitched in and helped us put away the tables and chairs we borrowed from the resort and we were cleaned up in just a few minutes.

At 7 p.m. Monday, just steps from where we hosted our party from 4-6 p.m. was the annual “Fun Band Concert” which is a great event where talented, and not-so-talented, folks put on a two-hour concert using homemade and regular instruments with the audience being urged to join in on the singing. A couple of the men from my Men’s Bible Study were in the band and seemed to have a very good time.

'Sprung Spring' trail sign in Madera Canyon

Tuesday morning came early and the hiking group headed for Madera Canyon for the “Josephine Saddle” hike, which is a really good hike.  It is a moderate-to-difficult hike that begins at 5,500 feet and goes up to about 7,100-feet over a 3.7-mile trail. The vistas are outstanding, but the payoff is the memorial at the saddle for three boy scouts who died in a snowstorm in 1958. Weather forecasting in 1958 was not as precise as it is now and no one knew that there was a major snowstorm on the way that day. 

Six scouts headed out to summit Mt. Baldy. On the way up the trail (the same trail we came down on Tuesday) it started to rain and then snow. Three of the scouts unsuccessfully tried to convince the other three scouts that maybe they should head back down to camp and try the hike another day.

Jim & Jim at the "Saddle"

The three that continued on the hike were not seen alive again. It took 19 days to find the three bodies and the snowstorm that hit that day still ranks as one of the top three worst snowstorms in this area in recorded history. There is a book about the incident called “Death Clouds on Mt. Baldy,” and I hope to pick it up this summer and read it. It was written by the sister of one of the three scouts who came down off the hill and survived.

Once back at the Voyager, Joan and I attended the weekly potluck in the ballroom and then returned home for a quiet night at home.

After my workout and Joan’s aquacise on Wednesday we headed to the ballroom to attend the annual “Show and Tell” which is the day that all the crafters in the park display their wares. Last year I had a carving in the show, but with our visitors and travel I haven’t really had time to do much at the “Easy Bleeders Wood Carving Shop” this year. I did stop in there on Friday and got some advice for a little project I’m working on, but will likely have to finish at home.

The 'Saddle' Memorial sign and stones

We spent a quiet afternoon at the trailer, me working on my Thursday night Bible lesson and Joan read her magazines.

On Wednesday night we attended the “You Have Friend” concert here at the park, which was a tribute to the music of the late 60s and early 1970s and included heavy doses of James Taylor, Carly Simon, Simon and Garfunkel, Janis Joplin and Carole King. The music was mellow and you could tell some of the older members of the audience were not really into it as much as those of us at the shallower end of the age pool.

Interestingly, the female lead singer Mindy Ronstadt, is the niece of Linda Ronstadt, who as you all know was a successful singer. The Ronstadts are a big name family here in Tucson, as many members of the family have distinguished themselves in music, politics and public service. The bus station downtown is the “Ronstadt Transportation Center.”

Show and Tell glass fusion class

My Men’s Bible Study was Thursday morning and then after that we did laundry, so that was not such an exciting day until about 5:30 p.m. when we attended the annual “Hiker-Biker” potluck which is always fun and includes many of the folks that I hike with each week.

At 7 p.m. I led the “Experiencing God” Bible study in the absence of the resort’s pastor and everyone came well prepared and we had a lively and interesting discussion.

As you may remember, Joan broke a tooth in our first week here and had a temporary crown installed. We have been waiting for approval of our insurance carrier for the permanent crown which never came. Joan made a call to the insurance company last week and suddenly we got approval, so Friday was the day we headed to Dr. Gold’s (isn’t that a great name for a dentist) for the preparatory work for the permanent crown. That took much of the morning and we had another quiet afternoon.

Show and Tell stain glass class

We received an invite to come to dinner at the RV of our friends Marcia and Jerry who helped with the Michigan Party and arrived to find a neighbor of theirs in the resort playing his bagpipes. So that was really cool.  There were a number of Canadians sitting around the patio and we had a delightful time meeting some new folks and enjoying a fine steak dinner.

We debriefed our party experience and made initial preparations for next year’s party.

I was up early on Saturday and headed to the gym about 6 a.m. for a workout and then back home where I spent some time cleaning out the trailer basement (that’s what I call the storage area under the trailer’s bedroom).

Joan did more laundry and we headed to the Activity Office and made an application for next year’s Michigan Party. Michigan State beat the pants off the Ohio State Buckeyes in basketball today so there was another highlight for the day.

Frank at the Hiker - Biker party

Joan spent the late morning and early afternoon cleaning the trailer and getting things ready for the arrival of our friends Greg and Pam from Michigan on Monday.

Saturday night we went to the Tom Chestnut dance and had a great time. This was the first time we had attended one of his dances and it was really fun. We could have danced all night, but we got tired about 9:30 p.m. and went home.

Side notes: One of my favorite news segments here is the NBC affiliates weekly update on county kitchen inspections. “Kitchen Cops” is always entertaining and in addition to the list of bad restaurants, they always point out the places that get “excellent” ratings, so that’s fair. My only beef is that the worst ratings, which often include rat and mice droppings and other gross violations, comes out as a “Provisional” rating. I would think someone with a list of gross violations should have a much worst designation than that. How about a “Don’t Eat Here” rating. Or a “Completely Gross” designation.

Friends (Darcel on the right) at Hiker - Biker party

One of the restaurants that got an excellent rating this week was named “Dirt Bags.” I found that amusing.

Joan also caused me to laugh this week when I was watching a segment on the Today Show which featured Matt Lauer interning as an air traffic controller. “I like Matt Lauer, but I don’t want him handling my flight,” I told Joan.

“Don’t worry, they wouldn’t let him really do because the FAA would have a hysterical cow,” Joan said.

Not just have a cow, but a hysterical bovine. Joan has a tendency to make up phrases and words and I save them in a file called “Joanisms” on my computer. I’ll share a few with you later.