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.