Another active month in our desert paradise

  It’s been a busy few weeks in the desert since Dad left at the end of January. The weather has been a little bit of a roller coaster (a very mild coaster, one that most youngsters would be allowed to ride). We had a couple days in the low 80s, a bunch in the 70s and a couple in the 50s.   We also had two days where it rained, but again, not so much.

   After Dad left it was a bit of a letdown for us as we had kept pretty busy with fun activities (if you call falling out of an airplane fun) while he was here. So after a couple chill days we started back on our normal activities.

   Joan has resumed her volunteer receptionist duties at the Voyager clinic and I have been busy with table and chair duties as activities have picked up as the Covid numbers have gone down.

Me and my shadow

   The Wednesday night concert series has been really good this year. The three concerts while Dad was here were great and the ones since have also been very good. The night after Dad left we saw the Chicago tribute show, which was terrific.

    The following week was The Spouse Whisperer, who we’ve seen here before, but he showed up with a lot of new and very funny material. That show contained an unplanned heckler but the entertainer dealt with it with great humor. At one point the woman heckler shouted out that “I live alone!”  The comedian shot back, “Ma’am I think we can all be thankful for that.”

    Shortly after that she stumbled her way out of the concert (I think she was just a little tipsy) and tripped and fell over a chair in the dark room creating yet another interruption before she finally made her way out the door.

    On February 9 we say the show “O Canada” which celebrated the many musical artists that have come from north of the border. Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Anne Murray, a band called Tragically Hip (never heard of them before) and several others. Mercifully, they did not include any musical offerings from Justin Bieber.

Steel drum fun

    The last night, February 16, we saw “Trio,” which was a really good “girl” show with Tribute artists doing songs from Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. All three women singers were great. Interestingly, Mindy Ronstadt, the niece of the famous singer, reprised the songs of her famous aunt.

   We’ve been attending the Thursday lecture series, one on the Sonoran Desert Museum and Joan went to the Thursday lecture today on the new Art Express Theater here in Tucson. (I stayed home to write this blog post).

Hike thru Rattlesnake tunnel

    On Saturday, February 12, along with our Lapeer friends Bob and Karen who are staying in the resort for two months, we headed to Tubac for the annual arts festival. While Joan and Karen shopped for unique items at the arts festival, Bob and I went and toured the nearby Tumacacori Mission. After that we met up with Karen and Joan and had lunch. On the way home we made a detour and drove up Madera Canyon.

   Bob and I also made a trip to Huachuca City and did a nice hike at the San Pedro House. We also did a short hike to the remains of the house that once was the residence of the Clanton family of the famous "Shootout at the OK Corral" fame.

   In early February we went with Bob and Karen to a show at the Gaslight Theater in Tucson to see the Tributaries perform “Woodstock.”  The show also included Mindy Ronstadt singing and was really, really good.

   I’ve done a couple great hikes, Tanque Verde Ridge, Bridal Wreath Falls, Seven Falls, Brown Mountain and Cactus Forest Trail in Saguaro East National Park. We also attended another of the monthly Market Daze art sales here at the Voyager on February 9.  I dropped Joan off at the Tucson Gem Show on Saturday, Feb. 5 and picked her up a few hours later.

Tucson Roadrunners hockey

  Along with Bob and Karen on February 7, Joan and I went to the Gaslight Theater (first time we’ve gone there) to see the Woodstock tribute show that also included singer Mindy Ronstadt.

   We’ve also done a couple of Saturday dances here at the resort, the RAW Band and then the local dance band made up of musicians who live here.  We always have a good time at those.

   On Friday, February 4, we attended the Voyager talent show, which showcased some of the incredible talent that resides here at the Voyager.

    Another night we went with friends to the nearby town of Sahuarita and saw a great free concert with a local steel drum band. The outdoor setting was beautiful and we had a great time with our friends.

Remains of Clanton ranch

    Joan continues to make polymer clay jewelry on Friday, works out in the ballroom Monday and Thursday with her Zumba classes and her aquacise classes on Tuesday and Saturday.  So she is certainly busy. My hiking schedule is pretty much Monday and Friday. We both continue with our Bible studies here as well.

    Our weekly Meet Me at Maynard’s event continue with the addition of our friend Deborah Peterson who just arrived her from Minnesota. Deb and her husband, David, used to go with us down there in previous years. Sadly, Dave died last year so we were really glad to see Deborah make it down this year. This past Monday Joan and I won tickets to see the Tucson Symphony Orchestra perform Duke Ellington’s “Harlem” this coming Sunday.

    As well as the volunteer and fun activities we are currently waiting for some major maintenance work to be done on the trailer. More on that in a future blog post.

Brown Mountain trail

    Friday night, February 18 we went to the second Voyager dinner show. The entertainment was the Tributaries (the same group that did the Woodstock show at the Gaslight Theater) and again for the third time this season Mindy Ronstadt was here to perform in their “Good Morning, Vietnam” show.

    On Saturday, February 19 we headed to downtown Tucson with friends to see a Tucson Roadrunners AHL hockey game. The Roadrunners are the farm team for the Phoenix Coyotes so of course I wore my Detroit Red Wings Darren McCarty sweater.

     It was a great game and the Roadrunners won it 4-3 on a shot with 15 seconds left in the game. A great night and fun to see hockey in the desert.

   The music, singers and musicians were all terrific and we are truly blessed to have such talent available to us here.

    So as you can see (and I’m probably forgetting a thing or two) we have been busy out here in Arizona. We’ll be back soon with further adventures.