News from the visit of the in-laws and one bad outlaw (a Dillinger reference)

Jeff looking up at the B-29 tail gunner's spot

If we have learned anything from our trips to Arizona is that the clock spins much faster when we have company. At our age, time is speeded up anyway, but when we have friends or family here it seems like the clock is spinning out of control.

We sister Pam and my brother-in-law Jeff flew in on Tuesday, March 17^th for a week’s stay with us. Hard to believe but yesterday they flew home after an 8-day stay in Arizona that flew by at NASCAR speed.

Because we have done many of the tourist things already we don’t do much touring in between the visits of friends and relatives so our activity level increases considerably when we have company. It helps that we have some of the best friends and family on the planet.

After picking Pam and Jeff up at the airport we headed back to the resort to check them into their rental Casita. Unfortunately there was a mix up on the reservation and the Casita Pam and Jeff had rented, which happens to be directly across the street from our space was not available.

A Tucson sunset in the park

They were moved to a Casita a block away, but after my sister worked her magic at the front desk with the manager she scored a $350 savings to make up for the inconvenience created by the resort’s error. The huge savings left my sister and brother-in-law with a good feeling.

We did a little walking tour of the resort and then we all went to the Tuesday potluck with a couple pies put together by Joan in advance. My sister and brother-in-law are friendly people are folks warmed up to them right away with another couple who had lived in West Virginia previously sitting with us and talking everything “West “by God” Virginia.”

During our walking resort tour, Jeff spotted three javelinas playing in the water hazard at the little golf course here at the resort. I’ve heard of javelinas in the park, but this is the first time I witnessed it with my own eyes. Jeff witnessed it again later and took photos.

Javelinas in the park (Jeff photo)

On Wednesday, Joan and Pam went to Aquacise and then we headed up to Sabino Canyon for lunch and a walk. The weather was warm, but we had some drizzly rain, which is good for Arizona but not nice for someone who has come a long way to get out of bad weather. The rain didn’t dampen our day or restrict us in any way. One special moment was when the driver of the tour dram spotted a gila monster crossing the road in front of our tram and we got to see it crawling across the road.

Gila monsters are incredible vicious when approached (which we didn’t) and have a nasty, venomous bite. This is the first time we have seen one in the wild.

Jeff and Pam in Sabino Canyon

After Sabino Canyon we went to Trader Joe’s to pick up supplies for Pam and Jeff’s Casita and returned to a dinner of Pawley’s Island Shrimp in the trailer. After that we went to the “Salute to Sun Records” concert in the ballroom. The show was a sell out and we had a rockin’ good time.

Thursday brought more cloudy skies, but the rain held out long enough for us to make a trip to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, after my morning Bible class, where we caught the animal show in the auditorium and the free raptor flight show outdoors. The cooler temperatures brought out the coyotes, javelinas, and other critters we often don’t see at the museum.

We did dodge a pretty good rainstorm which hit just after we left the park about 4 p.m.  Some of the photos that Jeff and Pam took with the storm in the background are spectacular. I will post some of them in a separate post below this one in the coming days.

After arriving back at the resort we attended the resort’s end of the year luau and barely got there in time to get what little food was left for sale in the ballroom. We were waiting in the pulled pork sandwich line when that offering ran out, we moved to the hamburger line and barely got one of those.

A raptor with a desert storm in the distance

We enjoyed a root beer float and then an evening of dancing to the music of “Two’s Company” a local couple who play instruments and provide good dance music. I got to dance with my sister for only the second time in our lives (the first was at her wedding 16 years ago).

Friday morning broke bright and early and Jeff and I headed to the Pima Air and Space Museum while the ladies when to the Aquacise class in the pool. Jeff made an amazing discovery about his father’s aircraft while we were there, but I’m letting him share the surprise with others before I recount the blessing here. Jeff’s father was a tail gunner on a B-29 out of Guam at the end of World War II and was on the very last bombing mission over Japan when the Japanese surrender was announced.

Jeff is about to get buzzed by a Harris hawk

Jeff brought his Dad’s log book with him to the museum and captivated a couple docents with his father’s entries, including the last one which said “The War is Over.” After our trip to the museum we returned to the resort, picked up the ladies and headed to the Fourth Avenue Craft Fair in downtown Tucson.

Joan and I eat our diet cookies for breakfast and lunch, but Pam and Jeff took advantage of some of the roach coaches that were on hand for the fair and had some of the local fair. Some of those botulism wagons cook up some pretty good food.

After lunch Joan and Pam spotted an “adult” store and while Jeff and I sheepishly remained outside the two of them went inside to check it out. Fortunately, the didn’t buy anything inside the store.

Not going in there

We walked around the fair for a few hours and then returned back to the resort where we had a delicious crock pot chicken dinner. We watched a beautiful sunset and turned in early as Saturday was planned as an early start.

Pam’s friend Becky lives in the Tucson area and had invited us down for breakfast in Bisbee and to a local street fair there. This is the first year of the Americana street fair in Lowell, which is next door to Bisbee and Becky and her husband, Pete, live near there in Sierra Vista.

After a great breakfast (we were also joined by friends of Becky and Pete’s) a retired Army colonel and his wife and son who is undergoing Army officer training at Fort Huachuca.

The Bisbee bunch in downtown Lowell

We walked up and down the street looking at the old cars and then headed back to Bisbee where Pete gave us the grand tour of the town. Pete lived in Bisbee during his formative school years and knows the ins and outs of this historic old copper mining town which is just about 15 minutes north of the Mexican border.

After returning to the resort we enjoyed a wonderful prime rib dinner at the Bar and Grill.  After dinner we went to the free Pickleball dance in the ballroom Saturday night. My sister got to dance with her husband twice during her visit here.

On Sunday we attended the resort worship services with Pam and Jeff and then while they sat around the pool for a couple hours Joan and I watched Michigan State finish off a big win against Virginia in the NCAA basketball tournament and then watch the Detroit Red Wings defeat the St. Louis Blues in overtime in the nationally televised hockey game. Now that’s a good start for a day.

The Bisbee bunch in Bisbee

After that we went to the Mexican league baseball game and Pam and Jeff can now confirm that the only English word we could understand was “Budweiser.”  It was a fun afternoon with great weather. On the way home we stopped at Costco (Pam and Jeff are members) and purchased four thick, juicy steaks and brought them home and grilled them outdoors for dinner. We watched another beautiful sunset and visited on our patio.

Joan and Pam went to aquacise on Monday morning and then we headed to Catalina State Park in the afternoon for a hike. We did a one-mile birding trail and then a .75-mile ruins trail on a pretty warm afternoon. We spotted a horned toad, some quail and I briefly spotted a long snake moving across the trail in front of us. That is the first snake I have seen in Arizona in the wild since I’ve been hiking here.

A friendly horned toad on the ruins trail

The ruins of the Hohokam tribe were interesting. That was a first for all of us.

After touring we returned to the resort had dinner in the Bar and Grill again and then took in the “Broadway Magic” show in the ballroom. The resort women’s choir and men’s chorus did a number of tunes from Broadway plays and the bell choir entertained just before and just after intermission.

The evening ended with all of the crowd singing “76 Trombones” and we ended the evening by walking home to our residences from the concert. It is very convenient to live in a place where you can walk to everything.

A ceremony for Mike was here

Jeff and Pam spent Tuesday morning at the pool soaking up as much sunshine and pool time as they could before heading home to the chilly temperatures of West Virginia. In the afternoon we headed up towards Mt. Lemmon and at a beautiful spot we had a short ceremony for my late brother. We spread some ashes and I will always have a spot to remember him here in Tucson.

After our short ceremony we headed to the hotel where Pam and Jeff were staying near the airport and then went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens where we toured the gardens for about two hours before heading to dinner at Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson.

Hotel Congress is famous because the infamous gangster John Dillinger stayed there one weekend while on the run from the law. We had a wonderful dinner at Cup Café, which was a new experience for all of us. That one brief visit by Dillinger has turned into a cottage industry and an annual weekend festival for the City of Tucson. So far our visits here have not created anything like that buzz.

After dinner, and not quite ready to say good bye, we headed to a Dairy Queen where we enjoyed a tasty cold treat before heading back to the hotel where we said our farewells and left Pam and Jeff so they could get a good night’s sleep before their flight back to civilization.

That is a tall cactus

I watched Wednesday morning as Pam and Jeff’s flight flew by the resort on its way to Dallas and the connecting flight to Baltimore and felt let down that our company was gone. I waved at the plane, but I later learned they didn’t see me.  I got in a workout, we went to the last Market Days of the season and then later that evening we went to “American Made,” another Lonely Street Production. This show was a tribute to the Statler Brothers and the Oakridge Boys and included some great gospel singing as well.

The arc of our trip is increasingly bending towards departure and we both have much to do before that time comes in a couple weeks.

In thinking about Pam and Jeff’s visit we are thankful that we have both friends and relatives who are so easy to entertain and be with. They say you can’t pick your relatives, but we decided even if we had to pick we would be very happy choosing the relatives that we have.

On Thursday, I attended both the Men’s Bible Study in the morning and then the coed Bible Study that night. I have made some very good friends through these studies. The weather has turned hot here and the 94 on Friday nearly set an all-time high mark for the city. More hot weather is on tap, but things cool rapidly in the evening and we went to a dance Friday night with Albert Galli – the last dance of the season.

Hotel Congress - where Dillinger stayed

As much as we enjoy our time here we are starting to feel the gravitational pull of Michigan. This will likely be the last post until we start home on April 9, but that could change. If you scroll down from this post over the next couple days I will add some photos that Pam and Jeff forwarded to me. They are much better photogs than I am so you may appreciate those. I’ll put one photo in there right now to hold a space so I can add the rest after I resize them so I can download them.

Peace all and Go State!

More photos from Pam and Jeff's visit

If only Elin had been here

Harris hawks flying over our head

On the birding trail

My sister on the hike

Flowers in Sabino Canyon

Jeff, Pam and Joan at the Mexican League game

A hummingbird on a nest at the Sonora Desert Museum

Someone in Bisbee really wants Hillary to be President

A Tucson Dillinger t-shirt

Our hike brought us to the Hohokam ruins in Catalina State Park

Dinner at the resort bar & grill

The bar at the Hotel Congress

Take me out to the "Beisbol" game

These homeless "coffins" will no longer be downtown

The arc of winter is slowly, but inevitably moving towards the time we return to Michigan. It is with mixed feelings that we come to the end of another Tucson winter. We have made so many good friends down here that is hard to say good bye, but on the other hand we look forward to seeing our very good friends back home again.

I’ve already made reservations to have the trailer winterized in Flagstaff and our storage space is waiting for us there as well.

There is news from the downtown Tucson homeless battle. A local judge ruled that the "homeless pods," I call them "coffins" can be removed by the city and the homeless must move elsewhere so they are not blocking the sidewalk and creating a health nuisance. Did I mention the park has become a open air potty for the homeless? So as of last Friday the pods have been removed and they are seeking some open land for the homeless to live in.

Play ball!

But there is still plenty of time and fun on tap for us here in Tucson before we make the trip home. On Wednesday we attended our latest concert – The Luck of The Irish – which is a Lonely Street Production and they kept up the record of very good musical offerings.

There was “Danny Boy,” of course, but a lot of traditional Irish music and a young woman who did a fine job of Irish dancing along with many of the tunes. A good time was had by all.

Earlier in the day we attended “Market Days,” which is the second to the last of that event before we leave. The last one is March 25 and usually there are some pretty good prices as the vendors know we won’t be back for nine months.

We also got our allergy shots at the Voyager health clinic and we rebooked for next year at our same spot, so it looks like Tucson Winter Escape 2016 is a done deal.

"Booo" is the same in Spanish as English

On Thursday we attended the last 2015 lecture which was on the Mirror Lab. The Mirror Lab is one of our favorite tourist destinations and the speaker gave us some information that we missed on our previous two tours.

Following the lecture we packed up and headed for a “free” night at the Casino Del Sol where Joan had earned us another free night’s stay. We also had a coupon for a buy-one, get-one-free buffet at the casino. Since it was seafood night it was fun just watching people stack up piles of crab legs and shrimp.

I’ll have to admit that I took advantage of the shrimp table, putting a pretty good dent in the fresh cooked shrimp.

On Friday we returned home to the resort and then headed to the Hiker-Biker potluck party on the patio about 5 p.m. This is the season ending event for both the hikers and bikers here at the park and the food was good and plentiful. No “all-you-can-eat crab legs” but good nonetheless.

"Jose" can you see the dawn's....

Saturday brought more good weather and we made a mid-course correction late in the morning and decided to go catch the first game of a day-night doubleheader at the Kino Memorial Sports Stadium. In town are several Mexican professional baseball teams from a league south of the border who are holding spring training here in Tucson.

These are minor league teams with some connections to the American baseball teams. The day was beautiful and the “beisbol” wasn’t bad either. All the announcing was done in Spanish so the only word I could consistently identify was “Budweiser.”

If I  was a drinking person I could have taken advantage of the Tequila bar, but instead I bought a bag of peanuts in the shell and made a big mess in Section 117 just behind the third base dugout.

They spelled "Tigers" wrong

Although most of the players were of Hispanic origin there was the occasional Edwin Wilson and C.J. Retherford on the roster which indicates that perhaps an American player found his way onto the team.

Just to be complete the Toros de Tijuana (Tijuana Bulls) defeated the Piratas de Campeche (Campeche Pirates) by a 7-1 score. We cheered for both teams so the fans around us probably wondered what was wrong with us.

We looked at some uniforms shirts, but instead of Mexican prices they were pretty much priced like sports shirts at any American stadium, so we left empty-handed.

Once home we finished up some leftovers and settled in for an evening of TV.

Church started us out on Sunday (after I returned from my fitness center workout) and then we came home and watched the Red Wings plaster the stinkin’ Pittsburgh Penguins and then watched the Michigan State Spartans throw away a pretty good effort in the Big Ten Championship game.

The Red Wings game almost made up for the pathetic effort of a week prior.

Joan also did our laundry as we have guests coming on Tuesday. My sister Pam and my brother-in-law Jeff arrive here Tuesday afternoon for an 8-day stay so there probably won’t be much posting here until they leave for home.

On Monday, a former work colleague and photographer – Jane – and her husband are meeting us at the Voyager for dinner and a tour. They are here on family business, but when I saw her post on Facebook indicating she was in town we hooked up by phone and made arrangements for tonight’s dinner.

I’ll post a photo here later as I am posting this before they arrive for dinner.

More fun in the desert southwest: Wine and music

A Sonoran sunset

Once again I have been lax in keeping you all up-to-date on our doings. So instead of starting at where we left off, let’s start at today and work backwards for a change.

On Tuesday (March 10) I headed off for another great hike, this time in the Catalina Mountains. The Bug Springs hike is always an adventure as the first part of the hike is nearly straight up gaining about 800 feet in less than a mile. The steps are large and the air thin up in the Catalinas. This is the same hike I took two years ago where snow and ice made the steps extremely treacherous. Not so this year.

The hike is really two hikes. The first part (the up part) transits some beautiful pine forests and the second half is a trek through the hot side of the mountain and a part that was badly scarred by fire several years ago.

Catalina hike vistas

On Monday (March 9) I went on the easy hike which was a return to Empire Ranch, a hike I have done twice before. This is an extremely easy hike but is interesting because it takes place on a ranch where John Wayne shot at least two movies and where he stayed during the filming. The ranch house is rugged but has a lot of history.

After I returned from the hike Joan had done some more laundry and then we got cleaned up and headed to the Monday night “Meet Me at Maynard’s.”  They have a drawing each week and I won a $25 gift certificate to Hotel Congress or Maynard’s Restaurant. When she called my name I could barely believe it as I never win anything.

We are going to save the gift certificate, instead we went to a place called “Fried Pie” which specializes in individual pizzas. Because of my affinity for anchovies an individual pizza is perfect as few people enjoy sharing the taste of anchovies with me.

The homeless are taking over downtown Tucson

The big controversy in Tucson right now is the take over of downtown Tucson by the homeless. Advocates have brought in these wooden "pods," I call them "coffins" for the homeless to sleep in at night. There are shelters in Tucson and a couple organizations that help the homeless but these folks prefer to live on the sidewalk which is causing great consternation here.

A judge recent allowed the city to remove the pods from the sidewalk after several of the advocates were arrested for dealing drugs to the homeless. Stay tuned.

After church this morning (March 8) we returned to our trailer with hopes of watching the last part of the Detroit Red Wings nationally televised game against the Boston Red Sox. The one downside of being in Tucson is that I can’t watch my favorite team on a regular basis. So when they are on I enjoy watching them.

A tree on the Monday hike

Church was great this morning and included a special performance by The Presidio Saxophone Quartet. This is a group of four local music educators who play a variety of saxophones and were incredibly good.

Unfortunately by the time we returned from church the Red Wings were losing the game 4-1 and ended up losing the game by a 5-3 margin. Despite the loss it was fun to see the team in action for the first time since New Year’s Eve.

After the game we went shopping and stocked up on food for the week.

A Direct TV blimp flew over our resort

On Saturday (March 7) we did very little. I worked out in the fitness center and returned home and played mule for Joan to the laundromat which was packed with folks as time is drawing short for many folks here most of us like to travel with clean clothes.

We spent the afternoon sitting on our patio reading and then Joan broke out some leftover pork and noodles for dinner. After dinner we went to the Renaissance Dance where we joined some couples from church and Bible study for the evening. Great fun.

Last year we met a nice couple from Idaho – Barry and Darcel. Both were professors at Washington State University and they have a beautiful home in the resort in The Cove development. They have been here for 18 years and until last year had never gone wine tasting in southern Arizona. We introduced them to the wine country and when we first saw them this year in January they put in a bid to repeat the trip this year.

Darcel, Joan and Barry at Lightning Ridge Winery

As a testimony to how busy it gets here, we have been trying to find a common date for the wine tasting for two months and things fell together for the trip on Friday (March 6). Last year we went on a Tuesday or Wednesday when a number of the wineries are closed, but this year we were able to tour any of the wineries as they are all open on Friday.

We ended up visiting five wineries and only one was a repeat from last year. As a non-drinker I end up as the designated driver and somewhere along the line Darcel befriended another couple from Washington and they followed us in their truck to the last two wineries. We also talked up Voyager RV Resort and they are going to check it out for a possible stay here next year.

Hiking Ventana Canyon

After Joan, Barry and Darcel drank their way across southern Arizona we returned home in time for Joan and I to head to the resort theater company’s production of “Guys and Dolls.”  We have some very talented folks in the park and we really enjoyed the hard work put in by the cast.

Thursday (March 5) started with the fitness center, the Bible study and then Joan and I attended a 1 p.m. lecture on The Amerind Museum in Dragoon, Arizona. The Amerind is a center for Native American crafts and is a destination that we may have to try someday when we are looking for something different to do. I will be leading the Bible study in James next Thursday.

After the lecture we drove to one of those “Great Clips” places and took advantage of a 2-for-1 $10 haircut special. There were several little boys getting haircuts so I just got me a little boy’s haircut.

We returned home and had breakfast for dinner.

Wood carvings at the show

Wednesday (March 4) was an exciting day for me because I had my first wood carving entered in the “Show and Tell” show in the ballroom. There were lots of beautiful projects from around the park, including lapidary, wood working, wood carving, silversmith, quilts, stained glass, jewelry, scrapbooking and Joan made arrangements to take a class next year on Swedish weaving. There are many more activities here, but you get the idea.

I would put a photo of my project here, but it is a surprise present for a relative and I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Sorry for the tease.

That night the ballroom was transformed into a show theater again and we attended “Blue, Blues and Boogie Woogie.”  Once again we were not disappointed by another quality show here at the resort and I’m going to put a couple links here to recordings by the keyboardist, singer and harmonica player so you can get a hint at how good they were.

Stainglass class offerings at "Show and Tell"

It is really fun to attend a concert every week and simply walk three minutes home afterwards.

Tuesday (March 3) broke early and cool with a wonderful hike in Ventana Canyon. This is a hike I have done twice before, but this year there was more water than ever before owing to the recent rains. Our lunch spot at the pools was very enjoyable as the pools were full.

Once I arrived home I cleaned up and we headed off to the weekly potluck. Joan cooked up a great beef stew and returned with an empty pot.

The previous three days were fairly quiet, except for attending the Albert Galli dance and dancing the night away, if you can call dancing until 10 p.m. “dancing the night away.” Somewhere in there we went shopping, but mostly we just rested from our wonderful and fun-filled days with Pam and Gloria.

We did attend the "Do Dah" Parade and also "Voyager Night at the Races" on Friday afternoon and evening. Voyager Night at the Races is just Pinewood Derby for seniors. Many of the car designs are very unique and you can see photos from the parade and races in the post below along with a few other miscellaneous photos.

More photos from March

Lunch on the rocks in the Catalinas

Ventana Canyon

A Doo Dah canine parade entry

Great horned owl at the Desert Museum

Voyager "Night at the Races" track

Some of the "race" cars

Lunch at Maiden pools

Do Dah Parade entry in the Voyager

Ventana Canyon hike

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.