For this trip, we decided to leave Max home alone. We know he’ll be bored, but we’ll make it up when we return. I actually think he’s part bear, because he doesn’t really sleep, or play with his toys, he kind of hibernates. I’m guessing about that but intend to one day install a camera to see what he does when we leave him alone. We might be amazed to find out that he’s a super-hero who pretends to be a very nice dog when people look at him then becomes an unstoppable crime fighter when they look away. Quantum mechanics must be involved allowing him to shift back and forth as quickly as he does.

Before going on our trip to Green Valley I’m being forced to take my shower a day early. Actually, I’m a day late even though I was told I don’t smell bad. Yet. So, I’ll clean up and put on fresh underwear even though no one will see them unless I hurt myself badly enough that a trip to the doctor is necessary. Most people don’t know that any time you go to the emergency room, no matter what it’s for, they make you remove your clothes so they can confirm that you have clean underwear. There’s a check box on the intake form for that purpose. I looked.

When we left the bus, Max just sat on his pillow, hanging his head, looking as pitiful as he could, but he didn’t fool us. We knew he would shift to hero mode as soon as the crunch of our tires faded away.

We left a bit early to ensure we would arrive at the appointed time, so we took the long route. That means we stayed off I-19. I may have mentioned before that Interstate 19 is not really an “interstate” highway. It never leaves Arizona so it should be A-19. I won’t dwell on that but rest assured I’ll be thinking about it every time I look at a map.

The trip south once again took us through the vast pecan orchards that live in the valley south of the Tucson airport and north of E. Sahuarita Road. I’m guessing but believe I’m pretty close. Whatever the boundaries are, the orchards are composed of thousands and thousands of huge pecan trees. Maybe hundreds of thousands. There’s a lot of them. So many, I’m pretty sure there aren’t many available for planting anywhere else in the world. I’m pretty sure there’s a sign long one of the roads through the trees that has that written on it.

Once we got to Sahuarita, we had to turn left on A-19, heading toward Nogales. It wasn’t long before Veronica, our GPS, directed us to get off the freeway and establish a presence on the southbound Frontage Road on which we traveled until we made it to W. Placita de la Cotonia Street. That’s the street Roberta said she lives on. It has been about 70 years since we’ve seen each other, and we hadn’t communicated during that time, so we didn’t have any reason to not believe her. Surely after all this time she wouldn’t lead us astray, would she? No, she wouldn’t.

We found her home without any problem and drove in the driveway just as she was escorting two gentlemen out of the house. We were introduced to both of them but I only remember Ron. I think the other fellow was Bruce. That’s a guess.

As with most family members, Roberta greeted us as if we’d been missing for only a little while, not 70 years. It was a good reunion. Big hugs all round. Then we sat down a table on which she had her photo album displayed. Shortly, another person arrived, and we got to meet Jim whose grandfather was my uncle whom I have no memory of meeting. I knew the name, Knute, but to me he was just one of my Dad’s brothers who lived in California.

We sat around the table going through the photos, putting names to those we knew, and wondering about the ones we didn’t recognize. It was a great visit that went well into the afternoon until Max called and suggested that we return before he got a notion to chew on something. His call was a surprise because I didn’t know he had a phone. Huh.

Before leaving, i set up my tripod and took some photos from Roberta’s veranda to commemorate this joyous gathering.

This is me, Diane, Roberta, and Jim

Me, Roberta, and Jim

I didn’t get a photo of Ron because he left the party before I figured out how to get my phone hooked up to the tripod. I learned, from Roberta, that Ron came with the home when she bought it. Seems like they said he worked with the previous 2 owners, too. Kind of handy to have someone like Ron who’s been around long enough to know pretty much everything about the house and how to fix it.

After the visit we headed home using the same back roads that brought us here. Fortunately, we got home just about sun down, Max’s suggestion, and I took him for his walk right away. He’s about the best dog in the world. Really, he is.

It was a glorious day in Arizona.