Today was for celebrating family. Diane said so. It’s the beginning of our monthly gathering to replace the more infrequent gatherings we’ve done for one holiday or another. She figures, and I agree, that as we get older, we need to do these things more often as long as we’re able.
I don’t have any group photos, but I’ve got these:
Here’s Jeff, the father of our Hill Children:
This is Jerrie Anne Diane, our youngest granddaughter.
This is Baylee with Jasper on her shoulders:
Cedric was hidden behind Baylee in the above photo. I luckily got him in frame later. He’s a hard guy to pin down. Cedric is normally the one who wears his little brothers out, but he had help from his cousins today.
Here’s Gilligan:
This is Diane, Lydia, and Jennifer – 3 generations of one branch of our family tree:
You can ignore Jerrie on the left of that last photo. She was introduced earlier.
This is Daniel and Jasper:
Here’s Siah, the youngest:
Now I’ll tell you who is missing: Jeran, Tiana, Heather, and Elisabeth. By my count, that’s 15 people and a dog.
I always have good intentions of capturing everyone in at least one group photo, but this one got away from me. Then some folks left before I realized my failure. I’ll get them next time. I guess I was too busy just watching everyone. Could be, too, that my brain hasn’t recovered from the faceplant I participated in while in Lodi.
Yeah. Let’s blame it on that.
It was a roaring good time made better by Diane’s Sloppy Joes, and her 30 lb custom made Mac’n’cheese.
As with all family events of this nature, no one went away hungry.
As I type this, the calendar tells me that it’s really Tuesday, not Sunday so I’m obviously running a little behind schedule. I’ve decided that I will stop this rigid daily schedule of info sharing and just scribble something when the mood strikes. It’s much easier that way because being on a daily routine makes it necessary to make stuff up when nothing happens to write about. This is true.
Today Diane is going to Portland, all by herself, to get a CAT Scan, then later this week she will visit her doctor for the results and to find out which kind of sauna would be the best alternative to a trip to Arizona. Yes, stuff like that makes my head hurt a little too.
It appears that I’m going to survive my fall. For a while there I’m sure Diane wondered if the damage was permanent. The damage to my glasses is certainly permanent. I do have a spare set of spectacles thanks to Jennifer. The only drawback to using the spares is they were calibrated for computer use. Therefore, distance vision, though a little fuzzy, is better than having the glasses fall off my face at a critical moment. So, we’re going with them. Besides, Diane said she like them better than the bent glasses because they don’t make my face look mean.
We’re heading north, finally, up Highway 101, west of the snow. The snow was a concern because neither of us wants to be driving in that stuff. I do have chains for the bus, which I purchased years ago in the event the road rules dictated that travelers must carry traction devices. Well, I’ve got them, but I have no intention of ever installing them. My plan, if I’m ever in a situation where chains are required, I’d simply turn everything off, hand my keys to some lucky devil, and catch a ride home. I know, that’s a tad radical, and I probably wouldn’t do that, but it’s an option.
Thankfully, though it’s a little chilly outside, it’s a cloudless sky. The sun is shining all over the place. Quite different from the typhoon welcome we got yesterday. That was miserable. My fuzzy shirt is still dripping from that episode.
Thinking back on that fall, both of us are a little bewildered because when I’ve fallen in the past, my knees always took a hit. Like lots of skid marks and sometimes bloody spots. This time, I had on new jeans and there wasn’t a mark on them from the fall. I studied the area where I fell for a long time. The spot where I hit the ground was evident by the dried blood.
At the time, I had Max with me, and he was attached to the long cable tether we use when he is out alone. That’s not ideal for walking him because it doesn’t retract. I figure that had something to do with the mishap, too. So, bear with me and see if this makes sense.
I lifted the dumpster lid with my left hand and deposited two bags of trash with my right. I remember that part. Then I turned to my right and took a step with my right foot. At this point Max found something interesting to my right and lunged that direction. I took another step with my left foot that ended close to the blue bumper. When I tried to keep up with my right foot the bumper was in the way and caused me to go down on my left side but somehow my knees didn’t hit the ground. They must have encountered the white bumper, and the remainder of the impact was absorbed by my right arm which should have caused me to roll left. But, considering the size of the blood spot, I must have laid there a while before getting up. Diane said I was gone about 1/2 hour, and the dumpster was only a couple of minutes away. I obviously did not tuck and roll like I’ve been trained to do.
It’s still very confusing and the mystery remains about why my pants didn’t get dirty. Not even one littler speck to commemorate the event.
Therefore, I proclaim that for some reason I was saved from catastrophic damage at the last second and time stopped for a bit.
Simple as that. Then I got up and went back to the RV, but I have no memory of that trip. My first semi-sentient moment was in the bathroom when Diane was cleaning me up and I suggested she take a photo to document this event. These memories were fleeting as was the trip to the hospital. I recall part of the trip and by the time we got to the first doctor I feel that I was aware of my surroundings just fine. It was weird but it didn’t bother me at all. Also, the pouring rain washed away all the evidence I left in the parking lot as if nothing happened at all.
The doctor wanted to keep me for observation in case something else happened, but we had places to be, so we talked him out of it
Now, about Mendocino County. That’s where Willits is located, our next destination.
The trip very nice, rolling through hundreds of acres of vineyards. It’s very peaceful and easy on the eyes after all the high desert sand. It was nice to be surrounded by fields of green grass interspersed by all those grapevines so perfectly lined up and so well-tended.
It rained a bit toward the end of the 2-hour trip which we drove non-stop. We found the RV Park easily and we were the first people to show up this day. Others arrived later, but the park is practically empty. It’s a very nice park and it’s a little sad we’ll be here for only one night.
After getting everything set up, we left Max in charge of the TV remote and headed into town for something to eat. The chosen destination was Lumberjacks Restaurant. It’s apparently a chain restaurant and it was really good. Diane had a hamburger, and I had a chicken-fried steak. Here’s the only photo taken inside the restaurant.
Diane took this to show everyone how well my eye is looking. I’m mending quite well, and it should be invisible by the time we get back home in Oregon.
The weather looks pretty good so it’s on to Eureka tomorrow.
Diane took Max and me a little bit southwest of Barstow to visit a couple of places that caught her eye. Both are on iconic Route 66. Before going to those places, however, it was unanimous that we stop for lunch. Diane pulled off the road so we could search for a likely place to eat. The only place to pull off the road was to the left because to the right are railroad tracks, lots of them, where trains whiz by going 100’s of mph. Some of the places were within a few miles of us but the one that caught her eye was the Cross Eyed Cow Pizza in Oro Grande. She looked up from her search and saw a sign for that restaurant about 100 feet ahead of us, pointing to the buildings directly in front of us. To get there she had to pull onto Route 66, drive about 50 feet, then turn left into the parking lot behind the buildings.
From the parking area we entered through the back door.
Once inside, the young lady behind the counter told us to take a menu and sit anywhere we wanted. So we did, and studied the menu.
The menu was interesting, with lots of choices, and the area on the right (black on white) was a list of everything that’s on the menu. Interesting. We ordered a 12″ pepperoni pizza and 2 root beer floats. Though the place wasn’t full, it took a long time to get our order. Sadly, I failed to take a picture. The pizza was one of the best we’ve had in years, and we ate it all. The floats were pretty awesome, too.
The booth dividers are adorned with butter knives.
Max watched me take every bite and managed to get a number of little bites for being such a good boy. He spent most of his time laying under the table watching everyone else.
After finishing lunch, we went back to the parking lot where I got these photos.
This was actually the highlight of the day because it was so unexpected. Then we proceeded to the locations Diane had on the calendar.
The first place was called Antique Station. From outside the building looks like a strip mall of sorts where there are numerous individual stores, side by side. But. no matter which entrance you choose, you wind up in one huge store that’s full of an amazing amount of stuff and it’s all well-organized.
The second stop was Elmer Long’s Bottle Tree Ranch. Somehow, Elmer either inherited an unlimited supply of bottles he had no use for, or he drinks a lot and needed to misdirect observers away from that thought, he had a momentary flash of insanity and decided to make a device on which he could stick his various bottles to make them look like trees. These might also be what’s left over from when Elmer built the bottle house in Calico. I doubt it, but who knows? I’m pretty sure Elmer didn’t build that house.
Elmer spent a lot of time building his trees and adding the bottles.
And he has a stockpile of jars and bottles to keep him going for a while.
As we were pulling out of the parking lot Diane spied a white box laying in the gravel that was totally out of place. so she stopped and I retrieved it. Turns out it was an unopened pack of Japanese cigarettes unlike anything I’ve ever seen for sale here in the good old USA. Of man interest to us was the warnings they put on the package. All the writing is in Japanese, but they make it very clear that smoking isn’t good for you. They use pictures.
Kind makes you want to light up, sit back, and relax, right? I’ve done a bunch of research trying to find photos of the pack we found but they just aren’t out there. They do, however, have these.
Very graphic, huh?
Moving on, we joined the crowds on Route 66 and headed east back to Barstow. There actually wasn’t very much traffic, so the trip was very pleasant. We stopped at the Walmart Superstore about a mile from the base so Diane could get some essentials, then got back home in time for this.
Drilling in on this photo reveals what appears to be an airborne tornado. That, or it’s an alien elevator created on demand so they can get from one cloud to another. Isn’t nature interesting?
This morning I turned on the new heater because it was so cold. The fake fireplace heater was already running but I was curious to see how much quicker the bus warmed up with both of them running. What I learned was that they worked well together until I turned on the coffee pot and popped the circuit. I actually found the problem quickly and fixed it. It was the circuit breakers on the inverter which is located in the outside aft starboard cubby. I reset them and went back inside just as Diane did the same thing. So, I went back out and reset them again.
Then the coffee pot wouldn’t start. I fiddled with it a bit and convinced it start like normal, then everything was OK, but I can’t deny there was just a little moment of panic when the pot wouldn’t brew and much joy when it was resurrected.
Can’t have two heaters running and make coffee at the same time. I might need to make a sign.
This morning, Diane went to the commissary, which is literally right next to the Fam Camp we’re in, so it was a short trip. While she was gone, I took Max for a long walk because he was assigned guard duty for the bus while we went to visit Julie & David in Peoria. Julie is Diane’s cousin, and she grew up in Warren, Oregon, just like Diane did. Kinda handy, right?
The drive over was nice. It was about 10 miles away and many of the roads in and around Phoenix are long and straight, so we only had to make about 6 turns to get there. You could almost take a nap between turns.
This is Julie and David.
They live in a 55+ community and it’s pretty nice. They actually have grass in the neighborhood which is a treat. Their home is beautiful and there is one entire wall of mirrors that is quite stunning.
One of my favorite features were a couple of windows. This is looking out.
This is from outside.
We had a wonderful visit and got to know David a little better. Previous visits have been short. This time we had time to actually visit and learn stuff about each other. The fun thing I learned about David is he has a very large family. Here’s proof.
His mother is in it on the left side, row 12, 26 to the right. He put his finger on her briefly so I’m really guessing about her position. She had dark hair in the photo. She doesn’t have it anymore because she’s 90. I know that’s true because we got to meet her.
Max was alone for about 4 hours and he did his best to make us feel really bad about it, but he was OK. He generally sleeps while we’re gone. He gets over our absence quicker when he’s given a treat, a good back scratching, and a long walk.
at Dillons KC BBQ Wildlife World Zoo where we had a nice lunch next to the flamingos. There were no flamingo choices on the menu. I didn’t see any other zoo animals either. I looked twice.
Brother Jack, joined us at the venue making the group complete.
For those of you unfamiliar with the family associations of all these people I’ll enlighten you. Jack is Brian’s grandfather and my (I think) grandnephew, Annie’s grandfather in-law, and Kelly’s great grandfather. I think that’s it. Anyway, it was interesting to have a meal at the zoo where they can grow their own menu items.
That’s not true, of course. I just added that so Diane will talk to me about it.
After lunch we drove back to Jack’s house in Surprise where we visited with Pat and Carolyn, cousins you met yesterday, in the driveway, in the sun. The sun was nice and warm. The mornings here are really cold – 38 degrees or so. Thankfully, once the sun comes up it warms quickly as long as the wind doesn’t blow much. It is my experience, that the wind doesn’t have to blow very hard to make it cold.
We spent a good amount of time visiting outside before moving into the house where we went to work on the puzzle Jack was working on. Kelly took Max on several long walks around the neighborhood and I know for sure he had a great time. He loves his walks.
I think it took about an hour for the six of us to finish the puzzle. It would have been eight, but Pat and Carolyn went home before we started. We had a good time getting it done. There was only one piece missing.
Jack provided dessert in the form of lemon Oreos. Those are really, really good.
Just before it started to get dark, we excused ourselves and headed back to Luke AFB. We would have stayed longer, but Diane doesn’t like to drive after dark, and I’m not allowed to drive her car unless I’m alone. It’s a rule.
Visiting with the family is always awesome and we treasure the time spent with all of them.
Once back on base, I immediately took Max for another walk because he was pretty insistent about making his rounds. He’s really serious about maintaining a routine.
Diane drove me to ACE today after I finished giving Barb a hand with the Bethany November Newsletter. When all was said and done, there was no interference on my part because Barb figured it out herself. All I did was give her a bunch of other stuff to think about that probably caused more confusion than help. But it was fun to work with Barb.
Before leaving the ACE parking lot, I had to snap a picture of this …
I had to go around to the front to see what the logo was. It’s a Mercedes Benz. The hood, roof, and trunk deck are really shiny black. Interesting.
After shopping at ACE, for the bolt that fell into the black holding tank, Diane took us to Raising Cane’s for some Chicken Fingers. I wasn’t sure I’d like them simply because of the fact that chickens don’t have fingers. Also, the white meat they use has no resemblance to fingers whatsoever. I could tell that just from the advertisements. But I thought it would be OK. After all, on many of my trips overseas I’ve eaten some strange things cooked on a hibachi. It was universally called monkey meat because no one was really sure what it was. But it tasted good so none of us really cared. It was BBQ.
Cane’s chicken fingers turned out to be really good, especially with the dipping sauce they provide. We each had a 3-piece meal.
After lunch Diane went to the commissary, again. Seems like she’s always going there to get something. That’s probably because we’re always running out of stuff. I might have to quit eating food that requires refrigeration. While she was gone, Max and I did a little plumbing and got the toilet secured to the floor like it’s supposed to be. He was a huge help.
When Diane returned, she fed Max. He was being pretty persistent about getting that out of the way. Then we could all relax.
Now he needs to go for a walk. Diane thinks we should take him to one of the enclosed off leash areas where he can run. In my experience, however, he’s really not into running unless there are other dogs involved. Or cats. Either will do. By himself, he just sticks his nose to the ground and slowly walk around smelling every inch of the space he’s in. Once in a while he will release a measured portion of urine to leave his mark. It always amazes me how he can do that. If I was a dog, once I start going, it doesn’t stop until there’s nothing left.
Now I must quit. Diane will probably delete that last bit.
We didn’t go anywhere today so I don’t have a lot to write about. Also, I only have old photos to share, so don’t get your hopes up.
It was a cold 42 degrees this morning. Made parts of me shrivel up a little. Max didn’t care. I think he’s immune to cold. I guess that means I’m more fragile than him. I think it’s time for Max to say what’s on his mind since we’re going to be spending most of the day inside. So, here’s Max.
Hi!It’sme,Max.Iknowwhat’shisnamealreadyintroducedme,….let me start over.
I forget that I don’t have opposing thumbs and need to slow down so I can use one of my other toenails to hit the space bar. For the convenience of dogs everywhere, who know how to type, there should be a custom keyboard that has little space between the R & F, and the U and J keys. My little toenails will fit right in there with a little practice. Life has been a little hectic for me lately because Mom and Dad have been driving all over the place. That means I’ve spent a lot of time parked in the little bed they call my throne. I don’t know why they do that. It’s a bed. They bought it so you’d think they would know that, right. Anyway, the little bed isn’t really uncomfortable, but I’d rather sit in someone’s lap with my head out the window. I don’t think that’s going to happen for a while since I lost my mind for a moment in Bisbee and tried to jump out the window so I could catch that cat. I’m sure Dad has told you about that little episode. I really don’t know what I was thinking. On my last walk I ran into the neighbor who wears a beanie all the time. Her name is Laurie. She was walking a little black dog. I heard she has 3 of those dogs and this one is the oldest. Something like 84 years old – 12 years old in people years. She’s a French bulldog and she has an attitude. So, I gave her attitude back and got in trouble for my efforts. Laurie gave me bits of bacon treats anyway. She always has that stuff in her pocket, and she always gives me some. It’s really good. My Mom and Dad don’t get me stuff like that. The only treats I get at home are denta things for my teeth. They’re OK, but they aren’t bacon. I’m going to quit now because my toes are getting tired. They aren’t used to being used independently. First, here’s a photo of me when I was new to the family last year. It was before my hair went nuts and got all curly.
For comparison, here’s a more recent photo of me.
OK. He’s a quitter. I probably should have taken a photo of him working on the computer, but it didn’t occur to me.
This morning, I woke up the first time at 0400, the second time at 0530, and the third time at 0645 or so. While lying there wondering if I could make myself get up before 0900, when breakfast was over, Diane told me I should get up and eat breakfast before it’s over at 0900. That was code for “get up and go eat breakfast.” It’s good to know the code.
So, I got up and took Max for a walk, stopped by the breakfast area and got Diane a cup of coffee, THEN I went to breakfast. I knew she was thinking that and inadvertently omitted those two critical instructions. There are times when I add things to the code and make mistakes but this time I was spot on.
I went back to the breakfast area and had a bowl of oatmeal and two, two pieces of overtoasted toast, the way I like it, and I was good to go for the rest of the day.
When I was done, Diane went down to get some yogurt and then we saddled up for a trip to Tombstone. It’s only a 25-minute drive but it takes you back 100 years in time. When we got there Diane found a shaded parking spot on 4th Street, across the street from Puny John’s BBQ and just down the street from the Visitor’s center.
Tombstone is not a dog friendly town, so we didn’t get to see much together. Max was relegated to tugging on a short leash and hanging with one of us while the other visited a store. I peeked into the OK Shootout ticket venue and thought Diane should go there. She did. Max and I spent some time on a main street bench to wait.
When Diane returned, she took control of Max and released me to go visit the Visitor’s Center. In the VC I talked with Kathy, the lady behind the counter, and learned that she used to live in Hermiston, OR, and Portland, OR and knows where Scappoose and St. Helens are. Small world stuffs. Also, her daughter lives in Forest Grove, OR and might be Les and Sophie’s neighbor. I didn’t get an address to confirm, so we’ll never know for sure.
We sat on that bench for a while and watched the participants in the 1100 OK Corral shootout gather in front of the store Diane visited. Sadly, more than one of them lit up cigarettes and the wind blew it right at us. We were block away and it was still nasty. Smoke is a deal killer for us, so we decided to call an end to this a visit and headed back to Sierra Vista.
There’s a statue in Tombstone that we encountered, and Max stopped, stared at it a bit, then started barking at it. Something new for him. He stopped quickly when I asked him to, then I took him to it and introduced him. After that he was fine.
We came away with some photos, and memories of the old buildings and Kathy in the Visitor’s Center. Max just got in his throne and went to sleep.
Upon arrival in Sierra Vista, we went to 143 Street Tacos for lunch. Diane surprised me by ordering a chicken burrito. When she got it, she understood my surprise because the burrito must have weighed in at around 3-4 lbs. It was enormous. She ate 1/3 of it which made me happy. I’m sure I will have to eat the rest of it one of these days. I had a beef burrito and ate almost all of it.
Before going back to the hotel Diane dropped by Best Buy and I got her a new iPad for her birthday. Her old one stayed in Tucson this trip and it was damaged from an incident with my knee, so now she has something new to play with for the next couple of days.
After eating those burritos, we were a little conflicted about dinner. Like, were we really hungry after all that?
We finally agreed that Diane should go to Safeway and pick up something that looked pleasing to her and to just surprise me because I’ll eat pretty much anything. Anytime.
When Diane was on the way home, she called me saying, “I’ll be there in 6 minutes. Bring a cart.” What this told me is that she went shopping hungry. That’s why we needed the cart.
Here’s what she brought back: 1. A Swanson dead chicken dinner for me. 2. A piece of dead fish and mac and cheese for her. 3. A tray of vegetables for me. 4. A container of green grapes. 5. A can of mixed nuts. 6. A loaf of bread. 7. A jar of chunky peanut butter. 8. A jar of strawberry jam. 9. A container of cinnamon cake. 10. A gallon of distilled water. 11. A 12-pack of bottled water. 12. A half pound of Butter. 13. A box of popcorn. 14. A box of Rice Krispy treats.
That’s why she needed the cart to get it up to the third floor.
The dead chicken dinner was good, and Diane liked her dead fish. I nibbled on the veggies while mine cooked in the micro. Max gave me a little help with the chicken and also with the veggies. He was bugging me about the chicken, but he had chicken in his bowl that’s been there most of the day. He could have eaten it any time. Instead, he conned me into feeding him bits of chicken. When that was all gone, he continued to give me his prairie dog look, so I started feeding him vegetables. He like carrots, and broccoli. I didn’t give him a tomato, but he probably would have eaten it, too.
I finally got him to leave me alone by moving his food bowl from the bathroom to the living area and insisted that he eat it. He did, in about 3 minutes. I figured he’d be looking for dessert after all that, but he settled down and is currently sleeping. He’s such a funny little guy.
It was around 12 degrees outside this morning when I got up at 0630 so I turned on the fireplace and went back to bed. It’s not a real fireplace. It’s an electric portable one that we store under the bed when we travel. So, technically, it’s a heater that looks a little like a fireplace. It works perfectly to keep the house warm.
Twelve degrees was an exaggeration, too. It was more like 20 … no, it was actually 47. Still, for Arizona, that’s cold, don’t you think?
Diane and I both wear Fitbit devices to keep track of our sleeping patterns and how many steps we take throughout out days. It’s interesting to see how well we sleep but it doesn’t work every night because one of us forgets to switch the mode to do that. This morning, I found that I got a 77 last night. Not too bad but being in the 80’s is better. I don’t do that very often.
The reason for my low scores is that no matter when I go to bed, I wake up between 0500-0600 every morning. That’s when my brain turns on. I’d really like to go back to sleep, but a lot of stuff is going on behind my eyes making it difficult. Most days the theme in my head is a reenactment of the dog fight Max and I got in while visiting a park in Imperial Beach, CA. I shared this many posts ago, so I won’t subject you to another rendition of that event. The repetitive morning episodes has convinced me that my continuous exposure to that event is PTSD.
Yup. Most people who suffer from PTSD were exposed to traumatic events related to warfare, not dog fights, right? Well, I’m sure PTSD can be triggered by any traumatic event. I speak as an expert though I’m not one. The point where I have to get up to end the memory is when I extract Max from the jaws of this big dog who was doing his best to kill my little friend. I always prevail but lingering in the back of my mind is the fear of what could have happened had I not been close enough to intervene.
OK now. I got that out of my head, and we can move on to something more pleasant.
It’s another beautiful day here in Tucson. Bright clear skies, and just a little chilly out there now. Diane said it’s supposed to be around 81 today, according to the weather people. It’s yo-yo weather; up and down. Yesterday evening, before the sun went down, we were lounging on the patio, and it was perfect. We haven’t had many days like that because previously it was just too hot. Being from the NW, we run out of sweat quickly, so it’s no fun being outside in the heat, watching your skin just wrinkle up and flake off in little, tiny pieces. It’s like having dandruff all over the exposed parts. Not very attractive. I think I read in a comic book that after a while the flaking stops, and everything just turns brown. I don’t know how long that will take, but it hasn’t happened, yet. My little stick figure legs will never get brown because it’s just too chilly for short pants. There’s just something about walking around in short pants on a clear, sunny day, and having to walk fast to stay warm just isn’t appealing. So, I wear long pants so Max, and I can just walk slowly, enjoying the scenery without feeling the need to shiver.
Around noon Diane went to the commissary to, once again, replenish our depleted food supply. Max and I stayed home and took a long walk. When we got home, I reclined on the couch to watch TV for a bit and fell asleep for a little while. Thankfully, I woke up before Diane returned so I was alert and able to help carry everything into the bus. I did it in four trips and everything fit in the proper place depending on whether or not it was frozen, cooled, or just happy in a warm cupboard.
Then we ate what was left of the meatloaf, the potatoes and a new can of peas. Both the peas and potatoes were smothered in an excessive amount of butter and a little sprinkle of salt and pepper. The meatloaf received an additional layer of ketchup. Sunday Linner was very good.
This was Diane’s selection for us to visit today. The GPS predicted it would take us about 45 minutes to make the 20+ mile trip, but it seemed longer. It wasn’t unpleasant, just long. Max said so.
The facility at the end of our ride was the Sun City Community Center which lives on a golf course. Without being able to see any of the fairways, I knew this was true because the building was surrounded by golf carts. Not all of them had golf clubs attached, but enough of them did to validate my suspicions …
One of the fairways was just over the trees in front of the carts. I know this is true because I walked over there and looked.
Just behind me from where I took this picture, was some sort of game field but I have no idea what kind of game it might be.
Instead of a game thing, it might have just been a design element for the grounds. The area is surrounded with BBQ pits, benches, and small parking spots for the golf carts. Perhaps one of you can provide info on what this is for. My first thought was some form of bocce ball. If I’m right, I’ll be surprised.
The inside of the community center was jammed with tables surrounded by people. All the crafts were made by the people selling the products and there was some really beautiful stuff. There was also some skeptical stuff just to keep things even, I guess.
My favorite was a display of cards and framed watercolor paintings by Lori Nalewicki. On the end of her table was one of a javelina that I recognized. I’d seen the same one at the Saguaro National Park West gift shop. She confirmed that her stuff shows up in a lot of places. Her art is whimsical and just the way I like it.
Diane loves birds and couldn’t leave without getting the one to the right of the donkey.
On the back Lori wrote the name: “Birds, a Bee, and a Melody”. It’s very simple and meaningful. At this time, she has no idea where it’s going to hang. I say that, but I didn’t ask. I’m just guessing.
For some reason she had me take a picture of this. I don’t know what it is, but she liked it. But not for $400.00.
On the way back to town we encountered an opportunity to visit another craft sale. We were in Oro Valley, and this isn’t far from that. When we got to the venues, they were all just packing up to go home but one lady helped Diane get a few Christmas decorations. On the way back to the main road we got a great view of the western edge of the Catalina Mountains. Pretty dramatic.
This is the left edge of the mountains we can see from the RV park. Even though this is called the “foothills”, the elevation is about the same as the Air Force Base we’re living on.
That’s it for today. Now all I have to do is figure out what to eat for dinner. I’m thinking I’ll have another salad because there’s one avocado I need to eat before it turns black.
Temporary Sanity ... 