The trip to SaddleBrooke was about the same as us driving from St. Helens to Portland. About an hour long. But getting to the destination involved having a minor altercation with either a sheriff, or state trooper. Here’s what happened.

SaddleBrooke has about 3-4 exits off Oracle Rd. That’s a long road. According to Wikipedia, it’s over 293 miles long. Today it was used for an Arizona version of Oregon’s Hood to Coast. They used the northbound side of the road (our side) to accommodate hundreds of runners of all shapes and sizes that just happened to be the most dense in front of all the exits we needed to use. We only needed one, but they covered all of them. I tried to find out what the race was about but the internet was not forthcoming with info, so I have no idea. I do know that by running on our side of the road made it difficult to make a right turn which was necessary to get to SaddleBrooke. Two cars ahead of us were allowed to make a right turn but when we tried, the policeman made a scene by yelling into my ear, so we drove ahead. I’m pretty sure he saw our Oregon plates and didn’t deem us worthy of a right turn.

A little further up the road, away from the major intersections, we turned right, driving willy nilly through the cones (didn’t hit even one of them), and we found our way to the church almost on time. I think we were about 2 minutes late.

The church is non-denominational, but it was amazingly like all the Lutheran services I attended over the years. Very familiar. It was very interesting and there must have been a couple hundred people there. Impressive.

After the service, we rode with Patty and Gene to one of the eating establishments for breakfast. The food was awesome, and we had a great time visiting. Before going to their home for more visiting, Gene drove us all over SaddleBrooke and The Reserve to see incredible views of the Catalina Mountains. It’s my understanding that there is a SaddleBrooke one, two and three and each of them have resort quality facilities for entertainment and eating. Very magnificent.

Then we went to their home where we sat and visited for a long time. It was a lot of fun. Eventually we had to leave and go rescue Max from his isolation in the RV. He wasn’t alone the whole time because our neighbors planned to take him for a walk while we were out. He was ready to get out of the bus when we got there, though, because neither Diane nor I turned the heater off. Thankfully, it wasn’t a particularly hot day, but the heater kept it toasty for Max. I immediately took him for a walk around the park which pleased him.

Now we’re all relaxed and ready to call it a day, but it’s only 1830 so I’ve got to mess around for another couple of hours. Guess I’ll watch the Seahawks/Packers game for a while.

Here are some more photos from today that might please you.

Dr. Patty and Diane, two former Warren Girls.

Gene stopped so I could get a shot of the two large Cacti that are actually Verizon antennas.

This is part of the Catalina Mountain range that resembles Abe Lincoln. He’s lying on his back, head to the left and it looks like he’s got a huge growth on his chest.

Gene didn’t comment on the growth part, and I didn’t notice it when I took the photo. Looking at it now, though, it’s pretty evident, don’t you think?

Here’s a view of a street in SaddleBrooke.

Gene’s and Patty’s license plate.

Very patriotic.

It was a good day.