Too hot! Nice Sunsets

We have been experience way above normal temps - was 108 yesterday, and only down to 72 at night.  This is about 15 degrees above the normal.  Has been to 113 last week, no relief in sight.  Still no rain, but high winds in the afternoon are the norm.  The winds are so strong that dust storms (looks like a dust tornado) kick up and swirl around.  Good thing we have a/c - yesterday I was only outside for a whopping 1/2 hour.  Just too darn hot.  Have had the pleasure of driving in a habood - that's the term for a sandstorm - saw only about 500 yards in front of me due to lousy visibility.  And of course, there is increase activity as to rattlesnakes (two more killed in the park) and lots of scorpions are around.  Have to be very very careful - no flip-flops and definitely you look down at where you are going.  No surprises.  Can't wait to get out of this heat!

We are beginning our countdown to travel north, watching and updating every day about the 4 wild fires raging in Arizona.  One of them, the Sunflower, is about 35 miles from where we want to make our first stop when we head out.  As of this morning, the reports is that this fire is 95% contained.  Good thing. The really cool thing about the fires is it is creating the prettiest sunsets - the smoke just lingers in the air and what you are really looking at - not clouds - but smoke. They say that in Phoenix proper you can smell the smoke too.  Glad we are this far south!  These sunsets with the colors reminds us of Santa Fe's skies at night.

We think we will leave the 1st of June, we have made many lists of things to get done - like dentist appointments, doctor visits to refill prescriptions, purchasing non-perishable stuff like TP, paper towels, soaps, etc.  Still have lots to do.  We have been sitting tight for 5 months and will be really weird to be in the truck pulling the 5ver again.  And even more weird and sad - we won't have Chip to sing to us.  We think Grace might take over where Chip left off - we had her to the vet for her checkup and she sang to us for the first ten minutes.  Speaking of Grace - she is beginning to do some things that Chip did, like sit at the door and be there waiting when we get back, follows me everywhere - if I get up to go potty during the night - she is sitting on the edge of the bed watching to see where I go.  We do miss Chip.  Our baby.

Tubac Presidio SHP and Tumacacori NHP

Since people have expressed an interest in visiting us this coming winter, we are starting to branch out and look at possible places to take them to.  A National Historical Park Tumacacori, is located about 40 miles south of Tucson.  Sunday we drove the hour and 20 minute drive to Tumacacori, which is a mission established by Jesuit monks back in 1690's.  Father Kino's 1691 landmark visit to an O'odham village transformed the lives and culture of these native Indians.  He established many missions in the course of his life among the Indians between Mexico and California.  After the monks were expelled back to Spain, Franciscan monks came and took over the teachings and helping with the day to day existence of the native people.  Was very impressed with this national park, described very well, displays very explicit in what it was being depicted.  The mission (church) is no longer active, and with only private donations does the restoration continue.  A little sad that it isn't more restored. Definitely will bring folks here, lots of historical significance to this mission.

From there we drove the 4 miles back towards Tucson and stopped at Tubac which is a very trendy artsy town, catering to everyone who wants some piece of Mexico.  Established in 1752 as a presidio (fortress or garrison) by the Spanish, largely to support and protect Mission Tumacacori, Tubac was one of the many stops along the Camino Real (Royal Road) which lead from Mexico to California.  Tubac's most famous Spanish resident was Juan Bautista de Anza who eventually lead an expedition and found San Francisco. Apaches attacked the town repeatedly and by the 1840's the town residents were forced to flee.  By 1880 copper was discovered in the area and town again saw a booming life.   Shops galore, places to eat, very pleasant and very accessible place to get around.  Tubac Presidio State Historical Park has the distinction of being Arizona's first state park. The state has done a great job in describing how the people lived and farmed, how the children went to a one-room schoolhouse which was in use until the late 1940's, how the impact of the monks in the area changed the people's lives.

As we were reading about the one room schoolhouse, one sign told of the different styles of desks used.  Some were made in Cincinnati Ohio!  Seems no matter where we go, we find some reference to Ohio.  Factoid:  did you know that "Arizona" is not an old Indian based name - it is Basque (Spanish) which means - the good oak tree.  Huh.

Rose Canyon Lake

While getting acclimated to this increasing hot weather, we decided to head back up into Mount Lemmon for a last hurrah before we begin to get ready for our summer trip to Montana.  I had visited Rose Canyon Lake with my sister back about 2 weeks ago, was a lovely 72 degrees at the top of the mountain while a balmy 99 at the bottom in Tucson.  When Dave and I went up to the top back in January, many of the campgrounds were closed due to snow and having the water pipes freeze.  Most of the campgrounds were now open, opening from April 15 to October 15 each year.  Sine Rose Canyon Lake would be closed again when we get back late this fall, this was an opportunity we wanted to take.

We started the day early, leaving the base of Tucson in 95 degrees at 9am.  We steadily climbed in the car on the Skyway Scenic Drive up to the top of the mountain to a small village called Summerhaven, 22 miles later but in the time we climbed to the top - it was equivalent to driving from Mexico to Alberta crossing the United States in altitude.  In 2005 there was a fire that wiped out all the homes and small businesses in the town and you can still see the effects of the fire and even smell the fire after all this time.  Still, was a beautiful day and we began our treks by climbing even higher to the very top of the mountain where Arizona State University has it's observatory.  Two weeks ago when I brought my sister up to the top, there was still snow along the roadway but it had all melted.  We passed areas on the upper road that had shown signs of wash out due to the melt.  We took in the sights and then drove back down to 9100 feet altitude to Summerhaven and hiked a little of the Marshall Gulch trail - the top picture above.  Very pretty, very rugged.  After an hour or so we decided to go to Rose Canyon Lake and hike around the lake for awhile.  The temperature was 74, absolutely lovely.  Hiked to the other side where the dam is and then hiked back.  Sad part about this day, we won't be able to bring guests here during the winter months because this area is closed off due to snow.  By comparing this lake to Bear Lake in the Rocky Mountain National Park, Bear Lake by far was the best.  However, this little lake is serene, peaceful and you could hear the birds chirping, wind rusting the trees - just lovely. By the time we got back down the mountain and headed for home, the temp was 104.  What we have found is that we are becoming acclimated to the heat and 105 doesn't seem so bad, and 90 at night is a nice night!  Wow - are we Arizonians or what?

Now we begin the countdown to packing up the RV and heading north for the summer.  We aren't sure when we are leaving - there are 5 major fires burning north west and north east of Phoenix and we wanted to stop about 2 hours north east in a town called PineTop in an area called the Mongolian Rim of the White Mountains but aren't sure if that's feasible.  Most of the campgrounds are full, either by people who have left their homes and waiting out the fires, or, by firefighters who are camping there while they fight the fires.  We don't want to travel too far the first night out in case we forgot something, can head back and pick it up.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Tuesday we decided to go to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument located south of Tucson on the Mexican border.  We traveled through the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation to get there, about a 2 hour drive south into the heart of the Sonoran Desert.  But - an amazing thing happened about 1/2 hour into our drive on Indian Route 15.  We were stopped by State Highway Patrol and told to move off the road.  That was done by hand signals through the windshield at us.  Okay, we did - but why?  Then - bam!  A humongous tractor rig pulling something enormous flashed by us.  Talk about stunned.  And, this thing was also being pushed by an eighteen wheeler truck.  We got our senses and started up again.  And then - bam!  same thing happened.  Now we understood the 'peace' sign the patrol offer gave us - he meant there are two of these things.  By the time we realized the second one was coming by I whipped out my camera and tried to get pictures.  After we got back home and Dave took a look at it - this thing was 18 feet tall, weighed over 165 TONS!!!! and was obviously heading north into Phoenix or somewhere but the size and weight - it could not travel by the normal roads.  We think this thing had at least 48 tires on the rig! We figured it came in through Puerta Penasco shipyard which is about 15 miles beyond the US border into Mexico.  By the way, the Sonoran Desert is one of 4 deserts in the United States - the others are, Mojave in California, Chihuahuan in southern New Mexico, and the Great Basin which is all of Nevada, much of  Utah, parts of Oregon, Idaho, and the northern part of Arizona.  The Sonoran desert is unique because the winters are mostly frost-free and there are two significant rainfall periods - one in winter and one in July/August.  If you want to see alot of flowers and such - this isn't the place.  However, you will get to see the Organ Pipe Cactus which is only found in this southern most part of Arizona but is very wide spread in Mexico.  The picture above left shows the daddy of them all - this organ pipe cactus has a crest forming inside.  They don't know why this has happened - but it is quite impressive to see. Another milestone which would happen sooner or later - we ran over a rattlesnake on the way to the Ajo Mountain drive - and when we circled back later, the snake was gone - we think the buzzards got it.  Sorry rattle guy.  Lots of different cacti and lots blooming, and we heard alot of birds, but didn't see any other wildlife. We saw saguaro, prickly pear, my favorite - the teddybear cholla (choy-ah) which is shown below,

palo verde trees, creosote bushes (even smells like it), gold poppies in bloom, saw Gila (Hee-lah) woodpeckers, roadrunners - those boogers are fast, saw kangaroo rats, but didn't get to see the Quitobaquito (kee-toe-bah-kee-toe- LOVE TO SAY THIS!) fish in ponds which lives here and no other place on earth.  We were looking for tortoise, javelinas (wild pigs), Gila monsters, bighorn sheep, diamondback rattlers (thank goodness not), and coyotes but never saw them.  They say early evening is the best time to see these animals/reptiles.   Would we come back here or bring guests here?  No, for the amount of time it took to drive here and then add in the 2 hour Ajo Mountain drive we did which was within the park, we could be better served by visiting a botanical garden in Tucson or Phoenix.  We did learn alot and were surprised that we actually can start to pick out types of bushes and trees and flowers.  I guess we are becoming more Arizonian than we thought.

Visit with the Family

Last Sunday Jill, Erez, Lia, Emi, and Zoe came to visit us in our 'new' home.  And of course, the day was very hot - 107 - but that didn't stop us from having a nice time.  We showed them the sights to see at our park, they looked in every nook and cranny in our home to get a flavor of how we live, then walked them over to the pool area and the library/work out room.  We realized that the 3 girls had never seen the equipment you typically see in a gym - barbells, weights, stairstepper, treadmill, etc.  Was fun teaching them how each machine works.  Jill said afterward that since they were interested in using the machines that maybe she ought to look into a 'kid friendly' gym where they would get fun plus exercise.  After having some munchies and taking a photo op, we went to a pizza place in Casa Grande that we found and is pretty good.  The girls all enjoyed their pizza and even said that it has been a long time since they have actually gone to a pizza place, only getting carry out/delivery to the house.  Fun day!  The picture above is Dave and myself with the 3 girls.  Grace (our cat) had just jumped off Zoe's lap.

Sabino Canyon

What a fun, amazing day we had yesterday. We decided to go to Sabino Canyon, at the foothills of the Catalina Mountains (the most southerly range of the Rocky Mountains) to go hiking. We had been there two other times and about 8 years ago when we were here - in March - the creek was dry, Dave's knee was hurting, so we didn't do much. Drove up on the tram and walked around for a few minutes, then got back on the tram and went back down. Yesterday was different. Took the tram all the way to the top and walked back down - about 4.8 miles. In one of the pictures here you can see the road that the tram travels on and the tram just heading towards us. As we were hiking we could hear voices above us on the rim. Could not find these hikers but their voices sure carried. Many hiking trails above, we weren't that venturous! The tram stops at 12 different locations where you can get off or re board. The tram's roadway crosses the creek 8 times, with the water flowing underneath. When we were here back in 2005, the water was so high it was over the little bridges and you had to walk through the water to get to the other side. There had been heavy rains about a month before we had visited and the roadway above stop 7 was closed due to flash flooding that destroyed the road and caused landslides. We could see where the areas were rebuilt - seems to be an ongoing problem with the flash floods. There are bathroom facilities at 8 of the stops so it makes it a nice comfortable day. Picnic benches are along the creek, since no cars are allowed, you have to bring in and carry out all foodstuffs. The tram is a pretty good deal for those that can't walk alot but want to enjoy the scenery. The tram comes by every half hour. Beautiful scenery! I really enjoyed our walk but today - we are paying for it - my left foot is swollen (had surgery a couple of years ago on it) and Dave's knee is sore. But just look at these pictures! Will take visitors here to see and experience. Have to know - this past Saturday Mount Lemmon (at the top of this mountain range) had snow and the creek we walked along - was flowing due to the melt of this snow. Talk about cold! Even though there were alot of people doing the same thing we did, we were alone listening to the wilderness for most of the time. Big, big canyon. And of course - we have to watch for rattlesnakes, gila (lizards), and mountain lions. As long as we were around people and stayed on marked paths, not a problem.

Tohono Chul

We spent a quiet week, healing from the hurt of losing Chip, kinda lost when figuring out what to do. We can now safely talk about Chip without crying. And we noticed that Grace has started to act differently - coming out of her depression also. And she is doing some of the things that Chip used to do - sleep right by my leg at night, becoming more vocal, even was sitting by the door and crying when we came home one day. Will we get another kitten? Yes, but not until this fall when we come back from our travels this summer. Want to be able to be near our vet for any issues and also to make sure the new baby is update with shots, etc.

We drove into Tucson and visited Tohono Chul Gardens. Named as one of the World's Greatest Botanical Gardens and is ranked as one of the top 22 secret gardens in the US and Canada. The park was started in 1968 when a couple purchased 12 acres of desert landscape north west of Tucson at the base of the Catalina Mountains. Today it is 37 acres of various gardens and educational buildings. Quite impressive. The ancient tribe, Tohono O'odham, lived in this area for many centuries and in fact there is an reservation in south western Arizona where over 25,000 members still live. Some day we will drive there and visit - there are a number of national monuments and Organ Pipe National Park is located there. But for now - Tohono means desert and we think chul means gardens. We had been to this park about 8 years ago, during Thanksgiving break when we had flown in to Phoenix to visit with Jill and family. But, it was evening, dark, cold, and the event going on was Christmas lighting and caroling. The visit we had was very very different, sunny, lots and lots of flowers in bloom, trees with their foliage, lots of little creatures roaming around - even told us to beware of rattlers - they were on the loose. Gardens were laid out for hummingbirds, gardens for flowers blooming at various times, one for no-watering, etc. And of course - took lots of pictures. Most of the pictures were for our use - when we start landscaping our place here in Picacho this coming fall. Was able to pick up some reference books on gardens that require little or no watering which is a must here at Picacho. And get a flavor of desert life and plants.

Farewell Chip

This past Friday we made the difficult decision and had Chip put to sleep. He was a brave fighter, never once telling us how much in pain he was. He lived with us for all his 14 years and we always looked forward to coming home and him greeting us at the door. So many nuances he had - full of fun, very dedicated to us, never once waivering in his affection. He knew all our faults and secrets, never once telling anyone what fools we were sometimes. Unfortunately, Dave was not home for a good part of Friday and I stayed home helping Chip through his last day. I had contacted Dave to tell him that Chip's time had come and that when he got home, he had time to spend with Chip, holding him, petting, talking to him, loving him, until we had to make the drive to Tucson to the vet. Needless to say, these pictures cannot express our sadness and pain as we said good bye to the most intelligent, loving, kind animal Dave and I have had the pleasure of living with. And to make it more painful, Chip was Dave's first pet - Chip picked out Dave and when the two made eye contact, I immediately told Dave that he was the one. Chip came to us from the Cleveland Animal Protective Shelter, having made the decision to get another black and white (tuxedo) cat a few days after we had put Carl to sleep. I wasn't ready but Dave insisted - and I am so lucky he did insist. What a wonderful cat - partner, friend, playmate, troublemaker, he was. Chip helped me with my sewing, made sure Grace stayed out of trouble, was our guard dog - hissed at people who should not come in, helped me with cooking. Just a wonderful cat. Didn't like riding in the truck, but once we got to a campground and settled in, he was fine. Often sat in the back and watched the world go by. And of course - finding the best spot to get the most of the sunshine, getting the spot before Grace found it. He loved his hammock - spending all kinds of hours sleeping or watching the birds out the window, or just hanging there. Thank you Dennis for getting Chip the hammock. And Chip was a man's man - if Dave was doing something around the house and had his tools out, Chip was right there helping him. Never waivered from giving Dave his two sense - use that tool, or can I try that? Let me see, let me help. What a guy, as Dave always said. Sometimes we couldn't find Chip - he had managed to get inside whatever space or nook or cabinet that Dave had been working on - just checking it out. And Chip's favorite place to lay - on Dave's slippers. Something about the leather, or the smell, or something - always on Dave's slippers.

He had a rough beginning, we didn't know that at 4 weeks old (yes! he was that young!) he had been neutered two days before we brought him home. He crashed within 3 days, I took off the next couple of days from work, taking Chip into the vet for interveneous feedings and antibiotics, and by 4 days of this regiment, he was coming around. Tough little kid. Obviously with him and his medical issues so young - he hated any and all vets. Growled when we took him in for shots. For the last couple of years we had been dealing with his decline, and Chip was a trouper. I looked back on the blog and noted that April 2010 while we were at Sapelo Island camping in Georgia, Chip had gotten sick and the managers of the campground found us a vet. That diagnosis was stress but now we know that wasn't it - he had a tumor and it was beginning to cause him problems. As we look back now - he had this growth for some time - Chip constantly was licking his stomach. But today - both Dave and I say - we were blessed to have two more years of Chip in our life, we were so lucky. Since this past Tuesday we knew his days were short, and my sister put it correctly - we were in hospice care for Chip. Rest in peace, Chip, we are so happy you aren't in pain anymore. We will meet up someday. We will always love you. Have fun and give 'em hell in your next life!

Lazy Days in AZ

We have not done much in sight-seeing for the past 2 months, just getting accoustomed to where we are and how we live. The weather is warming up, mid to high 80's during the day, mid 50's at night. We have heard the coyotes a couple of nights, but the stars! Amazing! We did get our park model delivered and we have ownership of it now and for the past 10 days we have been busy with putting up hooks, shelves, little of this, little of that. Re-arranging the living area, taking out everything in the cupboards in the kitchen and redoing it, trying to figure out what is best in terms of dining table (we are using a card table and folding chairs for now), but loving every minute of it. So different in a park model versus an RV - we even have a garbage disposal! Are we spoiled, or what? I asked Dave when he is going to go out and dump - something we don't have to do in this place, but will have to relearn this when we get back into the RV. As for Chip and Grace - they are loving it too. The picture above is from the door of the bedroom looking in as they are laying in the sun, and Grace is doing her weird sense of laying - with her head lower than her butt. Silly cat. Chip is doing okay, I load him up with laxatives in the morning and evening meal and he hates taking it - but there is no choice. He has lost weight but I think he has stabilized. I don't mind feeding him alot of food - he isn't gaining. Chip now weighs about 12 pounts - way down from his 18. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, is quite active and jumps and runs all over. We are happy. However, when we take off to go to Montana sometime around the middle of May - we shall see how he does. If he begins to crash, we will head back here. Will get Chip and Grace to the vet before we go - to make sure they are okay. Getting excited - will have our first official guest here the end of April when my sister flies in for a long weekend while Dave flies to Florida and then drive to Cleveland from there (helping Phyllis home), then staying about 5 to 6 days more to visit with family, home the 7th of May. Then we will pack up and head to Montana, providing Chip is doing okay by May 15th. Starting to get the hitch-itch. Watching folks here pull out to go back to their summer homes - Alaska, Kansas, Montana, British Columbia, Colorado, to name some of the places they depart to. And there are a number of folks who live here all year!

Battle of Picacho Peak

This past Sunday we went to our neighbor's property, the Picacho Peak State Park, and watched the reenactment of the Civil War battles of the Southwest. Three separate battles were reenacted there, the Battle of Valverde, NM; the Battle of Glorieta, NM; and the Battle of Picacho Pass, AZ, all served the purpose of paving the way for the opening of Santa Fe Trail. We got to the state park at 9am when the gates opened and walked around the camps of the Confederate Troops - of Texas, and then wandered through the Federal camp of the Northern States. We were impressed with the 250 plus volunteers - men, women, and children - who put in their time, effort, money and travel time to do reenactments. When the volunteers are not doing these three reenactments, most travel to the eastern states and participate in those. The battle of Picacho Pass, fought on April 15, 1862 - which is the 150th year anniversary this year. Although this battle was a draw when both sides withdrew from the skirmish after an hour with few fatalities and wounded, the historical aspects of being the western most battle of the Civil War lasts. We watched an artillery demonstration which the solders explained each of the jobs of the battery, and then commenced with firing the cannons. These cannons are reproduction but deliver the same extremely loud noise and compression of air! And each of the firearms used by the men are also reproductions but with no ammo loaded. Still, pretty convincing. Women also were at the reenactment as nurses, wives of the men, seamstresses, laundry lady, women who like today's groupies - follow a rock band around - those women followed the troops and their roles were to 'entertain' the men, if you get my drift. We saw children also dressed in period costume, even one little girl who was dressed in period costume and selling lemonade - yes, I was a sucker and bought her lemonade, saw doctor (medic) running around the battlefield, young boys who were with a regiment and were drummers or fifers to keep the spirits up of the fighting men. Mounted cavalry were also present. And the cavalry was from Fort Huachuca (pronounced Who-a-cha-ca....like an Indian chant - who-a-cha-ca, who-a-cha-ca) which is near Tombstone, where the Buffalo Soldiers were first enlisted and to this day, the Fort is home to Buffalo Soldiers and the Mounted Cavalry of the United States. Fort Huachuca is an active Army base today with it's main mission in communications and also active drone missile program. The term Buffalo Soldiers was a nickname of the Black Men who served in the Army during the Civil War, and the Indians said they looked like the buffalo since their hair was short and curly just like the buffalo. I really enjoyed Sunday's experience. We have been near another reenactment in Ohio, the battle of Lakeside-Marblehead, while we were camping at East Harbor State Park in Ohio. We will never forget Abe Lincoln walking around handing out copper pennies to children - something he was known for. How life-like was that? As I look back on the pictures of Sunday, I get a chuckle - you see people sitting on the side of the mountain watching the reenactment while in the same picture you see the battle going on in front of them and further in the distance you see the State Park campground with the RVs.

Let's Get Caught Up!

We have been kid sitting every Tuesday and Thursday at Jill's, and for the most part on weekends, follow the middle granddaughter, Emi, to where ever her soccer team is playing. We have also made it back to Mount Lemmon which we see to the south. It is snow covered still and last Sunday when we went there, it was their last day of skiing - the snow is melting too fast. Something else that has occupied our time 24/7 - Chip has gotten very ill - almost lost him about three weeks ago. You have to understand - he has been with us for 14 years, has to be one of the most intelligent cats we have owned, and is our baby. We found a great female vet in Tucson and with encouragement and alot of contact with her over the last couple of weeks, we have gotten him back. I give him laxatives two times a day and he's on food that doesn't produce any solid waste - he has a mass that is obstructing his bowel and therefore can't poop. But - he's not in pain, gotten his appetite back after loosing a number of pounds, is quite playful at times, and can't say that he is fine - he's holding his own and is better than he was a month ago. Our poor Chip. Needless to say, we both watch him closely - his every move. Just like an elderly person -we are so happy when there is a 'BM' out of him, we praise him and pet him - but we see it also takes it toll on him. We are not ready to say goodbye to him - will do everything to keep him going as long as there is no pain. On a lighter note - our new 'RV' has arrived at Picacho Peak and we hope by the end of the week we will have the keys and ownership to it. We have purchased very little furniture, have been looking and talking about what would fit, but will wait until we are in it to do any more big purchases. We plan to stay here this spring until we feel that when we come back late fall, we will be comfortable and can move right in. Once we get in this week or so, we have to make arrangements to get the 5th wheel in for service, then the truck in and get new tires on the truck. Cha-ching. Very expensive winter here, but exciting! Today the window treatment guy is coming to give us an estimate on solar outside coverings, then the concrete work begins and the awning to be installed, the HVAC hooked up, the water done, alot to do in a couple short days! But can't wait!!!

Quick Trip to Ohio

I decided to make a quick visit to Ohio to visit my family and friends, Dave said he didn't want to see snow - so have a good time! I also wanted to see snow. I do miss seeing snow, seeing the seasons change, grass, hardwood trees, seeing Lake Erie, wasn't happy with experiencing chuck holes in the road or seeing how I forgot to drive in ice and snow - had to relearn this. And was I lucky or what? Saturday night we had 12 inches of snow and I caught this picture of my brother-in-law Danny using the snowblower. This was taken at my sister's house and she and I were standing in the computer room staring at Danny and making fun of him when he would come back for another swipe at the snow. Was good to see my family and to get caught back up on all their lives. Was especially great to see my niece Christine who had a preemie baby last January - born 3 months early, weighing in at 1 lb 17 oz - and seeing how Little Erich is doing now. He's just a beautiful, happy little boy who just loves musical toys. I saw my father in him - red curly hair, clear blue eyes, and a sunny disposition. No problems from his early birth and the doctors are quite pleased with him. He's below average for height and weight but mentally his progress is exactly where he should be for a 1 year old. Doctors told Christine that he should be at the 'normal' range by the time he's two. Was able to get back to the condo to get some things out and have shipped back to Arizona, lots of my sewing things, some clothes left behind. Stared out at Lake Erie for a very long time, taking in the views and the sounds and the sights. Weird to be back in the condo and knew that this place was not ours anymore. We are having too much fun RVing all over the country that we know we would not go back to the condo. Dennis and Peggy are loving living there and Dave and I are so happy for them. All in all great trip. Spent a day with my sister Loretta shopping and hanging out. When I flew out of Cleveland yesterday, the sky was bright blue, a warm 38 (warm for Ohio's winter) and was a nice send off. Forecast for Cleveland for today was another 3 to 5 inches of snow. However, when I landed in Phoenix last night it was a balmy 68. Today - rain, blessed rain! We last saw rain on the 12th of December and that rain was light but constant. Today's rain is hard, pounding, and things are flooding. We will get an awesome spring with flowers now. Good to be home to start planning our next adventure.

Catalina State Park, Arizona

One of the hikes we did a day before I left for Ohio was to go to Catalina State Park which is about a twenty minute drive from Picacho. We both agreed that we need to make this park one that we go to alot. Biking, hiking trails, camping if we wanted to move the RV there, historical ruins are there. One trail we saw goes up to Mount Lemmon where we went to the previous week. However, the trail is rated extreme - don't think we will do that one. One of the trails is a birding trail and was told that March and April are the best times to go along this trail for watching birds and to take pictures of flowers. Since we are in winter mode now, everything is kinda dull and not much life. However, we could hear birds all around us, even caught a lizard sleeping on a rock. If you zoom in on the picture above, you will see the lizard with it's eyes closed. The ruins we walked reminded us of the hike we did to the Presidio near Tombstone. Informative, but had to use your imagination as to what you were looking at. Definitely will go back there soon.

Mount Lemmon

Since last post we have been to Chandler (where Jill and family are) more than we thought we would. One of the girls had strep throat, another wasn't doing good either, and so had to stay home from school - which meant could we help out? Spent a couple of days there keeping the kiddos comfortable and doing what comes naturally in a home - laundry, straightening up house, errands, cooking, dishes, etc. Was fun - but we both felt once we left that we like our little RV - not as much to do or pick up. We were still looking around and seeing best fit for next winter and have found that Picacho Peak RV Resort is our best of the best, we will be back here next winter for sure - have already talked to the folks about it. And an exciting thing will happen in about 5 weeks - a Civil War reenactment will take place and we plan to be there to watch the activities. We witnessed a reenactment at East Harbor State Park in Ohio and that was really cool. We hope this one coming up will be just as interesting and educational. Did we tell you that this is Arizona's 100th year anniversary? So - not only will there be things going on at the Peak but also celebrations for the statehood. Yesterday after running some errands in Tucson we drove up to Mount Lemmon, over 9,127 feet tall and the neatest thing - we can see this mountain from our campsite. And it's snow covered to boot and we can also see the snow from our campground. We went too late in the day and didn't make it to the top but knew that when we go back, there will be an entire day looking around, hiking, seeing the town. We found out that the ski resort at the top is the southern most ski destination in the continental US. Amazing! We saw a rapeller on one of the hoodoos (look closely - you can see him on top of that hoodoo) and were amazed that he could get up there. As he laid down to rest after climbing up, we saw 2 turkey vultures flying over him and I think he got a bit miffed and decided to then repel down. No lunch for those vultures! This mountain will definitely be on our list of things to do when guests come in. There are two towns at the top of the mountain and they say there are ski lifts and some restaurants and stores - looking forward to going up there again. Very pretty, waterfalls, lots of hiking and camping, although I don't think we would ever take the RV up there - too scary and steep. In one of the pictures above you can make out the road which snakes back and forth at very steep inclines. We did see at one of the campgrounds a number of RVs - bet it gets pretty cold at night! But to hear the coyotes again - would be worth it in the spring/early fall.

Lazy Days in AZ

I survived the bachlorette week in Picacho last week, Dave was in Oshkosh, Wisconsin conducting training for a company. I felt sorry for him because he was not used to working long hours and the snow and cold really got him. He said he thought he was retired, and now he says - he really is done this time. Enough. When you spend the last 6 months dodging snow and cold and then you spend a rough week in it, you will get your butt kicked big time. He's still recouping today, will take at least a week to get warmed up and caught up with his sleep. While he was gone I made good use of the time to do some quilting, reading, sitting in the sunshine, and visiting with the girls in Chandler. It is fun being this close to the girls. I spent this past weekend living at Jill's house with the oldest, Lia, while the rest were in Tucson for a soccer tournament. Lia and I had fun, even took in a cute movie. Good times.

Last Thursday I wanted to do some grocery shopping and decided to head in the other direction (east on I 10) towards Tucson to find a different store. I got off on the wrong exit and decided to just kept driving, keeping Picacho Peak always in view, knowing I wouldn't get lost as long as I could see it. I found some interesting campgrounds and lots of hiking and biking trails just east of here. And I got closer to Mount Lemon which we can see to the east of us. That day was 69 degrees and there was lots of snow on that mountain. We had rain two days ago and there is even more snow on it. We have been told there are ski lifts/trails on the mountain and also a restaurant there - will have to look into that further. So - yes, we can get to snow if we want - but right now - NO!

We are really enjoying our time here in Picacho, lots of sun, and no given time frame to get going again. Our tentative plans are to leave sometime the beginning of April heading towards Montana for the summer. I don't have the hitch-itch yet even tho we have been here now 6 weeks and in Arizona 9 weeks total. As we looked back at this time last year we were just heading to McAllen Texas from Sinton, near Corpus Christie. Ah, what memories!

Tarantulas and Such

Since we are sitting tight here in Picacho Peak for a couple of months, we haven't done alot of sightseeing. However, I realized yesterday that between Dave and myself, we have put over 2000 miles on the vehicle! Yikes, so what have we been doing? Besides visiting with the grandgirls at least 3 times a week, we are still looking at other campgrounds to make sure that Arizona is the best fit for us in the winter. We have been up to Flagstaff area and down to Tombstone area and west to Tonopah (about 90 miles from Yuma) and east as far as Apache Junction. Florida? Don't want to go back there for many reasons: too expensive, too many old people, too congested, too many Quebecians, way way too many people from New York , and of all the campgrounds only 2 were acceptable enough to go back to. Texas -wonderful. But, only if you can get to way south near South Padre Island (Brownsville) and McAllen/Mission areas. The downside is that Texas is huge and you drive and drive and drive to get going again on your journey after your stay. We loved Texas and will go back there in the spring or fall, not summer when it's too hot, to see the rest of the western state, someday.

Lots of observations about where we are. Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington are the typical license plates of most of the cars and trucks here. Which makes sense - it's a straight shot down the interstate to here. Weather - beautiful! Day temps about 70 to 75, nights down to 40. Sunny, light breeze if any, clear skies. Nice. But have to say I am missing some things. Like: green grass, maple/elm/oak/hickory - for that matter - any hardwood trees would be nice to see, my family in Cleveland although I will get to see my sister and husband when they come to Lost Wages (Las Vegas) late February but miss the rest of the nutty group of family and friends. I miss seeing the birds and waterfowl of Lake Erie, miss my church family in Lorain Ohio.

Now - here's what you miss by not being here. Tarantulas. I saw a baby the other day - baby size was 2 inch body with the hairiest legs. One acquaintance here said that she saw an adult - body size of 6 inches, walking down the roadway, just loping along. She said - common sight. However, by having these spiders around, the scorpions stay away. And get this - at night we are invited to scorpion hunts here in the park - they take a special blue light and go looking for these boogers and kill them. I don't think so! Also found out that you will not die from a tarantula bite, just get pretty sick. And scorpion bite? Well, if you are elderly or sick to start - not a good thing - your days are numbered. Rattlesnakes - they have killed 3 in the park in the last year - but usually they come out when there has been alot of rain. Note to self - stay inside after a rain! I used to wear flip flops ALOT and now I wear my tennies everytime I go outside the RV. We are supposed to stomp our feet at night if we are walking around. And javalinas - wild pig like animal. The manager said that at night they tend to roam through the park. But like pecking order - they hunt the snakes and tarantulas, and of course any other small animal. I have heard coyotes singing a couple of nights ago - a lovely, lonely sound. Birds? Lots and lots of hummingbirds, saguaro loving woodpeckers (flickers), roadrunners, small cactus birds. These guys make pretty sounds. All in all - I like this area we are in. And if I need snow - Flagstaff.

Shootout!

Tuesday we drove down to Tombstone to see the shootout at the OK Corral and any other cowboy stuff there was to see. Cutesy town, thriving on us tourists, lots of places to buy trinkets or jewelry or junk, or nice stuff, lots of eating places, hotels, historical sites. We spent about 5 hours there, could have spent more but the sun was getting low and we had to drive the 2 hours back. We did see the reenactment of the shootout at the OK Corral which depicted the story of how 3 ranchers were gunned down by Wyatt Earp, his brother, and Doc Holiday. I am not sure how the entire story goes so I will have to rent the movie to get more in depth information.

We started off our visit to Tombstone - by the way, it is known as the town too tough to die because it has survived 2 fires, copper mining and bust where the town's population at one time was over 12,000 people!, the movement of the county seat to another town, etc. - by visiting Boothill Graveyard where 250 graves of outlaws, criminals, victims, hangings, Indian attacks, sickness, prostitutes, upstanding citizens, and a sundry of others lay. Some of the headstones were quite explicit - like, Lester Moore - "Here lies Lester Moore, Four Slugs from a .44, No Less, No more." Cute! After this visit we then went into the town and parked and started our visit. We went to the Helldorago Shootout which is a comical look at cowboy shootouts.

At 3:30 the arguments and fighting started down the main street, prepping the tourists to follow along and by 4pm you were brought along to the actual place where the shootout took place at the OK Corral. After this show we then watched a movie on the history of Tombstone and some of the confusion of the shootout was explained. On our drive back to Picacho we were treated to a fabulous sunset - the sky looked like it was on fire, the peach and melon colors were amazing - reminded us alot of the sunsets while we were in Santa Fe. Fun day and we know our guests really enjoyed themselves.

Settled in Picacho Peak

We haven't done any sightseeing per se since I last blogged, just enjoying the abundant sunshine and warm temperatures. We did pick up our son-in-law's parents yesterday and went to two casinos, run by the Gila Indian Reservation in Chandler - about 8 miles from where Jill lives. We first went to the Lone Butte Casino and lasted 5 minutes - the smoke just drove us crazy and they did not have any non-smoking area. We learned that their second casino has a non-smoking area and quickly drove down the road to the Wild Horse Casino and lasted about 4 hours there. The non-smoking was there but it didn't matter - you were breathing in that nasty smoke anyhow - just couldn't filter it out. The casino was packed - lots of older folks and many women - we wondered why? Yudit and I got settled into the slot machines and Dave and Itzhak ran to pick up the grandgirls from day camp since both their parents were sickies - Jill with a bad cold and Erez had hurt his back and couldn't move. After the guys got back to the Casino we drove back to Jill's house to pick up the three granddaughters and the four of us old-folk grandparents plus the 3 girls went out to eat. Fun time, the girls are amazing, if not typical girls vying for your undivided attention. We got back to Picacho by 8:30pm. Lots of driving yesterday!

We have also spent time the last couple of days looking at other RV campgrounds, looking at how they are laid out, what the fees are if we choose a park model home to sit for 6 months in the winter, what a park model would cost if we purchased. We have been sorely disappointed with what we have seen - these campgrounds pack the winter RVers in like sardines and your view out your window would be looking right into your neighbor - they being about 5 feet from you! Picacho Peak is looking more and more favorable every day. We also want to look in Apache Junction which is due east of Phoenix. What I have seen on the Internet we will again be disappointed. Tucson is out because it is typically 10 degrees cooler and night time temps here in Picacho are averaging 40. With being say 30, we would have to disconnect the water since it would freeze at night. And, Tucson is farther from Jill so - we will not look at all.

Sunday Dave and I are cooking a big meal at Jill's house for all. Should be fun - right now the headcount is at 19. Turkey, stuffing, and all the makings - should be yummy.

Meteor Crater

Since Tuesday we have been visiting in Chandler (Jill's house). The girls' last day of school was Wednesday and we were invited to attend the Jingle Jog party at 1pm at the school. Dave went to the function while I stayed back and helped make dinner for later in the day. We made arrangements to pick up our son-in-law's parents Friday morning and the four of us would drive to Winslow to see the Meteor Crater. We had been to this in 1986 and we remember that all that was there was the crater and walking trails around the rim. No explanation, no buildings, no nothing. This facility and it's educational components has been run privately by one family for over 100 years and it was amazing as to what they have done - very informative, lots of hands-on exhibits, and well designed. We had a back-up plan if we couldn't get to Winslow since blizzards had been in the area since Monday and there was a winter driving cautionary for yesterday. Back up plan? Of course - a casino. There are 9 in the Phoenix to Flagstaff corridor so what ever the day would bring, we would still have fun.

We got on the road about 10 and drove up into Flagstaff where there was plenty of snow and the temp had dropped to about 34. The roads were clear even though we could tell that within hours of us coming into Flagstaff, there was fresh snow on the ground about 3 inches deep, so we kept on going and got to the site about 1:30pm. About 50,000 years ago an iron-nickel meteorite, estimated at 150 feet in diameter and weighing several thousand tons, crashed into the plains near Winslow and with the impact, the immense shock waves sent out over several miles, pulverizing and vaporizing anything in it's path. A giant bowl shaped cavity was formed, 700 feet deep and over 4000 feet wide. There have been many meteorites that have crashed into earth but this site is the best preserved and first proven meteorite impact on Earth. Very impressive. This terrain so closely resembles the moon and other planets that NASA used this site as it's officially Apollo training for the astronauts. On our ride back home (south) it was fun to watch the temp gauge in the car steadily climb back up to a balmy 54 by the time we got back to Phoenix by 7:15pm.

Rain!

What is this? We are supposed to not have any bad weather until next summer - winters here are to be dry, in the 60's and 70's, and sunny! Saturday evening rain came in and rained until late yesterday afternoon. This weather system is the same one that is causing all the havoc as it travels through New Mexico, Texas Panhandle, and into Kansas and Nebraska and on with heavy snows, blowing snow drifting and low temperatures. Just glad we didn't have to shovel anything. As I look outside now it's sunny and about 57 and that's good. We traveled to see the family Saturday and spend time with them - fun. Helped them decorate for the holidays and I spent most of the time with Lia and Emi - doing nails, straightening their hair, listening to music, just hanging out. Dave's time was with Zoe - she commands alot of attention. Sunday we just bummed around the RV, catching up on emails, watching the rain, etc.

Monday (yesterday) was spent running into Casa Grande for some shopping after Dave got into see a doctor because he felt run down. One thing that we discovered and will do something about after the holidays - our family doctor (who just retired) was in Vermilion - and we do not plan to be back to Ohio any time soon. What do we do about doctors? Dave was recommended a family practice right in Casa Grande - and we both agreed that Arizona will be our base for some time in the future so it makes sense to establish doctor(s) here, making it easier to get a checkup and prescriptions filled. Later in the afternoon I drove us into Tucson to go to Camping World to pick up some parts that broke, and on our way back, we spotted an Airstream RV dealer. We will look into this dealer after the holidays to see what they have in stock.

We will have a fun day tomorrow - we are invited to Emi's school at 1pm for a Jingle Jog where the student and their parents/grandparents can jog with them around the track and then have a holiday cookies and snacks afterward. We will then go to the grandgirls' house afterward for dinner and more visitation. Fun being this close!