Chad took me to the airport around 4:30 PM. Flight was to leave at 6:38 PM, the ramp at Gate 2 was frozen and they couldn't move it so we were shuffled to Gate 4. We did make up the delayed time in flight.
I was in an aisle seat 4C. The two people next to me were deaf. Not far into the flight we had a medical situation. Needless to say there was a nurse and a paramedic on board so they were able to keep it from becoming an emergency. It certainly made the time go fast with the flight attendants going back and forth. The flight was full.
Landed on time. Pat and Pudge were there to meet me. Temp. in Mesa @ 9:30 PM was 68 degrees. We talked a little bit and went to bed.
Tuesday, Jan. 28th Mesa, Arizona temp. 70 degrees AM - 77 degrees late afternoon
Got up around 5:45 AM (6:30 MN time) and had some of Pudge's good coffee. Watched Good Morning Phoenix and then Good Morning America.
Pudge left around 8:15 am for Scottsdale to watch & and walk the "Waste Management" golf tournament. Pat left around 8:30 am for her Sunsationals Dance lesson.
I unpacked, ironed, got settled and sat out in the Arizona room (screen porch) watching the Humming birds, Morning Doves and the golfers.
We had a Roast with Carrots, Potatoes, Parsnips & Cabbage for dinner. Watched the State of the Union address.
Wed. Jan. 29th, Temp. @ 7 AM 62 degrees
Busy day. Condo 1 & and 2, starting in Jan. (most everyone from northern USA has arrived) has a get together dinner. Pudge was the head honcho for the Jan 2014 get together dinner. He did a terrific job and had a really good, fun team to help. A couple I got to know was Janelle & and Don, Connie & Darrell & Twyla.
They catered an Italian dinner which was Penne pasta with Marinara Sauce, Meatballs, Sausage/vegetables, Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread.
He got three layered cakes (Choc./Vanilla). The entertainment was a guy and I think his wife, who sang a variety of music. His wife sang a couple of songs with him, but mostly took care of the background music. He sang a lot of Elvis songs, some country and was very good.
They had door prizes, Twyla and I sat at a table and sold 50/50 tickets. You purchased 6 tickets for $5.
Pat was responsible for the table decorations. She had round paper doilies with plastic vines wrapped in a circle with a clump of grapes. Then just before serving, each circle had a bottle of wine in the middle.
Our table centerpiece Connie and Darrell cutting the cake
The sunset was absolutely gorgeous.
Thursday, Jan. 30th 7 AM temp 69 degrees
Relaxing day - Pat and I went to Walmart and had a pedicure. We were invited to friends of theirs for dinner. Had Chili, Crackers, Pickles and Cake.
A good friend from St Paul, John arrived today. He drove straight thru, his wife, Sharon flies in tomorrow. They are renting a place close to Pat's for Feb. and March.
Friday, Jan 31st - temp @ 7 am 57 degrees
I walked up to the auditorium to help take photo's of the Sunsationals Tap Dance group. They won a competition for the Best Soup Tasting contest. It is the first one for this complex.
Pat and I went to the movie "Nebraska" in the afternoon. We had Talapia, Rice, and Salad for dinner. It was a cloudy and breezy day so we didn't sit out side very much.
Sunsationals Tap Dance group
Sat. Feb 1st, Temp am was 52 degrees
Pat, Pudge and I left about 8:30 for some garage sales. Pat found a few things.
About 1 pm, the team who helped Pudge with the Condo dinner all got in the van and we drove to Old Town Mesa to a Historical Restaurant called the Landmark. One entire room was Soup and Salad Bar. Every kind of salad I have ever heard of.
Sunday, Feb. 2nd. Temp am 62 degrees, breezy
Today Pat and Pudge's son, Bryan is flying in to spend the week working in Tucson, AZ. He is going to stop by here on way. John/Shannon, John/Sharon, Jim/Gloria all came to see him. About noon, all the guys went golfing and the rest of us went out to the Swap Meet.
I bought three pair of Croc shoes, a gift for Doug's birthday and 2 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. It was Super Bowl Sunday and a little on the cool side so it wasn't crowded out there.
We had Three Bean Hot dish, and burgers for dinner. Watched Seattle beat Denver.
Monday, Feb 3rd - temp @ 7 am 54 degrees
Got ready early to go up to the Sunland Village East Restaurant for the Condo 1 breakfast. The restaurant is now a Fat Willy's. Pat and I picked up Twyla on the golf cart. It was fun to meet more of the neighbors. I had a breakfast sandwich, fried potatoes and coffee.
I spent some time today getting my journal caught up. I decided to do this last year and it helps to remember what I did daily along with my photo's.
It was a quiet afternoon, we all ate some left overs for dinner. John and Sharon came over and visited until about 9 pm.
Tuesday, Feb. 4th, temp @ 7 am
Pat had her dance lesson, Pudge helped pressure wash the front patio's of Condo 1.
We are going to the Arizona Opry for dinner and show. I have gone here every time, so this is my fourth time. Twyla is going with us.
The dinner was absolutely delicious. It was Roast Beef, mashed potatoes/gravy, mixed vegetables, baked apples, rolls and chocolate cake.
The stage is full of every kind of instrument I have ever seen. There is about 10 to 12 entertainers, two of them are twin sisters, and there is also a husband and wife. They do such a variety of music, including a couple of Opera, Country Western, 50's, 60's, and even play two Swiss horns. The show is about 2 1/2 hours, dinner is about one hour.
Web site is: barleens@azopry.com
Wed. Feb 5th temp @ 7 am 52 degrees
This was sort of a relaxing, catching up on journal, washing clothes, and sitting in the Arizona room.
Pat, Twyla and I went to the restaurant after dinner to watch Karaoke, Pudge went with Gloria to play Cribbage.
Thursday, Feb. 6th - 7 am temp 49 degrees
The cooler (not cold) air has reached Arizona.
Today, Pat, Janelle and I are going to meet my very dear friend from school and church, Sonja, her sister Sara and her husband Maurice, and her friend and mine, Lynnette. We are going to Gilbert to tour the Mormon Temple. This Temple will be dedicated towards the end of March and then it will no longer be open to the public.
The tour was awesome. We started out in a large tent watching a video of the building of it and also how the Mormons got to the area. Then we were given white slippers to cover our shoes. There was no photo's inside the temple. We went up 97 steps. Going up it was a staircase at a time, coming down it was all 97 steps.
There were guides showing us the way to go, but no narration. The marble and crystal used were gorgeous. The colors inside were very natural and calming. Beautiful chandeliers.
At the end of the tour there was a large white tent with photo's and some guides to answer any questions we had.
Pat/me Lynnette, Sonja, Sara,
& and Maurice Janelle and Pat
We left there and drove into Old Town Gilbert. We parked the two cars and walked a short distance to a Theatre in the Round. It was really neat. Sara and Maurice purchased tickets for a show. Then we drove to the home that Sara and Maurice have rented for a couple of months. It is about 7 miles from Sonja's home, which is Sun Lakes Village.
What a beautiful home and what terrific hosts Sara and Maurice were. We had a delicious dinner and wonderful conversation. Our dinner was Baked Chicken Breast/Sauce, White Rice, Steamed Asparagus, Rolls and Lynnette's famous freshly made Lemon Meringue Pie (Lemons picked fresh from Sonja's tree) and Heart Shaped Shortbread Cookies.
Web site for theatre is: www.HaleTheatreArizona.com
What a wonderful day spent with wonderful friends.
Friday, Feb. 7th - temp @ 7 am 49 degrees
About 12:45 pm, Pat, Twyla and I took the golf cart to the Auditorium to watch the Jam Session. It is a live band made up of residents from this village and from some surrounding ones. They play instruments and sing. A lot of the people also get up and dance. Some of then are probably in their 90's. Like Pat says, "It warms your heart" to see them. This event is every Friday afternoon.
Pat's son, Bryan returned late afternoon from working in Tucson all week. We made Spaghetti with meatballs, Penne Pasta, Salad and Garlic Bread for dinner.
Had a wonderful visit with Bryan, and then watched the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Sat. Feb. 8th - Temp 7 am 54 degrees
Most every morning I have been having Cheerios and a wonderful fresh Orange for breakfast. Can't get oranges this good back in Minnesota.
Bryan stopped by for about an hour before leaving for the airport in Phoenix.
Pat, Bryan & and Pudge
Pat and I went to the auditorium and watched the movie "Enough Said". It had James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Didn't knock our socks off, but it wad good.
Then we went to Stein mart and Hobby Lobby, stopped and bought our valentine cards and home. Today it got up to 72 degrees. Beautiful sunset again!
Sunday, Feb. 9th - 7 am temp 54 degrees
Such a fun day today! About 10 am, Pat, Pudge, John/Sharon, Miranda and Samone (Miranda is John/Sharon's Granddaughter, Samone is her friend) and I all got in the Van.
Drove south thru an Indian Reservation. Stopped in a small town and picked up Subway sandwiches for our picnic lunch. We then went to an area out in the middle of the desert where there is a world known Sky Diving place. We set up our picnic lunch on the table right in front of where lots and lots of sky divers landed. We also saw Military sky divers land in the desert.
As we sat there watching all the divers, the two young gals started talking about how fun that would be. Next thing we knew they decided to do it. I listened to Miranda call her Dad and say, "Dad, what do you think of Sky Diving"? She was disconnected, and within an hour the two of them were jumping from an airplane 15,000 feet in the air. They, of course had an instructor come down with them. Oh my, how excited they were all the way back to Mesa.
When we got back to the condo we watched the Olympics. It seemed hard to watch winter Olympics when the weather was so beautiful.
Pudge, John, Sharon
Miranda, Samone
Sharon, Miranda, Samone
Monday, Feb 10th - 7 am 54 degrees
"Happy 49th Anniversary to Pat and Pudge".
About 4 o'clock we went up to Fat Willy's for dinner. Everyone was there as Gloria's sister Darcy had flown in this afternoon. I met Darcy on the cruise to Alaska.
Gloria and Darcy
Another beautiful sunset, Pat and I stopped and picked up brochures of places for sale on the way home.
Tuesday, Feb. 11th - 7 am 58 degrees - warm up starting today
Sonja and Lynnette came to get me around 9:30 am. Pat and Pudge are leaving for Laughlin, Nevada around noon. We met Sara and Maurice at their place and all of us went to the Desert Botanical Gardens.
Going on right now is a Chihuly collection. Many beautiful colors and lots of desert flowers and cactus. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there. arboretum.ag.arizona.edu
Sara & Maurice I have a Chihuly hat! Sonja
Sisters - Sonja/Sara
When we got to Sonja's home, she, Maurice and Sara went to the pool and Hot tub. We had Taco Salad for dinner. It was a really fun day!
Wed. Feb 12th - 7 am temp 49 degrees
Sonja made Oatmeal with Apple slices, Walnuts, Blueberries & Brown Sugar. We also had freshly squeezed Grapefruit juice. Yum, yum!!
Sara came over around 10:30 am and we went to Casa Grande to meet up with Esther, Sonja's room mate from college. I know her better as Beaver Clever. We stopped at a
Chic-fil-A and got sandwiches for lunch.
We then got into Esther's car and headed toward Picacho Mountain. Went from black top to gravel to dirt roads. We really were in the desert. We stopped at what is called Petro glyths where the rocks have Indian Carvings on them.
We then continued on to a gravel pit where we collected many large and small rocks that had some turquoise in them. Sonja belongs to a rock collecting club and has made some beautiful jewelry, and shared with us.
Saw some really different Saguaro today.Another fun day! We watched Jay Leno's last show on a DVR. Temp got up to 82 degrees.
Thursday, Feb. 13th - 7 am temp 66 degrees
Sonja gave Lynnette and I orders to be ready to leave around 9 am. We said, "Aye, captain" and I think we were in the car ready to leave at 9:13 am. Today we traveled north thru beautiful country to a small town called Cave Creek. It had lots of tourist shops, one that was really neat. It was a Rock Shop. All kinds of native rocks not only in the raw, but made into lamps, tables, jewelry, etc.
We had lunch at a BBQ place and sat out on the patio. Absolutely gorgeous day.
We went thru Carefree and into the Mountains to Bartlett Lake. The lake was quite low because of the drought. There were beautiful yellow cliffs around much of the lake.
After a really fun three days, Sonja and Lynnette dropped me off at Pat's. Twyla, John and Sharon came over for happy hour.
Twyla, Pat and I took the golf cart to the auditorium to a Pops and Choral concert. It was so great. All the orchestra and chorus members are volunteer members from Sun Land Village East and other communities close by. They all almost all over 60 years old. They played a lot of Broadway songs and ended with a Patriotic Medley.
We got home around 8:30 pm and watched the Olympics.
Friday, Feb. 14th - 7 am temp 62 degrees
Quiet morning for me, Pat was at dance rehearsal. Fixed lunch, ate on the patio. Gloria & Darcy stopped over, then Sharon came and we decided to all go out to the Swap Meet.
Got back around 4 pm and Sharon made all of us Margarita's. We ended up on Pat's patio as the sun was really warm. Jim came and joined all of us women. The other guys were all golfing.
Pat modeled and asked our opinion about one of the new costumes for next years recital. Of course we all had our opinions. It was a fun time.
It was Valentine's Day and Pudge had already told Pat and I he was going to take us out for dinner. As it ended up we all went to a very nice Italian Restaurant called Baci's. It was another fun day, and it got up to 84 degrees.
Sat. Feb 15th - 6:30 am temp 69 degrees
Got up to watch the Men's US Hockey team win against Russia.
Pat and I drove out to the Sunshine Acres Children's home. Then we stopped at the Farmer's Market.
Pat and Pudge went down to an open house and I stayed here, washed a load of clothes, got my suitcases in order, and got caught up with my journal and Ipad.
We all had leftover pasta from the night before. Got up to 86 degrees today.
We learned a day ago that our Uncle Allan passed away. And also his Granddaughter, Jill had a baby boy born. RIP Uncle Allan.
Fresh Grapefruit/Oranges
from Sonja
The wine glasses belong to Pat, Twyla and Luella
HOME!!
1 comment:
Wow! You did so many interesting things this time in Arizona. I'm glad you got to have this special time.
Post a Comment