Snowbird Journal-Dec 27--Christmas

Our Tucson Christmas was on Saturday so that Jeff, Lisa, and James could join us.  I can't remember when all of us have been together for Christmas.  Our big present was just being together. James helped hand out and open presents.  He was so excited that he was vibrating. Little Elizabeth seemed to enjoy all the activity.  On Friday Tucson received a nasty little surprise--it actually snowed.  The flakes were big, wet ones but it was snow.  I had hoped that we wouldn't see snow this year, but it wasn't to be.

Snowbird Journal-Dec 26--Rambling Around

Son In Law Jim has been on leave the last week so we've taken to exploring.  Jim is a ghost town hunter and we usually have some idea of where we're going.  However there are also times that we're not quite sure of where we are.  Our first trip was to Russellville and Johnson.  Russellville, if it still exists, is on private property.  Johnson, while clearly shown on current AZ maps, appears to have been swallowed up by a large mine operation.  While we were stumbling around in an abandoned gravel pit Jim looked down and found a knife and sheath.  He found the same knife on the web and the new price is $198.00!  Our second trip was to the southeastern part of AZ.  We visited Cochise which some publications show as a ghost town, but it still has an active Post Office and an elementary school.  We also visited Kansas Settlement where we found an airport for sale.  In Willcox we found a business that had ice cream, cookies, and liquor, but no sandwiches.  "Partner, would you care for a chocolate chip cookie or hot fudge sundae with that shot of whiskey?" In Dos Cabezas we found the local cemetery with beautiful mountain views.  We've seen some beautiful country.   

Snowbird Journal-Dec 20--Tamale Fest

Pat, Betsy's sister has a group of friends that at one time all worked in dietary services at Tucson United School District. They've known each other for years and meet  monthly to celebrate something or just get togther. One of their special treats is to be invited to Cruz's house for the Christmas Tamale Open House. Somehow Pat got all the Kimbrough-Kuhn clan invited this year. I think part of the reason is that Jim and Jeff both consider a tamale to be a food group all by itself. Jeff actually admitted that he firmly believes that if his day is not going according to plan he will eat a tamale and everything will be better. He also wanted to know how this wonderous food was put together. As I understand it there is a Christmas tradition regarding tamale's. It's where friends and family get together and make tamale's and then have a great meal. The preparation of the tamale's is as important as the meal itself. The making of the tamale can be broken down into several different tasks--one person will prepare the corn husk, another will put the masa on the husk, another will put the meat on, and then another will fold the corn husk. The tradition part of all this is getting together as a family or friends and through cooperative effort make this fantastic meal. Jeff was the pupil and Cruz and her two daughters were the instructors. I'm pretty sure that Jeff will eat far more tamale's than he'll ever make. The food was great and we appreciated so much being invited.  

Top Photo--Jeff stalking the tamale ingredients

Middle Photo--Hands On Training

Bottom Photo--Most of the Kimbrough-Kuhn Clan

Luminaria Nights

I just returned back home from a lovely evening at the Tucson Botanical Gardens Luminaria Nights event with my sister Pat and her happy hour group. The evening was a balmy 65 or so degrees and the paths of the gardens were lined with around 1500 luminaries and countless white christmas lights strung in the trees. As we walked about we enjoyed music by a wide variety of musicians. The group we enjoyed the most was from the Desert Bluegrass Association. What a wonderful way to get into the holiday spirit. Betsy
Photo #1 Bluegrass Association Group
Photo #2 Happy Hour Group with Santa
Photo #3 Botanical gardens at night

Snowbird Journal-Dec 9, 2008

Sorry we haven't posted anything for awhile. We've been busy trying out new activities or seeing new places. Betsy and I signed up as helpers at the Tucson therapeutic riding center. We'll assist riders as substitute side-walkers. Betsy has also signed up for a desert landscape painting class through Pima Community College. I've started electric bass guitar lessons. I'm not sure where that idea came from but I'm having fun with it. The real challenge was to find a spot in the trailer for the amp. I've also found a rifle range that is less than 3 miles away and is run by Pima County. As you can imagine this is big gun country. I've taken my flintlock to the range and it's attracted quite a bit of attention. Doesn't everyone travel the country with a big ol' muzzleloader? And last but not least, we have joined the Desert Gold Diggers gold panning club. The club has several of it's own claims scattered around southern Arizona. While I pan for gold, Betsy can paint, or sketch. We have also contact the Empire Ranch Foundation asking if they have any projects we could work on. Of course, in addition to our own activities there are activities here at ye old trailer park. Activities such as aerobics (Richard Simmons on tape. Yuck!), dominoes, bookmobile, coffee & donuts, line dance, and the always exciting bingo. The local RV dealers also sponsor a coffee and donut breakfast where they give a sales pitch but also give out prizes such as hat's, mug's, t-shirts, etc. But they also have one or two pretty good prizes like an RV bath or 25% off on service work. One of our new neighbors has been here for the past three winters and says that the snowbird population in the park is way down. Probably because of the stupid economy. Last Sunday we ran up to Eloy again to drive by a couple of houses that had a couple of acres. They were nice houses but the surrounding properties were awful. I think the neighbors were the Hatfields, McCoy's, and Clampetts. We've decided to forget looking at RE until we decide what to do with the Indiana house. We've also managed to do a little shopping in the local antique and vintage clothing stores. I found a straw Campaign--Park Ranger--Smokey The Bear Hat. It doesn't look that good on me, but it was $10. It'll work out in the desert.
We have enjoyed watching Little Elizabeth grow and grow. She doesn't miss much!
Recently, Amy had knee surgery so we're helping out a little bit more until she's on her feet again.

Snowbird Journal Dec 1,2008--Empire Ranch

About 15 miles north of Sonoita we drove into the Las Cienegas Conservation Area and visited The Empire Ranch. To get to the ranch you take a dirt road off of the highway for 3 miles. The country is what Betsy and I call high desert and it is just beautiful.
The ranch was started in the 1870's and was primarily a cattle operation but then they discovered silver on the ranch and the proceeds from the silver allowed the owners to eventually purchase a total of almost one million acres. I can't even begin to get a handle on one million acres! The ranch was sold two or three times and eventually became the property of the BLM. The old ranch house, barns, stables, bunkhouses are all still there, but are in need of repair. The buildings are part of the Empire Ranch Foundation and they raise money for the restoration. Quite a number of projects were going on. We drove up to the ranch and wandered about for a good hour and never saw another person! We did see a couple of pickup trucks parked at what appears to be a caretakers house, but never actually saw anyone else. It was a bit eerie, but a very neat place.

Snowbird Journal Dec 1--Sonoita & Patagonia

Todays trip was to one of our favorite area's. We like the high desert and mountains around Sonoita. I did make the mistake of asking a local RE person if she had a list of local properties for sale in Patagonia. I escaped about 25 minutes later. We lunched at a picnic table next to the old train depot. Betsy went in to some of the shops while I walked Tipper around. On our way out we drove up and down some of the side streets. The one useful piece of info that CA chick real estate person gave me was that there is no zoning in Patagonia, but there is strict zoning in Santa Cruz county outside of Patagonia. It's very obvious there is no zoning in Patagonia. Most of the properties for sale were junky but they still wanted $350K. I think its like at the lake. Someone puts an outrageous price on the property and if some idiot comes by and writes a check they sell it, otherwise it just sits there.
We found another one of those "field art" pieces just outside Sonoita. Someone (we assume the owner of the property) cuts out silliouttes of cattle, wagons, horses, Indian's, cowboys and places them on a hill where people driving down the highway can see them. We started seeing these objects in Kansas and have always enjoyed them. In Patagonia we drove by the Volunteer Fire Department and found their used equipment lot. I couldn't tell who manufactured these relics but they were neat.

Snowbird Journal Nov 27, 2008--Thanksgiving Day

Today the rain that was supposed to be here about 24 hours ago finally arrived. Our plans to have the Tucson gang over here for brunch was first postponed until the afternoon, and then finally moved to Amy and Jim's house. Friday began cloudy, but quickly gave way to sunny skies. Jeff, Lisa, and James arrived from Gilbert. Later in the afternoon we all gathered at Pat and Jacks house for a Thanksgiving feast. It reminded me of the Indiana Thanksgivings--the food was wonderful, the chaos complete, and we even threw in a wrestling match.

Sunday, Betsy and I explored the Eloy and Arizona City area but didn't find anything that impressed us.

Snowbird Journal Nov 23, 2008--Desert Museum II

More pictures from the Desert Museum trip

Snowbird Journal Nov 23, 2008--Desert Museum

This past Sunday we all gathered to visit the Desert Museum. The crowd consisted of Jamie, Betsy, Jeff, Lisa, James, Amy, Jim, Elizabeth, Pat, Jack, Aaron, Krista, Kaia, and Landon. Twenty five years ago Harry and Anne took us all to the Museum and now all the little kids then are parents today. James received a cowboy hat from his Grandpa, and if he isn't the picture of cuteness I don't know what is. James has become very interested in snakes and has a little rubber toy snake that he named Fluffy. Elizabeth is a super traveler. Just load her up and away we go. We saw hawks, owls, ravens, coyote's, wolf's, the fattest prairie dogs in the world, and even a puma. After the museum we had a picnic at Ironwood picnic area. A good time was had by all.

I guess we're settling in at the old RV park. There are still plenty of spaces left, but the big rush will be between now and the first of the year. We are directly across from the mailbox's, rec hall, office, and pool area so we see everyone as they come and go. The other day we saw a lady drive up to get her mail and her car had Indiana plates. She was from Bloomington and said that a couple from Seymour should be arriving after Christmas. There are people here from Alaska to Maine and all points in between. Even Canada is represented, especially British Columbia.

Saturday, Betsy and I explored the Red Rock and Marana area's. There is a new subdivision up in the Red Rock area but it's really out in the middle of nowhere. I'm sure that eventually someone will put in a grocery store, but in the meanwhile shopping would have to be done in Casa Grande or Marana. We're having Thanksgiving on Friday so Jim and I are heading for some dirt road explorations in Pinal County so we'll probably check out Arizona City and Eloy. There are alot of foreclosed houses out here.
Some of the deals are hard to believe. I've seen 3 and 4 bedroom houses listed for $85 to $95k. We'll check some of them.

Snowbird Journal Nov 16, 2008--Tombstone

Today we received a special treat from Pat and Jack. They invited us to attend a brunch with a bunch of friends from Pat's prior employment with the Tucson school district. The location of the brunch was at the home of Sandy and Russ in Tombstone. While Sandy and Russ have only lived in Tombstone for 3 or 4 years they have become very active in the local scene. Their neighbors next door also attended and they were very nice. Don carves walking sticks with faces in them, and they are fantastic. Diedra is a carbon copy of Betsy--very artistic in several different area's. After brunch Pat, Jack, Betsy & I took a walk through town. We had been to Tombstone many years ago and it didn't interest me because we hadn't caught horse fever and all that. But this time I was ready to sell the house and move next week. Unfortunately it's not located in our target zone. Recently I learned how Tombstone got it's name. A prospector named Ed Schieffelin was exploring the land in SE Arizona known as the San Pedro River Valley. This area just happened to be the homeland of the Apache indians. When he needed supplies he would head to Tucson.
The people of Tucson felt he was crazy to be messing around in the home of the Apache, and told him that the only thing he'd find out there was his own tombstone. Well, crazy old Ed kept going back and found one of the richest silver deposits ever discovered. The little town that sprang up around the claim was named Tombstone. Of course we've all heard about the gun fight at the O K Corral, Boothill Cemetery, and Wyatt Earp. Well friends, it's all there in Tombstone, the town to tough to die.

Snowbird Journal Nov 15, 2008--Coolidge & Florence

Wow, it's been a whole week since our last post. We spent the week doing something. I can't remember what it was but I'm sure it was important. Yesterday we drove to Gilbert, AZ to meet Jeff, Lisa, and James for lunch. What a wonderful treat it is to just drive a couple of hours to see them vs. the eleven that it used to take. James is such a cutie. He was very curious as to why there were whiskers on my chin. On our way to Gilbert we drove through Coolidge and Florence, AZ in our quest for a new hometown. Years ago Coolidge built a dam on the Gila River to create a lake to retain the water. Immediately after the dam was finished a drought hit the area and it took 3 or 4 years for the lake to get much water in it. There was just enough water to nourish the weeds. Will Rogers was in Coolidge and looked at the shallow lake and commented, "If it was my lake, I think I'd mow it."
We weren't really impressed with Coolidge. So on to Florence. We drove down the 4 or 5 blocks that made up the old downtown area and were immediately transported back in time about fifty years. We found the Visitors Center and the lady on duty was from LaPorte, IN. She and her husband moved into the area last year and love it. Florence is the county seat of Pinal County, has a very active restoration program going on for the downtown area, a community college, and many, many Historic Register buildings. Florence will remain on the list for a possible new hometown. Sorry, no pictures. We forgot the dumb camera.

Snowbird Journal Nov 7, 2008 Tucson to Oracle

As mentioned previously we wanted to check out Oracle because it's sort of in between Tucson and Gilbert. To get there we could go the scenic way or the quick way. We elected to go the scenic way to Oracle and the quick way on the return trip. We knew that the road would be gravel and rough in places, but I don't think we fully understood the going over the Catalina Mountains part of the trip. In places the gravel/rock road was very narrow with several switchbacks. But the vista's and view's were great. It only took us about 3 1/2 hours to go the 50 miles to San Manual which is about 15 miles away from Oracle and the place where we hit pavement again. After arriving in Oracle we stopped in at a resale shop and had a nice conversation with the owner. After finding a local real estate office we grabbed a couple of listing books and then had lunch in the parking lot of the local Catholic mission. We roamed around the residential neighborhoods, but were somewhat disapointed by some of them. Call us picky, but I'd rather not live in a neighborhood where the folks next door keep goats in their front yard. We did however find the local Rust Is Us outlet antique shop. They certainly win the prize in the large rusted objects catagory. The return trip was much quicker and we got to see the Catalina's from the east side. We went through Oro Valley which was founded in 1974! I love finding towns that are younger than I am. We never find that in the mid west or east.
Also went through Catalina, and Marana where we hit the interstate to make the final leg home. A good day.

Snowbird Journal Nov 7, 2008

On the contest to name our make believe RV, the winner is. Well, actually we have two winners. Pat who submitted the name Exxon Valdez. And Amy who sent in the name Jabba, The Hut. Prizes will be coming their way. Thanks to Jim, Larry, Juan, Jack, and Ed for playing.

We've been busy the last few days. Jim and Amy wanted our help in cleaning up their backyard in preparation of a new patio and garden. All of us pitched in and the backyard is now stripped bare, except for two Agave plants. We have also completed work on our sunscreen. It's just a terrible thing to be in a place where the sun is just too hot to sit in during the late afternoon. I know that all of you share our pain. We'll try to be brave.

A few nights ago I was just leaving the shower room when a lady stopped me in the hall and ask me to go back in and ask her husband Scott if he needed any lotion. Now, I knew that Scott was in the 2nd shower and I could have prefaced my question to Scott that it was being relayed from his wife. But I decided that it wouldn't be any fun to do it that way. So I just yelled over his shower door, "Hey, do you need any lotion in there?" You should have heard the quaver in his voice as he answered, "n-o-o-o".
I dutifully reported to the wife that he didn't need any. I wonder what he told her when they met up again! I just hope they were passing through and not winter residents as the wife can identify me.

Betsy and I are enjoying watching Little Elizabeth grow. She's now holding her head up and looking about. Her favorite thing is to lay on her play mat and look at the baby in the mirror.

Tipper has been cactus free for three days in a row. He hasn't gotten any smarter, but his people have. We are slowly learning the layout of Tucson streets, but have relied on our Garmin heavily. We have also been overwhelmed by all the activities in a large city. There are so many things to do.

Today we're going to drive up to Oracle, AZ and see what it's like. It's about half way between Tucson and Gilbert (where Jeff, Lisa, and James live) so a possible relocation city.

Snowbird Journal Nov 2, 2008

Yesterday we went shopping for a piece of outdoor carpeting, and some sun screen. We feel that with our limited space we will need to use our "patio" area as an extra room. The only problem with that plan is that we get the PM sun and it's almost impossible to sit out there. With the awning down we'll attach the sun screen to the back end and partially along the front awning. Hopefully that will enable use to use the space. We also stopped in one of the huge RV dealers for a couple of things.
Jim and Amy gave us one of their old Yellow Pages and along with the Garmen navigation system we could actually get to the places we were going.

Today Jim, Amy, and Elizabeth picked us up early and all of us drove to Gilbert, AZ to meet Jeff, Lisa, and James for Betsy's birthday picnic. Much to our surprize and delight Carolyn and Gary dropped in for a visit. James has grown so much since we saw him last. He and Jamie took off almost immediately to purchase tickets for rides on the train, merry-go-round, and other rides. They also walked with Tipper over to the duck pond and waterfall. After eating and riding the merry-go-round for the third "last time" we all drove over to Jeff and Lisa's new house which will be ready in January. Very nice, and it even has a grandparents suite. There was some talk that since the grandparents would be using the suite perhaps they should furnish it.
It was a wonderful day.

We arrived home and did a little more work on the sun screen and talked to a man who was walking his dog. Betsy and I appear to be younger than most of our resident neighbors. Some of them can hear better than others. Here is an actual conversation.
Neighbor--"What's your dog's name?"
Jamie--"His name is Tipper."
Neighbor--"Hello Pepper."
Jamie--"No, his name is Tipper."
Neighbor--" Oh. Hello Skipper."

We have to post the obligatory photo's of the famous AZ sunsets. Here are the first one. Probably won't be more than two or three hundred more.

Top Photo--Elizabeth and James
Middle--James, Jamie, Tipper Just Walkin', Talkin' and Sniffin'
Lower Photo--Arizona Sunset

Snowbird Journal Oct 31, 2008 Tucson

The past 3 days it's been 88 or above. It is warm but I absolutely refuse to complain. The TV weatherman say that normally it isn't this warm and that it will cool off next week. Speaking of weathermen, I have made an effort to watch as many of the local guys as possible to see which one seemed to know what he was talking about. Then it dawned on me--they don't have to forecast. All they have to do is say, "It will be sunny and _________ (fill in temp) degree's." Yesterday we hooked up our second TV in the trailer--that's right we now have 2 TV's within our 25 feet of space. I can lay in my bunk and see them both actually. Talk about living high on the hog. We also took advantage of our poor son in law and dumped a bunch of stuff in his garage. We're still fighting the time difference so needless to say we're up a bit early. When the sun comes up we take our walk. We have noted that while we may be the smallest and certainly the oldest trailer in the park we will have to do some work to even approach some of these people in the area of tacky. In an effort to get on AZ time we pulled the shades, turned on the AC and purposely took a nap this afternoon. Maybe we can stay up till 9 PM tonight.

The picture is my new dream machine. Thirty eight feet of gleaming white fiberglass, with a penthouse bedroom! Are you kidding me? I figure that if the Denver Circle, Betsy & I, plus Ed and LeeAnn all chipped in we could probably come close to affording it.
If we wanted to fill it up with gas, and actually go somewhere we'd most likely have to recruit some new investors. Wouldn't that be a hoot? All of us traveling together. The first thing we would do is give our new home a name. So I'm sponsoring a contest to name our make believe new RV. This contest is open to all readers of this blog (please read conditions below). Send me your suggestion by Friday, Nov 7th. I will be the judge and will choose a winner who will receive a prize. If I were participating my choice for the name would be MOBY. This offer void in Bronx, NY; Utah; Spain; the wrong side of the tracks; Guam; and Arkansas. Please consult your physician if dizzyness, irritability, constipation, itching of the armpits, headaches, or nausea occurs. If these conditions exist please call 1-800-WHO-CARES immediately.

Snowbird Journal-Oct 29, 2008 Deming, NM to Tucson

Today was an easy day driving wise. After our antic's over the last couple of days some of my relatives have placed me on double secret mental watch. Lisa and Amy have intimated that I should only be allowed to have interaction with their children with supervision. We arrived at the RV park and were assigned a nice site. It's close to the shower room, which we will be using.
And we border a street which means we don't have neighbors on the door side. And we have a view of the Rincon Mountains. Jim, Amy, and Elizabeth came over to meet us and we FINALLY got to meet little Elizabeth. Betsy had Elizabeth in her arms in about 2 nano seconds. We had lunch at the trailer, then Jim, Amy, and Elizabeth headed home for their afternoon nap. Betsy and I remained to start getting set up on a semi
permanent basis. Later in the PM we went to Jim, Amy, & Elizabeth's house for dinner and to watch the Phillies and Rays complete their suspended game. Jim firmly believes that Elizabeth is THE reason the Phillies are in the Series. She was born on opening day of the playoff's. And I didn't know that the Phillies had only won the World Series once before in 1980. Well, the Phillies won so Jim's little Elizabeth has brought them luck. We returned to the trailer and Betsy went through the info the RV park gave to us, while I went through our mail that had been forwarded here. We are now 3 hours time difference from Indiana. We tried to stay up later than normal, but we both conked out about 8:30 local time.
Temps today were in the high 80's. Beautiful.

Snowbird Journal--Oct 28 Roswell to Deming

From Roswell we continued on Hwy 70 to Picaho, Hondo, Ruidoso which took us through beautiful mountains. Really a pretty drive. We then started going down and went through Mescalero, Tularosa, Alamogordo. After Alamogordo we did a quick stop at White Sands National Monument. Betsy ran in and got her book stamped while I walked Tippy. Tippy is having a hard time adjusting to life in the west. He was totally freaked by the Cadillac Ranch. Then later in the day I was walking him at the Clovis Tourist Info Center and a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train with six engines roared by with horns blaring. He decided it was time to get back in the truck. Then after we had checked into our camp ground yesterday afternoon we all took a walk on the sand dunes and he got several sand burr's. We had to pick them out of his paw's. At White Sands he found another sand burr bush and we spent another 15 minutes getting them out again. Until we figure out where he can and can't go we will start carrying a little pair of scissors and some tweezers. We roared through Las Cruces and found I-10 and Deming where we decided to spend the night. We picked a Good Sam campground for the wifi and cable to watch the remainder of the World Series game that was suspended last night. Shortly after checking in I learned that the game tonight had been cancelled due to rotten weather. That's okay, because son-in-law Jim is a huge Phillies fan and we'll get to watch the rest of the games with him.

Snowbird Journal--Oct 28 Portales to Roswell

We had a much warmer night since the temps didn't fall as much as the night before. We are two hours behind Indiana time, and are trying to adjust our schedule so we're not up at 4 AM local time. We pretty much forced ourselves to stay in bed until 6 AM local time. After a quick breakfast we hit the road for Roswell. I expected the road to be two lanes but it stayed four lanes all the way and traffic was super light all the way. After arriving in Roswell we drove around town but never did find anything that looked even remotely alien or otherworldly. I'm pretty sure that Tippy and I were protected by our AFCPD's (Aluminum Foil Cranial Protection Devices). Betsy refused to participate in our AFCPD plan.