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