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.