Early Turkey Day

Here it is the day before Thanksgiving, the day promises to be beautiful and the only thing that is on our minds is our golf game this afternoon, our wine cruise, dinner and most importantly the UA basketball playoff game . The weather has been absolutely beautiful with a high predicted for today in the low 80s, in fact it's suppose to be in the low 80s the rest of the week. It's kind of hard to handle that temperature, but we will find a way to get through it.

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving grilled turkey Monday so we can partake in leftovers for the rest of the week. So we will be creative in making turkey dishes, enjoying the cranberry sauce with everything and of course topping off our meals with pumpkin pie (we always make two).

Took some pictures this morning of some of the flowers around the park. Wanted to share some of the brilliant sunshine with colorful flowers.

We have only 3 days left here, as we are heading back to Tucson on Sat. to avoid some of the holiday traffic. It's been a relaxing trip that included beautiful weather, great food, good basketball games and pleasant evening wine cruises.

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels wherever you are.

Wildflowers 2014

A friend, Cindy, and I went in search of wildflowers at Sabino Canyon today. It's still a little early for wildflowers, but with the weather being so warm, we figured they would be out early. Plus it's so dry that once they bloom, they will dry out fast. Our search was not a bust - but there is not a plentiful array either. The day was beautiful, the walk was wonderful and the company and conversation was great.

Here are some of the flowers that we did come across.

It might warrant another wildflower trip in a week or so to see if we can find a more plentiful array of flowers.

Days 3 & 4

I would sound like a broken record if I kept giving the weather report - mid 80s bright sunshine and light winds - so until that changes, just understand we are just putting up with some ho-hum weather! Ha Ha, it couldn't get better!

Well on to our 3rd round of golf on Sat. (I had to stop and think what day of the week it is). We played what we call Round Robin where for every 6 holes we change partners and one person is single. If the person who is single wins a hole he (or she) gets 2 points, the partners get 1 point each if either of them win the hole. It went pretty even throughout until the 16th hole where Jim took a 2 point lead. He was the single at that time, so Greg and Linda needed to win the next two holes for Greg to tie with Jim. Under the fierce pressure, Jim collapsed and Greg ended up tying with Jim and went to a sudden death playoff. Greg won the hole. Contrats to Greg.

So after 3 rounds - we are all tied with 1 game each. After our boat cruise, we enjoyed Lobster night up at the club with all 3 of us having steak and lobster - very good dinner.

Round 4 game we played points for birdie, sandy, greenie, and hole. It started out pretty slow then Jim took a commanding lead on the 12th hole and by the end of 17, we announced him winner and went back to the RV to quench our thirst. Congrats to Jim who is now 1 game ahead.

Sunday night up at the club is Southern Comfort food (but it has been modified to be not so southern comfort) which we all had our fill. Greg had a bow tie pasta with chicken and Jim & Linda had fish and chips. Another enjoyable evening which included, of course, our boat cruise.

Since the photographer has been on vacation and not taken golf shots, I thought you might enjoy some pictures of the many flowers around the resort.

Jim ran into an old buddy.

Out for the morning walk.

Enjoyable Saturday

Greg invited us over yesterday for an afternoon of golf and an evening of great food and conversation. The day turned out to be quite pleasant in the 80s but with 20 mph winds which made the golf a little challenging.

Greg lives on the 8th fairway of Dorado Golf Course. This makes it convenient for him to own his own golf cart.

 And quite the golf cart he has with the fancy wheels and of course the flames on the side.

 After a challenging and windy round of golf, we headed back to Greg's place for a few beers and glasses of fine wine to ease the beating the golf course issued, plus a delicious BBQ dinner. And don't forget the peach/raspberry pie for dessert.

We enjoyed the flowers that are blooming in his backyard while enjoying the evening on his patio. Greg is such the accomplished gardner.

It was a great day! What more could one ask for - golf and great food and great company. Thanks Greg.

Phone Line Trail

It's been awhile since my last post, so that was the only excuse I needed to head to Sabino Canyon to take pictures. The day proved to be perfect for a hike starting out in the mid 70s this morning, climbing to mid 80s in the afternoon. I wanted to hike the Phone Line Trail, which for people not knowing the area, this trail is along the side of the canyon wall.  Not sure of elevation change from the valley floor, but about halfway up the side of the mountain. The trail is about 4.5 miles long one way.  Knowing I would not be able to hike both ways, I copped out and took the tram to the farthest point, then took the next 2 3/4 hours hiking back to the beginning.

Here are some of what I experienced along the way. This is looking to where I need to go - the trail is along the side of the left about 1/2 way up the mountain, all the way through the canyon.

The buds are showing up on the Saquaro.

There were some wildflowers still hanging on.

Came up to this thistle with the puffed heads and blooms with threatening long spikes.

 Surprising, the wildflowers that were still present were quite small and delicate.

A nice couple stopped and offered to take my picture when I rested on a rock enjoying the beautiful scenery - wanted to prove that I was really there.

 There were several butterflies gracing the trail along with me.

 Most of the blossoms are on the cactus now, such as this one on a cholla.

 It's a bug's life enjoying a Mexican Poppy.

 As you can see, the flowers are starting to dry out.

 Another cholla bloom.

Ran into a friend along the way.

The hike was a little longer than my usual treks, but it was well worth it. I always enjoy nature especially when I am able to photograph flowers. But it's coming to the time of the year that the temperatures will prohibit mid-day hikes, so either I will be on the trail at daybreak or need to travel somewhere to find cooler temperatures.

Last Day of Visit

Thursday Jamie came by and picked up Carol and Joyce to meet Michele for lunch, then on to Jamie's home where the card sharks played cards all afternoon. Then we all headed up to the Country Club for dinner last night.

Friday, being their last full day here, we decided to visit the Tucson Botanical Gardens in the morning before it got hot. It was a pleasant time spent. Here are some of the sights we saw.

There was a beautiful Iris Garden where Carol took pictures of the plentiful flowers.

There was a butterfly exhibit with butterflies from all over the world. It was facinating to see so many different types. Some of them would not stop long enough for a photo, but others accommodated the cameral quite nicely.

A morning filled with nature brought on an appetite, so we headed back to the Country Club for lunch salads.  Brian and Marsha are bringing over dinner tonight to visit with Carol and Joyce again. The last evening of their visit.

Their flight is at 6:45am tomorrow, so will be on the road before 5am to get them to the airport on time. It sure has been enjoyable having them visit and for them to see the whole family. I enjoyed being tour guide seeing many of the sights I haven't visited in quite awhile. The week just seemed to fly by.

Nature Siteseeing

Monday brought a beautiful day, so Carol, Joyce and Linda took a trip over to the west side to discover the Desert Museum. Many beautiful cactus flowers were in blossom, but we were a little disappointed because most the animals were in hiding. I did get a peak at a gila monster before he slithered away

A hummingbird was kind enough to pose for a picture.

We took a break half way through to rest (of course the resting spot happened to be the snack bar that served ice cream).  Later that afternoon, Jamie joined us at home for a round of skipbo (the card sharks were so engrossed in their game that dinner wasn't even on their minds and needed to be interrupted).

Tuesday brought another beautiful day so off to Sabino Canyon. We took the tram to the end where we disembarked for a photo shoot.

On the return trip we got off the tram at two stops to take more pictures.

We found a nice resting spot next to the creek under some trees with a cool breeze. It just doesn't get any better than this.

This evening will be rounded out with cards and dinner. Tomorrow we will keep it simple with taking Joyce and Carol to see the motorhome, visit Jim's business, go by Chris' gravesite, then dinner at Chuck and Kim's place.