Most Beautiful Day

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, temps in the mid 70s, no wind and abundance of sunshine.

The days leading up to yesterday were not as nice, overcast and dreary, and only in the 60s. We've been playing golf everyday except for Monday we went and bowled 6 games (I finally remembered to bring our bowling balls along). 

The day being so nice, Jim uncovered the boat and cleaned it up a bit.

Nope, he didn't fall in the water. After a round of golf, we took the clean boat out for a spin around the canal.

Rounding out the beautiful day we enjoyed pasta night at the restaurant. Today promises to be another great day, albeit a bit cooler.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Annual Holiday Trip

We pulled out of Tucson Thursday at 11 a.m on our trek over to Indio for the holidays. We had a wonderful family dinner Wednesday evening for our Christmas gathering, and it was great that the whole family was able to be there. 

Arrived at our lot just after sunset on Thursday, but the sun sets here at early at 4:30 PST, got set up and headed directly to the restaurant for a prime rib dinner.  Friday the motor home got washed and boy was it dirty after close to 5,000 miles. Got the lot set up for occupation on the patio as we grilled chicken at home and watched basketball Friday evening.

The temps here are in the mid to high 60s, so not too bad but the nights get cold. The refrigerator in the casita is having a bit of a problem, so we had a repair person look at it. They need to order parts which will take longer than we are here for, so will need to call ahead of the next time we come to order before we get here. As for now, it will limp along. Saturday after watching the UA football game, we went out for our first round of golf, then headed up to the restaurant for dinner.

The restaurant is nicely decorated for the holidays.

Jim goes for his 6+ mile walk in the mornings while I go for my bike ride. This is the only way we can keep the weight from creeping up to much with all the good food. We just got off the golf course and enjoying a beer before we head up to the restaurant again tonight.

Impromptu Phoenix Trip

Yesterday morning we saw that there was an 2016 Model Auto Show at the Phoenix Conference Center so we proceeded to pack an overnight bag and took off. We parked at the Sheraton where we were staying and walked a block to the show. Spent several hours looking at all the new model cars, but didn't find anything really impressive. All the auto makers were represented. If we needed to replace the Lincoln today, don't know what we would purchase. Didn't like the new MKX or any other SUV. The only really impressive cars were the ones blocked off so you couldn't get really close. Of course I like the Aston Martin.

Here Jim is trying to figure out where he would park this Lamborghini.

We spent the evening enjoying some appetizers we picked up in the Club Room, taking them back to our room with a bottle of wine we brought along. Then we went to the District Restaurant in the Sheraton for a great dinner. They serve you cotton candy for desert, completely different.

Here is a nighttime view from our 29th floor room. We were overlooking the Diamond Backs and Suns stadiums. Being Starwood Platinum members, we get room upgrade, which turned out to be a very nice suite. 

After overindulgence in good food from the night before, we both exercised this morning before we went for a light breakfast in the Club Room, then headed back home.

Enjoyed our little get away for something different. 

Yes We Have Fall Colors in AZ

This morning I went for my annual search for fall colors in my favorite spot - Sabino Canyon. Yes there is minimal color found, but it's still a beautiful hike.

The weather is spectacular in the mid 70s, with bright blue skies.

 It's just so pleasant hiking in Sabino Canyon, no matter what time of the year - well maybe when it's over 100 degrees, I might not like it, but then you go at sunrise to beat the heat. But I think the spring with the wildflowers and the fall with the colors are probably the best.

 I had a very pleasant 4 mile hike this morning enjoying nature. It's been awhile since I've enjoyed it (maybe since my last post when we went to Mt. Lemmon).

We've pretty much been laying low and not doing a whole lot, just some much needed yard work around the house. We have gone out to some art festivals around town and also the one in Tubac. We played golf a couple of weeks back and have gone bowling a few times, but other than that, not doing a whole bunch. Jim is quite busy at work, so we even cancelled going over to Indio in the RV over Thanksgiving. I believe this will be our first Thanksgiving at home. We will still have a grilled turkey enjoying the evening out on the patio with a nice bottle of wine and probably watching football or basketball.

Here are a couple more paintings I have completed. With staying home, it gives me time to paint. Both of these paintings are on 18x24 canvas'. I have two more in the works hopefully to complete within a week or two.

Hopefully we will make it over to our place in Indio with the RV over Christmas and New Years. It'll be nice to get back over there to enjoy the daily golf, great weather and the outstanding meals we have at the restaurant. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Lunar Eclipse

Enjoyed the show in the sky last evening watching the lunar eclipse. Of course my pictures are not that great, but this is from our back patio.

This was before the total eclipse. It was amazing to watch the moon slowly turn red.

Well, to catch up, it's been a month since we arrived home from our trip and we were glad to be back after 3 weeks on the road. But our travels were quite pleasant and got to see and experience many new places. We deemed it a successful trip and look forward to getting the RV back on the road again.

It took about a week to get back into the groove again, but have been keeping busy with our normal chores and hobbies, and getting acclimated to the hot, muggy monsoon weather again. My rain gauge registered 2.6" of rain while we were gone, so take in account for evaporation we probably had over 3" of rain and received another 3.3" of rain since we have been back. I believe that the monsoon season is finally over and thankfully less humidity.

I finally got back to my schedule in painting and have completed two new paintings since being back. "Hummingbird in Flowers" is on a 30x24 canvas, whereas the "Springtime in Tucson Mountains" is 24x18.

To escape the hot weather, we headed up to Mount Lemmon on the 20th to do a little hiking in the fresh, cool air.

We took a picnic lunch to enjoy before our hike. Wildflowers are still in bloom in the higher climates, so enjoyed seeing all the green and flowers. Mount Lemmon has had quite a bit of rain this season also, so everything is so lush.

 No trips planned until right before Thanksgiving, where we will head over to Indio for a couple of weeks. But you never know what might happen between now and then, we just might get an itch to go somewhere.

Heber, Utah

Monday evening we had a wonderful time catching up with my nephew, Tom, and his family for dinner in Meridian, ID. Unfortunately I was so caught up in conversation that I forgot to take pictures. But it was great to see them again after 20 years.

Tues. morning we were on the road at 6am to get through Boise before their rush hour traffic and we were glad we got an early start because it was already heavy traffic at that hour due to construction. But had a easy 409 mile trip to Heber, UT, which is about 30 miles east of Salt Lake City. We're at the Mountain Valley RV Resort, which is an excellent, fairly new park that is surrounded by mountains. There isn't much to do around here so after setting up ran into town to a fruit stand and bought some corn and a watermelon. Both turned out to be great.

This morning after our chores (wash windshield, laundry and house cleaning) we drove to Park City about 20 miles northwest. This is a ski resort that has an historical downtown, of course with all the touristy shops and restaurants. The elevation there is over 7000 feet. The day is overcast and off and on raining but not cold, in the mid 60s.

During our window shopping, I found Jim's Christmas present!

After window shopping and going through some art galleries we needed nourishment, so went to the No Name Saloon.

We had their Saloon Buffalo Burger and Fish & Chips, which were both good and more to eat than what we needed.

After lunch it is still raining, so unable to go anywhere to do any hiking or any outside activity, so went to the overlook of the Jordanelle Reservoir which is close by.

Some of the hillsides are displaying color already. With the overcast this picture just doesn't do it justice, but it is pretty.

Tomorrow we will be on the road by 6am again to head home with an overnight stop in Kingman which is over 500 miles from here, then only 300 more miles to Tucson. So this is basically the end of our 3 week trip, which I hope you have enjoyed coming along with us through this blog. We surely enjoyed ourselves and saw a lot of new country, tasted plenty of wine, did some hiking, saw waterfalls, geysers, bison and many beautiful sights. Ate buffalo, enjoyed a stop over to visit family, put a "few" miles on the Lincoln and by the time we are back in Tucson we will have traveled 4,330 miles in the motorhome. So the RV will go back in the barn for a few months before we take off again, probably towards Indio in time for Thanksgiving.

Caldwell, Idaho

We arrived at Ambassador RV Resort in Caldwell, ID about 25 miles west of Boise around 1pm yesterday after a smoky, easy 260 mile drive from Kennewick. After setup we headed out to have our first tasting of Idaho wines. The first stop, we didn't care for the wines, the 2nd stop, same thing. After the 3rd winery, we decided that this area's wines are just not to our liking. Not that they are not good wines, but they just don't fit our wine tasting buds. Here is a view of some of the vineyards.

There was one winery on "Chicken Dinner Rd". Such strange street names. After going to 6 wineries, we decided that was enough to know the area just isn't for us, so we headed back to the RV to get the Weber out to BBQ a pork roast and have an enjoyable evening on the patio. The RV park is quite spacious and pleasant.

This morning after our chores (laundry and washing windshield), we took a drive to Boise to see the State Capital. It's a big impressive building.

Here we are beside a big bell in front of the building.

Entering the front doors, your first view are these marvelous marble pillars, quite impressive.

This is looking up into the dome.

This is from the top floor looking down at the bottom 2 floors. We had our history lesson of Idaho for the day in the visitor center on the bottom floor.

After our tour of the Capital, we went to one of their many parks to have a picnic lunch.

This is the view we had from our picnic table.

 As soon as we sat down, all the geese got out of the water and came over to visit us.

 Once especially liked Jim.

After lunch we took a walk around the park, it's really pretty - especially green with lots of trees.

 The pathway and parks go right along the Boise River.

After a relaxing lunch and walk, we headed back to the RV. We are meeting my nephew and his family for dinner this evening. I have not seen Tom and Stacey for over 20 years, so it will be nice to see them again along with meeting their 2 daughters, Savannah and Taylee.