Phoenix 2024

I checked in at this beautiful golf resort on 3/9.  I can't believe I'm leaving already on Saturday - that it's been 3 weeks!

I've been having fun seeing friends.  

View of golf course from my patio. Those are silos from the old ranch.

I went to Camp Verde to see Angie and Vic, and they happened to have Sue and Terry, Teri and Lon, and Gene and Maureen there too!   The weather was crappy, so we spent the day playing cards and eating. It was wonderful!

I played golf with Kevin and Marita.  I played very poorly, but we had fun!

Lolly and I spent a wonderful day hiking at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  It was cold, and rained on and off.  We drove home through Superior, Globe, and made the loop by Roosevelt Lake.  We hit SNOW going over those mountains, and it got down to 33 degrees!!  It was a fun day.

I had lunch with Anne, dinner with Cindy, lunch with Becky (hadn't seen her in a long time, it was great to see her!), and lunch with Dottie and Roger.   

In front of their new "Mobile Mansion"!

 

My main intent was to spend a lot of time with Joe and Ellen.  I'd been to their house several times, we went out for supper a couple of times.  Then, last Thursday night, I got a call from Mercy hospital.  Ellen had fallen and broken her hip and shoulder.  Joe's dementia is so bad, he can't be left alone and he can't drive.  So I went and picked him up and stayed at their house.  She had hip replacement surgery on Friday, and her son, Sean, flew in from San Jose on Friday.  He's been staying with Joe, and I've been going back and forth to the hospital.  When Ellen is discharged, she's going to be in a rehab center for a month, so Sean is trying to arrange in home care for Joe.  I'm glad I just happened to be here.  They have a long road ahead.

Saturday, I head to Vegas.  I'm staying with Claudia and Chuck Saturday night, and then move into my condo on the 31st.  Katie is going to fly out to be with me on the 8th. We're going to go to Death Valley to sprinkle some of Mike's ashes.  He loved Death Valley.

Palm Springs 2024

Great few days spent with Andrew,  Doug,  and Bentley. It's so wonderful seeing them again,  and today Andrew and I saw his Dad, who lives in Indio. It had been 10 or 11 years since I saw him.

Andrew and I cruised downtown PS, first in his red Saab convertible (5 speed, that brought back memories!), then in his 1973 Lincoln Continental.  That car is awesome and reminded me of Dad's Lincoln,  except Andrew's doesn't have suicide doors.

Tomorrow I head to Phoenix for 3 weeks. 

On the Road - February 2024

 I'm back on the road, this time to Arizona to see friends before I head north.

I left Dawsonville on the 23rd, with the goal of being in Florence, AZ on the 29th.

I stopped in Fort Stockton for 2 nights to go to Big Bend National Park (finally!)  The drive over was beautiful - the desert is really starting to bloom.

The Rio Grande river isn't very wide!

I stopped for a night in Silver City, NM to see Darlene and Stan Messick.  They never change and we had a good visit.  They invited me to stay for supper.  It snowed that night, just enough to have to sweep it off the car!

On the way to Florence, I stopped in Benson to have breakfast with Kathie and Cliff Sklenar.  A great visit, we hadn't seen them since 2021.

The last few days have been a blast.  Susan flew down from Rapid, and JoAn Wade got us adjoining rooms at the RV park that she and Chuck manage.  This is such a charming park.  It's an old ranch from the 30's and the rooms we're in were the bunkhouse.  They overlook a lovely courtyard.  I just took Susan back to the airport this morning - we had so much fun!  We went to Tombstone - ate at Big Nosed Kate's, we've spent time with JoAn and Chuck, and Glenda and Tom (from Hart Ranch) are also working here. We went to the Hart Ranch get together in Casa Grande.  We packed a lot in to just a couple of days!

Tomorrow (the 5th) I head to Palm Springs to spend a few days with Andrew and Doug.  I can't remember the last time we saw them!