A Monday in Southern AZ...Beauty and life in the desert

This morning we checked out of our hotel and had one more stop to make before heading back to Phoenix, the AZ-Sonora Desert Museum. I am extremely happy we decided to check out this spot. It was a wonderful experience and just beautiful! It was a mix of desert wildlife and vegetation and well marked the entire time. Lots of walking along great trails and most of them were paved. If any of you three or four people that read this blog ever venture to the Tucson area Mark and I strongly recommend this park. It was great!

We arrived back at the town house around 3:00. After unloading the car, Mark decided a quick nap was in order after our long week-end and I decided that I had to go see Drew for just a little grandson "fix". He was as cute as ever. :-) I have had too many posts here lately without him in the picture gallery so will remedy that tomorrow!

Picture explanations, whether they are needed or not. :-)

1. Mark checks out some of the vegetation on the walk.
2. One of the beautiful scenes from our walk today. Not bad, huh?
3. Agave plants. I really love these desert plants and have some planted at the townhouse.
4. A barn owl. It weighed less than a pound and we guessed 2 and three pounds! It was all feathers evidently!
5. Desert big horned sheep. They really blend in with nature!
6. A havelina. Look like an ugly duckling cousin of an Iowa pig. They were butt ugly, actually! Sister Sharon says they frequent her golf course at Terravita. Looking at the teeth on these creatures, I doubt I would go near them!
7. A long nosed prickly pear cactus
8. An ocelot sunning itself on a rock
9. A pin cushion cactus
10. A Raptor Owl. This creature was gorgeous and the pic does not do it justice
11. A fox. She was sunning on what looked like a purple silk piece of material. A rough life for this fox!
12. A wolf. Mark and I decided our late dog Mindy had some wolf in her as she looked very similar to these wolves in this area.
13. A wild turkey

A Sunday in southern AZ...it's WWII all over again!

Today we ventured to the Pima Air and Space Museum here in Tucson. Arrived at 9:45, took a tram tour from 10:00 to 11:00 then spent until 4:00 just walking through the massive airplane display outside and in several hangers. It is the third largest air museum in the country and it was pretty awesome. Mark is a big WWII buff and this awesome display of fighter planes and bombers and hundreds of other types of planes was a dream come true for him! I am the peace loving type of "make love, not war" so some of the fire power these things produced left me a bit speechless. :-) We met a WWII fighter pilot in one hanger who was signing autographs for his book. I guess the old guy was quite the pilot in his younger days. Very colorful fellow who flew many successful missions AND survived 5 marriages....all his wives are dead! I also learned he is from Newton, Iowa! Small world.

I was very interested in the Air Force One plane on display which was used from '61-'64 for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. It was nice inside, but I thought it would be more "plush" for a President but then remembered that was over 40+ years ago. Makes me feel old. One can only imagine how nice Air Force One is today for "the decider." :-)

The pictures:
1. This "little" plane was called the Super Guppy, a NASA plane that hauled the Saturn boosters and other space craft parts. Look closely and you can see Mark standing below it.
2. SR-71 Blackbird, a VERY impressive Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance aircraft that could fly from LA to DC in one hour and 4 minutes, back in the early 70's!
3. Air Force One used by Kennedy and Johnson.
4. Mark and I descending that plane.
5. Designates this AF One
6. A B17 G Flying Fortress. Quite huge and a real war breaker, I guess
7. Mics. planes

A Saturday in southern Arizona..first stop, Boothill

Mark and I became midwest tourists today and left Phoenix this morning and headed to the Tucson area. We went about 70 miles past Tucson to the historical town of Tombstone, AZ. Very commercialized, but great fun and most interesting. We learned all about the history of the town "too tough to die" and the scene of the shootout at the OK Corral. We were there about 5 hours and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had a great lunch at a very fun saloon, Big Nosed Kate's and then walked the streets peering into shops and visiting the court house museum which was our favorite stop in Tombstone. We arrived back at our hotel in Tucson, the Windmill Suites, about 5:00 pm. We are now enjoying a cocktail in our very luxurious suite. :-) We were upgraded to a first floor patio suite so are not complaining about our room one little bit! The photos are from Boothill, the hanging gallows, the court room, our saloon hall lunch and our room tonight in Tucson. Tomorrow we will visit spots around Tucson. Until then.......

Happy Birthday, Dear Drew

Our grandson is one year old today! I cannot believe how quickly this year flew by for all of us. Megan and Andy had a party for Drew on Sunday after Sharon and I finished participating in the P.F. Chang marathon. It was Christmas all over again for Drew. :-) He had a particularly good time with his very own cake. Tonight we are going to Oregano's for a pizza dinner as pizza is Drew's favorite big boy food. :-) Have a great second year, Drew!!! P.S. The last picture is actually a video.

We made it! Thirteen miles!

Well, actually it was 15 miles by the time we got to where we could get picked up. Sharon and I (Megan wasn't able to go) had a great time at this marathon. The mass of humanity behind us and in front of us on this was remarkable. We felt we did really well and we plan to make this a yearly event. There were bands performing almost every mile of the way, cheerleaders keeping us pumped, etc. That all really helped because as I thought about this before hand and made the comparison that this was going to be farther than I drove to work for 33 years to Ogden it started to make me weary. I could not imagine just getting up one day and walking to Ogden. How boring! That is why the bands and cheer leaders and thousands of other people really helped spur you on. We both were pretty tired that evening and went to bed early but otherwise we felt great and still do. It was a great day!

Another week-end

It is a bright, sunny day unfolding here. I went for a walk around the housing development and it was crisp this morning but not bad. Didn't walk for too long.....need to save my feet and legs for tomorrow, the PF Chang half marathon and our 13 mile stroll along downtown Phoenix or Tempe, not sure which city it is actually taking place. :-) Megan and I went to the convention center yesterday and picked up our timing chip, race number and other assorted goodies. I guess you can actually go online and see people's time with the use of this chip. Ugh. :-) Oh well, one can only walk so fast! It makes me really admire a runner who does the entire 26 miles. The training involved must be monumental and horrible on one's knees I would imagine. There were a lot of very, very fit people picking up their stuff in that hall. I felt like John Travolta in Hairspray among all those fit runners and had a moment of hesitation doing this but it IS only walking, I decided. :-)

Took lots of pictures of Drew this week and will attach a few of the ones I really liked. Have a great week-end everyone.

Happy Wednesday

Grandpa and Drew check out the back end of his pick-up truck. Sometimes our blonde headed grandson looks red headed, especially in bright sunlight!

just a swingin

After a wet and cool week-end it is turning very, very nice for the work week. We are back outside and enjoying the beautiful weather. When we go through the park on our daily strolls we now must stop for a swing break:




Mark spent the week-end putting up wire shelving in our garage storage closet. I cannot believe what a transformation he made in that little room. I am going to have to go shopping to fill up all the shelves. :-) It is really nice and once again I appreciate his handy man talents!

We have yet to make it to the golf course but it is on our agenda for next week-end. It will have to be Saturday because Sunday Sharon, Megan and I are doing the half marathon in the P.F. Chang event in Tempe. I am a little worried about this.....we only signed up for the walking marathon but that little walk is 13 miles. Yikes! I walk every day, but only for two miles. This past week-end I decided to go all out and walked 6 miles. I cannot imagine doing another 7 beyond that stroll!! Sharon says that the huge throng of people and the bands along the way will spur us on. hmmmm........ The band would have to be the Eagles, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones to spur me on and that ain't happening! :-) Actually, we are pretty excited about the event and I KNOW we will finish, one way or another! I will post pics of our big day Sunday night so come back to see them if you are interested.

Happy New Year!

I have fallen a bit behind in posting so have a couple of new posts this time.

I hope everyone had a very happy New Year and here's wishing all of you a great 2008! As this Grandma gets older it is so unbelievable how quickly a year goes by. It seems just like yesterday that Megan told us she was expecting and now here we are 14 days away from celebrating Drew's first birthday. Wow.....

We had a fun (and early!) New Year's Eve by going Cosmic Bowling in Scottsdale from 6-8:30. We met Sharon and all her family there and had a very fun time. After bowling, the grandparents took the young children home so the older children could go out and have a bit of fun. Boy, I was usually right in the middle of that going out and having fun not long ago. :-) But, Mark and I took Drew to our place and he spent the night with us and we enjoyed it.

This morning Megan, Sharon and I decided to start 2008 with a hike up Black Mountain. It was windy today on the mountain but wonderful. Megan and I had hiked on Saturday and Monday so we had a few sore muscles at the start of this adventure! This afternoon we watched lots of bowl games and ate too many nachos and dip.....probably negating all the hard work on the hike. :-( Oh well, it is New Year's Day!

Pictures are from cosmic bowling. My nephew Erik's two girls (Kadin and Gracie) were having fun with Drew.

Drew's first NFL game

Two Sundays in a row we went to see the Cardinals play in their beautiful new stadium. (Which happens to be the site for this year's Super Bowl game.) Megan and Andy gave Mark and I tickets to both games for Christmas and we thoroughly enjoyed that gift. They have four season's tickets so we all sat together. This past Sunday they could not find a baby sitter so they decided to try taking Drew. He did great! Loved the tailgating and food and treats, was enthralled with the stadium noise and lights and just had a good time. Got a bit pooped out at the end as you can see from the stroller picture, but was a real trooper that day. To make it all the more sweet, the Cardinals won both games and UNI alumni Kurt Warner was fantastic as their quarterback! Keep an eye on those Cardinals next season. :-)

Scenes from the holiday

We had a very nice Christmas here in Arizona. The only thing missing was Matt. I would have dearly loved for him to get down here over the holidays but it wasn't meant to be this year.

Christmas Eve I made chili and appetizers and we spent the evening with Megan, Andy and Drew. Christmas morning we got back to their home to watch Drew's very first Christmas gift opening. I do think he was a bit overwhelmed but he loves his new "stuff". We had a breakfast brunch after the gift exchange. Around 3:30 we left for Sharon and Arne's home for Christmas dinner, which was absolutely fabulous. Lisa, Taylor, Dan and Nick were there so that made it extra fun. We all went home happy and full!

Below is a little slide show of the morning with what I think is a "very" appropriate song for a Christmas in Phoenix. :-)