A new adventure Saturday

Megan and I decided to hike the "hard" trail on Camelback Mountain yesterday. I am sure it is the time of the year, but the trail was packed and parking was at a premium. We parked at least 10 minutes away so had quite a "hike" just to get to the hike!! I am so glad we went but my goodness, I was sucking wind on the way up a few times. It is a hike where you definitely are climbing rocks and boulders on a constant basis. Two spots were so steep that they did have a rail embedded into the rock so you could pull yourself up the mountain. I noticed one gal tried to make it on her own without the rail and she was soon inching her body back to that rail! It is there for a reason.

The first picture is a postcard view of Camelback. The camel is lying down with it's head to the left. Notice the praying monk figure at the start of the camel's back. The other pictures are various views along the trail and one shows me at the top and another shows a police helicopter that hovered over us at the top. At first we thought someone had fallen from the mountain but then the police just flew away never to return. Naturally, I had to throw in a couple of pics of Drew while we were babysitting last night so his Mom and Dad could go to P.F. Chang's for a much deserved night out!

Busy week

We are keeping on the go here. The last two days we have babysat so Megan and two of her visiting college friends could hike mountains and go to lunch, etc. Drew has been very good, the dog not quite as well behaved as their son. :-)

Wednesday Mark and I have an afternoon tee time so looking forward to that and then this Sunday all four of us and Drew are heading to the LPGA Safeway Tournament at Superstition Mountain Golf Course. Hope to see Julie Inkster, Michelle Wie, Annika Sorenstam, etc. Should be a fun day!!

Pictures are a beautiful sunset the other night at Terravita, Grandpa feeding Drew, Andy and his brother Chris and a couple of a happy Drew.
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Sure is nice out here!

By Iowa standards, 95-98 degrees would be a scorcher but it isn't bad out here. Those temps are above normal, though, but it is supposed to "cool off" into the upper 80's so that will be good. Nothing but shorts, flip flops and tank tops. You never wonder how to dress. :-)

I took Sharon and Arne to the airport this morning for their 8:45 flight to Fort Lauderdale. We are staying at their dump (as you can tell from the first three photos) while they are off to the ocean visiting good friends for two weeks. Mark and I shall enjoy this little job of housesitting at Terravita while they are gone. :-)

Sharon and Arne's grandson Taylor stayed with them for three days so we enjoyed taking him hiking and playing with Sox over at Megan's. Taylor also enjoyed their new pool. No one is actually supposed to get in the pool for about 2 weeks while it cures, but Taylor and Sox both managed to skip that rule for a minute or two........the water is still extremely cold from filling so they weren't in there for long!!

The weather back in Iowa sounded good for a couple of days but now it sounds back to normal: dreary, cold, damp. I am not missing it yet.............

Back in the desert

Mark and I arrived at Megan and Andy's at 3:30 yesterday afternoon. We had spent the night in Tucumcary, NM and left their at 6:15 a.m. so about a 9 hour trip. Not bad! We opened the car door to sunshine and 89 degrees. What can I say? :-)

Drew has grown so much in just 3 weeks! What a cuddler and a chunk. He is adorable, but I have already explained that particular thing to everyone. :-)

Their new pool is really nice and the backyard landscaping is gorgeous. Drew and I will enjoy that area when he gets a bit older.

Well, have to go take Sox on a walk in this sunshine......

Good-bye gravel road

After almost 56 years of never having lived anywhere else but this gravel road, it shall seem quite different to not traverse it on a daily basis. Yes, I was gone for stretches during college, but that was about the extent of it! I was born and raised on this road and raised my own children here. I have run many a mile on this gravel road and took many walks down its path. So, it will definitely be a big change for me, but one I am ready to do. Things I look forward to come next week: hugging and holding my new grandson, running on nice pavement anytime of the year and not just when the weather cooperates. It almost always "cooperates" where I am going. I look forward to taking mountain hikes with my daughter and sister and golfing with Mark in the winter. I relish the thought of caring for Drew while his parents are off at work. Many things to look forward to! Things I will miss terribly......Mark when he is home farming, Matt in Omaha, and my friends and neighbors. But, they are all only a plane ticket away so that problem can be resolved in a 2+ hour flight. Chapter 2 of our lives starts in about 39 hours...............whew, I better finish packing!
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Let it snow, let it snow, let it..........@#$%@#$&$

Nothing new to report but have some snapshots of major drifting on the farm. Also pictures of our neighbor who walked 1/4 of mile in blinding snow to borrow 10 gallons of gas for his generator. His return trip with 80 pounds of gas couldn't have been fun, but he made it safely!! Mark is heating the water for showers tonight. He is so nice, or perhaps I am so rank??? Whatever, it shall feel grand.

The rear view mirror

My dear friend Jan and I were talking on the phone last night discussing this latest round of horrendous weather and loss of electricity. She had me laughing when she stated "your best memory of Iowa will be getting to look at it through your car's rear view mirror next week." I hate to say it, but going on 4 days this week without electricity and a raging blizzard now in progress, she has a very good point. That may be my best memory! Thanks for making me smile, Jan!

We have "lots" of snowdrifts, the size I haven't seen since Matt and Megan were young children. Utility companies have pulled all crews off of rural areas so we don't look for any line repairs for a few days. No human being should be outside in this so I am glad the companies sent their guys home.

I wrote to my son-in-law Andy begging him to send me some new pics of Drew, as I was going through "withdrewal" and he graciously obliged. The posted pictures today are views from our home and Drew. Keep warm and safe everyone.

An "opinion" question!!

So tell me....where would YOU rather be? First photo or second? You all know my opinion on that one and it was solidified this morning when we lost our electricity. Energy company says to expect a possible 2-3 days before repairs are made to the lines. Something about "being swamped". I believe it. Worst storm we have had in a decade, or so the weather man told me. We do have a small generator that runs my internet connection and the furnace. Two essentials. Hopefully your weather is better than mine.......

The case of the purloined photos......

Since there is nothing but bleak snowy landscapes to take pictures of down on the farm, I hopped over to Megan and Andy's website and stole these from their online album. The first two pictures show their backyard before any professional landscaping was done and the BB court was still there. The other photos show the recently finished product. Drew is going to love that section of grass.....I can see many games of catch on this turf in the little guy's future. I have a feeling their pooch Sox will rather like that grass, also. The pool is all that remains to be finished. They cannot do that until the new gate to their yard is in place so neighborhood children cannot get to the pool. Eventually they will put a fence up around the pool so granny nanny doesn't accidently stumble into the abyss. Actually, there are lots of laws and regulations regarding private pools and that is a "good thing" in Arizona.

As for Iowa, a rather big winter storm is on the horizon for today and Sunday. Our home is right on the line of how bad it could be......worst case scenerio would be ice first and high winds to whip our electrical lines and the consequences that would bring. :-( I am not looking forward to the next two days. On a brighter note, we get to see Matt next week-end in Omaha and the following Friday (March 9) we leave for Los Alamos, NM to visit nephew Erik and daughters Kadin and Gracie for two days, followed by our return trip to Phoenix to see Drew and house sit for Sharon and Arne. Mark will fly home at the end of the month to begin preparing for the planting season and I will remain in AZ to read to my grandson and perhaps do a few other things........
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