March 5-6, 2012

Today, Marilyn got to visit an old teacher friend, Nancy Olthoff, from Iowa Falls Schools who with her husband Craig, winter here in the valley at Sun City West. Only a 45 minute drive from our condo in Scottsdale to their place, we arrived at about 10:30 AM this morning. After a quick tour of their lovely home, we jumped in their van and Craig showed us every facet of each of the areas within Sun City West. We saw many beautiful golf courses and lots of recreational areas where residents could swim, play tennis or pickle ball and enjoy a host of many, many other activities. In the midst of the tour, they showed us where other mutually known Iowans live such as Jim and Cindy Herr, Joe and Sue Lynn Stiner and we stopped and visited Sharon and Dr. Bob Treinen from Ackley for just a few minutes.

After the tour of Sun City West, Craig drove us to the Phoenix Stadium area just off Glendale Blvd for lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, where we had tasty margaritas and a great lunch. Before stopping back at their home, they showed us one last Sun City West village.  Thanks to Nancy and Craig for a wonderful day and tour of the Sun City West area!

Yesterday, with 7,756 other people, we watched the Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 with a solo home run in the bottom of the 9th inning. Not only did we see the DBacks skipper, Kirk Gibson, right in front of us signing autographs, we caught sight of Brett Butler, Alan Trammel, Don Baylor and Matt Williams, all former baseball greats. The Rockies have some former stars too but they were on the other side of the field and we did not get to see them. We sat just beyond the dugout on the 3rd base side and enjoyed ourselves very much. The vendors were very entertaining and colorful!  Never saw a purple beard before.

February 29, 2012

February 29, 2012 just happened to be Gary's 16th actual birthday making him 64 years old. I was rudely awakened at 6:30 AM with a phone call from friend Tom Dougan but did not answer the call right away. We had a big day starting with stopping at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick just off the 101 on the east side and bought tickets for a spring training game between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. We are looking forward to the game on Monday March 5th as the temperature is to be in the low 80's and the field is beautiful, having been completed just over a year ago.

After spending some time enjoying the area we kept driving south to the Bass Pro Shops where we strolled around for two hours and bought a few little things for the the upcoming fishing season. After lunch we drove north up the 101 to the Gateway Trailhead and walked for two hours in the McDowell Mountains. Although we have been there on many occasions, we picked a different trail this time and had a very nice two hour hike and saw some vistas we had not seen before. As we came back down, I asked Marilyn to take a picture of me next to the dead Palo Verde tree and commented that as least at my advanced age I looked better than this old dead snag. Her comment was that it was a toss up!!

After returning to the condo for a quick rest and clean-up, Marilyn treated me to dinner at Maggiano's, a nice Italian restaurant just south of us on Scottsdale Blvd. Great dinner and great day. Thanks for the cards, e-mails and phone calls from everyone, including you Tom.

February 22, 2012

Yesterday we met Kent & Margaret Neveu for lunch at Cantina Laredo, our favorite Mexican restaurant here in Scottsdale. After a great lunch we brought them back and showed them around the condo before going out to do some exploring. As full time motor-homers, Kent & Margaret are currently "dry camping" in a mountainous area near Mesa. Yesterday morning their waking up temperature was 33 degrees! They have seen frost several mornings!!

Our first stop was the Cave Creek Recreation Area where we drove through and saw the camping area which was very nice and relatively new. Cost was a bit steep at $25 per day but the campground was full! We spent a few minutes in the welcome center then moved into the area where the hiking trails began. We saw a small group riding horses through one of the trails and were glad to see that the kids had helmets on. After taking a few pictures we drove around a bit more and motored back to Cave Creek and Carefree. Downtown Carefree was like a mini Sedona with lots of shops, many offering art and jewelry of the area.

Next stop was the Pinnacle Peak area where we all relived the time 25 years ago when a trip out to Pinnacle Peak Patio restaurant was a very long drive out of town and there were no developments nearby. Today the restaurant still exists but nestled among resorts, new homes, new roads and new businesses. Progress I suppose! We did not climb the mountain as time was moving toward "bistro time". We took Pima road south to the Local Bistro and had a drink before going back to the condo. We had snacks on the patio into the evening as the temperature was still in the lower 70's. We had a great visit recounting a few episodes from the old days in the animal health business, but the exciting part for me was learning about the Neveu's lifestyle as full time RV'ers! It was great to visit with old friends and get an update on their kids and grandkids. We agreed to meet in Clear Lake this summer and resume our catch-up time.

Tuesday February 21, 2012

Yesterday we loaded up and traveled down to Papago Park and strolled into the Botanical Gardens and walked around for almost 4 hours. The temperature was 75 and the sky was very clear. Although it is not really spring yet, there were some early blooming cacti that were well worth seeing and photographing.

There was a glass blowing demonstration as well as guided tours and many spots along the way to sit, relax and enjoy the scenery. Much of the area was dedicated to plants of the Sonoran Desert but there was an area that had many different cacti and other succulents from around the world.

I had hoped to see some wildlife and did see some rabbits, Gambel Quail, doves, ground squirrels, and one painted turtle near the water in the "wet" area. No rattlesnakes and none have been seen in the park since the 1940's. What a bummer!

We were able to sit and eat a sandwich at an outdoor cafe and watch the birds eat and the ground squirrels chase them if they got a large item. We left the park around 2:30 and drove up Scottsdale Blvd to the Kierland Mall and stopped for ice cream before heading back to the ranch. Just another day in paradise!!

February 17, 2012

Friday morning we decided to head toward Carefree, AZ and when we arrived we found that this was the weekend for the Indian Art Festival. We stopped to see the "goings on" and found a nice little grouping of exhibits in the downtown area and spent a couple of hours walking through. We sampled the food ( a brat smothered with pulled pork is my new favorite sandwich) and some chocolate. There was nice entertainment and beautiful weather in downtown Carefree!!

After the art show and the farmers market we headed east on Cave Creek Highway into the Tonto National Forest. Our senior citizen pass got us in at a very discounted rate and we drove several miles into the desert before turning into 10 miles of a rough,washboard, gravel road that took us to Horseshoe Lake, a 900 acre reservoir that the city of Phoenix usually depends upon for a good part of its water supply. The lake was 0% full and as you can see from the picture that the only water is the the Verde River that runs through it and just a bit of water remaining in the very lowest spot of the the lake. Normally, this is a great place to catch bass, crappie and walleye. Not so last Friday.

We drove back to the main road and headed to Bartlett Lake, another reservoir on the Verde River that supports the Phoenix water supply and is a huge recreational lake. This lake was 33% full! The normal average depth of this 2000 acre, 13 mile long lake is 100 feet. The lake also supports a good fishery and has some beautiful vistas including the Yellow Cliffs shown in the accompanying photograph. Note also that under normal water level conditions, the desert cactus goes right down to the waterline!! The water was so low that boaters could not use normal boat ramps but had to back their boats directly into the shallow water and wrestle them off an on the trailers.

We drove back to Scottsdale in time to have happy hour with Duane at the Twisted Lizard. The chicken strips are awesome!!

February 16, 2012

Yesterday we had friends Doug and Mary Hatlevig from Iowa Falls come visit us for an afternoon. After a great lunch at the White Chocolate Grill on the corner of Mayo (that would be clinic, not sandwich spread) and Scottsdale Blvd, we did a bit of touring. We showed them the trails we walk in the McDowell Mountains just southeast of here. The little wildlife loop did a bit of teaching about the desert so Mary now knows about pack rats (said she already knew as she married one) and pin cushion cacti!!

Doug had played the Boulders golf course in Carefree about 5 years ago and wanted to see the area again so we drove to Carefree and Cave Creek which is only 10 miles from our condo. The sky was beautiful and we got some good pictures with the boulders in the background. Showed them around Cave Creek and then the scenic drive back to our favorite watering hole, The Local Bistro, for one drink before they headed back to Doug's mother's place. It was great to have them here and enjoy a day outside. Mary is good at taking pictures with her IPhone; Marilyn might need a bit more practice!!

February 6, 2012

January 15th was exciting as Cory and friends ran in the PF Chang's Rock and Roll MS Marathon from downtown Phoenix to the Arizona State University Campus in Tempe. Cory and all three friends finished all 26.2 miles in 4.5 hours or less. There were over 30,000 participants in the half and full marathon events. The weather was perfect as it was in the mid-60s with a slight overcast. We were able to show Cory and Tiffany the desert around the McDowell mountains and eat some good Mexican food. Their friends came to the condo and hung out for a while too.

The next weekend we had friends John and Susan Spragg from Iowa come visit and eat with us at our favorite local bistro aptly named "Local Bistro"!! They had come down for warm weather and to see the fine cars sold at the Barrett-Jackson auto auction near us here in north Scottsdale. It was great to see them and hear about Iowa events.

We have been hanging pretty close and doing a lot of walking and enjoying the warm weather. This past weekend we took off with no real plans and ended up in Yuma, AZ and Winter Haven, CA. Saw lots of lettuce fields and the Colorado River. Drove north from Yuma on AZ Highway 95 and saw more desert and mountains. Stopped at "Painted Rock" and saw tons of petroglyphs. Got back to Scottsdale before dark and rested up for the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Travel to Scottsdale, AZ

Marilyn and I found the new year (2012) in Albuquerque, NM on our way to Scottsdale, AZ for the winter. We left Iowa in the midst of rain/snow (it yucked up the clean vehicle) early on December 30 and drove to Wichita, KS where we had a great Latin/American dinner in Old Town. Got out early the next day and took US 54 all the way to Tucumcari, NM where we jumped on I-40 and coasted our way into Albuquerque. Before we got to I-40 we made a quick stop at Ute lake near Logan, NM and took a stretch break and a couple of snapshots. Son-in-law Brad says the lake looks like a big mud-puddle with houses around it. The good folks of NM say it is an 8200 acre lake full of fish and can be fished every day of the year!!!

We left early on New Year's Day in time to spend a couple of hours in the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest of NE Arizona before heading cross country through the mountains and Payson, AZ before arriving in Scottsdale around 3:30 PM on the 1st. We are on Mountain Time so only an hour behind Iowa. We have been here a week now and have checked out three main grocery chains, three restaurants, washed the car, found the post office, had dinner with old friend Duane Schamerloh, went to a Lutheran Church that has a minister from Iowa, took a long hike in the desert and locked our garage door keys in the garage!

Our place is a nice 2 bedroom condo in Grayhawk which is in north Scottsdale. We are very close to everything we need and look forward to our time here. Please come and visit if you can.