Play Ball!-February 27, 2013

We went to the Colorado Rockies-San Diego Padres game today. The Rockies won 6-3. The weather was absolutely perfect for sitting outdoors. For only the second time in my history, my camera did not take good pictures. I will share a couple of bad pictures and you will have to use your imagination. We were in the second row directly behind home plate. Excellent seats. We found out after we were seated that this section is for owners and scouts. Two guys behind us were using a radar gun on the Rockies' pitcher's throws. And two in front of us appeared to be working for the Padres. We got the tickets off the internet so don't ask me how we got so lucky. We had a great time followed by a delicious meal at the Cheesecake Factory. Yes, they have good food besides cheesecake.

From our seats you see home plate, the pitcher's mound and second base.

 

 

Milling around before the game started. Maybe they call it

"warming up". It was more like goofing off.

 

 

They had a mascot race with a strawberry lemonade and a hot dog.

The third one was not clear to us. This was just plain weird.

 

 

I love baseball so I am extremely delighted we had a chance to do this. We were fortunate to sit next to a couple from Wheatridge, Colorado. They are here for the winter. They are much more avid fans than we are. We were dreading the fact we might get stuck next to a Padres fan. Luck was with us and they were devout Rockies fans.

We are taking tomorrow off to get ready to move down the road next week. That will free us up to have the rest of the time for fun.



 

 

 

 

Basha Museum-February 26, 2013

I will correctly state that we visited the Zelma Basha Salmeri Gallery of Western American and Native American Art in Ocotillo, AZ today. Ocotillo used to be called Goodyear, Arizona. The Basha family owns 160 nice grocery stores (super markets) in Arizona. So, an aunt named Zelma and a nephew named Eddie Basha, Jr started this gallery. They say it is not a museum. Whatever you want to call it, we have never seen art like that in our lives. Over 3000 pieces of art in over a dozen different mediums. Repeat, 3000 pieces. It was incredible. Believe it or not, we actually have encountered one of the artists before. Fritz White has tons of his worked displayed in Loveland, CO, too. At one time I think he lived parttime in Loveland. It was interesting to see his work on display here. They did not allow picture taking so I have nothing visual to share. Sorry you could not see some of this work. It really was delightful and also interesting.

Carefree amd Cave Creek-February 25, 2013

It was such a pretty day that we decided to go to Carefree and Cave Creek to shop. You probably have never seen shopping centers like they have here, unless you've been here. They are hidden. There are no big signs for the businesses. You just sort of stumble upon them. The prettiest shopping center was in Carefree. I'll just post some pictures with little or no comment. This was such a pretty place and the weather was perfect.

This little park is in the middle of the shopping center.

 

Also part of the park in the middle of the shopping center.

 

Sundial at the edge of the shopping center. It is set to the north star.

 

Everthing, while pretty, is still Spanish in style and a shade of tan.

 

This is a slide for the little ones. Not sure about sliding down a lizard's back though.

Very thoughtful to put it under a tent for shade.

 

A Presbyterian church in Carefree. I thought it was so pretty I

just had to take a picture. No, I'm not Presbyterian. The church is the typical tan in color,

but the location was so unique.

 

This was a more rustic shopping center in Cave Creek. Some of the

buildings were empty but the ones that were there were unique.

 

Completely harmless steers. A bit rusted but cute.

 

We really enjoyed today. We are glad our friends from Colorado suggested we browse through these little towns. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scottsdale, AZ-February 23, 2013

We decided to drive to and through Scottsdale since we have heard so much about it. What can I say? It's huge, busy, brown and everybody lives behind brick, stone or stucco walls. I do mean everybody. They cannot see out and we cannot see in. We are not sure we could live like that. The only people who get to live without being surrounded by walls are those who build mansions on the side of the mountains. Scottsdale is interesting but we are pretty sure we could never live there. Lots of money and lots of people. Giving credit where credit is due, the streets and sidewalks are very clean. No trash blowing down the street. Tucson was nasty in spots with blowing trash. We found a local Mexican restaurant, Manuel's, and had a wonderful very late lunch. When we arrived home, there were two hot air balloons up. The sun was shining right through them, but it was still possible to see that one was the Arizona state flag.

They are obviously farther away than I thought. There was not

enough wind to make them move. It was a pretty sight.

 

Have a peaceful and blessed Sunday.

Wickenburg, AZ-February 22, 2013

Today we went to Wickenburg to see friends from Colorado. C.H. and Mary Lou drove us around town after we had lunch at a terrific place they frequent often. Wickenburg is a very interesting little town with a history based on gold, not copper. Our friends were very gracious and we enjoyed some laughs and fun conversation. It was a really pretty day, only in the 50s with clear skies. I could not take pictures as I was sitting in the back of the car. If we go back there I will get some pictures of old town Wickenburg.

Phoenix RV Show-February 21, 2013

We found our way to the RV show today. It was several miles from here, but we got there nontheless.
We climbed in and out of motorhomes until we wore ourselves out. We found one new one that we liked very well, but we still want a 2010. We prefer that somebody else spend their time in a shop working the bugs out of a new coach. The dealer is getting a 2010 in within a week. We might hang around to see it. I wanted to share pictures with you of the Arizona Cardinals stadium. It says University of Phoenix on the side, but Jerry says they do not play there. That has me thoroughly confused. Anyway it is a gigantic stadium and quite unique.

Looks kind of like a space ship of some sort, doesn't it? It appears they are expanding the

parking lot which is already bigger than some cities.

 

 

Cute entrance, isn't it?

 

It was a beautiful day, in the mid 50s which we love. Blue skies, light wind. Great weather for walking outside looking at coaches. You cannot tell it rained yesterday except the Ocotillo cacti have green leaves. When the rain hits the base of the cactus it sprouts leaves. They fall off within 2-3 days after the rain has ended. So, today the Ocotillo are all green but will be bare and brown by the weekend. 

 



 

 

 

Rainmakers-February 20, 2013

In keeping with our tradition of being the rainmakers and taking rain everywhere we go, it started raining last night and rained all day today. If ever anybody needed rain it is Phoenix. We have not driven over a river, creek, stream, wash, or gully that has water in it anywhere in this state. Besides the rain we had graupel, hail and thunder but, thankfully, none of the 50 mph winds they predicted. So we took care of paperwork and relaxed today. There's nothing wrong with that. Tomorrow we hope to go to an RV show here. We're still looking for that coach that says "Drive me home!"

Phoenix, AZ-February 19, 2013

We got up really early this morning and hit the road. We are either way ahead of the horrible storm they predicted or they missed the forecast. We had just discussed how accurate the weather people in southern Arizona were on every forecast. Now we are not sure. Anyway, the trip here was uneventful and that's always a good thing. The scenery did not offer us much change from dry and brown. Some parts of it seemed uninhabitable and hostile. However, I managed to see two interesting things.

Picacho Peak west of Tucson. It's a very odd looking mountain peak, isn't it?

 

 

The dark pile of rock is actually lava rock from an ancient volcano.

I always enjoy seeing this becuase it shows how our earth was formed.

 

We are not ready to explore Phoenix yet. The traffic is as bad as we were told. The roads are just like Texas interestates so we can get from one side to another. That's a good thing. If it does not rain tomorrow maybe we will go exploring. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tucson sunset-February 18, 2013

This is our last evening in Tucson. We are moving down the road tomorrow, but only to Phoenix. We are getting up early and getting out of here. We are not normally early risers but the weather is due to turn nasty tomorrow afternoon. We want to be hooked up by then. It is delightful that our last night in Tucson gave us the prettiest sunset we have had here.

Colorful and peaceful, isn't it?

 

We know the weather and landscape will be the same in Phoenix. Hopefully there will be much less poverty. We need to stay there a week because we are still trying to time our turn northward so that we can be in decent weather. At least that's what we hope and pray. You know I will keep you posted. 

Biosphere-February 16, 2013

Today's adventure, a trip to Biosphere 2, was very scientific so I am not sure I can explain it properly. I remember when this thing was built and I thought it was a failure. Actually it was not. But they closed it down. Now it belongs to the University of Arizona and it's one of their departments. This Biosphere is where 8 people lived inside of it for 2 years with nothing from the outside world. They had little apartments and one big community kitchen. They were to perform hundreds of experiments but it took a minimum of 66 hours a week per person just to produce and cultivate and prepare their food. They could not maintain their caloric intake so they had to quit. It is back in operation but as a big huge experiment done by college students.

This is the front side of it, but only a tiny portion of the overall complex.

 

This is the interior rain forest which was the source of water for the entire Biosphere.

 

From the inside looking out. See the mountains.

 

This is a very new experiment that will measure rainfall and follow how it affects soil and plants. The black soil will be weighed and measured after the rain falls from the top metal grid.  

 

We really had to listen and think about what we heard while also walking up and down 150 steps and covering a mile and a half of the complex. I think all of our extensive walking we have done this past week helped get us ready for this physically. Nothing could have prepared our brains for how hard we had to listen. We found it completely shocking that people brought in a total of 8 kids under the age of 5 who were completely bored and uncontrollable. One family finally dropped out because their kids were going ballistic. The others hung in there but sometimes the tots sat down while we were all descending the stairs. That part was bad. Otherwise it was interesting to think people were able to live in this Biosphere for two years and be completely self-sustaining. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Tucson-February 15, 2013

What a fun day we had today! The weather was fabulous for a long walk through Old Tucson. We were shocked at the number of movies, weekly tv series and soap operas filmed here. It goes way beyond dozens. They had the costumes worn by many of the famous stars and they were all very tiny people except Dan Blocker from Bonanza. He was a big boy!! I'll let some pictures speak for themselves.

Main Street

 

The Sheriff's office was just an empty building

 

This is one of the several free rides through Old Tucson. We decided against it when we saw that people were packed inside like sardines. We took the train instead which made one big loop.

The rest of the entire movie set we saw on foot.

 

This was only a facade. It was the scene of a fun performance for some local actors.

 

You can't have a fear of heights and be this actor.

 

This guy was nuts. It was a long way to the bottom.

 

What a treat to see water in the middle of this film location which is in the middle of the desert.

 

I cannot tell you in print how much we enjoyed today. I wish you all could visit Old Tucson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gem Show-February 13, 2013

We went to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show today. Well, we went to part of it. This is the largest gem show in the entire United States. There are 40 different venues with hundreds of exhibitors. After 2 1/2 hours of walking we managed to get through two of the venues. Only 38 more to go. We saw some spectacular gems and jewelry. We managed to buy a couple of very small gifts for later this year. There was one jeweler who was selling emerald jewelry. The emerald was a gorgeous light green, sort of milky mint green. It was beautiful. I didn't even ask the price. And the second unusual stone was an Oregon Sunstone, a form of crystal containing copper streaks. It was absolutely stunning. I walked away without it also. We may try to hit a dozen or so tomorrow and then go see other things. We can't pass it up because we will never see this much jewelry in one location again. I wish they would let me take pictures. It was something to see. One lady there was selling handmade leather products. Jerry got a really nice leather iPhone holster which he really needed.

 

Enjoy your day tomorrow and have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Cacti-February 12, 2013

Here's part two for today, the cacti.

Organ Pipe cactus.

 

This is a century plant which is actually an agave cactus. Once they bloom, they die.

 

Teddy Bear Cholla cactus.

 

A Fishhook Barrel cactus with a Prickly Pear cactus behind it.

 

Crimson Prickly Pear cactus.

 

Cow Horn Agave cactus.

 

The Saguaro does not grow arms until it is 75 years old. They don't usually live longer

than 200 years. FYI--"arms" is the correct word, not branches.

 

As you can see, it was a beautiful day. Cool breeze, warm sun, clear skies. We would not want to go through this living museum in the hot Arizona summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sonora Desert Museum-February 12, 2013

I can't tell you how many museums we have visited and we've enjoyed each one. Today's visit to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum was tops in our book. Usually you walk into a building, get a map and drive through the sights. This time we walked through the gate and our walking tour started. We walked rock paths, paved paths, up and down hills, into living exhibits, around rocks, past fenced areas and on and on. We had to have walked well over 2 miles over that roung terrain. But it was so worth it. The displays were animals and plants that are native to this desert. It goes without saying the cacti were spectacular. They are starting to grow on me. Pardon the pun. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

A shady part of the walk. There were a few of these spots which would be critical in the heat

of the summer. They had benches all along the way for people to stop and rest.

 

Saguaro cacti. They are quite prolific in this area. The red rocks were the bottom of a

muddy swamp millions of years ago.

 

This native wild turkey is very lucky to be surrounded by color instead of just brown.

 

A really healthy and good looking wolf.

 

A desert Roadrunner. Meep meep. Yes, they are real!! He was new to this exhibit and he was very nervous. We have had two of these to run across the road in front of us on this trip.

One was in Texas and the other in Nebraska.

 

Javelinas. These run wild in this park as they have in several other parks we've visited.

They look like pigs but they are in the peccary family. We have always wanted to see these creatures roaming at night, but never have. We had to see them at a museum.

 

I'll put pictures of the cacti in a separate blog.

 

 

 

 

 

Guess what?-February 11, 2013

In keeping with our special "touch", it has rained all day today. However, different from the south, it is as cold a rain as we have felt in a long time. Several places around us received snow and we could see some tonight. It snowed where we stayed last week, so we are happy we left Benson. We are inside, staying warm and dry, and planning a special day tomorrow. We are staying another week because there is so much we have not seen here.

Presidio in Tuscon-February 9, 2013

The full name is Presidio San Agustin del Tucson. I believe a presidio is like a fort, a walled city so to speak. This one was wonderful to see. They had taken one corner of it and turned it into shops that were actually in one building. We just roamed from room to room. There was so much stuff it was overwhelming. Then we started walking down another street and there was an explosion that shook the ground. Jerry said it was a cannon. It was not, it was a musket. My, it was so loud. I saw a guy in an old military uniform of some sort. I crossed the street and asked him if he had caused that noise? He said yes and they were going to shoot off a cannon if we would just walk around the corner and climb the stairs we could see it. So, we did.

Here they are preparing to load the ammo and fire the cannon. Right after this, they warned everybody to cover their ears. I wanted to take a picture so I only covered one ear.

 

The noise was so loud I jumped and this is the resulting picture. Even one of the soldiers turned

his back on the noise. They all had earplugs in their ears. We did not.

 

This was all in a walled courtyard and there were people dressed in pioneer type clothing making horseshoes, flatbread and other interesting things. Then we walked to a building that was built later as part of the Presidio, but was actually the county and city offices. Now it is almost empty but has been kept in great shape. It is a beautiful building and it is PINK!

 

 

 

The top is made of what looks like 3 or 4 inch ceramic tiles in bright colors.

 

 

Once again there was the usual landscaping, rocks and cacti. You can only do so much with

that combination. But the pink building does make it look nicer.

 

This was followed by a late lunch at Sir Veza's. It was built like an old garage and they served fabulous Mexican food. The napkins were those cloth mechanics towels. They are usually red. These were blue but still the same thing. The front door had a huge chrome wrench for a handle. The menu items all had mechanics names. Very clever. Yummy, too. If this were a franchise operation I would say it would be the investment.

 

 

 

 













 



 

Air Museum-February 8, 2013

We have been to several air and space museums on this journey, but nothing quite like the Pima Air and Space Museum here in Tucson. It is 70+ acres of airplanes both outside and inside a number of huge buildings. This is not the Bone Yard of planes that Tucson is known for. I'll keep the words brief so there will be room for more pictures.

World's smallest jet. It's cute as a button.

 

The strangest amphibian plane either of us has ever seen.

 

The nose of the first successful paper airplane. Doesn't look so successful, does it? They had a video of its first and only flight. It's only cardboard.

 

For our Texas friends. The name of the plane was Dirty Dawg,

but it had longhorns on both sides.

 

For our Louisiana friends.

 

The Super Guppy transport plane. It was flown for nearly 30 years starting in 1965. We cannot wrap our minds around the fact that this awkward thing actually flew. Not only is it weird, it is gigantic.

 

Boeing YC-14. Only two were built. And we know why. Who in their

right mind would want to fly this humongous bucket of bolts? The picture does not show

how really huge this plane is.

 

 

What a fun day this was. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the the long and exhausting walk.