It's Our Anniversary!

Twenty-seven years ago today we spent a glorious day on the slopes, getting back to our hotel in Aspen in time to change and make it to the Courthouse to get our Marriage License before meeting the judge who married us early that evening. And what a truly amazing twenty-seven years we've had together! I don't know that either of us dared dream that it would all turn out to be this great.

I have to include this full-length shot of me standing on one foot so that no pressure is placed on the casted one, not that I will ever forget how this injury robbed us of our normally busy daily activities this winter.

This morning, Rich loaded the bicycle into the car and drove to Usery Mountain Regional Park to ride some off-road trails. He ended up riding for about three hours, relishing every moment of it. I reminded him to take his camera and here are a few of the photos he took.

Pass Mountain

See the bike trail off to the left side?

This huge ocotillo forms an arch over the trail.

I especially loved the sky in this shot. It's been very cold, high 20s the last couple of mornings, and cloudy much of the day.

Lovin' Life ~~ And This Man I Married!

February 14, 2012 ~~ A Very Special Day

Today marks the 100 Year Anniversary of Arizona Statehood and we have actually had our TV on this morning to follow the celebration being held in Phoenix, the capitol of our winter home state. After nearly 49 years as a U.S. territory and thousands of years as a sacred home to indigenous peoples, Arizona became the 48th and last of the contiguous states to enter the Union of the United States of America on February 14, 1912.

I was so excited to find this photo online this morning because this was taken very near where we are living right now at the base of the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, AZ! Where we have our RV looks much different than this, but we don't have to drive far for this to still be what we see.

Happy 100th Birthday, Arizona!

Far more widely known is that today is Valentine's Day. Hopefully you too will be celebrating with your One And Only, as am I!

This is a day to also celebrate a milestone for this blog 'o mine. As of this morning there have been 9,980 visits to my blog since I started it two years ago...WOW! If this is a typical day...if you all click onto Meandering instead of hanging out with your loved ones...giggle...this day will see that number exceed 10,000 visits. Thank you, thank you!

Happy Valentine's Day to All of You Who Continue to Bless Me by Visiting This Blog!

Lovin' Life ~~ And Celebrating This Very Special Day

Then & Now

Rich and I met in January 1980. We both worked for Capitol Records, him in LA, me in Illinois and he came to my plant to lead a project designing an online computer system for the department I managed. The project was groundbreaking so we ended up talking a lot on the phone after he returned to LA and over time became good friends. Fast forward six years and those phone calls led to our January 1986 marriage (mine is a real life fairy tale!). Leaving LA yesterday, we drove past the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood remembering our "Then" and I got this shot from the freeway.

Our CA BFFs, Bill and Deanne, both worked at Capitol in LA too. We all got married at the same time (quite a story, that!) and celebrated our 26th anniversary together last Friday. Yesterday we all drove to San Diego where we are parked near Mission Bay in our RVs for a few days. Here is what our "Now" looks like.

Dora and Bella are vying for Bill's attention...

...as Deanne looks on.

This looks much like snow on the page here but actually it is the waters of Mission Bay reflecting the sunset early yesterday evening.

About a half hour later the Bay looked like this from our RV Park.

Lovin' Life ~~ Then and Now!

Our California

Everyone who has ever lived here, or even visited here, has a unique perception of LA depending on their experience. We lived here for eight glorious years, some of the best of my life. The kids were at home, we had Rich's brother and his family here, we had great friends here, our life was filled with a variety of activities. Here is a very brief tour of some of the places we've visited this week as we celebrate our anniversary and the AMAZING years we lived here...beginning with a shot of the front of the anniversary card Rich gave me because it is definitely celebratory!!!

This is where Rich lived, in Valencia, when we got married.

This is a view of the Commons on the College of the Canyons campus in Valencia, the community  college where Sandee and I both attended.

Both Sandee and Greg graduated from Canyon High School in Canyon Country.

Greg attended Junior High here and the Sierra Vista campus also was the location for the services of the church they both attended.

The best burgers and fries you would ever eat are at Cousins in Canyon Country.

This is the house where we lived for the eight years we were in California. It's not a great shot but I do also have several of the inside! Yes, the folks who just bought it in December were kind enough to let me tour the whole house. It is so cool to see a home you lived in eighteen years ago so I didn't have the gall to ask her to close the garage so I could get a good exterior shot...giggle

After seeing our house, we stopped at the little park near there to share with the girls the Cousins burger I had saved for them...yummmmm

From there we drove up Soledad Canyon to Acton. Along the way, I got out at Shambala Preserve and took photos of the tigers. I loved this guy's face! And it's a good example of the 35x optical zoom on my new camera.

After driving through Acton, we headed toward Agua Dulce and stopped here at Vasquez Rocks Park. The afternoon light was perfect for many great shots of the massive rock formations...can you say "sculpted by earthquakes"...gasp!

This is the house Sandee and Shawn bought and had a large addition built onto in Encino before they moved to Arizona seven and a half years ago.

Not that we spend all of our time eating, but Tommy's is pretty much an LA institution and the chili fries are still pretty much fabulous!

Rich got to spend all the time he wanted perusing the innumerable treasures at All Electronics. This is his idea of mecca...and there is nothing like it anywhere in Chicago.

Last night we had dinner at Benihana's in Encino. If we were all in town, this is where we always celebrated our anniversary when we lived out here.

And here we are, the four of us celebrating yet another anniversary of that auspicious day in 1986 when we all got married in Aspen, CO after a day of skiing the magnificent slopes there.

I should get ready for today's adventures since it's nearly noon...yikes! Since the internet is actually working right now, knock on wood, I wanted to take advantage of it and get a post published.

Lovin' Life ~~ Past & Present

Happy 26th Anniversary to MOAO!!!

We're Still Havin' Fun

and

Lovin' Life ~~ Being With You!

Bev

Ski Movies & A Surprise Gift

I debated on whether or not to post these two movies now that we've been back home from Aspen for a week and a half but I really don't have anything else I'd rather blog about today.

This is a six-person high-speed chairlift at Snowmass. Bill had some trouble with his lift pass so he's on the chair behind Rich and is waving at Deanne & me in the movie.

I started filming as they skied down Blue Grouse towards us but they stopped to decide where they were going next before skiing over to where Deanne & I were standing...bummer. I'm only showing this short second piece because in the first one they are a bit too far away for you to pick them out.




Yesterday Rich received the coolest surprise ever in the mail. It is a mouse pad with a photo of him skiing at Buttermilk on the last day. There are SharpShooter Imaging photographers stationed at a couple of points on each of the mountains. This is one of three shots they took of him that Thursday. After Bill & Deanne got back home, they logged on to the photo site and ordered this for Rich. When Bill called today he told me that this photo illustrated why Rich was always way ahead of them...he was skiing in great form!

Lovin' Life ~~ And Surprises in the Mail

  Bev 

Our Room ~ Hotel Jerome

Tours of hotels and hotel rooms are not a rarity on blogs I've followed but I suspect that, for the most part, the blogger is compensated in some manner. Not here! I'm just so thrilled to have stayed at this magnificent hotel that I'm happy to share a few photos with all of you. Today finally, the long-awaited *teehee* post with photos of our room.

As you enter the room, there is a wall of floor length mirrored doors on your right and the door to the bathroom compartments on the left. We get our first view of this beautiful wallpaper! Behind those mirrored doors are very large closets.

The bathroom was walled with marble and the floors were tiled. There was a spacious walk-in shower and a long, deep soaking tub. All the fixtures were fabulous.

We did not purchase even one of these $150 robes...can you imagine?

Moving on into the room, the desk where I uploaded photos and wrote my blog is on the right. Next to it is a long cabinet containing the in-room bar and with the flat screen TV sitting on it.

Spanning nearly the entire width of the room are these three windows that nearly reach the floor. The pattern and fabric of the drapes were a perfect complement to the magnificent wallpaper, which I loved looking at so very much.

From these windows we looked out at snow covered tree branches and the Black Billed Magpies. Rich took this amazing photo of one.

Rich is relaxing here, reading Aspen magazine, on our sumptuously dressed bed...I've never before slept on linens like these.

I spent more than a few hours on the comfy chair and ottoman reading, admiring the beautiful pattern and colors of the wallpaper, or gazing out the windows.

Most evenings the four of us played Farkle and Pinochle at this little table in our room.

I can't imagine accommodations that would be any more perfect for a week's stay than this room at the Hotel Jerome. I loved everything about it...have I mentioned how much I loved the wallpaper? Have you ever read the classic short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that was first published in January 1892? Hmmm...perhaps I should not aspire to spending much more time in this room...haha!

Lovin' Life ~~ Reveling in Luxury

Hotel Jerome

While we were there, I mentioned that we were staying in a historic hotel that opened Thanksgiving Eve in 1889. Yes, we stayed at the Hotel Jerome while in Aspen this time. It underwent a massive restoration in 1985 that kept all the original details. In this post, you will see a few areas of this magnificent hotel.

A portico covers the entrance to the hotel lobby; on the left is the renowned J-Bar and on the right is the Library, both of which are Aspen gathering spots and parts of the hotel.

Rich checking in and the entrance to the lobby. Just look at that antique S-Shaped Loveseat!

The fireplace and enormous Christmas Tree in the lobby on our arrival.

This is a large conference room that is located just off the Century Room, where the four of us played cards a couple of evenings when the room was not otherwise occupied. The chandeliers throughout the hotel were historically ornate and in scale with the massive spaces.

In this next photo, I am standing in front of Carl's Pharmacy, that favorite shopping place of ours. The Victorian purple building houses the Aspen Times and past it you see a glimpse of the red brick building that is the Hotel Jerome. Those are the only three buildings in this block on Main Street in Aspen.

The following photos show some of the interior spaces of the Hotel Jerome after all the holiday decorations had been taken down.

A perfectly positioned chaise lounge in front of the lobby fireplace.

A large floral display, staircase, original tile, and antique carpets.

Another view of the period furnishings and the beautiful wood framing that draws the eye up to the glass roof of the lobby atrium.

A hallway at the rear of the ground floor that leads to a ballroom.

At the far end of this photo is the breakfast dining room and the hall leading to the lobby; to the right through the full length glass doors is the pool area; and behind me as I took this photo were the elevators to our floor so we traversed this lovely area many times last week.

This sitting area was located on our floor as you stepped out of the elevator.

A left turn took you to this hall and our room located midway on the right. Soon I'll post photos of our room.

Lovin' Life ~~ And the Hotel Jerome