The Rest of Marianne's Visit

Sunday, December 1, 2013

We began December with a slow quiet day after all the excitement and activity over the past week. Dylan had a hockey game that Rich, Marianne, and I attended. He is in the dark uniform on the right.

Since this is how my daughter bundles up at the hockey rink is it any wonder that I can state unequivocally that she will never live in a cold climate?

After the game we went to the kids' house and visited with the rest of the family. 

Jackson and Gpa were playing Words with Friends against each other, sitting side by side!

Monday, December 2, 2013

There were still a few things we wanted Marianne to see before she left on Wednesday. There is an exhibit of Dale Chihuly glass at the Desert Botanical Garden; we loved the one five years ago!

For dinner that evening we took her to Organ Stop Pizza. That is just the coolest place! The pizza, pastas, and salad bar are great but the real attraction is getting to hear the incredible music from the world's largest Wurlitzer pipe organ in a casual, family-oriented atmosphere.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013 

We were running out of time so decided that today we would drive up Apache Trail into the mountains we love so much.

Goldfield Mountains

Canyon Lake in the background

Tortilla Flat is a little "town" along the way. There is a small history museum, a couple of shops, and of course, a  saloon!

We continued on our way, running out of paved road shortly after leaving Tortilla Flat. The next four photos were taken at Fish Creek Hill.

We turned around at Fish Creek Hill and returned to Tortilla Flat for a late lunch at the Superstition Restaurant & Saloon. Every inch of the interior is covered with dollar bills, even the ceiling.

Marianne is keeping an eye on the rattlesnake skin mounted above our table.

Long story, but when we were all in California, the nieces started calling "JOCKO!" to each other so, in honor of that family joke, Rich wrote that on a dollar bill that we left to be permanently posted by the staff.

While we were eating, Marianne noticed this Capitol Records 45 rpm record on a high shelf. Rich and I met when we both worked at Capitol Records, him in L.A. and me in Jacksonville, IL, making that a most very cool coincidence.

Another unique part of the place was the women's restroom. These are the stalls so when you are standing inside one, you take on the persona of a saloon girl...loved it!

Of course no trip to AZ would be complete without a hike in the mountains. Here is Marianne hiking; you can see the trail meandering away behind her.

It was good to get home and relax after that grueling mountain hike...

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Since Marianne was flying home later in the day, we just went to the Superstition Mountain Museum which is just a few miles from our house. It's a small museum but they have some interesting displays. When we were browsing through the gift shop, Rich discovered a book written by the original owner of our house! How about that? It turns out that he has written several books about the history of the area so we bought one, of course.

Another favorite, we have so many, place to eat is Rubio's which has the best fish tacos anywhere in my humble opinion. We took Marianne there for lunch before taking her to the airport. It was great having her here for ten days and having the opportunity to share just a few of the things that we love about this area.

Sadly, by the time we were driving home from the airport later in the afternoon, I knew I was getting sick. It turned out that I was extremely ill for the next several days and still have no idea what would have caused such a variety of ailments at once. Anyway, by the time I could function at all we would Christmas shop for a couple of hours then I would crash and Rich would wrap gifts and care for me and do everything, I mean everything.

I had my strength back in time to do a little baking with the kids and to celebrate a most wonderful Christmas with our AZ family but do wish I had been able to participate more in the preparations. As soon as I can, I'll post about our Christmas.

Lovin' Life ~~ Healthy Again

Social September

So far this month we have kept busy spending time with special people in our life; we miss these folks when we are on the road and in AZ for the winter.

In preparation for a gathering at our house on Sunday, Rich had gone to Binny's Liquor Store for ingredients to make a Sangria that we loved when we ate at the Columbia Restaurant in St Augustine, FL last fall. He also brought home a surprise for me...a bottle of expensive bourbon whiskey. I don't drink very often and have never enjoyed whiskey but this is very special because my maiden name is Pogue and I had never heard of Pogue Bourbon Whiskey!

I had the honor of  first sip...it was more like a whiff of a sip of a tiny sip but it took my breath away and I was afraid it was burning the skin off my throat. Like I said, I rarely drink and never anything that strong. I love seeing our name on those random and rare times that we run across it because it is certainly not a common last name.

On Sunday, our local nephews with their families and Greg & Jenny all came to our house. Rich had made three versions of salsa, his specialty, in addition to the Sangria. I made enchilada casseroles and we had Monster Cookies and ice cream sundaes for dessert which the kids loved! Dave traveled to Poland with Marianne at the end of April so we got to see the photos he took. Like all families with young children and two jobs they have busy lives so it was great that we found a time to enjoy their company while we were at home.

Oliver, Nick, Zoe, Sophie

Dave and Lisel (Rob's wife) each helping their kids get served

Rob and Dave; Kristen (Dave's wife) and Lisel

Jenny and Greg

Monday evening we drove to Yorkville for an evening with our Double Pinochle group. These couples have been a big part of our lives for a dozen years or more. We dropped out of this group when we started spending so much time away from home, since it can be a challenge to find subs. They are one couple short right now so we had the pleasure of playing with them this past three months. Let me introduce you to some of our favorite folks.

Carla and our host, Dave

Larry, Audrey, Tony

Nance, Jack, Jim, Mary

Our host, Georgie

Great friends, great fun, great food but not so great cards for me!

Marianne had a previous commitment so couldn't join us for our get together on Sunday. She came out for a while on Tuesday afternoon to visit the girls...and us too!

But wait, that's not all. Tuesday night was my monthly Hand 'n Foot card group. There are eight of us in this group which means the world to me. With just a couple of changes in members, we've been together ever since we all built our homes here fifteen years ago. This was my last night however as a regular member. Since I'm gone so much of the year now, and Helen has been subbing for me all along, it just seemed fair to step aside and let her become a regular member. She has been subbing for Joan in the summer so I'll still get to sub for her in the summers when I'm home.

Sandee and Sue 

Nance and Helen

Phyllis (our host) and Carla and Alice

Great friends, great fun, great food AND great cards for me! I had the top score so took home the top prize...$4.00! I do miss these great friends and always look forward to catching up with them when we come home. We've invited them out to AZ but we'll see if any of them actually come.

Other than all that socializing, we've been busy cleaning out closets, buffets, cabinets, etc gathering stuff to take to our house in AZ. Yesterday afternoon the final section of counter for the linen alcove in our master bath was delivered to Lowe's. We picked it up and Rich installed it...that project is now complete! We didn't expect to be quite this busy in retirement!

Lovin' Life, Family, & Friends

Days 20 and 21 - Our House

Yes, we made it safely home yesterday just a little past noon. Unloading the RV goes much faster with the kids' help but it's still a lot of work for all of us. Rich was tired; Maryland to our house in a day and a half involves some long hours behind the wheel. On this trip he drove slightly over 2,200 miles just in the RV, not counting all the miles he drove in the car when we were sightseeing. The most shocking expenditure was the $287.55 we paid in tolls! I don't know why, but that just blows my mind.

After we entered Illinois it was another hour's drive to our home.

I wish I had taken a photo of the huge piles of laundry we unloaded but I have most of it done now. Today we were back to doing what we do...having a great time! We were at the theater this morning for the first showing of Monsters University which we all LOVED! The MU campus shared characteristics with Harvard and including students rubbing the foot of a statue! So cool since we were just at Harvard.

Don't miss seeing how these two became best friends and got to work on the Scare Floor!

We had planned to swim after the movie but...surprise...it rained, really rained, with some thunder and lightning thrown in for good measure. We've decided that if we don't say the word 's---' maybe we can trick the weather into being sunny tomorrow. Every time we have planned to 's---' it has rained.

Since Shelby especially likes to shop at Meijer, because they have cute shoes and clothes that can't be found in AZ, we went there after the movie. We also needed a few groceries for dinner. While there, G'pa bought a chain to make Shelby a necklace with a Niagara Falls souvenir purchased for that purpose...cute!

And the boys had football practice in the sports clothing section...they practice football wherever they are, with or without a ball. As you'll see, they did find one on a shelf there.

After dinner we went to Marianne's house to hear about her trip to Poland and to bring the girls home. They were pretty excited to see us when we got there. After a while they pretty much ignored us, like always!

Marianne always finds the coolest things to give the kids and today was no exception. These red, white, & blue glasses with flashing lights were a huge hit. Just look at them doing duck faces in her mirror with the glasses flashing.

 

Lovin' Life ~~ Havin' Fun