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

A One Day Vacation in Roswell

It's no secret that we LOVE Roswell. That's been well documented here on previous trips. Last night Rich found the most incredible radio station, you can stream it online at http://www.q971fm.com We stayed up so late reading, singing along (me), and talking while listening to the great music selection of old hits. We love the museums, the restaurants, the UFO kitsch, the shopping, and lots of other activities in Roswell. Something about the place, we always have such relaxed fun while here.

Of course we always visit the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, our favorite small art museum and we have seen a few on our travels. I've posted favorite works here before so took broader shots for you today.

See why we love this museum? For grins I'm going to also post a few special pieces...

This is a new piece titled "V-8 Hot Tub". The V-8 engine being fueled by gasoline from the military-style gas can to warm and pulse the water entering the tub, which is missing one leg so is supported by a concrete block. Totally amusing; we loved it!

I've never posted this piece in its entirety but any of you who have used the guest bath in our home within the past year will surely recognize one section of it!

This one had me laughing out loud. It's a hug pile of polyester-filled felt tubes. Here's part of the description on the artist card, "It is about materializing the...physical digestion...that make[s] up the cycles of daily life." Have you figured it out? It cracked me up wondering if Bella was trying to create a work of art by digesting all that "stuff" of her daily life.

From there we did a little shopping, then ate at what might be our favorite smoked meats restaurant, the Rib Cage. Yummm...they know how to do meat! I didn't even pick up my camera when the plates were set before us. I did take a photo of this though. Rich uses that phrase "Pie-Hole" so it was funny to see it on a table menu. That Blackberry Cobbler was delish too!

What would any visit to Roswell be without a few photos of the aforementioned UFO kitsch?

Lights along Main Street

We're out of here at the break of dawn tomorrow morning for the next to last day of travel...

Good night all!

Lovin' Life ~~ And Light Days of Laughter with MOAO

Day 17 - D.C. Smithsonian Museums

It's late and we are all so tired. We walked a lot again today. If you're following along, grab your map. Again today we rode the Metro into the city, getting off across from the Archives on 7th St. where we got on the Old Town Trolley again. It took us past Union Station and around the Capitol complex before we got off at Independence Ave and 12th St SW. We walked to the Bureau of Engraving & Printing ticket booth on 15th St just to find out that most tours were booked so we got tickets for the 6:30 tour.

Then we walked all the way back to the Jefferson Dr entrance to the Smithsonian Castle where we took a break for drinks.

After a rest we left The Castle on the Independence Ave side. Here Rich is showing our grands how to read a sundial.

From the street, I took this photo of the Parterre, or ornamental garden, with the Castle at the back of the garden...beautiful and quietly peaceful.

A tour guide had said that the best cafe in town was inside the Smithsonian's American Indian Museum so we walked east along Independence Ave. The food was fabulous and the interior space was just what we needed.

It was so hot and humid today that it was nearly unbearable so this large, circular, stunningly beautiful space was perfect for the kids to run off some steam after our typical late lunch.

We had heard that the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum is the most popular of all, so we walked back to it along Independence Ave.

This building is enormous and contains informative displays as well as original planes, jets, rockets, space modules, etc etc.

Now we were running out of time so we walked up 7th St to Madison then west to the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. Along the way we stopped for...

another shot of the Capitol from the National Mall.

A peek inside the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

These two magnificent pieces of petrified wood from Holbrook, AZ in front of the Smithsonian's  National Museum of Natural History.

I neglected to get this picture of the kids yesterday when we checked out the Star Spangled Banner at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.

But the main reason we were back at this museum today was for Shelby to see the actual Ruby Slippers that Dorothy wore in the original Wizard of Oz. She was so thrilled!

In addition to other exhibits that the kids were amazed by, this huge doll house was interesting to Shelby and Dylan. They were trying to find all 25 of the pets inside this huge doll house.

We would have loved to be able to spend more time in all the museums we visited today, and there are many more we didn't even get to step inside. But, we had an appointment at 6:30 so had to walk from there back down to the Bureau of Engraving & Printing...and then it rained!

We finally found shelter at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, by then it was pouring and we were all soaked to the skin.

We were drenched when we made it to the Bureau of Engraving & Printing for our tour. It was worth it though because all three of the kids were absolutely enthralled watching money being manufactured.

After our tour we walked back up 15th St to Independence Ave where we flagged a cab for a ride back to the Metro station on 7th & D Sts. Even though we were all wearing wet clothes, our grands just had to get one last splash of the world's oceans before riding the escalator down to the train.

Dylan LOVES standing on the train.

And here we have two typical D.C. commuters...giggle!

Lovin' Life ~~ At the End of Another Perfect Day