Adventure 646: Casita Living/Post C

Remembered joy is twice sweet. And sweet is was to re-connect with our friends, David and Ginny Kral. We rendezvoused at the Red Hills Visitor Center on the West side of Saguaro National Park. The Kral's have been our Tucson connection since we began our retirement traveling, but our connection goes back much further than that. Ginny and I were colleagues at Sacajawea, and beyond that, Ginny gave Elizabeth flute lessons during her middle school years. The Kral's have been wintering in Tucson for a number of years, and every time we meet-it's sweet. This morning we hiked the desert, once again among the cacti. I managed a few peeks at the Saguaros, but mostly David and I chattered like kittens sharing fresh milk. Up ahead, Judy and Ginny did much the same. After our hike, which lasted about an hour and a half under perfect skies, we headed back to the casita for lunch where we enjoyed a socially distanced lunch of vegetable pie that Ginny baked. Whenever we were in close proximity, we were masked up, neither couple wanting to expose their "contact pool" on the other. We hope to see them at least one more time before we leave. It seems especially important to enjoy close friends in this time of uncertainty. Judy and I wiled away the afternoon with a little reading, a little sun bathing, a little napping, and quite a bit of what the Chinese call "Song" (Pronounced Sooong), otherwise known as complete relaxation. Simply said, life is good, especially today.

Hiker babes, Ginny and Judy, masks down for the photo.

Hiker dude, David.

It takes fifty-seventy-five years for a saguaro to grow one arm. Imagine the age of this one.

The Kral's in munch lunch mode on the veranda.

Many of the saguaros in the park have been protected for some time, so it's not uncommon to see specimens over thirty feet tall.

The Southwest has been especially arid this year, but still these plants survive.

A scene of quintessential Southwest. 

Hi Ho Hi Ho a chirping we will go.

Adventure 645: Casita Living/Post B

Nice day in the desert. We woke up to wispy blue skies, and even though the temperature read freezing, the sun's light warmed our spirits as we sipped our morning coffee. We cobbled together a scrumptious breakfast from the fare we purchased at The Little One Cafe yesterday. I proceeded to submit the Wiley Cager to another ignominious defeat, and as she moaned like a wounded javelina, I gloated like a stupefied lottery winner. I know the fates will punish me for such callous behavior, but for now I'll take it. After breakfast, we took a stroll down the goat path to check out the neighborhood, and while we did, we got an update on the windstorm from daughter, Libby. Power is not expected until Sunday; clean up crews are busy, and Libby arranged to work from her Aunt Rose's house. It all sounds unwanted, but not undoable. Maybe the electric repairs will proceed ahead of schedule. After our walk, we did the form and readied ourselves for our first venture into the Saguaro National Park for a hike. Weather was perfect at just over seventy when we finished after four miles of ogling cactus, breathing fresh air, and basking in the Arizona warmth. We returned to the casita, showered, and enjoyed chips and salsa on the veranda. Needless to say, life is good, especially today.

After a full day, a snack, and a shower, I think I was reading from the back of my eyelids.

It's not true that if you've seen one, you've seen them all.

Here's Curly taking a bow.

Here's Marilyn lifting her skirt.

Poor selfie, but the arms of the cactus in the background curved in the shape of a heart.

Who will the fates favor tomorrow?

Look, don't touch.

This morning's thin gruel.

Stick 'em up, Partner.

Hey, Willy's want to take a walk with us?

The early inhabitants enjoyed this highpoint by carving pictures in the rocks.

The whole hillside is filled with these petroglyphs.

My Bunny, assuring her sister, Karen, that it was truly just two butt dials, and certainly no emergency.
 

Adventure 644: Tucson Get Away/Post A

Four months ago, we decided to take a winter respite for ten days in this darling casita in South Tucson. Sometime after, we got "Covid Cold Feet" and tried to change the dates or get a refund. Neither was possible, so this morning we masked up, donned our goggles and flew direct to Phoenix and on to Tucson. There were more people in the Phoenix airport than we anticipated, but most were masked well, though some noses poked out. I saw just two who blatantly held to their "Don't Tread on Me" mantra. We rented a car, ordered pick up groceries, and we'll remain out of human contact for the next ten days with two exceptions: We'll socially distance to see our friends, the Kral's, and we'll do the same to see our niece, Kate and her husband, Scott, who are traveling from the frigid land of Hoosiers for a winter vacation. This little get away casita is nestled just east of the Suguaro  National Park. It's a high budget area with quite a few nice sand, glass, and concrete abodes nestled serenely among the desert flora and fauna. It may be high budget, but the road to get here was rugged dirt, most certainly a javelina trail. I bottomed out once, which is itself disconcerting in a rental car. I didn't think we'd need a jeep. But lucky we are. Libby took us to the airport at 4:45 A.M. By the time we were in the air at 6, winds over 60 mph had pushed up and over Spokane's South bluff downing trees, smashing houses, killing one woman, and causing a power outage that took most of the day to repair. Much of the damage centered on our street of 27th Avenue. It's amazing how capricious Mother Nature is. In the valley where our daughter, Leticia lives, they had very little damage and no loss of power. Here in Tucson, it promises to be in the mid seventies for the next ten days and enough sunshine to inject a Vitamin D glow into even the most dour Northwestern face. Therefore, life is good, especially today.

The view from our veranda.

We couldn't check into the casita until 3 P.M. so we took a short trip to St Xavier Mission, which is closed, unfortunately, due to Covid concerns.

Art shots of the casita's kitchen.

Open shelving provide a clean look.

The bathroom sink deserves mention all its own.

We saw a couple of gorgeous young ladies taking pictures in the afternoon light. I copied one or their shots with my Bunny as the model.

As soon as we got our rental, we motored here for lunch and a load of home cooked dinners.

Tomorrow, we'll enjoy our coffee out here.

Tonight, we rest here.

I wonder about the message of this snake handle on the main door of the mission.

We visited this mission once before. It's filled with intricate art work made of simple elements by tasteful craftsman. Well worth a visit.

I think this is the motto of the republican party. Sad. It's hard to receive the blessing of absolution without admission of sin..."Bless me, Father, for I have sinned...."

Adventure 643: Lakin"

My Bunny relaxing.

Like kids with pillowcases full of Halloween treats, we just couldn't be satisfied with keeping the wheel side down. We also had to keep the keel side down. For most likely the last adventure of the year, the Wiley Cager and I spent an overnight on our boat, "Davey Boy". Thursday afternoon we motored down to Higgins Point on Lake Coeur 'd Alene where we enjoyed a nice walk around the point and along the lake. Then we motored into Beauty Bay where we tied the boat to a buoy and prepared to spend the night. We were the only ones in the bay, which is not surprising this time of year. Thankfully, we're enjoying a beautiful Indian Summer. The high today was 72, the low 52, and we've yet to have our first freeze. We did awake to a dew covered boat, and mirror smooth water. The fall reflections made us smile. During breakfast, the Cager absolutely annihilated me. It was all I could do to limp over the line so I could say the pitiful words, "At least I didn't get skunked." She's been hot lately. After readying the boat for sail, we hoisted the main and sailed effortlessly off the buoy. The morning thermals held most of the way back to the marina, which was delightful. Besides a small fleet of fishing boats, we owned the lake. Nice. I love sailing. It's one of the few places where absolute truth exists, which relaxes me, no small feat in this chaotic world of misinformation, half truth and unabashed deceit. The dynamics of sailing suffers none of that. "A" always results in "B" on the water. I like that. It make life good, especially today.

Davey Boy on the move.

This stately fellow is unidentified, but it looks like he enjoys lakin'.

Another joyous season slipping into the sunset.

No neighbors this evening.

Good morning dew.

The "Wiley Cager".

Let freedom ring.

Let us all reflect.

Luckiest guy on the planet.

Falcon photo of the day: "Ha Ha, Poppops, that's a good one."

Adventure 642: Home Sweet Home

Dropped Frac off for winterizing, a bitter-sweet event.

Thanks to traveling mercies, we made it home unscathed after 22 days on the road covering 3,660 miles. In total, we've been blessed with six adventures totaling almost 30,000 miles. We had already decided not to travel South this winter due to in part to Covid concerns, which really don't affect us when we travel. However, as dedicated foodies, we enjoy experiencing local fare. These days eating in restaurants is problematic in our view, so we've decided that traveling wouldn't have the same appeal. Right now, our biggest dilemma is how to handle the holidays. Usually we get together for fine meals and family togetherness. That, too, is problematic this year. We'll see. But back to our fall trip. When the smoke descended, we changed our plans because we're flexible people. The only place in the country not under siege seemed to be the midwest, so naturally we headed for Kansas. We spent a wonderful ten days visiting Judy's sisters. The weather was fabulous: warm, low humidity. The company was fabulous: Rod, Karen, Arlene, Wib. We saw some new country, and we revisited some old stops. We stopped to see good friends, and we made it safely home yesterday. As I always do, I used the adrenaline from the road to wash the trailer and the truck because sadly, we're done for this season. We finished readying Frac for the winter this morning, and I took the trailer to the Airstream dealer for winterizing and a check-up. On a sad note, the Wiley Cager ended up trouncing me in the overall cribbage standings (Since my fear is that we'll all be Republicans soon, I need to take a page from their playbook and return to cheating. After all,  as a rational man, I can convince myself that everyone does it, that it's just part of the game). I would do that, but I couldn't live with myself.  We were glad to see our home sweet home. We think we live in heaven, and we haven't yet found a place that  would make our life better, so in that sense life is good, especially today.

In our mail bag was our grand daughter, Emily's birthday present. I think she likes it.

Frac looking sweet after a cleaning in and out.

Home sweet home, on the road and off.

Fric, also cleansed of three weeks of road grime.

Son, Steve and grand daughter, Sarah. Two more reasons it's good to be home.

Falcon says, "Welcome home Mimi and Poppops.