TIME FLIES

We've been busy getting a few things accomplished. Don put new carpet on the front steps and I kind of finished going through possessions to get rid of. I made curtains for the kitchen and bedroom and shortened a pair in the living room. Now the ugly valences are gone for good-yea! The other day, I started my container garden by planting tomatoes, lettuce and radishes. The radishes have poked through already. Yesterday, we went up to Phoenix to the Desert Botanical Garden plant sale and came home with ten shrubs and cacti. Some are large and some are small, but all require holes in that hard ground. I think we'll wait until it's cooler or do it early in the morning. Since people are returning, so are the activities. I've been going to a Zumba class-don't know how long that will last-my body isn't very happy! We've both been playing Texas Holdem-three times last week. Last night 22 people played-Don came in second and I came in third-both in the money. We'll see how we do tomorrow. A little bit of work and a little bit of fun-can't beat it!!!

WINTER GUESTS RETURNING

There's a dramatic difference in the park in the last two weeks-people are returning. This one didn't quite make the corner of the people directly behind us.
They had unloaded the fifth wheel and he was taking it to the storage area-he told me he forgot it was back there??? He kind of got caught up on the fire hydrant which made a hole in his tire.

It took a little while to get the problem solved without doing more damage. They unhooked the truck and rehooked it up sideways to back it up. It worked-but then, he had to go home and tell his wife-ouch! Thank God it wasn't us!

FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

A couple weeks ago, we drove down to Marana, right outside of Tucson, and went to a high school football game. The coach and his wife used to live in the park, so we thought it would be fun to go and see them and his team. (We miss seeing our grandchildren play this season-Dan plays on the varsity team at Dunbar HS in Lexington, Kentucky and Brian plays on the freshman team. Lucas, who lives in Grinnell, Iowa, is playing for a light weight team in Lynnville, IA. He plays quarterback and also kicks field goals.) Anyway, we enjoyed the game with neighbors, Dana and Jerry Anthous and Barb and Bob Knapp. In this picture, Joni, the coaches wife is sitting behind us.
The high school is named Mountain View, so the team is called the Mountain Lions. That explains why lions rule-just not tonight.

I had trouble getting a picture of Larry, but he's down there busy coaching.

Larry is a retired coach who missed the game after taking early retirement in Missouri. He's in the Missouri Hall of Fame, so maybe after a little while he'll be able to turn this team around. Talking to him proves he's happy back in the game. We had fun and wish him well!

MORE MYSTERY

We stopped in Cave Creek for lunch at one of our favorite places-I'm sure you can guess where.

They liked their sandwiches and we just had to have strawberry shortcake.
It tasted better than the fuzzy picture shows. We continued down to Glendale to the Cerrata Chocolate Company which I knew would be okay, because Dana loves chocolate!

We then continued further south and took them to another place they've never been-South Mountain. It wasn't very clear, but you could see a lot of Phoenix.

We were going to go to another restaurant for supper, but were too full. That will have to come later when we again try to convince them that-"In to every life, a little fun must fall!" We were surprised that Jerry didn't twitch and may have stopped thinking about work for awhile. He even mentioned doing it again some day. Yea! (If I said anything good about Jerry in this entry-I'll deny it!!!)

MYSTERY TRIP

We have absolutely enjoyed our neighbors across the street this summer. Jerry and Dana are sweet, funny and all around delightful human beings. They are always helping someone in the park and whenever someones in trouble, they immediately look for Jerry. While we were gone we appreciated them watching our home, but they wouldn't take anything for it. In a weak moment, I got him to agree to a mystery trip. Of course, then we had to wait until he had time-he's very busy! A couple weeks ago, we finally went. I hardly slept the night before worrying if he'd like it-he's kind of an obsessive compulsive worker. I knew Dana wouldn't be a problem-but Jerry was a problem. We headed north of Phoenix and he was ready for a nap. That was okay because he was up at 4:oo to clean the pools before we left. I had forgotten how pretty it is up that way.

When we turned off the highway, Don made a wrong turn (fancy that!) off the round about and this is where we ended up-at a casino-but, we didn't go in!

We arrived at Montezuma's Castle and when Jerry heard it was cliff dwellings, he didn't look too thrilled. But, by the time we left, he was amazed that people could have lived like that.

I included this picture, because some people probably wouldn't believe that Jerry knows how to sit down!

As we went down the road, Jerry was still talking about "those people".

ON TO GLOBE

We drove on to the mining town of Globe at the top of another mountain. We've shown you pictures many times, like this one of the town. (Of course the spot is new this time!)

On this day, there were lightning fires in the mountains and smoke in town.

We continued on home and had dinner at Olive Garden. (Note to Al-I didn't add to my stash this time, so there's no reason to worry about where it's hidden!) It was a fun trip anyway!

TONTO NATIONAL MONUMENT

A couple miles down the road, we stopped at the Tonto National Monument, which had a nice film about the area and the native Indians, plus a nice view toward the lake.

Many cacti in the area.

Because it was very hot and it was an uphill climb, we decided to forgo the walk, and take a picture of the cliff dwellings from a short distance away.

Sorry to make you squint!

ROOSEVELT LAKE VISITORS CENTER

Down the road a couple miles is the visitors center.


Inside they have a small area of exhibits-mainly of the local animals.

Outside they had a garden of native cacti and plants, along with a petroglyph.

There's also a nice view of part of the lake and marina.(I'm sure you've noticed the problems I'm having with the blog lately. It seems to change when I publish it, and when I correct the spaces, it does exactly what it wants to do. This is not good for ones blood pressure!! Also-lately I have a spot that comes and goes in the camera. Could someone be haunting me?)

COLORFUL ROCKS

The rocks at the dam are very colorful, sometimes many colors in just one.

They're even prettier to the naked eye. Here's a bunch of them.

Lots of color in the hill.


Too many saguaros to count.

Just had to show you the curvy area as you leave the dam.

ON TO ROOSEVELT DAM AND LAKE

(I'm sorry this is taking so much time to finish the entry on this trip. I've been trying to get the contents of the shed gone through and put away-or gotten ready to get rid of. People are returning and activities will be increasing, so I won't have as much time. I'm determined to get this done today-and maybe get caught up. We'll see if the fickle finger of fate intrudes on my plan!) Anyway, we headed down the road from Jake's Corner, and drove along Roosevelt Lake for many miles.
We could see this bridge in the distance, and finally went across it.

If you look the other direction, you can see the dam.

You can drive to the other side of the dam where they have a reststop.

Don was intrigued with an old tunnel that was closed-you cansee the other end in the picture.. He spent a lot of time looking at the hills to find the other end-I guess it's a guy thing.