Winter Vacation 2014 - Final Chapter

December 15th we left paradise and headed home to Illinois.  Winter was moving very fast into the Midwest and it was hard to decide which route to take.  Going north through Flagstaff was definately out because the snow was already arriving and we have no chains, or the desire to face that challenge.  The southern route takes you down along the Mexican border and the mountains are easy driving, so that's where we are going.  Extra miles??? Yes, but safest choice.  Now the second challenge was how to pack up the car.  It always seems we buy too much and exceed the space limit, so just like every vacation I'm packing up a BIG box to UPS home.  

Every time we opened the back door or trunk something fell out.  And shopping along the way was interesting.  I just can't resist the urge to pick up just one last thing for the kids.. 

We left our rental house on Monday December 15th and enjoyed the first day driving south throughTucson, then down through southern New Mexico, and into Texas.  Beautiful first day drive.  The mountains were so beautiful and it was a sunny warm day to enjoy our journey home.  (This too will change). 

First night El Paso, TX with climates in the low 60's and still very sunny.  Lucky us, there was a Rudy's BBQ right next door and we love the food there.  It was a long drive so we walked over and back.  Our weather app tells us that a storm is going through Kansas, but we aren't in a hurry so our plan is to take our time and be safe. As we leave El Paso we drive along Interstate10 which runs right along the Mexican Border.  I can see the Border Patrol vehicles along the dirt roads and it makes me feel a little sad.  What must it be like to have such a horrible life that you would try crossing the border into the US out here in the wilderness??  Not just adults but whole families including young children.  All of a sudden it was very real to me.  

Along that route we were stopped at a checkpoint where an officer looked in our car and asked if we were US citizens.  

Speed limit on this part of highway 10, wow, I'm cruising.  

Night two was in Abilene, TX.  It took two full days to get out of this HUGE state.  The weather stayed very mild until we arrived for our 3rd night stay in Mulvane, Kansas.  It had begun raining and the temperature was dropping.  As we got off of the highway for the night there was icy rain, but we were safe.  We woke up for our 4th day of driving and we found snow and ice on the car.  

John and I had been sharing the drive until now.  It was very foggy and predictions of ice and snow at our last destination before home, Des Moines, made me nervous.  Black ice is what I worry about most and in our first couple hundred miles we saw at least 5 semi's in ditches.  We were getting tired of the drive and wishing we were home, but we knew this was our last night in a hotel.  We found a very big indoor mall where we walked and walked, and of course stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  Iowa was clear and dry, but cloudy.  Our deal is that John drives until we get through the city then I take over.  Last gas up was in Altoona.  

And the price was just right..  I'm in the driver seat now and it's clear sailing home.

Welcome to Orland Park, gas prices.  $.40 higher..  

It was a wonderful 47 days, but the first thing I said when we got home was "I don't ever want to drive to AZ again". It was a very beautiful drive, but once is enough.  We talked about our next adventure but haven't decided anything.  One decision for sure is that if we return to AZ I think we would stay closer to the Scottsdale area.  THE END

 

Winter Vacation 2014 - Chapter 7

Today Justin is flying to AZ to visit us.  We have thought a lot about what to do in these short 4 days to entertain him and give him lasting memories.  Taking him to Sedona is a must and touring Scottsdale via Segway is our other activity.  Now let's get this adventure going.

Thursday November 20, 2014:

Waiting for Justin's arrival:

His plane arrived "On Time" hurray!!

After lots and lots of suggestions from friends, and taste testing restaurants based on magazine articles, we head to Scottsdale where we already know there are some great places to dine, and fun touristy places to walk around and stretch his airplane legs.  We think the cuisine for our first meal should be Mexican!  

YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY!!!!!  We will return again.

Justin was very happy to shed the coat and begin soaking up the warm sun:

It was a great start to our long weekend, and I am very happy to say the weather completely cooperated.  

Friday, November 21, we began our day with a Starbucks coffee and a bagel, then off to Sedona:

This was the jeep tour we chose.  We took this same tour when we were here in March and thought Larry our guide did an excellent job on a very COLD day.  However even though predictions were Rainy and cool, I think Justin brought us some luck, because it was SUNNY and mild all day.  We couldn't have asked for better!!  This time we had Kevin as our guide and we say without hesitation, he is even better than Larry.  

Mystic Vista:

WOW, right Justin?

Time for some quiet meditation on the very top of a mountain that is known to have vortex energy.  

Private moment when Kevin explained to Justin the meaning behind facing South when he was reflecting on his life.  

For me, it was all about contemplating how blessed I am in life, and how much peace one feels in a beautiful place like this.  Only God could have created this, and I'm saying "Thank You".

Yes, we were on the edge of beauty!!

This is Kevin our guide, explaining why this tree trunk is so twisted here in this spot.  He said that Juniper trees in Sedona twist in accordance with the whirling of the vortexes.  The stronger the energy, the more twisted they are. True or false, it felt like a spiritual earth mystery.  

Now for the story of our two guides, Larry and Kevin.  In March Larry shared a very sweet story with us about he and his wife.  He said he met her on one of his tours, and after a year of dating, thought of proposing on a hot air balloon ride.  Her daughter was invited  to come along because he felt an important decision like this should include her. All of a sudden her daughter says "Mom, wouldn't this be a great place for a proposal"?  Mom says, "oh no, I wouldn't like that".  Woops, Larry tucks that ring deeper into his pocket, to pop the question in another setting.  Coincidentally, Kevin is now sharing the exact same story of how he planned a proposal to his wife in a hot air balloon.  HMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!  Now the best part of this story is that later on in our journey someone mentions Hot Air Balloon rides, and without thinking about Kevin's previous story, i casually ask.  "Have you ever done that"?  Kevin, without thinking of his story of proposal, quickly says "NO"!!!!  Ha ha ha, Busted for telling a tour guide fib.  We did not embarrass him with the revolation of deceit but just enjoyed the rest of the tour.  

Then you can't visit Sedona without going to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Very beautiful inside with a view that is spectacular.

Justin outside the Chapel.  

Back to town for a bite to eat and a little shopping then drive back to Sun City West.  Our drive up and back for a day trip leaves us a little tired from sitting so we decide to do some mini golf to stretch the legs. 

Saturday:

Today we are doing a segway tour of Old Scottsdale. (Our 5th time riding, Justin's 3rd. We are becoming real pro's and don't really need the training) 

Very Professional nearly 3 hours of town history and secrets that only the locals know.  Places to eat and shop, and believe me I'll put all that info into my memory bank for later on in our journey.  

Riding a segway is a sensation that is hard to describe.  My legs get a little tired, but there isn't much work involved.  It's one of the things that we continue to repeat over and over.  Pic's here:

Ready, let's go!!!

This group rode sidewalks, walk paths, and even in the street.

First Catholic Church in Old Scottsdale, restored and now a high priced Mexican Restaurant.

Beautiful Bronze statues all around town.

Artsy town, beautiful pieces to not only look at, but to also experience.  This one we rode right into the center and- - - - -

This is the center of the doors sculpture.

Ended tour in about 2:45 feeling like we were treated to one of our best tours yet. 

We had a wonderful late lunch at the Italian Grotto, where we were treated to a fun street show.

This guy and his horse actually ride into one of the saloons later in the day, but we missed that.

And that SUN just keeps shining, making for a very nice outside meal.. 

Back to our rental house where Justin cooks a nice healthy meal and a fun round of a card game called 99.  (he found it on YouTube) I wish I had taken a few pics of that.  It involved random knick knacks.  

Yummy!!!   

Sunday:

7:00 Mass where Justin was the Only young person in church.  Remember, we are in Sun City West, which is a 55 and over community.  Breakfast, then back to pack for his trip home.  Oh, did I mention we had to buy him a larger bag for the flight home.  He has my "shopping gene". 

One last game of Mini golf before heading to the airport.

2:00 PM he's going through Security:

Some secret grandma tears right about now.. 😪

And then we end our weekend by sitting by the fire with our friend Ed, on a cold desert evening.  Not to worry though, the sun came out the next morning like it ALWAYS does..   

Now Thursday we are headed to Palm Springs for our Thanksgiving Club reunion.  Thanks for following my Arizona blog.  I'm making this my last one for this adventure, but I look forward to our next two weeks in the Sun and our travels home on The 15th of December.  God bless all of my family and friends and Happy Thanksgiving.  

Winter vacation 2014 - Chapter 6

Sunday November16

We went to Mass last night because we had an 8AM appointment with Cox cable company.  We now have WiFi and I have a tv to watch when I can't sleep.  I'm very spoiled!!  We were very lucky, cable guy came very early and was very fast.  Wonder if I could talk him into working for Comcast??  So, done early we headed out for a little more sightseeing.  Rawhide Steakhouse and western town in Chandler, here we come.  It should have been called a ghost town, and it also should say in the travel brochure that if you are 12 or under, this place is for you.  There was a Zip line, mechanical bull, and of course the old shoot um up action in the arena.  

Shops with some interesting greeters:

But the highlight was the Steak house.  We had a late lunch, and it was "yummy".  The New York strip steak was delicious, but not the main attraction.  Folks around us were eating the Rattlesnake appetizer!!!!  Yuck!  Yes, real stuff.  As I was told, it is illegal to kill one in AZ so they have to import them from another state. 

 My recommendation if you ever go there is the: Sweet Tea Peach Lemonade (must be 21 for this one) check out the ingredients, it was delicious..

Since the town was a real bust there was a casino down the road, so we stopped for a little session..  Played a long time on their money but they ended up taking it back.  We both lost but it was a nice place.  

Oh boy, by the time we hit the road for Sun City West the AZ Cardinal game had just ended and traffic was going to be slow.  We did have a choice to go way up and around the loop or just chance it.  We were in no big hurry so we tried our luck.  Well I sure wish our luck had been this good in the casino.  Not very many of the crowd going North, so we zipped right through.  It really did look Ugly going south, I don't like event traffic!!!!

Monday:

Now that we have our WiFi both of us have a little business to take care of, and a little light house cleaning and laundry to do.  Of course a few long walks and actually cooking dinner here was good.  

The house is fully stocked with everything imaginable, pots, pans, dishes, silverware, pizza cutter, corkscrew, well you get it.  I felt right at home very quickly.  

AZ has the 6 month folks, who must spend half of their year here in order to take advantage of residency.  Most are arriving in the month of November and will stay through April and some even May.  They are busy all day long.  Golf, walks, arts and crafts.. They swim, bike ride, play tennis and Pickle Ball, and some even just sit for hours drinking coffee solving world problems.  They are very active and most look very healthy and agile, until they go grocery shopping.  Then they park in one of the overwhelming number of handicap spots and pull out their canes and go slowly into the store.  It's a fact that if you don't have a handicap plate you are definately in the minority, who must park a mile from the front door.  

Random pictures:  Dust storm.  

Another weird cactus 

And I just couldn't resist taking this pic.  Some strange landscape designs.  A bit much for a small front yard!!

And then this selfie enjoying the sunshine.  

Our first orange.

It was juicy and delicious...

Will end this chapter here.  Tomorrow is a special day, grandson Justin is coming for a short visit.