Relaxing

After two and a half busy months, we have had two weeks of doing little or nothing.  And have we ever enjoyed it!  We may have full hookups with 50 amp electric, but this is camping.  Way back when we were working, a trip out with our RV was usually just a time to relax.  That is what we have done during our stay at St. Vrain State Park.

We visited John's sister Cindy at her new home in Fort Collins.  She had a small home built in a senior community there and we enjoyed seeing the house and the "big house" where there are apartments, a very nice dining room and other amenities.  We then drove to the Back Porch Café for lunch.  We had a good visit.

John has been working on two diamond willow walking sticks that needed cleaning and sanding.  They promise to be really attractive.  I brought along a bowl I had turned that needed sanding and a scroll saw project that needed sanding and assembling.  I completed both of those projects.

We have both been writing.  I am putting together stories of my life.  John is finishing up a future book about his ancestors.

Other than that, we have only left the campground for groceries and visits to the laundromat.  Each day we walk five miles, enjoying the ponds in this park.  I could post the many, many photos I took here this year and last.  I could take pictures of reflections and birds all day long.  I will spare you all the photos, but here are three I took this week.

There are several pelicans that spend most of their time on one of the ponds.  They often float around in a group, looking like a small island.  They are impressive when it flight when the bottom of their wings are tipped in black.

This blue heron liked having it's picture taken, I guess.  It posed for us in this tree for over 6 minutes before we walked on.

We saw these logs in one pond this morning.

One of the fields hadn't been mowed before we passed it last week. The sun really showed off the flowers that were going to seed. They looked like a really large dandelion flower but they are probably some plant I don't recognize.

John almost always gets up before me, often getting out of bed before first light. Yesterday he woke me up before 5:30 (I usually get up about 6), telling me there was going to be a spectacular sunrise. Was he ever right! It was definitely worth waking up a little early.

Tomorrow we move on to Chatfield State Park in southwest Denver.

Last Days of Company

We had been going almost non-stop with our company so Monday, before John and Kendal left, we just sat around and talked.  Family time is so important and we had a good time together.  Mid-afternoon we saw them to the security checkpoint at Phoenix-Gateway Airport for their (fairly) short flight to Colorado Springs.

Cindy was leaving late Tuesday afternoon so we explored one more location she had not seen, the Queen Creek Olive Mill. We had been there but never took a tour. This time we learned a lot from the Olive Oil 101 presentation.

This old olive mill from Italy decorates the grounds.

Our tour guide was friendly, funny and full of all sorts of good information.  We started out in the olive grove.  They have 7,000 olive trees on 25 acres of land.  We learned that if 4% of the spring olive tree blossoms become olives a grove is commercially viable.

Queen Creek has 16 varieties of olive trees.  Olives have no natural threats in Arizona so they have no need for pesticides.  From the grove, we were off to the mill.  We learned a lot about how they make the oil and what makes it high quality.

These vats are where the oil is processed.  They bottle their oil every 3 weeks so what you purchase in their stores is always fresh.

We heard about the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil and about the other kinds of olive oil.

After the tour, we had lunch in their café.  They grow their own produce for many of the dishes they offer.

They also have fresh bread.  Did you know you can substitute olive oil for other fats in breads and cakes?  I didn't.  I had delicious red velvet cake made with chocolate olive oil.

They sell oils and vinegars, as well as breads.  There are tasting stations throughout the store.  A chocolate olive oil and balsamic vinegar mixture was my favorite.

After lunch we were off to Sky Harbor Airport where Cindy caught her plane to Denver. We had a great week with family, but we also needed a day or two of rest after they left.

Food and Woodcarving

We did a lot of eating and talking over the weekend with Cindy, Kendal and John.  It included dinner at our house in Gold Canyon

and lunch at Sweet Tomatoes in Tempe,

Sunday morning before worship at Epiphany Episcopal Church in Tempe, we gave our guests a tour of the memorial garden there.

After lunch we were off to the Mesa Woodcarving Show.  There were lots of amazing projects there, including this intricate carved or scroll saw worked box.

I like this unusual bowl with turquoise inserts.

These two segmented bowls were prize-winning for sure.

And this large segmented vase is impressive, too.

We enjoyed this relief carving of horses and a wagon.

This was John and Kendal's first visit to the Phoenix area. Kendal is a multi-talented artist and John does a lot of woodworking so they both enjoyed the two events we visited over the weekend.

Family and Gourds

After the visit to the Musical Instrument Museum we took it easy for a few hours before going to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to pick up John 's sister Kendal and her husband John.  They didn't land till after 9 that evening so it was a late night for all of us.

Saturday morning we showed them around our resort, including a stop in the weight room where we go to work out.

Then we were off to the Gourd Festival at the Pinal County Fairgrounds.  It was a warm but not hot day and we had a good time.

We have been to this festival several times.  Cindy enjoyed it last year and came back at the same time again this year so she could shop some more.  Just look at all these creations.

This gourd had a weaving at the top.

The painting on this one has Southwestern kokopelli figures painted around the outside.



This gourd with the scene inside shows a group of soldiers, perhaps from the Civil War. 

Cruising Saguaro

Today we took John's sister Cindy, who is visiting for a week, for a cruise on Saguaro Lake north of Gold Canyon. A few weeks ago we hiked along the lake with friends Barbara and Ron and were looking forward to the cruise. We sailed on the Desert Belle.

The boat seats about 150 people. We picked up sandwiches from the Lakeshore Restaurant next to the marina. We planned to eat them during the cruise, but ending up consuming them while waiting to board.

The scenery on the 10-mile long lake is beautiful.

There are several American bald eagles nesting along the lake. We got a (very distant) view of one of them.

Several of the rock formations have been named. This is the elephant.

It was a fun and beautiful trip. We really recommend it.

Wood Carving

The last event we took Cindy to see was the annual Mesa Woodcarving Show.  Again, she was able to see what grandparents do for fun during their winters in Arizona. Below are just a sampling of the many amazing projects on display.

Chip carving

Is this really carved out of wood?  Yes.

I believe this is a relief carving.  What amazing depth!

It is really hard to tell this is made of wood. 

This ferris wheel was made on a scroll saw.  Fantastic detail.

Cindy really liked caricature carvings, especially when they have a smile on their face.

Look at this cowgirl's grin.

There was a display of computer generated laser carving.

Sunday, our only outing was to church. Monday, Cindy flew back to Colorado with a promise to come back next winter. What will we do then?

Organ Stop Pizza

For a fun night of entertainment, you can't beat Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa.  One evening, we went there with Cindy.  Their pizza is good and the music that come out of the organ is amazing.  The organ was originally built for the Denver Theater and installed in 1927.  By the late 1930s, it was rarely heard.  Now it can be enjoyed here in Arizona.

In the past we have been their with a group from our RV resort.  At that time, we learned more about the organ's history and the organist demonstrated its many different components.  We didn't hear that last week, but we did enjoy the program.

The organ and organist rise out of the basement on a rotating stage.

This view shows illuminated areas with various part of the organ, from bellows to pipes to an accordian.

We were seated just to the right of the stage.

At times, the organist turned to the audience to announce who was celebrating birthdays.

 I don't know how they do it, but at one point the music being produced by the keyboards also made these puppets dance.  How fun!