Filling our time in the Arizona spring

It is spring in the Arizona desert and the Gold Canyon temps are in the high 80s to low 90s.  That means it is time for snowbirds to begin flying north.  We'll be doing that soon, but not yet.  

The warm weather has brought out these bright red flowers on the ocotillo plants in our resort.  These plants bloom when the temperatures heat up in March and, if there is rain, they bloom again in response to the moisture.

 The prickly pear cactus also blooms in the spring.  This plant has bright red and yellow flowers.  Others have pink flowers.

  

We met our friend Darlene Sibigtroth for lunch one day in late March.  When we lived in Granby-Grand Lake, Colorado, she was my supervisor at Mountain Parks Bank.  She and her late husband Gary were members of our church.  Now she lives in Casa Grande, south of Gold Canyon.  It was so good to catch up with her.

Darlene's daughters were people our son Eric knew in high school.  John officiated at one daughter's wedding and today that couple is related to people we know at St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church in Colorado.  That is the church John served as rector before retirement and where we worship when living in our Lone Tree apartment.  What a small world.

John is beginning to look better, too, as we wait to head north.  The dermatologist and plastic surgeon removed a basal cell cancer from near his left eye.  We're so glad that cancer is gone!

In a week or two, we'll never know the surgery took place

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Family and Good Food

We've had a busy--and delicious and fun--few days.  Our son Eric, seen here second from right, his wife Liz and son John--came to Arizona over their spring break.  They spent time with us and checked out a couple of universities here in Arizona--ASU in Tempe and Grand Canyon University.

Our grandson John brought three friends along--Branson, Josiah and Estebahn.  They have been friends for years and all of them are high school seniors.  That means giving some thought to what they want to study in college and, more importantly, where.

They spent two nights in an Airbnb rental house in San Tan Valley.  We had lunch at the Cactus grill in our resort. Coming from Colorado, the warm weather and sun were big attractions here.  I didn't realize boys like to lay out and tan in the sun.

Our neighbors Bob and Jean lent us their golf cart.  These four boys--all 16--enjoyed touring the resort on these wheels. Thanks, Bob and Jean.

That day I served a chili dinner at our place.

Monday, they moved to Tapatio Cliffs resort in Phoenix.  We joined them for lunch.

                                        

 Eric took a selfie in front of the falls in the resort.  What a beautiful place!

They are now headed north, back toward their Colorado homes.  We so enjoyed their visit.

Catching Up with Family and Friends

We haven't just been sitting here in Arizona, doing nothing.  We have had good times with family and friends.  Over their spring break, our son Eric and his wife Liz, our grandson John and his friend came to the Valley of the Sun to see us and escape the cold and snow in Colorado.  We had a great lunch at Garcia's with them.

Before they left, we also visited them at their resort, Tapatio, for another good lunch.

Yesterday, we met our friends Barbara and Ron, at the Peralta Trailhead and had a beautiful hike on the Dutchman Trail.  I had forgotten how many saguaro cactus and cholla cactus grew in that area. 

 

 

 

The US Forest Service volunteer in the parking lot told us to look for two rock formations, the cathedral and the three bears.  We think we found both of them.

We also hooked up our Airstream trailer to our new truck and went to Tucson for a few days.  The truck pulls the trailer great.  And we enjoyed a visit to the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

There were organ pipe cactus

crested cactus

and creeping cactus that looked like snakes!

We also saw beautiful human creations in the gardens.  Many of the benches were artistic creations.

Look at this garden wall.

Someone put in a lot of artistic effort to make this wall chart so we could identify the herbs and flowers in one garden.

Oh yes, we have both been able to get both of our Covid vaccination shots!  

All in all, we are enjoying our winter here in Arizona. 

Old Friends and a Scare

Since we have lived most of our lives near Denver, when we return we always make an effort to see old friends and some family that live here.

While we were staying in St. Vrain State Park near Longmont, we met our friend Betty for lunch at Goodfellers restaurant in Longmont. Betty's husband, Larry, was on the Boulder Police Department at the same time John was.  He died in March, so it was important to spend time with her.

As you can see, we were seated outside.  A relatively safe way to meet people during this Covid 19 pandemic.  The wind was blowing briskly that day and just as we were leaving the restaurant, the umbrella you see in this photo blew off and tumbled across the outdoor dining area.  Thankfully, no one was injured.

Another day we drove to The Back Porch Cafe in Fort Collins to have lunch with John's sister Cindy.  We had a good visit--and nothing blew away that day.

While out walking our last morning at St. Vrain, we ran into friends Bob and Lindsey.  They were members of St. Gabriel's in Cherry Hills Village when John was rector there.  This is the third time we have just happened to be camping the same place as they were.

After leaving St. Vrain, we moved to Chatfield State Park on the southwest corner of the Denver metro area.  We will be here for 2 weeks.  On our first morning, I noticed a park ranger truck on the road next to our RV with its flashing red lights.  Before I could say anything, someone pounded--very loudly--on our front door.  John opened the door and was told "Evacuate, Evacuate."  I looked out the window and saw smoke.  John turned off our propane tanks and I picked up our computer and two iPads and we hurried to the truck and drove across the road to the group camping area.  This is what we saw as we looked back at our campground loop.

We were watching for several minutes before trucks from South Metro Fire Rescue arrived at the scene.  If you click on the image below, you can see one of the trees in flames.

A couple  of the younger campers had grabbed a bucket and shovel and were going to help fight the fire, but the fire department arrived to do the work.

This is the location of the fire--just across the camp loop road and one space to the southeast of us.  We are glad they put the fire out before any RVs were damaged or people injured.

We will have quality time with our son Eric and his family and with other friends during our time here in the Denver area.  We just hope there aren't any more dramatic events like airborne umbrellas or fires to spice up our lives.

Thanksgiving With Friends

On Thanksgiving we gathered with neighbors for a great pot-luck meal.  Usually these get-togethers are held on someone's patio but the day was cold(by Arizona standards) so we crowded into one of the homes.

I won't try to name everyone present but the group included people who live in our resort and some who left us for larger homes nearby but are still friends.

Everyone brings their own cutlery and beverage and a dish to share.  There was plenty of food to go around and lots of smiles laughter and sharing.

We will be having another gathering on Christmas.  Many of our neighbors go home for these holidays but those of us who stay are never lonely.

Visits with Family and Friends

Our summer trips to Colorado always include visiting old friends--they are old, like us, but also people we have known for more than 50 years.

We drove to Longmont to see Betty and Larry.  John worked with Larry on the Boulder Police Department.  For several years we all lived in the same trailer park in Boulder.

We also met Dave and Kathy for lunch. I first met Kathy at Freshman Camp at the University of Colorado and for a couple of years we all lived in the same apartment house.

They attended our 50th wedding anniversary celebrations and we were at theirs.

We were delighted to attend the Boy Scout Court of Honor when our grandson received his Eagle Scout badge.

We traveled to Canon City for a visit before heading out.  We saw nephew Todd and brother-in-law John at John's home.

Then we were off to a restaurant to have lunch with John and his friend Nancy and John's brother Tim. 



We made a stop our our niece Megan's home and were also able  to see one of her children, Victoria.

When we leave this area, we never know how long it will be before we see these people again so we always try to make the most of our time here.

Showers Bring Flowers

The desert is incredibly beautiful since we received so much rain so far this year--almost 4 1/2 inches. That is unusual for Arizona for this time of year. Friday we went hiking with our friend Barbara and her friend Mickey. And it is also green, greener than we have seen before.

We found pots of gold everywhere.  Not the type you find at the end of the rainbow.  These were poppies and daisies in yellow, gold and some orange.

We also saw a lot more green than we usually find in the Arizona desert.

There was also a field of daisies along the road before we entered the park.

We are looking forward to seeing the cactus plants bloom soon.