Show Low

Settled in at a very nice, very interesting RV Park in Show Low. It is slowly turning over into a full "Park model" resort but they still have some RV spaces they let out. We are quite impressed with the place. If we were of a mind to do something like this. . .well, we aren't quite there yet!

Hiked a 4 mile trail this morning. Beautiful spring walk in the woods.

On the Road Again!!

We are gone!! 5 hour drive to Northeast Arizona to Show Low. Beautiful driving day, beautiful drive from Tucson , through Oracle, Winkleman, Globe, especially through Salt River Canyon--from desert to Pinyon scrub land and finally to tall Pines and high elevation moderate temperatures.

Salt River Canyon

Dinner at a funky local restaurant called The Hungry Buffalo. Great fish tacos! 

First day, as usual remembering/relearning all the quirks of RV--biggest annoyance, however is that we can't find the TV remote!!

And so it begins. .

Yesterday was the first day of the summer that we reached 100 degrees. And then today it hit 103 degrees at Tucson airport. Just a paltry 101 on my patio. Time to head out of town. As a matter of fact. . .

We are slowly packing the RV. Planning to head out on Thursday. Couple of doctors appts, lunch and dinner with friends, a kiln fire, and a few projects before we could start our summer!

A drive out to the Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Memorial Day. A sobering sight.

Home. . .for a while

Always feels good to be home, even though I miss being in New Jersey at the same time. We were so busy this past month that now seems so quiet. 

Thought maybe we missed spring here, but Saguaro trees are at their peek now. 

Two lizards cavorting on my garden wall.

This must be the year for Ironwood trees. I see trees blooming that subtle pink/lavender everywhere, even places I never noticed before. I know that individual Ironwood trees don't necessarily bloom every year--obviously this is year is special.

My early morning walk this morning took me past these beautiful Hollyhocks! Didn't realize they could be successful grown here. The homeowner was outside watering and when I admired her flowers she gave me a bunch of seeds and assured me they do well here. Gotta give them a try!!

We have a renegade Cat Claw vine growing thru the patio roof. Just happened to look up and spied a hummingbird nest right over our heads!! Now that we are home I am afraid she will abandon the nest as so much activity on our patio! Fun surprise!!

Eating out and Downtown again

We took the time out to get the whole family together for a Korean food  extravaganza including Korean BBQ.

Some assistance grilling the BBQ!

Lia had a dance class downtown 

so we did a bit more exploring while we waited for her. Found an honest to goodness Farm Market on Broadway and 66th!

Could only watch her through closed circuit screen as she did her moves!

Had Lamb and Rice at a Halal food truck. Very tasty!

Came home to this neighborhood critter enjoying some juicy greens at the front door. They are around here frequently and seem to be pretty use to people. Boba, the dog goes bonkers however!

Today was Stephanie's birthday. She sent picture from Hong Kong of celebrating with friend Vanessa  with High Tea at the famous Peninsula Hotel!  Happy Birthday girl!!!

Doing the town! A day in New York City

We took a day out--just the two of us to spend the day in the city and just be tourists! Took an express bus from our AirBnB that takes us all the way to downtown bus terminal-- just a couple blocks from Time Square. Then we signed up for a "Hop-on-Hop off" Big Bus tour of downtown New York--always wanted to do that.

It was actually kinda cold to start with but still wanted to sit "up top" so we wouldn't miss anything!

Did the 9-11 Twin Towers Memorial--boy has it changed since we last saw it! Still very moving but it has so much added over the years. Now there is a shopping center connected!

Walked out onto Brooklyn Bridge. Popular thing to fo, lots of people enjoying the bridge! It is an amazing, imposing structure!

Bryant Park and the New York City Library is really a special place. The library is an excellent museum in its own right, plus being a beautiful building.

A copy of Guttenburg Bible is there.

An original of Audubon's first addition of his Birds of America. No idea the book would be this large! 

Dim Sum for lunch at Tim Ho Wan!  We share a joke and call it "Tim Horton Dim Sum." Too hard to explain and only funny to us anyway!

Time Square and the skyline from the bus headed back to New Jersey! Takes about the same time to get downtown on bus as driving but the bus is MUCH more pleasant and certainly less stressful than driving, much less parking!

Mother's Day

Mothers Day Brunch at Brownstone Pancake House was quite the experience! They take no reservations so we waited at least a half hour for a table in this noisy, eclectic pancake eatery. But once we got our (quite nice actually,) table in the corner we were served a delightful array of sugary confections to complement our breakfast omelets and pancakes! So much sugar that the girls couldn't even begin to finish it!  But was nice to take the time to celebrate the Moms!

And then back to work, arranging, fixing, moving stuff around, all the little chores that need to be done on this "new" house that would be hard for Doug to do alone with his diminished vision!

Jack and Wanda

We took a mini trip to Pennsylvania just for 2 days to see long-time and dear friends Jack and Wanda Givler. Daughter, Crystal is same age as Stephanie.  A very scenic 4+ hour drive to Belleville, Pennsylvania.

This picturesque valley near State College, Pennsylvania is home to a large community of Amish and also Mennonite. We spent a couple hours checking out the neighborhood, admiring the neat, very large Amish homes and farms and stopping at several retail locations that caters to Amish and Mennonite needs

Just a little contemplative spot to rest along a little stream.

The best locally grown tomatoes!

So fun to catch up and share many memories over the 55+ years we have known each other. We first became fast friends when we met in the Air Force in Biloxi, Mississippi all those years ago.