Our grandson Sean and his fiance announced their upcoming wedding a couple weeks ago. Sean called us to let us know when so we could schedule our roaming around and be there for the wedding. They had some photos taken and I've included the link to the photos. I don't know how long they will be the featured couple, so if you are interested in seeing them, take a quick look. I may be a little biased, but I think they make a great couple and truly are soul mates.
Way to go, Sean.
Sean & Taylor
They are featured on December 14, 2010 blog entry. Scroll down to see them.
Sabillasville, Maryland farm
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Morning & Day
It appears that we were good little boys and girls this year since we didn't get a lump of coal and we did get a lot of presents. This is the before picture early in the morning.
Last night after Mass we drove through a couple of neighborhoods to see the Christmas lights and displays. One house in particular had a beautiful display and the owners had a sign up inviting people to share some free hot chocolate and toys with them. We hadn't worn our coats and it was chilly so we just stopped and wished them a Merry Christmas. We both agreed that this was a great idea. Wish we would have thought of it. It is nice to see a display of the Christmas spirit like that.
The park was sponsoring a Christmas dinner today with each couple bringing a dish. Cousin Sharon & Al, along with fellow campers Steve & Judy joined us for the dinner. The park provided ham and potatoes to go with the potluck and the Rec Center was full of happy campers. There was an excess of deserts this year and fewer warm dishes, but there was more than enough food for everyone to fill up and roll out of there.
Sharon & Al went back to their RV site and Steve & Judy stopped by our RV and visited until 10pm. They are an interesting couple and we had a lot to chat about. Since this is their first trip out to the Southwest as snowbirds they intend to bounce around and check out different areas before they decide where to stay next year. Sounds like a great idea to me.
Now to catch up on some rest and relaxation in the next few days.
Last night after Mass we drove through a couple of neighborhoods to see the Christmas lights and displays. One house in particular had a beautiful display and the owners had a sign up inviting people to share some free hot chocolate and toys with them. We hadn't worn our coats and it was chilly so we just stopped and wished them a Merry Christmas. We both agreed that this was a great idea. Wish we would have thought of it. It is nice to see a display of the Christmas spirit like that.
The park was sponsoring a Christmas dinner today with each couple bringing a dish. Cousin Sharon & Al, along with fellow campers Steve & Judy joined us for the dinner. The park provided ham and potatoes to go with the potluck and the Rec Center was full of happy campers. There was an excess of deserts this year and fewer warm dishes, but there was more than enough food for everyone to fill up and roll out of there.
Sharon & Al went back to their RV site and Steve & Judy stopped by our RV and visited until 10pm. They are an interesting couple and we had a lot to chat about. Since this is their first trip out to the Southwest as snowbirds they intend to bounce around and check out different areas before they decide where to stay next year. Sounds like a great idea to me.
Now to catch up on some rest and relaxation in the next few days.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tucson, Arizona
This will be another short blog from us. We are heading out to an early Mass on Christmas Eve. We usually go to the children's mass on Christmas day, however this year we will skip that so Gerry can get the potluck contribution in the oven early.
We do want to wish all our family and friends a very
We do want to wish all our family and friends a very
Merry Christmas
Our cabin taken after the heavy snows of last February. Beautiful, but too cold for me.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
It is hard to believe it is almost Christmas already. With the temps in the 70s and beautiful weather, it is hard to get in the Christmas spirit. That changed somewhat today with two packages arriving from our children with presents and goodies in them. Great! Both daughters are great bakers and we always look forward to their cookies and breads. Trust me, they are great. I already have checked them out.
We had some last minute shopping to do today and ran into the typical horrendous traffic around the malls. Where did all these people come from and why did they wait until the last minute? There are a couple groups out here that collect toys for the needy children and we went out and bought 7-8 toys to contribute to the cause. We took them to one store that collects them, however they picked up the toys this morning. Oh Oh! We then went to the local firehouse where we donated the toys last year. Thank God they hadn't picked them up there yet. We dodged the bullet this time.
Since we were out on the road, we decided to eat dinner out at a Chinese restaurant. Two Chinese meals in three days. There goes the sodium allowance for the month. We did enjoy the meals so that made it ok.
We sure do live an exciting life out here in the desert. LOL
Our son Larry Jr. writes a blog and I almost died laughing at his writings today. It took me three tries to finish reading his edition tonight. You can read what he had to say by clicking the "Pondering Dad" blog on the side of my blog.
The sunset last night was spectacular and I managed to get a decent shot before it faded. We have had some rain out here the last couple days and it was clearing up right at sunset.
We had some last minute shopping to do today and ran into the typical horrendous traffic around the malls. Where did all these people come from and why did they wait until the last minute? There are a couple groups out here that collect toys for the needy children and we went out and bought 7-8 toys to contribute to the cause. We took them to one store that collects them, however they picked up the toys this morning. Oh Oh! We then went to the local firehouse where we donated the toys last year. Thank God they hadn't picked them up there yet. We dodged the bullet this time.
Since we were out on the road, we decided to eat dinner out at a Chinese restaurant. Two Chinese meals in three days. There goes the sodium allowance for the month. We did enjoy the meals so that made it ok.
We sure do live an exciting life out here in the desert. LOL
Our son Larry Jr. writes a blog and I almost died laughing at his writings today. It took me three tries to finish reading his edition tonight. You can read what he had to say by clicking the "Pondering Dad" blog on the side of my blog.
The sunset last night was spectacular and I managed to get a decent shot before it faded. We have had some rain out here the last couple days and it was clearing up right at sunset.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Slow Days
Well, things have been slow lately around here. The park sponsored a singing duo on Saturday night and we enjoyed their music. They played a mix on country ( little bit ) and more recent songs along with some oldies. I prefer that to a steady diet of the same thing. It is neat how two people can generate so many sounds with a keyboard and guitar.
Our friends Gloria & Doug abandoned us for the wet, humid weather of Florida last week and are now making their way across Texas. Last sighting of them was in San Antonio, TX on their way to Melbourne, FL. According to my calculations that leaves them 1230 miles to go and at 200 miles a day they won't be there for Xmas. If I know Gloria she will be pressing Doug to drive a little faster and longer and make it before Xmas. LOL
Today is cookie baking day and we have to run out and get some additional supplies so Gerry can finished the job. I am the official cookie taster and take this very important task very seriously. Someone has to do this task and I am the one. Yeah! I can just taste the mincemeat cookies now.
So much for now. Maybe some cookie picture postings later. That is, I don't eat them all. These are just a few cookies baked already, along with some from daughter Barbara. ( Russian tea cakes; mixed one in lower center ) Of course I have checked them for taste and all are great. It smells like a bakery here in the motor home.
Our friends Gloria & Doug abandoned us for the wet, humid weather of Florida last week and are now making their way across Texas. Last sighting of them was in San Antonio, TX on their way to Melbourne, FL. According to my calculations that leaves them 1230 miles to go and at 200 miles a day they won't be there for Xmas. If I know Gloria she will be pressing Doug to drive a little faster and longer and make it before Xmas. LOL
Today is cookie baking day and we have to run out and get some additional supplies so Gerry can finished the job. I am the official cookie taster and take this very important task very seriously. Someone has to do this task and I am the one. Yeah! I can just taste the mincemeat cookies now.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Rainy Day in Tucson
We were watching the winter storm watch on local television and got quite a chuckle. You would think the tenth of an inch of rain was a major blizzard. I guess the TV stations have to get your attention so that is how they do it.
This would have been a balmy day back in Maryland and hardly worth mentioning on the news. North of Phoenix up by Flagstaff & Show Low they received some snow and bad weather but they are more than 200 miles from Tucson.
We finally got the Christmas decorations out and worked on getting them in place. The Christmas cards are in the mail and the only thing left to do is find the outside lights and put the red Christmas bow on the front of the motor home. Gerry is going to make some cookies and the smells in the motor home should be great. I think I smell mince meat pie coming up in the near future.
This would have been a balmy day back in Maryland and hardly worth mentioning on the news. North of Phoenix up by Flagstaff & Show Low they received some snow and bad weather but they are more than 200 miles from Tucson.
We finally got the Christmas decorations out and worked on getting them in place. The Christmas cards are in the mail and the only thing left to do is find the outside lights and put the red Christmas bow on the front of the motor home. Gerry is going to make some cookies and the smells in the motor home should be great. I think I smell mince meat pie coming up in the near future.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Happy Birthday
Today is a special day for a friend of ours. Gloria is celebrating a birthday but since I am a gentleman I will not mention when she was born. Of course if I did she would make sure I didn't celebrate another birthday.
Happy Birthday Gloria.
Gloria and Doug arrived in Tucson after spending a week in the Phoenix area and will be here for a couple days. We went shopping with them today and had a nice dinner with them. After dinner we went to their motorhome and played a game of Catch Phrase with them. The girls took us guys 2 games to 1. I think Gloria cheated. LOL Just kidding.
Happy Birthday Gloria.
Gloria and Doug arrived in Tucson after spending a week in the Phoenix area and will be here for a couple days. We went shopping with them today and had a nice dinner with them. After dinner we went to their motorhome and played a game of Catch Phrase with them. The girls took us guys 2 games to 1. I think Gloria cheated. LOL Just kidding.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Tumacacori Mission
I thought it might be a good time to explain what the photo at the top of my blog refers to. We stopped along I-19 just south of Tubac, AZ and took the photo of Tumacacori Mission which is a National Park site. We then toured the Mission and found it to be very interesting and fairly well preserved. The National Park Service has a short writeup of the Mission and I have included it below.
The name "Tumacácori" may have been derived from two O’odham words, chu-uma and kakul, having reference to a flat, rocky place. Father Kino established it as a mission in January 1691, one day before Guevavi, making it the oldest mission site in Arizona. For many years, though, it was a visita or visiting station of the mission headquarters at Guevavi. During most of those years, it was located on the east side of the Santa Cruz River and was called San Cayetano de Tumacácori. Services were held in a small adobe structure built by the Pima inhabitants of the village. After the Pima rebellion of 1751, the mission was moved to the present site on the west side of the river and renamed San José de Tumacácori. Here the first actual church edifice was built.
Bishop Antonio de los Reyes on 6 July 1772 wrote a report on the condition of the missions in the Upper and Lower Pimería Alta. Following is his report on San José de Tumacácori as translated by Father Kieran McCarty:
It was not until 1821 that work truly resumed. An enterprising Franciscan, Father Juan Bautista Estelric, sold 4,000 head of the mission's cattle to a local rancher, Don Ignacio Pérez, and with the first payment hired a new master and pushed the work ahead. The walls were raised to 14 feet, but the rancher stalled on his payments and construction again ceased. Two years later, Father Ramón Liberós, a persistent friar, finally got the rancher to pay his bill, and work resumed. Within a few years the church was almost completed, although the bell tower was never capped with its dome. The church must have been a striking landmark in the flat Santa Cruz Valley, with its embellished and painted façade and plaster walls embedded with crushed red brick
If you are ever in the area I would recommend you take an afternoon and visit the Mission.
Below are some photos we took the day of our visit.
The name "Tumacácori" may have been derived from two O’odham words, chu-uma and kakul, having reference to a flat, rocky place. Father Kino established it as a mission in January 1691, one day before Guevavi, making it the oldest mission site in Arizona. For many years, though, it was a visita or visiting station of the mission headquarters at Guevavi. During most of those years, it was located on the east side of the Santa Cruz River and was called San Cayetano de Tumacácori. Services were held in a small adobe structure built by the Pima inhabitants of the village. After the Pima rebellion of 1751, the mission was moved to the present site on the west side of the river and renamed San José de Tumacácori. Here the first actual church edifice was built.
Bishop Antonio de los Reyes on 6 July 1772 wrote a report on the condition of the missions in the Upper and Lower Pimería Alta. Following is his report on San José de Tumacácori as translated by Father Kieran McCarty:
The village of San Jose at Tumacácori lies seven leagues to the south of Guevavi and one from the Presidio of Tubac, in open territory with good lands. In this village they have a church and house for the Missionary devoid of all ornament and furnishing. According to the Census Book, which I have here before me, there are twenty-two married couples, twelve widowers, ten orphans, the number of should in all ninety-three.The Franciscans began work in 1800 on an ambitious undertaking - a church that would match the frontier baroque glory of the celebrated Mission San Xavier del Bac not far to the north. Under the direction of a master mason, a maestro de albanil, a crew of Indian and Spanish laborers laid five-foot thick cobblestone foundations that year, but construction ground to a halt as funds dried up. Over the next few years they were able to add a few courses of adobe bricks, bringing the walls up to seven feet. These were plastered inside and out and decorative handfuls of crushed brick were pressed into the wet plaster.
It was not until 1821 that work truly resumed. An enterprising Franciscan, Father Juan Bautista Estelric, sold 4,000 head of the mission's cattle to a local rancher, Don Ignacio Pérez, and with the first payment hired a new master and pushed the work ahead. The walls were raised to 14 feet, but the rancher stalled on his payments and construction again ceased. Two years later, Father Ramón Liberós, a persistent friar, finally got the rancher to pay his bill, and work resumed. Within a few years the church was almost completed, although the bell tower was never capped with its dome. The church must have been a striking landmark in the flat Santa Cruz Valley, with its embellished and painted façade and plaster walls embedded with crushed red brick
If you are ever in the area I would recommend you take an afternoon and visit the Mission.
Below are some photos we took the day of our visit.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Quiet days
We've had a couple quiet days around here lately. Gerry and I went to the coffee & donuts social on Tuesday morning and contributed our $$ to the 50/50 drawing. We missed winning the prize but Loretta who came in just ahead of us was the big winner. Guess we will have to get there sooner next time.
The large RV dealers in the area used to sponsor the coffee and donut gatherings on Tuesday morning, but since Beaudry went out of business and La Mesa and Freedom RV seem to be in a slump also, they have withdrawn from sponsoring the goodies. Too bad, we used to be able to see what units they had available since they would always bring 2-3 for display. Times are tough.
Gerry went to the sewing club after coffee and I headed out to complete a couple things on the honey do list. I dropped by and picked up Allen and we completed the tasks quickly. Of course that made us thirsty so we stopped at Tucson McGraw Cantina for a cold one on the way back.
That was the summary of happenings around here, but I have my eye on you all.
Gloria & Doug had a minor mechanical problem on their motor home and hung around for another day to take care of the problem and left on Tuesday for the next leg of their journey. Hopefully they will stop for a day or so on their return through Tucson to visit with us again. Maybe dinner at Montgomerys Bar & Grill will be enough to get them to stop.
Have you all noticed that the TV programming is mostly reruns lately? I guess they think we are out shopping and not watching their commercials or something. There are just so many Christmas programs that I can watch each season, so that limits what is available. At least there is football, basketball and hockey on tv now so there is something to check out.
The large RV dealers in the area used to sponsor the coffee and donut gatherings on Tuesday morning, but since Beaudry went out of business and La Mesa and Freedom RV seem to be in a slump also, they have withdrawn from sponsoring the goodies. Too bad, we used to be able to see what units they had available since they would always bring 2-3 for display. Times are tough.
Gerry went to the sewing club after coffee and I headed out to complete a couple things on the honey do list. I dropped by and picked up Allen and we completed the tasks quickly. Of course that made us thirsty so we stopped at Tucson McGraw Cantina for a cold one on the way back.
That was the summary of happenings around here, but I have my eye on you all. Gloria & Doug had a minor mechanical problem on their motor home and hung around for another day to take care of the problem and left on Tuesday for the next leg of their journey. Hopefully they will stop for a day or so on their return through Tucson to visit with us again. Maybe dinner at Montgomerys Bar & Grill will be enough to get them to stop.
Have you all noticed that the TV programming is mostly reruns lately? I guess they think we are out shopping and not watching their commercials or something. There are just so many Christmas programs that I can watch each season, so that limits what is available. At least there is football, basketball and hockey on tv now so there is something to check out.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Early dinner
Gloria and Doug are moving on Monday morning and wanted to have an early dinner today with us. The park they are staying in is shutting off the water to the campers on Monday and it will stay off for a week or two, so they wanted to get everything ready this afternoon. We are sad to see them leave but we know we will see them again somewhere along the road.
We took them to a local sports bar, Montgomery's and had a very nice meal. They make the best sandwiches around here and the beer is always cold. It is hard to imagine that one sandwich would fill us up so much, but it did. I was surprised that the bar wasn't full when we got there and we got seated immediately. Great.
We returned to the motor home and watched The Amazing Race and it was one of the better ones. The two online shopping contestants are real characters and very entertaining. I think they are one who we both want to win. Ooopss. Gerry said she was rooting for Nat & Kat. The final three groups are all ok, so whoever wins will be ok. In the past there usually was one group that we didn't want to win. Not this time.
We took them to a local sports bar, Montgomery's and had a very nice meal. They make the best sandwiches around here and the beer is always cold. It is hard to imagine that one sandwich would fill us up so much, but it did. I was surprised that the bar wasn't full when we got there and we got seated immediately. Great.
We returned to the motor home and watched The Amazing Race and it was one of the better ones. The two online shopping contestants are real characters and very entertaining. I think they are one who we both want to win. Ooopss. Gerry said she was rooting for Nat & Kat. The final three groups are all ok, so whoever wins will be ok. In the past there usually was one group that we didn't want to win. Not this time.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Saguaro Park, West
We drove down the road and saw some squares out in the valley and got to wondering what they were. We drove about 5 miles and came up on the Tucson Water Supply Agency. They have about 9 man made reservoirs in a row there and they all were full.
Then it was time to drive through Saguaro West park to check out the huge cacti there. Unlike the East side of the park having asphalt roads, the west side is a gravel and rock road that is very rough. It took us about an hour or so to drive the 8 miles. I don't think there was a smooth part on the drive. It is really wild out there and hilly. 
We topped off the day with a visit to the Vail Steakhouse for dinner. They serve a pretty good meal and they are quite large. We usually bring home a doggy bag and it is enough for a large lunch the next day. This night was no exception.
It was long day and we were all tired out and called it an early evening.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Desert Diamond Casino
Gloria, Doug, Gerry and I went to the Desert Diamond casino today to contribute some money to the Indian welfare league. Doug & I donated the least amount since we went geocaching for most of the afternoon. Gerry & Gloria stayed behind and donated their share and ours to the fund.
It worked out really well for all of us since Doug and I don't really like to gamble as much as the girls do. A great time was had by all, but they could have at least broke even to ease the pain.
We went for dinner at the Casino buffet after the games ended and had a nice meal. I wished I would have saved some more room for the Tilapia fish and not so much chicken. None of us walked ( waddled ) out of there hungry. Whew!
It worked out really well for all of us since Doug and I don't really like to gamble as much as the girls do. A great time was had by all, but they could have at least broke even to ease the pain.
We went for dinner at the Casino buffet after the games ended and had a nice meal. I wished I would have saved some more room for the Tilapia fish and not so much chicken. None of us walked ( waddled ) out of there hungry. Whew!