rainy day blog

                                                                         Jan 21/15

We drove out to Fountain Hills with these friends and rode our bikes around the city and then around the fountain.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the ride, the company, the farmers market that was on and a great lunch as well!

 This is an Abert's towhee - there were lots of them there that day and they are really interesting in that they just live in the small corner of Arizona year round.

                                                                     Jan 23/15

 Ruth and I walked around Gilbert Riparian area looking at birds and laughing and taking pictures.  It is really enjoyable to go with someone who actually likes looking at birds and does not say "how many pictures of that bird do you really need to take?"  every 2 minutes.
We did manage a hike up to wind cave with Larry the day before this as well but I did not take my camera as I have been on this hike a few times and it is steep and rocky - best to pay attention to walking!!

                                                                        Jan 24/15

This was a Saturday morning brunch hosted by Maureen and Glen.  Man - there were some amazing dishes there.  Plus - mimosas.  The weather co-operated which was a bonus.  That same night we had dinner with Suz, Larry, Dennis and Gloria.  I meant to take pictures of all the things we did to sort of explain what shenanigans goes in in the park but I forgot my camera.  Gloria made a wonderful chicken alfredo  -
mmmmmm. 

                                                                            Jan 25/15

 Ruth and Wayne took us on a road trip to Bumblebee, Cordes and Rock Springs. The area is about an hour north of Phoenix and we took a loop with little stops for taking photos.  It was a higher elevation than the one we left in Mesa and it was chillier!  The sun was a huge bonus and we saw a lot of off road vehicles the whole way.  Luckily Wayne and Ruth have a truck as the road was very rough in spots.  We really were in the middle of nowhere and I enjoyed the scenery a lot.  We saw a couple of unlucky guys getting their crashed up jeep getting towed.  They both looked OK but a little banged up too.  There were lots of mountain bikes and horse riders using the area as well.  Parts of the area are basically ghost towns and it was really fun to see all kinds of old cars, trucks, buildings etc.

 We stopped at this cafe for lunch and PIE.  They have 21 kinds of pie as well as a nice area out back for weddings and catered events etc. 

this was such a fun little gift shop.  Very unique items.  I wish I could have taken a picture of the inside but assumed like most art they would not appreciate it.  One artist took burned wood from a local forest fire and some how ground it and made a clay and did animal sculptures.  WOW they were just beautiful and looked like they had been carved from a chunk of wood.

                                                                        Jan 26/15

For my birthday we went to Garcia's for Mexican food.  It was so delish!  and we all shared this wonderful ice cream covered in possibly a sweetened corn tortilla and topped with whip cream, chocolate and caramel.  YUM.  We had originally planned to come back for birthday banana cream pie but none of us could eat pie after the huge meal.  Good excuse for a get together and have pie and tea the next day!!

The exchange rate is pretty brutal but I sure did not hate getting all this wonderful produce for 5.99.  And the day before we filled the car with gas for 13.00

 All of the next pictures are from yesterday when we took the light rail in to Phoenix to experience the Super Bowl.  We started out at Cooperville which is Alice Cooper's restaurant in downtown Phoenix.  It is a really fun place with tons of music paraphernalia and guitars.  Wayne and Don shared this hot dog called the "big unit".  When they bring it out a horn goes off and lights flash and they yell "big unit".  All kinds of people from other tables jumped up to take a picture of it as well.  Pretty silly stuff - but the guys really enjoyed the hot dog.

 Tostitos and Pepsi were very visible sponsors of the Super Bowl.  There were all kinds of games using a giant sling shot to shoot a football into giant pepsi cups or like the above one - hit a target with the football and the floor drops and your opponent drops into a giant jar of dip or salsa - ha!

The wraps on all the buildings downtown were amazing.  There were  a lot of people and it was a fun atmosphere.

We even saw 3 pro football players although I cannot remember their names - look at the size of the Superball ring tho!

All of the surrounding eating establishments, hotels, bars and coffee shops were doing a booming business.  This was such a cute coffee shop.  That is a huge chandelier only a few inches off the ground and bike tires as sort of a divider.
We just got off the light rail in Mesa and it started to rain.  It has basically been raining ever since.  Hate to complain about much needed moisture but it is unfortunate that it is on the weekend of the SuperBowl and the Phoenix Open.
Good day for me to do my blog and get over to the sewing room to work on my project.  We have a huge crock pot full of chicken, cheese and rice soup happily bubbling away for supper.

This 'n that!
We have already been in Mesa for a month and a half.  As they say time does FLY when you are having fun.  We have had such fun with the friends from past years as well as meeting new people.

It has been a cooler and  much wetter winter here than the last 2 winters.  Although the temperatures have not dipped too low there were a number of nights that it was at the freezing or slightly below.  There was snow in elevations just 20  minutes away from Mesa one day.

This is Terry and Glenda in the Christmas parade in our park.  It was cancelled the first time due to rain but it was worth the wait.  I even got a ride on this nice bike a couple of nights ago.  FUN

We went to the Mormon Tabernacle light display with Suz, Larry and Ruth.  It was a beautiful evening and afterwards we met up with Wayne and ate some burgers at Fat Willy's.
We went to Tempe on the light rail with a group from the park and watched the boat parade under the bridge, ate some food on the patio at Hooters and watched some really great fire works.

Our friends Wes and Jocelyn came from Saskatoon mid December to spend about 3 weeks in the area and get away from the cold. Don and I had the flu just before they came and unfortunately I believe we may have shared it with them.  It was a nasty flu and really kicked my butt!!
We went to a cookie decorating happy hour hosted by Brad and Clair which was really different and fun!  Also a great soup party put on by Suz and Larry.  Christmas eve was a nice evening at Dennis and Gloria's. Many fun evenings at various "happy hours" and enjoyable visits at Glen and Maureen's.

We took advantage of our warmer days.  We went for a picnic to Tonto National Forest with Wes and Jocelyn.  We explored the Salt river and area and it was a fun day.

We rode the light rail into Phoenix and explored the Wells Fargo Museum and the Police Museum.  We took lots of funny pictures of us all riding in police cars and behind the sign when they do the mug shots and had a good laugh at them.

Christmas morning there was a pool party.  The weather co-operated nicely until about noon and then it cooled off a lot.  We went out to Apache Junction where Wes and Jocelyn stay and we played games and ate our wonderful turkey dinner.

Kylie came on the 26th and I could not resist a picture of her with this amazing sunset.

The five of us went out to the Gilbert Riparian area where I had fun taking pictures of birds and such.  It was a sunny day and not as cold so nice to be outside.

 One day the 5 of us went out to Canyon lake and took a 90 minute nature boat tour.  We saw a lot of mountain sheep and some bald eagles. 

Kylie and I took the light rail into Phoenix twice!  We had so much fun the first time we had to go back.  There is a restaurant in Tempe called NCounter.  They had gluten free amazing items and it is sort of a young college town so really fun and interesting.

These pictures were from the Japanese garden in Phoenix.

 Kylie and I also did a lot of shopping.  I think they know us by name at Joanne's and Sprouts.  I managed to drive us wherever we wanted to go and we didn't get lost too many times. We also managed a few afternoons at the pool and Kylie managed to get some tan lines.
 Maureen gave Kylie a lot of tips on her needlework projects.  We even went to bingo one night in the park.   The last night she was here we went to a party at Bob and Gail's which ended a touch early due to rain but a good time was had by all! 

Today we went out to Usery Park and did about a 3 mile hike with Larry.  It was very cloudy and we were a little nervous about getting wet but we decided to go for it. The sky made for some very pretty pictures I think.

We stopped to let a group go by on horseback and Larry noticed a little "face".  Upon closer inspection it is just how the cactus is dying away and exposing the skeleton inside.  Sure looked like a little owl face.

It started to sprinkle when we were nearly back at the car and it wasn't long before it poured rain.  We sure lucked out.  Then we headed over to Panda Express for lunch.  As I sit here doing the blog the sun is shining  and half the sky is clear.