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.