Thanksgiving Dinner

We were invited to our friends, Rachel and Bill’s house for Thanksgiving Dinner, along with their daughter, Naomi, and her family.  Naomi and the boys made a traditional Thanksgiving meal, with turkey and all the trimmings, all delicious. We had interesting conversation and a wonderful time.  We have much to be grateful for.

Barbecue Dinner

On Sunday night, we had dinner with Ornella and Donato.  We had appetizers and Prosecco on their patio as the sun set.  Donato barbecued several different meats - beef ribs, chicken, and sausage.  I took butternut squash souffle and a salad to go with the meat.  Ornella made fresh bread.  We had a feast!  And we had a good time!

Historic Places and Birds

Papa and I drove about an hour and forty minutes this morning, to the ruins of Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate.  The Presidio was established on a bluff overlooking the San Pedro River in southeast Arizona, by an Irish-born Spanish Army Colonel, Hugo Oconor, in 1775, for the King of Spain Charles III.  It is one of several similar presidios that extended from Louisiana to Southern California.  The Presidio was abandoned in 1780 because of continuous attacks by Apache.  It was briefly occupied by the United States Army in 1878.  We hiked over two miles round trip from the parking area to the Presidio site.  There’s not much left, but the views were beautiful.  We stood above the San Pedro River, listening to the tinkling of cottonwood leaves.  

We drove another forty five minutes to Whitewater Draw.  We missed the noon return of the sandhill cranes, but they were there, along the periphery of Whitewater Draw, honking away!  We found a nice spot on a viewing platform for a picnic, and listened to thousands of birds for about an hour.  

We retraced our trip, and visited Fairbanks, an historic townsite, that was an Old West railroad town, founded in 1882 during the Tombstone silver boom.  For over 20 years, Fairbanks was Tombstone’s train depot.  The town had an elegant hotel, several businesses, a school and post office.  It attracted immigrants from all over the world, who worked on the railroad, in businesses, and on local ranches.  The train depot closed in 1966 and the post office closed in 1972, marking the official end of the town.  We explored the buildings still standing and walked through an old mesquite forest to the San Pedro River.  We had a good day!

Family Week

Papa and I returned to Tucson after a full week of visiting family.  We left home last Friday, a week ago, driving to Phoenix for the night with Claire’s family.  We left early Saturday on a flight to St. Louis, then a flight to Owensboro, Kentucky.  Mary picked us up at the airport and took us to the Assisted Living Home where my Dad and Martha live.  We visited them awhile, borrowed their car, then visited my Mom that evening, before going to our hotel, on the Ohio River in downtown Owensboro.  

On Sunday, we had lunch with Mary, Martha’s daughter in law, who has become a good friend.  Rick had surgery the day before and wasn’t up for lunch.  After lunch, we went back to visit my Dad and Martha, then my Mom.  We took my Mom with us to visit my cousin Dickie’s new house, still under construction.  

On Monday, we shopped in the morning for several gifts, then met Rick and Mary at Dairy Queen for a treat, before going to visit my Dad and Martha.  I also visited Uncle Norman and Aunt Guyneth, who live in the same Assisted Living Home as my Dad.  We spent a couple hours with my Mom, then we had dinner with Dickie and Susan, and went back to their new house for a nighttime tour.  

We flew from Owensboro to Nashville on Tuesday morning, then from Nashville to Dallas.  We arrived at Brian’s new house by 4.  We enjoyed a nice walk in his neighborhood before going out for a Texas size dinner.  

Wednesday was a full day.  We helped Brian and Holli pack for the weekend in San Antonio, then we met my friend Linda for an early lunch.  We went to her house for coffee and cookies afterward.  At 2, we met our friend Tatiana, who we’ve known for about ten years, from the Boys and Girls Clubs for Tucson, and she’s now living and working in Dallas.  We had coffee and spent over an hour catching up with Tatiana, before we headed to San Antonio.  The drive to San Antonio from Dallas, took us about five hours, with heavy traffic through Austin.  

We met Brian on Thursday morning, to unload our trunk of things for Friday’s party.  We visited Lynne, then went back and had dinner with her at her Assisted Living Home, the ARC.  We helped Brian and Holli on Friday morning, get ready for the party, with decorations and a trip to the grocery to pick up food.  We had showers and returned to the ARC by 1:30.  Our granddaughters, Brian’s daughters, Emily and Sarah, arrived by 1:40.  We were thrilled to see them!  We went to Lynne’s apartment at 1:45 to walk with her to the party, that began at 2:00.  It was her 100th birthday party!  Brian and Holli did a great job with food, decor, live music, and champagne toasts.  Lynne is so fortunate to be completely lucid, but just a bit slow on her feet.  We had a wonderful time, meeting Greg and Trisha and their son, Nick, Lynne’s nephew from Dallas and his family, plus seeing so many of Lynne’s friends we have met over the past several years.  After the party was over, we had a light dinner with the family at the ARC.

We visited Lynne one more time on Saturday morning before going to the San Antonio Airport for our flight back to Phoenix.  After landing in Phoenix, we visited Papa’s sister, Mary, for about an hour before going to Claire’s.  We stayed overnight with Claire’s family - having fun with Emerson and Colby.  We had breakfast, and Claire put us to work, hanging pictures.  She and I shopped a bit after lunch, before Papa and I headed back to Tucson.  What a week!

Morning Light

One of the things I love most about the Southwestern United States, is the big open sky, with mountains and rock formations.  As I started my morning walk at 6:50 this morning, I turned around to see the sunrise starting to hit the Catalina Mountains, with magnificent clouds.  It was a beautiful way to start my day!