Exhibition at Center for Creative Photography

Papa and I went to the Center for Creative Photography this morning on the University of Arizona campus, to see the Linda McCartney Retrospective Exhibition.  “Curated by members of Linda McCartney’s family, the exhibition had its North American debut at the Center for Creative Photography and covers her whole career from 1965 to 1997.  McCartney was the first woman photographer to have an image published on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.  Her unparalleled access to the Beatles - the biggest band in the world at the time - allowed her to chronicle the members and their behind the scenes.  Her work includes photographs of other musicians of the 1960’s and 70’s.  The exhibition includes family photos, with slices from their domestic life in London and world travel, their animal companions, and never before scenes from Tucson.”  

We enjoyed the photography exhibition, then we walked  a bit on the UA campus, around Old Main to the Mall, where we saw several robots along the way, likely used for deliveries.  It was a beautiful day and we had fun!

Second Trip to Albuquerque

I returned last night from my second trip to Albuquerque in less than three weeks.  I went at Audrery’s behest, for two separate house inspections.  Her family is planning a move to Albuquerque in the coming months and she wanted my input about the houses and their conditions.  Yesterday in Albuquerque was very interesting as the weather was variable throughout the day, snow to blue sky to icy rain.  

My assessment of the houses:  the first, a Spanish Colonial, was really interesting but needed considerable work and ongoing maintenance, with a lot of exterior exposed wood.  The second, a mix of modern with Santa Fe lines and an eclectic interior, was better built, better maintained, and is in the foothills of the mountains with nice views.  I agree with their decision to buy the second!

Family Weekend in Phoenix

All four of our children, three spouses, six of our eight grandchildren, and Papa's sister, Mary, gathered in Phoenix on Friday.  We gathered first at Claire's house as flights arrived through the afternoon.  The kids had a great time on the trampoline and playing with Claire's family dog, Apollo.  We moved to our rental house around 5, and the kids played in the pool, we had dinner, and we talked... and talked.  It was wonderful to catch up!

We had breakfast on Saturday morning, then set off, across the street, to hike up the Echo Canyon Trail onto Camelback Mountain.  We came to a very steep rock face, that the kids scampered right up, but most of the adults, except for Claire, David, and Corey, paused and turned back.  The brave ones made it to the top!  The rest of us had warm chocolate chip cookies ready when they returned.  We enjoyed lunch together and the kids had more pool time.  Dinner was interesting because the granddaughters played restaurant and took orders, with Brian, Whitney, and Claire as sous chefs.  It was a rather disjointed dinner, topped off with chocolate fondue.  We had a great time!

An Uber arrived at 6:20 on Sunday morning to take Whitney's family and Brian to the airport for early flights.  We spent the day with Audrey's family and Claire's family, at Claire's house, with trampoline jumping, game playing, and a long walk for some.  We had a wonderful family weekend!

Beach and Balboa Park

After breakfast, Papa took Greta to a bakery up the street, for an extra treat, a chocolate croissant.  Just after they returned, she and I went to the beach once more.  We walked further than we had before, and picked up more sand dollars and pretty shells.  There were Navy Seals swimming beyond the breakers, and we watched them swim a mile or so, round a big red bouy, then back.  There were several chase boats.  It was interesting to watch!  

We showered and packed our bags, then went to Balboa Park, where we walked around the gardens and buildings, mostly built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition, and later used for the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition.  Cherry blossoms were blooming in the Japanese Gardens.  We ate lunch at the Prado Restaurant, and Greta enjoyed the Spanish Village Art Center.  

We arrived at the airport 2 hours before our flight, got on the flight, and then were told to disembark due to a missing cap on equipment.  We got nervous about timing, because our flight was the last nonstop flight of the day and there were no seats available tomorrow, so we rented a car and drove to Phoenix.  It was a long evening!  Still, we had a terrific time with Greta in San Diego!

Ferry to see the Midway

We woke up to rain this morning.  After breakfast, Greta and I went to the beach to look for shells.  We were the only ones on the beach.  We found six sand dollars plus lots of other shells, but it was pretty miserable, with rain falling, wind blowing, and we were cold.  We warmed up with showers at the hotel and took the ferry across the bay, to visit the Midway ship.  We spent a couple of hours exploring from bottom to top, wondering how sailors ever found their way around.  We had a Thai lunch in downtown San Diego, then took the ferry back to Coronado.  After a few games of rummy, we went to a movie at the Coronado Village Theater - The Champions.  We had a big bag of popcorn at the movie and weren’t too hungry, so we had gelato for dinner.  We had a fun day!

 

Beach Time

Greta and I went to the beach at 7 this morning.  There were very few people out and we had a great time shelling.  We found several sand dollars and a bag full of other nice shells.  We went back to the hotel for breakfast with Papa at 8.  We drove up to La Jolla around 10 and watched the seals hobbling back and forth across the sand, with pups following.  We had a Greek lunch in La Jolla then drove to Mission Beach for Greta to have a surf lesson at 1.  She did terrific - she’s a natural surfer!  We drove back to Coronado after the 1.5 hour lesson so Greta could shower and warm up.  She and I shopped a bit on Coronado, and then we drove to the waterfront of Downtown San Diego for dinner with long time friends, Bob and Paige, at Top of the Market Restaurant.  We had a nice evening.  It was another good day!