Our Poor Dented Van

Today is our 42nd Anniversay and I am so blessed to be married to this handsome fella. He just gets better all the time!!! In a little over 24 hours, we will be picking these two up at the airport. Only thing better would be if you were here too, Amy. You could even bring Kurt and then we'd have all the adults in the family. We'll miss you!!

Last week Tuesday dad was coming home on the freeway in the middle lane and all of a sudden, BUMP - a white car comes over from the right lane and bumps into him. Our poor van is scratched and dented from the front fender to the back. Luckily the kid pulled over and said it was entirely his fault and said the same thing to his insurance agent. Took it in for an estimate and it was $3004 - according to AllState Insurance. Have to wait and see what the body shop says. They also said they would rent us a car while it's being fixed. It's still a bummer!!! Dad was a little shook up when he got home.

It rained this morning for the first time since we arrived in Tucson. Rained for about a half hour and now the sun is shining brightly. It's a little cool but people are still out walking in sweatshirts and capris. It always smells so good after it rains. Don't worry, DeAnn. They say cool but sunshine the rest of the week!!!

Happy Flying, DeAnn and John.

Wish you were here, Amy

Love to you both

MOM

Dad's Hiking Day

Today was Hiking Day at Wagons West and Dad decided to sign up. There were 21 people who went on a "nature walk" at Saguargo Nat'l Park East - a park we had not been to. Dad said it was very nice. They ended up walking 4.8 miles - Dad said it was an easy walk and wasn't sore at all. In fact after a short rest after getting home, we decided to go to the pool for a while.

Part of the hiking group.

Uncle Rich went along - here he is in his fancy hiking hat.

This is Roger and June Parker who live right next door to next in a 5th wheel trailer. They live near Abilene, KS and are very nice people. June loves our grapefruits and since I can't have a lot of them and dad doesn't like them, she brings us homemade cookies in exchange for the fruit.

Ruby Munson (white hair) was probably the oldest lady on the trip. Dad said she was at the end of the group but she kept up and made the whole 4.8 miles. Peg is with her - she's a very interesting lady who runs marathons and will be leaving for Hawai to run one very soon. She talked about riding her bike home to Minnesota from Arizona the first year she was here; however she needed to get her car home.

A dead cacti next to a young one.

Interesting bell cacti. Just maybe I'll go on the next hike which will be the middle of February.

Tonight we went to Pied Piper Pizza but unfortunately I didn't win anything tonight. After we all order, they pull out tickets and give away 7" pizzas, salads, bread sticks, sodas and sometimes wings. I think they have good pizza and it's a fun way to meet new people who have come to the park.

That's it for this week. Hope things are going well for you. DeAnn, two weeks from now you will be here!!! Hopefully, you will too, Amy. Send Allegiant a note to save two spots for you and Chase!!!

Love to you both, MOM

Arizona, here we come!!!

Here's the Arizona sign - one that I'm always looking for.

To me, this is the most beautiful rest stop anywhere. It's called the King Canyon Rest Area and it has all huge rocks - some of them seem to be balancing one on another. It's a really nice oasis in the midst of the desert.

Coming into Tucson, we saw another of our favorite places - In-n-Out Burger. They sell only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and shakes or soda. The place is always crowded and almost always has a line to order. VERY good burgers and they're in the process of building one just up the street - this one takes about 20 minutes to get to. Our friends, Roger & Marcia told us about the new one coming in the first day we were here. Dad & I had gone a couple of times and talked about it so much that finally last year, we took our friends and they all liked it as much as we do. Years ago the McDevitts had told us about these good hamburgers down south - guess they knew what they were talking about!

The sound barriers along the freeway in Tucson have wonderful graphics printed on them. Keeps the drivers from getting bored.

Downtown Tucson from the freeway.

Our turn-off from the freeway - Prince St.

Cheapest gas we found - highest was about $3.09

Prince to Fairview Avenue to Limberlost Dr. Then right to the driveway....

Wagons West and our winter home

How good it felt to get here. Now if I can just find some time to get my windows washed, I'll be as happy as a lark. Have a wonderful week again!!!

Love MOM

Tucson or Bust

My first picture has nothing to do with our trip to Tucson but had to include it because it's Chase's Christmas gift that he made for his dad. Didn't he do a great job!! Here we are in Kansas already. Kansas has some of the nicest looking wind fields and with the wind in Kansas , they were all slowly turning. It was a beautiful site - at least I think so. Some people think they're ugly but not me.

The sunsets in Kansas are beautiful. I've taken pictures other years as we've passed through. I'm not sure why they're extraordinarily beautiful unless it's all the dust in the air.

The sun set and then the sun rose and it was day two on our trek. These pictures were taken just outside of Great Bend, Kansas where we stopped for the first night. I have a great story about Great Bend that I will put in a separate blog. After Kansas comes Oklahoma. Not too much interesting in Oklahoma but then we only go about 50 miles or so.

Texas follows Oklahoma and this is about 100 miles. Texas is neat because of the HUGE cattle feed lots. I tried taking some pictures from the van and they didn't turn out as well as I would like them to have. There are thousands of cattle in these yards and they go on for several miles.

The black specks are cows.

Now we're in New Mexico and I didn't have the camera ready so I didn't get a picture of the sun - it's a very nice one with lots of bright colors and a sun. New Mexico is pretty barren and uninteresting as you can see. It's a good state to just go through and we have to go through the entire state from northeast to southwest. We stayed out second night in Truth or Consequences. The hotel was fine; the restaurant was fine; no bedbugs - what more can you want?

There are some mountain in New Mexico but we don't have to go through them.

Lots of scrub brush and dessert.

Getting closer to Arizona - mountains are pretty.

This was the best scenery of all - my very favorite guy faithfully driving me to the warmth and sun of Arizona!! Gotta love him!!

That's it for now. I have lots of pictures of Arizona and coming into Tucson but will wait to post them on another day. Time for a rest - after all that's what I came to Arizona for.

LOVE, MOM