Tag: Arizona

Pulled by Clem and Carl, but Carl bites

Saturday October 20th hubby and I had a day trip to Tombstone, Arizona with our daughter and our grandson. What a trip!

It was Helldorado Days in Tombstone which means it’s a TombstoneCon. Everywhere you looked there were people in 1800’s dress. You know what I mean: women in long fancy dresses with bustles, wigs and facinator hats, and black garbed men in western dusters, handlebar mustaches, and lots of guns.

Chuck’s contribution was his black hat, snap button shirt, jeans and boots. He looked pretty handsome with his rattlesnake tooth bolo tie.

The attendees stayed in character as they roamed the boardwalks. The faux Wyatt Earp’s tipped their hats to the ladies and nodded to the men as they passed.

The streets were filled with horse and mule pulled wagons, re-enactors doing gunfights, and cowboy stories played out in the middle of Allen Street. There were even belly dancers (my grandson thought that was hilarious.) They had the town park set up so little buckaroos could get rid of excess energy, and for a price you could watch the cowboys do the Hollywood version of the gunfight at the OK Corral. Two horse drawn wagons and one mule drawn circled the town, with a driver narrated history of Tombstone. The mules were brown, and the horses were a pair of black and a pair of white.

Charlie had fun breaking in his new boots, saying hi to everyone then shooting them with his finger gun, and his most favorite was his ride in the red Conestoga wagon pulled by Clem and Carl. He liked them because they were white horses. The nice fella who set us up with our ride asked Charlie if he wanted to pet the horses. Charlie was nervous since it was his first up close to a horse and they were way bigger than he expected. The guy said to pet Clem cause Carl bites. He hesitated but with his mom’s help he rubbed Clem’s face and then wanted down, it was time to start the ride!

After our ride we went for lunch, and had to wait a few minutes to get in which gave us a chance to watch all the people walking around.

I think the best part for me was being with my daughter. She’s a very fun person and a great mother.

 

 

By the time we got back to the car, and passed the border patrol check point Charlie was passed out. About five minutes.

We all had a good time.

Last pic was taken by Charlie of his momma.

Cheers!

-N

June-here, hot and busy

After a call this morning from my niece about her visit this month, I looked at my calendar for June and found several things going on. I better take my vitamins.

First, the 100’s will hit Catalina AZ tomorrow! Damn, I’m not ready but at least they held off until now, so I only have to make it through one month and then monsoon season will show up to help my water bill. I can do that, yep I can. The spa is not heated so I can dunk myself, fully clothed, a couple of times a day to stay cool.

Second, my 88 year old mother will have a diagnostic procedure and followup appointments this month. It is part of a recent discovery made about her medical condition that will need monitoring. Yeah, that’s about all I can say on that one.

Third, my daughter and my grandson will make two trips out to Arizona from California this month. The first time will be mid month to do some logistics setting up the second visit. That one is her permanent move to Arizona for a new job in Phoenix!! Okay color this human ecstatically happy! Charlie will only be two hours from me-his Nannie. Melissa is having some strong emotions about this move since she has been in LA since 1997. She will leave lots of very close friends that make up the village who have been there for her while she fostered and adopted Charlie. They are family. But hopefully not too far away for visits.

Fourth, my great niece Kali will be coming down from Phoenix to stay with us for several days, and we will begin her Tucson indoctrination – haha. Phoenix and Tucson are so very different. Phoenix is the big metropolis with freeways, concrete and asphalt, tall glass towers, and very oppressive heat. As is typical of a city like Phoenix there is a lot of things to do. Tucson is also a big city, but because of a our surrounding mountains ranges our weather is not quite as hot. Don’t get me wrong it is hot here but rarely will Tucson have temps over 115. Phoenix does.

Anyone who visits needs to drive up to Mount Lemmon, and we plan to bring Kali up there for yummy cookies, homemade fudge, and a visit to the Living Rainbow gift shop. Also a ride on the ski lift to the top of the mountain (over 9000′) and a trip to Sabino Canyon to play in the creek and have a picnic. Tucson has avoided expanses of freeways; some of us regret that, others are glad for it. Our mountains may not be Colorado mountains but they get enough snow for skiing in the winter and a right out my front door.

So we plan to introduce Tucson to Kali in all of its laid back coolness.

So this month will be hot and busy. But that is life.

Cheers!

-N

I can’t help it and other stuff

So…I have been having a great time with all my new Twitter followers. When I get a new follower I thank them for following with a nickname. The response has been fun, too fun and I can’t help it. There seems to be a bit of a theme with my followers. Wine, books, travel, food, writing – you know the usual suspects. It’s a hoot to connect with humans from other countries.

I have great news to share. I told all of you beautiful readers that my hubby, Chuck, after job hunting for two months got a new job. Well he has officially started at the new place. The man is enjoying learning and meeting his co-workers, figuring out his way around the new place and being part of the workforce again. While he was unemployed he kept himself busy with projects around the house and he has done a lot to perk up the property. He had time to reconnect with Millie who thinks he is her new BFF. Speaking of BFF (he hates when I describe it this way,) he has also reconnected with his buddy Bob. Those two men and their dogs have been hanging out and planning golf outings.

I’m not looking forward to summer in southern Arizona. It is hard for me to handle the heat. A swimming pool will be the first purchase if I win the lottery! Summer here seems to last from April to October. We’ve had 90’s to the end of October. When people say they love the heat but I don’t get it. At least with the cold you can bundle up to stay warm, but you can’t get naked enough to cool off if it is 110. Before you say I don’t know cold, I’ve lived in northern Japan where we averaged 10ft of snow and blizzards off the ocean, and North Dakota where the highs were -18.

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My mom will be celebrating 86 years on the 24th, so here is a shout out to mom, Happy Birthday! 

She is a firecracker of a lady who likes all sports but is a huge football fan, is a notorious name dropper, loves and is inordinately proud of her children, grand children and great grandchildren.

She and my father had their first date July 4th 1950 and got married July 25th 1950 and were married until he passed in 2002.

The rough draft of my second book should be finished this week. Woo hoo. Then the heavy editing and rewriting starts. Anyone out there know a good history reference for Camden, New Jersey?

Cheers!

-N