I've always joked that I live in a tree house. Tonight, for a short time, I really did! A pretty good sized branch fell on my deck - not even a breeze, just a rotten limb.

Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the air and the ladies are ready to shop for the latest fashions from Paris.

Arizona Adventure - Days 11 & 12

I learned something new again today. It was such a mystery why there are so many organges on the trees and no one seems in a hurry to pick them. I thought maybe it was a Zucchini thing, where everyone has so much and the neighbors don't want it either. Today I asked a lady about it and learned that the orange trees with split trunks are for decoration only. The fruit is only good for whiskey sours and marmalade. The single trunk trees are the real deal. Also, everyone paints their tree trunks white - that's for decoration also.

We spent the last two days in Phoenix. Visited with Bernie and JoAnne (friends of Gary's); went to rummage sales in Sun City and visited a doll house shop. Tonight we packed the car. We're leaving on the dreaded long drive home tomorrow at 7:00am.

I like Arizona - I'll come back again. The weather is wonderful. I don't know if I could ever become a desert rat, though. I keep looking for green grass.

See you all in a few days.

Arizona Adventure - Day 10

We spent the night in Tucson and went to Tombstone on Tuesday. The only part of the original town left is the court house and the Bird Cage brothel. Still - it didn't feel as commercialized as the rest of Arizona.

From Tombstone we drove to Bisbee, AZ. Another neat mountain town with an unusual campground. All the rental units were vintage campers, a hippy bus and a yacht.

Arizona Adventure - Day 9

Monday finds us heading to Tucson to visit Gary's friends, Stan and Lucy. They took us out to lunch and then suggested a "short drive" for dessert. An hour later we're at the top of Mt. Lemmon (8,000 ft) eating pie ($8.95 for a slice of pie). The community of Mt. Lemmon was ravaged by a fire so most of the homes are new. You can see for yourself what the residents think of their insurance agent!

We also went to a military airplane bone yard, with thousands of old planes. Some are salvaged for parts, others have been fixed up and are in hibernations.

Arizona Adventure - Day 8

Carol and Roy came from Yuma to spend the day with us. We toured the Mystery Castle. Quite an interesting story. A Seattle business man named Boyce Gulley abandoned his wife and daughter in 1930 after learning that he had tuberculosis. 15 years later his wife and daughter were notified that he had died and left them a castle in Phoenix. He had built the place out of whatever he could find in the desert and whatever other people threw away. He just kept building and building. His daughter is now in her late 70's and still lives in the castle and greets everyone that comes through. My pictures don't do it justice, but I'll post them just the same. I enjoyed this day very much.

Arizona Adventure - Day 7

Today found us traveling north on I-17. We toured Montezuma's Castle (cliff dwellings) and Well. Very interesting. We then took Highway 89A towards Sedona. The drive had lots of switch-back turns in the road and reminded me of the Black Hills. We stopped at an overlook and took pictures of the snow.

Sedona is one art gallery after overpriced art gallery. Very commercialized. We couldn't find a parking spot and didn't bother looking for one. We saw some nice desert scenery though.

Jerome, AZ is a boom and bust copper mining town built on the side of a mountain. Main Street is on 4 different levels. We stopped and went in a few shops, but again, commercialized. Store owners weren't friendly - most didn't even bother to look up, much less speak. I thought the town was strange, Gary thought it was creepy. In all, Sedona and Jerome aren't worth the time or gas.