Six Weeks in Arizona

January 27, I flew to Phoenix. A couple days hiking with Marla and then I rented a car and headed for Terravita where I rented a house for five weeks. I loved it!


I bought a basketball so I could practice for The Villages Senior Games, which would be taking place a week after I returned to Florida. I also found a couple places to play pickleball. Turned out PB players were not popular with the tennis players. Tennis didn’t want to give up their courts for  PB so a compromise was worked out. They gave PB a court from 12:30-3:30 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. This time was OK for the cooler weather but temps started climbing in February so there were days I chose not to play. The Carefree Conference Center had PB in the mornings so I started playing there, paying a $5 fee each time.

The Terravita Fitness Center had been remodeled since we lived there. It has a spa feel rather than just a gym. I spent several hours per week trying to stay in shape. Marla and I hiked a couple times a week also. I even hiked up Black Mountain by myself and then again with Marla.

Phoenix WM Open Golf Tournament

It was great being close to the grandkids again. I met Taylor once a week for lunch. Met he and Nick at the Phoenix golf tournament. Went to Super Bowl party at grandson Aaron’s home.

Super Bowl Party

Mid-February, I met Erik and kids in Albuquerque as Gracie had a volleyball tournament there. Since there was no school on Monday, we had a nice week-end together. Spent time at the trampoline park, which Jeffrey loved. On way home from Albuquerque, I stopped in Jerome for a nice visit and lunch with Moondog.

Aaron and friend, Sonja - Jerome, AZ

Albuquerque, NM

Before picking up Arne, I met high school friend, Phyl, and her three sisters at Camelback Inn, 

While I enjoyed the three weeks by myself, I’m happy Arne was able to fly out and join me for 11 days. We had a nice dinner with Nick during which he told us all about his new job at Camelback Inn. He was ready to move on from Fogo’s. Erik and Jeffrey flew down for three days. This gave Grandpa some bonding time with the little guy. That Sunday, Taylor, Nick, Sarah, Aaron, Kristina, Mark and Marla came up for the afternoon and evening.

Arne and I drove to Fountain Hills one night to visit with the Dille’s. Another night we had dinner with Ron and Jane. We attended two Chicago Cubs’ Spring Training games, the second with Mark, Marla and our grandsons.

Volleyball??

I went to my second practice session today. Avis Vaught, Florida Senior of the Year and winner of hundreds of medals in several sports, talked me into coming out for volleyball. She turns 70 in 2017 and wants me to play on the 70+ volleyball team in the National Senior Games. Watching my granddaughters play last week was helpful since I've never played competitive volleyball. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Time will tell.

A Week in the Land of Enchantment

On Tuesday, October 6th, I took a very early morning flight to Albuquerque. I landed around 9:40 AM and took an 11:45 shuttle to Santa Fe. The shuttle took me to the railroad station by Tomato’s, where I had lunch. Since the old RR station is now a Visitor’s Center, I asked for things to see since I had several hours to wait before Erik would be able to pick me up. They suggested a walking tour to the Plaza and several historical churches nearby. I had my luggage with me and after walking several blocks, I passed by a hotel and was greeted by a bellman. I took a few steps and then backed up, asking if I could check my luggage for a few hours. This was a very smart move as the Plaza was crowded and trying to move through there pulling my luggage would not have been fun, plus, I might have looked a little bit ridiculous!

Erik and Jeffrey picked me up around 3:45 and we went to Gracie’s volleyball game, which was being played in Santa Fe. After the game, the three of us went to Panda Express. Kadin and Gracie were with their mother.

Jeffrey and I hung out on Wednesday. Erik picked us up at 3:30 to go to Kadin’s volleyball game. We stayed through the JV and Varsity games. Since I’m taking up volleyball, it helped me to see the game played competitively.

Thursday was another day with Jeffrey. I had brought him a set of “Funny Gears” which are similar to Legos but with gears which cause them to move. Besides the gears, we built a lego space shuttle which Erik had bought J for his birthday, which was Oct. 5.

Saw these deer early one morning

Friday was a volleyball day as the girls had no school and Gracie’s 8th grade team played in a tournament which lasted all day. Gracie played a great final game but her team come up short, winning second place.

Saturday morning we headed to Albuquerque as Kadin was playing volleyball at 11. Her team won handily and Kadin did a fine job as setter in both games. After the game, we headed to our hotel where we met Nick, Sarah and Taylor, who had driven up from AZ for the week-end. We stayed in a Hampton Inn just a few blocks from Sarah’s father. Because of the Balloon Fiesta, I had trouble getting rooms but we were very happy with our suites. We went to the Fiesta Saturday night for a few hours. Everyone enjoyed seeing the colorful and different shaped balloons.

Sunday, I awakened at 5:30, couldn’t get back to sleep, so decided to head over to the Fiesta to see the 7 AM Mass Ascension of the balloons. No one else wanted to get up so I was by myself. I watched the launching for about 90 minutes and then headed back to the hotel to join the family for breakfast.

Early Morning Selfie

Sunday afternoon, Nick went with Sarah to meet her family. Erik, Kadin, Jeffrey and I went hiking through Petroglyph National Monument. Taylor stayed at the hotel to watch his football games while Gracie just hung out in our room. Sunday night, all eight of us went to LoneStar for dinner.

Monday morning we had breakfast together before a shuttle picked me up for the airport. My flight left at 12:40. I had a 2 hour layover in Dallas and arrived Orlando at 9:07. Arne was waiting for me. Nice ending to a great week!

Trip to the Midwest

On Saturday, August 15, Arne and I flew to St. Louis where we had a great three days. We stayed with niece Amy, Dan and their cute 3 year old, Hunter. Arne's brother, "Chef" Carl, brought homemade beef stew for dinner on Saturday. Sunday night we all went out for dinner and were joined by nephew Gunnar and his friend, Lori. On Monday, Arne and I spent several hours with Carl before driving up to Peoria, Illinois. Along the way, we made a side trip to Springfield for a very quick tour of the Abraham Lincoln Museum.

On Tuesday, Arne and I set out to do some research for the family tree. We went to a cemetery in Metamora where my great-great grandparents were supposed to be buried. After much searching we didn't find them. I had three more cemeteries I wanted to visit but changed plans after no success at the first one. Instead, we drove to the county courthouse in Eureka, IL. I was able to get a copy of my paternal grandmother's birth certificate, her marriage certificate, and a copy of my great great grandfather's death certificate. I was disappointed I was unable to get more documents since I have so many relatives who were born, married and died in that county. I was told that back in the 1800's these events didn't always get filed.

Ronald Reagan went to Eureka College. The college has a small museum in which we spent over an hour looking at Reagan memorabalia. From there, we drove back to Peoria and went to Parkview Cemetery where we found the burial site of my paternal great grandparents.

That evening we met niece Megan, Kayley and Ryan for dinner at Olive Garden. We then followed them to Megan and Andy's beautiful new home where we were given a tour. It is a big house on a wooded lot and should suit them for decades.

Wednesday, we drove up to Woodstock to spend the night with Larry and Ann Dille. Larry and Arne worked together for UARCO and we have been friends for over 40 years.

Thursday afternoon we drove from Woodstock to Naperville where we would be spending the night with Larry and Lori Wright, friends for over 50 years. Unfortunately, I didn't think about Chicago rush hour and our 1 1/2 hour trip took 2 1/2 hours. And much of that was on toll roads! Paying to move at 5-10 MPH!!

Friday morning we headed for downtown Chicago. We dropped our lugage off at the hotel where Arne and I would be staying for the next three nights. We drove by Lane Tech High School from which Arne graduated in 1959. Then we were off to Wrigley Field for the Cubs game. Arne had been waiting all summer to go to a game and watch his "new" Cubs. We got there three hours before the game so Arne had plenty of time to check everything out.

On a beautiful Saturday, Arne and I went for a long walk through downtown Chicago. We went to One North Wacker where he used to work. The building had been replaced by another in the 1980's, after we had moved to Arizona. At 3 PM, we went on the Architecture Foundation Cruise on the Chicago River. For 90 minutes we heard about the different types of architecture in Chicago's skyline as well as Chicago history. The tour came highly recommended and was very much worth the time and money.

Know some of my friends will enjoy this pic of Trump Tower.

My favorite building, built on curve of Chicago River, shows reflection of other side.

Sunday, we walked to the Art Institute where we spent two hours. From there, we walked through Millenium Park, listening to a concert, viewing the "Bean, and eating a Chicago hot dog. More walking to Navy Pier, which is over half a mile long. Another 1 1/2 mile walk back to our hotel for a total of over 8 miles. When we got back to our hotel, I questioned why we didn't take a bus back…our feet and legs were hurting!. After a rest at our hotel, we walked a few blocks to Portillio's for Italian Beef sandwiches.

Monday brought an end to our time in Chicago. It was great visiting family and friends, seeing the sights. 

Reflection from the Bean.

Grandkids Visit

On July 24th, we picked up 14 year old granddaughter, Kadin, who had flown alone from Albuquerque. I had a great week with her. Besides going to the Fitness Center and practicing pickleball, Kadin attended Camp Villages…Cooking with the Chefs, Air Guns, Scrapbooking and Dragon Boats. I did dragon boats with her which was lots of fun. Some pictures of our week together:

Silver Medal Winner

On July 31st we picked up Erik, Gracie and Jeffrey who joined us for Kadin’s second week.  On Sunday, Aug. 2, we all went to Universal. It was a long but fun day.

Riding the train from Hogsmead back to London in Harry's Potter World

 On Tuesday, Aug. 4, I picked up Aaron/Moondog who flew in to join the family gathering. We visited each of the Town Squares, on each night.  On Thursday night, we went to the Japanese Steak House, a favorite with the kids. We were celebrating three summer birthdays, Gracie on July 18, Arne on August 3 and Erik’s upcoming on August 10.

Friday evening, Erik and kids flew back to Albuquerque. They didn’t get to Albuquerque until after midnight so spent the night in a hotel. Aaron stayed with us for three more days, flying to Greensboro, NC, on Monday, August 9. He called this his “summer tour” as he had some performances lined up in Greensboro. I’m glad he’s expanding his musical horizons.