Author: Rudy

Monday: Jim and Bonny were up already when we got up. Bonny hadn’t really slept well at night. Not feeling well. She opted out of the hieroglyphic hike this morning — so it was just Jim and Sue and I.

It was supposed to be quite hot today, but a bit of cloud cover seemed to keep the temperatures from reaching their projected highs. We got back from the hike and had lunch. Then the Peters had a nap while I had a shower and did a bit of computer work. We headed out to Superstition Springs Mall for a 3:00pm cheap movie: We Bought a Zoo. It was an entertaining, if somewhat artificial, movie. After the movie we came back to Gold Canyon. We stopped at Walgreens for some sinus medication for Sue, who was feeling miserable with a sinus cold. We had planned to go to the Mexican restaurant for supper but with Sue feeling poorly and me thinking perhaps our restaurant was actually not even open on Monday nights, we decided to order in pizza instead. Jim and I went to pick it up from The Hitching Post. Not bad. Sue added a salad. We skyped with Werner a bit too. Sounds like things at the SR are about as bad as ever. Karen and Sarah are planning a spring trip to Greece. We were watching the Winnipeg Jets beat the Sabres on our computer/TV. Then we watched 2 episodes of “The Mentalist” in a row. Sue went to bed early. By midnight the men we were all in bed. Hope Sue is feeling a lot better tomorrow.

Sunday: We got up at 7 and watched a bit of CBS Sunday Morning before Jim and Bonny got up and joined us. We all watched Fareed and then Sue made toast — no, not French toast; just the same old normal toast. After breakfast we all went for a walk around the block. Jim and Bonny needed to be at Ric and Helen’s house by 11, so they left as soon as we returned from our walk. Sue and I read a bit. We had lunch. Then we watched a bit of the Honda Open golf tournament on TV. Sue was feeling a bit like she was suffering from a cold. She tried to nap a bit. Then, at 3:15 we headed off to the golf course. Not too busy there. We teed off right away and played okay for the first half of the game. It was very hot today. By the time we were back at the van it was even hotter, and our golfing was more of a good walk than it was about the game. After the game we putted for a bit before riding back home. We watched 60 Minutes and then had leftover spaghetti. We were sitting in front of the TV watching the Amazing Race when Jim and Bonny returned. They’d gone to visit Harv and Barb Lane and Ric and Helen at their mobile home park. We visited a bit and then Sue got the remote control in her hands. We visited and watched a bit more TV before a night snack of cookies and tea.

Finally at around 10:30 everyone was yawning and tired and Sue announced that she was going to bed. So we all did.

Saturday: After bacon and eggs we spent a bit of time this morning cleaning up the joint. I vacuumed with my newly repaired vacuum cleaner. Sue did a couple of roads of laundry. I worked on the sink a bit more — don’t know if I fixed the leaky drain. Sue cleaned the barbecue. We had lunch. Sue went to Basha’s for groceries while I washed the van. Put more salt in the softener. Then I went to the golf course and hit a bucket of balls. Worked on my iron shots — 5, 7, and P. Sue sat out in the backyard and read. We waited for Jim and Bonny’s arrival. The were here at 5:30 — a 4.5 hour drive from their place in La Quinta (Palm Springs). We had drinks and snacks. Sat and visited. Then Sue got supper going and I barbecued chicken. Had supper. Sat around the table. Moved to the living room. Jim gave me over 100 books for the iPad. Went to bed at midnight.

Friday: Paul and Kathy were out for one last hike this morning by the time I got out of bed. When they returned they were excited to report that they had been surrounded by coyotes on their walk. No pictures though.

After a final breakfast with Paul and Kathy they spent the morning packing and cleaning up. Sue also did a bit of laundry. The sink was leaking again and the vacuum cleaner wand was too broken to be usable so I decided we’d try shopping for repairs and parts on the way home from the airport.  We checked the flight status of Paul and Kathy’s flight to Detroit — everything was okay. Kathy hoped that the plane would avoid the tornadoes that are causing so much destruction up in the midwest.

After lunch we left for the airport. We arrived at the airport at 1:30 and said our goodbyes. It had been another great week.

On the way home we stopped at a Trader Joe’s for more Two-buck Chuck and cheese. A couple of stops at various vacuum repair shops. Finally in Apache Junction we found a repair shop with an old guy who repaired the vacuum cleaner with 3 rivets — for 10 bucks. A great deal. And a stop at the Superstition Fruit Market.

Hurried home and got to the golf course just in time for our 4pm tee time. A couple of golfers got in ahead of us so they could finish their ‘shambo’ game, but after that we never had anyone ahead or behind us. Cool wind, but sunshine. Game was the shits. But it was fun. My feet were very sore. Sue’s back is still not 100%, but golf didn’t seem to hurt it.

We got home a little after 6. I tried to fix the drain on the kitchen sink. I tried out the vacuum cleaner repair. Sue warmed up the leftover pasta and shrimp from yesterday and made a great tomato and avocado salad. And when supper was done we sat down for our comedy channel reruns. More ‘investigative’ journalism after that — 20/20 and 48 Hours.

At home there’s a big snowstorm — highways are closed. Hope our kids are home safe and enjoying their weekend. Tomorrow we’re expecting Jim and Bonny.

Thursday: No internet today. Modem only had 1 light flickering so I unplugged the power and replugged — in order to reset the modem. Now no light was on. Dead. So after breakfast I headed into Apache Junction to see if I could get the modem replaced. Big sign on the MediaCom door: Internet is down in CA and AZ. Oh. Okay. But now what? When internet is restored I will have a dead modem. They can’t replace my modem because their systems are down and they need to record the serial number, etc. How will I know when they’re back up? I go back home with my broken modem.

I worked on the MJ’s logo for Tim until lunch time. Paul and Kathy took the van to Santan to shop for the afternoon. After lunch I read a bit. Sat outside a bit. Sue went to the store to get some shrimp for supper tonight. She stopped in at the cafe and found out that MediaCom is back up. So when Paul and Kathy returned I jumped into the van and went back to their office to get my modem replaced. A busy place! Had to wait my turn. Finally they replaced it. Got back home and had to fiddle with it for a while to get it to work. Now all is good. But it was 4:30, too late for Sue and I to go golfing. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

Sue made a great supper again. Not sure that shrimp will become a regular feature of Paul and Kathy’s weekly menu, though. After supper we sat around the table and visited. Then we moved to the living room and turned on the TV. Watched a bunch of crappy TV and had ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert. To bed by 11:30 for everyone but me.

Wednesday: We went for a bike ride after breakfast — just to Walgreen’s and back — and I had my best (to date) speed on the downhill — 65.5 kph. After a shower and lunch we set off for our day trip. Stopped for gas in Apache Junction. Stopped at the old gold mine for a look and a couple of photos. Did not stop at Tortilla Flats for ice cream. Were a bit surprised at how bad the 22 miles of winding gravel roads were to the Roosevelt Dam. Washboard. Big time. Made me glad that I have an old beater of a van for this. Not good for Sue’s bad back.




Got to Tonto National Park just before the 4:00 cut-off time for access to the cave dwelling a half mile walk up the hill. But we got in. And we all walked up. Visited with the park ranger up there — he showed me his photos of flowers and wildlife. Paul was quite afraid of heights and had to have Kathy assist him on the way down. We were doing the drive clockwise for the first time, so after the park we were looking for a cup of coffee. Stopped at a small pub (Boston diner) and got a pepsi. Drove through Superior on our way home.




Stopped at Basha’s to pick up imitation crab and a baguette. Went home and had happy hour and crab appetizers. Then we changed into long pants and walked out to the Mexican restaurant near our place for supper. Paul and Kathy were taking us out for supper. Sat outside under a big heater and next to the fireplace. It was very nice. Had a great Mexican meal. And fried ice cream for dessert. Walked back home — the evening was quite cool by now. Once home, we watched a bit of The Godfather on TV. Everyone was tired and went to bed at around 11. I stayed up and worked on a couple of projects: a logo for Tim, name tags for Len Loeppky’s tour. Then I wrote my journal. It was after 1am by the time I went to sleep.

Tuesday: It’s a slow news day when the biggest event of the day is that Mitt Romney wins another state. After breakfast this morning we sat and talked until lunch. Leftover pizza and then the girls went off to the Chandler Fashion Mall for an afternoon of shopping while Paul and I stayed home. I gave a bit of a demo/tutorial on Photoshop to Paul. Then Paul sat in the backyard and read his book while I cycled out to Walgreens to return my 2 (unwatched) DVDs. I watched a few TED talks. It sure was taking those girls a long time to find their way home! Wonder what we’re going to do for supper. Finally the girls show up and I was surprised at how few bags they carried in. Sue had taken my broken AC adapter for my Macbook in to the Apple store and they gave her a new one. That was good. We barbecued cheeseburgers for supper. The news was reporting a Romney win in Michigan and Arizona. After supper we watched a 2-hour PBS documentary about the Amish, followed by a rerun of 60 Minutes. Tired, we went to bed at around 11:30.

Monday: We slept in until nearly 9 this morning. We had breakfast and sat at the table long enough to have our first meal run into our second. A piece of leftover pizza for lunch. Then I got on my bike and went for a ride — while Sue sat on the lounger in the back yard and tried to get the warmth from the sun help her overcome her back ache. Paul and Kathy went for a walk too. I stopped at Walgreens to pick up a couple of DVDs for tonight. I also went by the golf course to see if anyone was golfing on such a windy day. Yep, they were. But not me. After a shower and happy hour we enjoyed a delicious chicken barbecue prepared for us by Paul and Kathy. We again sat around the table while I went on and on about our trip to China and Mongolia. Then we moved to the living room and we watched the first half of the James Taylor concert DVD. Discussed plans for tomorrow (shopping) and then went to bed.

Sunday: Are you kidding? it’s 2:16am and I’m supposed to still write my entry for the day? 

No French toast for breakfast. Fareed had a great show today. Didn’t get to watch Reliable  Sources because we had breakfast (well actually toast) at that time. Then Sue and Kathy went to Santan Village to do some shopping. I tried to read a bit. Paul sat outside and read. I made myself a sandwich at around 1. Then I watched golf — Match Tournament in Tucson. Rory McIllroy lost. The girls came home at around 4 and so I hopped into the van and went to the driving range. Blasted a bucket of balls. Came home and showered. Went back to the Firehouse Bar to pick up a couple of pizzas for supper. We ate them and watched the Academy Awards, which started at 6:30. Show was kind of boring. Hugo won a bunch, The Artist a bunch more. Billy Crystal was playing it a bit too safe as host. We all marked down our scores but didn’t really compare. Then we sat down around the dining room table and played ‘Speed Scrabble’. And then we sat around and visited. For hours. And hours. And now I’m going to bed.

Saturday: Bacon and eggs with Paul and Kathy. Decided to go for a walk up Silly Mountain before lunch. The walk was an hour, not too fast, with quite a bit of visiting along the way. Paul wanted to have a bit of an itinerary for the next week so we sketched that out. Then we had lunch. Paul went for a nap, Kathy read, Sue went outside an read, I watched a bit of golf on TV until I too fell asleep. We all got into the van and went on a little tour of Gold Canyon and watched the sunset. Then we came home for happy hour. We barbecued salmon for supper and sat around the rest of the evening, visiting. We watched a couple of TED talks on TV and discussed the future of ‘the church’. Went to bed after midnight.