The end of a busy week

2 Dodger fans and 1 Mariner fan at the game

Ron and Diane in their matching Dodger's shirts

2 room house built into the rock at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Along the trail in the Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Reminder sign to stay on the trail!

We all survived a very busy week, and now it seems kind of unusually quiet. We dropped Ron and Diane off at the airport this morning, and as I write this they should be at the Tulsa airport waiting for their luggage. Just as I wrote that the phone rang. It was Ron, and he said they were at baggage claim waiting for their luggage!! We must have put about a thousand miles on the cars over the past week. We went to Tucson, Sedona, Tonto National Monument, and 4 Baseball games! It was a full week and then some. We've got them thinking about an Alaska cruise with a little extra time to hang out in Seattle. Ron said he wants to catch a flying salmon at the Pike Place Market.
Back on the home front, Hairold T. Cat made his break from Keith and Sheila's. He was lurking by the door, and when it opened he headed out and hasn't been seen since. He has now been AWOL for a week, and it's not looking too good for his chances of returning. On the bright side he's 16 years old and had a pretty good life. All cats should be so lucky.
We are seriously looking into making a side trip to see Kristin in Marble Falls, Texas. It will add about a week to our adventure, and cover an additional 2200 miles. If we do that, we will get home about the 26th or 27th of April. Otherwise we should be home about the 21st.
This next week we will try to get tickets for a couple more Baseball games. Most of the games we have seen this spring were sold out or close to it. Not sure what that's all about, but the Dodger's Mariner's game that we saw yesterday (Saturday) set the attendance all time record for a Cactus League Spring Training game. Things are begining to wind down, and the temperature's begining to crank up. It's supposed to be in the upper 80's by mid week.
I'll be adding some pictures shortly. Ernie

Friends, Baseball. Sedona and Beyond

The view from recliner at the RV Park

From the deck of the restaurant at Sedona

Junior Ranger Hinnen

Ron and Diane

All of us with a part of the Sedona landscape

Montezuma Castle National Monument

A view from the bleachers at Peoria

Looks like the score is tied!

On Saturday the 20th, Ron and Diane arrived from Tulsa to spend a week in the sun. We dined on Barbecued Ribs, then sat and visited into the night. We had all met on our cruise out of Miami in the middle of the opening chapter of "the big adventure" in September of 2008.
On Sunday, we took a drive to see the Montezuma Castle National Monument, then we went on to Sedona to take in the sights. While there we had a very good late lunch before heading back to Apache Junction.
Monday we all went to the Mariner's / A's game at Peoria. Monday evening we had Barbecued chicken and some of the leftover ribs from Saturday. Tomorrow we will head down to Tucson to tour Old Tucson Studios, and possibly one of the other nearby attractions.
Later in the week we will be heading back to Tonto National Monument and Ron and I have 3 more baseball games.
The weather has been what we consider normal with daytime highs in the low 80's. It got a little warm at the game this afternoon, but cools down nicely at night. Tomorrow it will be in the low 70's for a day with a chance of showers, then back to normal on Wednesday.
We will have a recap of this busy week on Sunday. Ernie

Midway

We found this one along the trail. Even manged to frame it well!

A healthy Saguaro, a dead Saguaro, and a Saguaro skeleton.

A view out from inside the ruin.

A section of the ruin.

Posted by the Department of Redundency Department. oops!

A Saguaro skeleton

Along the trail to the ruin

The view from the trail!

We have officially reached the halfway point of this adventure. We've already started talking about the next one, but it may not be until next year. We're kicking around the idea of another
"around the country" adventure, but it would be in the opposite direction of the last one.
Last week we decided to take a drive to the Tonto National Monument. We discovered that we had been there about 10 years ago when we spent a week in the Worldmark Condo at Pinetop. This time we hiked up to the lower ruin. There is also a larger upper ruin (1 1/2 miles each way) that is a guided hike. We thought we would save that one for next week when Ron and Diane are here. The pictures on this blog were all taken at Tonto.
Yesterday we went to Tucson where we met Seattle acquaintances Jim and Cindy Goodman, at the Mariner's / Diamondback's game. This is the last year for Spring Training baseball there as the teams will be moving to a new park in Scottsdale next year. We had good (and inexpensive) seats, $5.00 up close parking, and $3.00 Hot Dogs. This was the best Baseball bargain of the year. We even had a coupon for buy 2 tickets, get 2 free! But we did burn up the better part of a tank of gas. It's a little over a 2 hour drive each way.
We are probably going to catch the Mariner's / Ranger's game on Wednesday at Peoria. Last year for some reason that was the match up we saw with the least attendance. For whatever reason, you do not see many Texas license plates here. Next week will be busy when Ron and Diane are here. We will be taking 3 significant road trips, and going to 4 Baseball games. We are looking forward to it!
The temperatures are in the 80 degree range now, and are predicted to stay that way. The last time I looked, the 10 day forecast only showed a couple of days below 80. It's like August in Seattle.
Until next time........................Ernie

One Week Later....

"Wildlife" Arizona Style

Cactus don't always grow vertical

Chihuly sculpture at the entrance to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens

"Tourists". Note: One wearing fleece and one wearing shorts!!

Yuma Car Show. 1951 Chevrolet identical to the one I (Ernie) learned to drive on in 1962.

Went to our 2nd ball game today - Mariners vs. Cleveland Indians. How can I describe this experience? Now, it wasn't snowing, but after the 3rd inning Joyce retreated to the car for warmth. At this game I wore, in addition to my jeans and shirt, a fairly well insulated jacket, a scarf, gloves and a blanket. The wind was actually what made it so cold. Not that I'm complaining about the weather (Joe...) but I just wanted to describe the experience. Ernie lasted until the 7th inning and then he came out to the car because he felt sorry for me (or - maybe he was cold - he wore shorts). It was actually funny, I felt like we were at an April ball game at Safeco Field.
The rain and clouds here are very different from Seattle and depending where you're at in the valley, you can have sun or lots of rain. The mountains here resemble the ones in Hawaii because of their formation plus they're now green instead of desert looking.
This past week we did some exploring of the area, becoming acquainted with where the different communities are located. On Saturday Ernie drove to Yuma again to go to a car show so he was gone 12 hours. I chose to stay 'home,' relax, and read. On Sunday it rained a lot so we saw a movie and took a drive out of metro Phoenix to McDowell Park in the foothills and decided we'd go back there again when it was less wet. Yesterday we drove to downtown Phoenix (about 45 minutes from here) and were going to a museum of history but it was closed, so we drove around downtown exploring the area. We had lunch at an In N Out Burger (kind of like Dick's in Seattle).
It's late in the evening and as I'm writing this I hear the pitter-patter of raindrops on our rubber roof...hmmm. However, rain is good, especially in the desert, so bring it on.
"Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head"... Joyce
The weather forecast calls for the last of the rain to fall later this afternoon. Right now (9:00 a.m.), it is mostly sunny but on the cool side. After today it clears up, and starts to heat up with temperatures getting to the 80's next week! From here on it looks like the weather will be what you would expect for this area. We will probably need to get more sun screen soon. It should be plenty hot when Ron and Diane get here on the 20th.
Just after Joye headed for the car at the game yesterday, the clouds cleared out and it was bright and sunny! It was still a bit on the windy side, but comfortable. At the end of the 6th inning , Joyce had been back at the car for about an hour, and there was probably about an hour left in the game, so I headed out too. The M's ended up losing the game 6 to 4, and I believe that they are now 2 and 3 in spring training. They lost both of the games that we attended, and if I remember correctly, they lost 8 and tied 2 of the 10 games we went to last year!! We may go see their game against the Giants tomorrow in Scottsdale. There should be no blankets, coats, etc. required for tomorrows game!
Ernie

Spring Training game #1

Does this mean that I'm going to have to take up carpentry?

The kid

The Ichiro highstep

"A river runs over it" at Tortilla Flats

The pitmaster at "work."

Today was the first game of the 2010 Spring Training season in the Cactus League. We saw the Mariner's and the Giants play to a 7 to 7 tie after 9 innings. Not sure how the game ended up, as we decided to head back. We are about an hour from the park in Peoria. They pretty much played what could be considered a starting lineup for the first 4 innings. It was a near perfect day with clear skies and temperatures in the low to mid 70's.

Yesterday we took a run out to Tortilla Flats. We were amazed at how green it is. The road was closed beyond Tortilla Flats due to the river flowing over the road.

On Monday I fired up the Weber Smokey Mountain and cooked 2 racks of baby back ribs along with some Italian sausage. It tastes just as good here as it does at home. I'm running low on Bone Suckin Sauce, but I think I know where to get more. We discovered a BBQ Joint at the ballpark today. I'm going to have to give it a try. The name says it all!!

Browner Ernie

Great Weather and Friends

It was a beautiful sunny warm day today - just what we've been waiting for.

We took a drive up in to the Superstition Mountains today to Tortilla Flats - a stopover for travelers back in the day. Now it's a tourist draw and there were a lot of people there. The mountains are spectacular and dramatic and the rain has greened everything up.

Later, we met friends Joe and Lindy for dinner at an Irish Pub in Chandler. Good beer, good food and good company. I actually drank almost an entire beer (due to encouragement from Joe and Lindy). We plan on getting together again for an Ernie BBQ event at our place.

Tomorrow is our first Spring Training Baseball game - go Mariners!