Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #47 – More Arizona Touring & Visiting Family!

 

Sunday, November 20^th., 2022…… We had looked it up online and found that we could do a Sunday tour of the Titan Missile Silo just outside of Tucson, so we booked that.  Or rather Frances did. Her Pima County resident discount was better than my military one!  This probably wasn’t one of those tours that the littles would enjoy, so Frances joined us and the kids spent the morning at their local park.  We ate breakfast in the hotel and then Frances came by and parked and I drove us the 30 minutes or so to the facility. We had tickets for the first tour of the day and we headed off with the rest of our group. Our guide was an actual assigned crew member for the duration of his Air Force career. He was excellent and painted a vivid picture of devastation possible if one of these missiles was ever launched with full warheads!  Instant vaporization and annihilation of millions of residents! Short of the gloom and doom reality, the tour was really interesting!  We saw the control room and he went through a mock sequence of what they had to do (but prayed they never had to!). It was chilling and everyone was stone faced and enthralled. Then we walked through the passageway and saw the rocket in its silo. Wow!   Go if you ever get a chance. We left there and drove over to Kyle and Tiff’s, stopping first at Jersey Mike’s for a quick lunch. We visited with the kids for a while, then left to bring Frances back to her car. We said our goodbyes and went in to our room to rest for a few minutes, then headed off to meet up with her stepson Chris and wife Angie for dinner. He had asked us to meet them at Guadalajara – yep more Mexican food!  But we really liked this place!  They make your salsa and guacamole right at the table. Chris ordered the lava bowl, which is like fajitas but in a bowl that’s over 1000°!

We said our goodbyes and left them and headed back to our room and spent some time packing for tomorrow. We did find some time to go back to the spa. I hope the swimsuits dry overnight!     

Monday, November 21^st., 2022…… Despite Cathye’s protests, we were up and going at 4:30am!  I was warned by Chris that we were going to be in some serious rush hour Phoenix traffic and I wanted to avoid that! Plus, we had to shuttle back in from the rental car drop and also we had to deal with my misspelled ticket again so we needed to go to ticketing first.  We were on the road by 5:00am and made it with one stop for coffee, rolls, and a rest stop at the 76 station. But we made it through everything with no issues and even had time to sit down to a real breakfast at one of the places in the airport. Both flights were uneventful and we got back and to the truck with no issues. We got stuck in rush hour traffic just around Wilsonville, which is just south of Portland and has way too many people moving there and not enough roads to support the traffic! I’ve had issues in this area many times, so we just stopped at Burger King and picked up burgers and fries to eat while we were driving!  We got home about 5:30pm but Penny had already fed the dogs so all we had to do was let them out after they ran out of steam from greeting us!  We unpacked and settled in and rested from the day. I think it was around 8:30pm or so when I gave up and went to bed. It sure was a fun trip! We saw tons of things and met up with many family members. We’re looking forward to the next trip but it was sure nice to be home and to sleep in your own bed!    

Tuesday, November 22^nd., 2022…… Randy and Maryanne are due in today!  They both had work on Monday so they decided to wait until late last night to leave. Randy drove all night and handed off to Maryanne this morning for a while. They got in at around 3ish and Penny came over and we all visited for a while. We made plans for tomorrow. They are planning on mountain biking in the afternoon. I have a dermatology appointment at 1:00pm. We have some shopping to do in the morning. Later, we will go pick up Josh.

Wednesday, November 23^rd., 2022…… Cathye was up early and busy prepping for tomorrow. The kids left around noon, headed for Alsea Falls and said later that they had a nice mountain bike ride. Randy has been many times and wanted to show Maryanne.  My appointment was at 1:00pm. I was tasked with stopping on my way back to pick up a few more last minute items from Walmart. They got home around 5:00pm and Penny joined us for Cathye’s lasagna (remember – this was the second batch she had made last week and froze). We had garlic knots and a salad that Penny had made and we were good to go!  We needed to leave around 6:30 or so to go to Albany to pick up Josh, who took a train down from Portland. I guess the trains were full so they routed him down on a bus – but he made it! He will be here only until Friday when he heads back home then will be heading north to Seattle to see more family up there. But we are ready here for Thanksgiving! 

Thursday, November 24^th., 2022……  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!   We got the turkey in early and were ready for the rest of the family to arrive.  Penny came over with fruit and Cathye had made a breakfast casserole and we all enjoyed those.  Maryanne made an apple crisp for dessert later. Cathye took off a bit later to go pick up Jamie. It’s so nice now that he’s only about 2 miles from us now.  Later, Corey and Vicky and Bailey came over. Brittany had dropped Brandon off and we were all here. The meal was fantastic as you can see from the spread on the table!

 

We all hung around the house and rested and let the turkey coma set in!  We watched football and/or sat around and talked. It was a fun day and we all have a lot to be thankful for! Here are more before and after shots....

Friday, November 25^th., 2022…… Today was breakfast out. Penny met us at Kristi’s and we had a great breakfast. Randy and Cathye and I had a bank appointment in Corvallis so we left everyone and headed off for that. I took advantage of the boy’s muscles and together we got down all of the Christmas decorations and stored them on the front porch.  Then it was about time to take Josh to the train station so he could make his train back to Portland. Cathye also had to go back to the bank because there was one more document they forgot to have her sign – plus I left my jacket there!  Later, Randy and I worked on the headlight bulb on Cathye’s truck. I went off and got the replacements for both sides while we were at it. Later, we ate leftovers and pretty much grazed for the day.   

Saturday, November 26^th., 2022……  We had leftover breakfast casserole and then took a drive. Cathye and Penny and I took the kids over to see Cat’s old place and then went to see Cherrelyn’s place. She’s still in Calif. so we could only do a drive-by. We got back and then Randy and I put the lightbulbs in the truck and we were good to go. The kids left a little after that. They plan to drive straight through so most of the drive will be at night. I’m sure glad we don’t have to hurry anywhere anymore!  We were back to a quiet house again but we were sure glad to see them again! We settled in and watched tv until it was time to call it a night.

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #46 – Heading Off to Arizona!

 

 

Sunday, November 13^th., 2022……  My back feels somewhat better today. I think rather than a pulled muscle, this is more of a pinched nerve or sciatica. We got out with the dogs and walked and fed them. Cathye had made burritos yesterday and made extra while she was at it. So, I had those this morning. We watched a couple of Rick Steves travel shows before she left to go to church. I did my blog and got it posted and then settled in and relaxed and watched tv the rest of the day. Later, we both worked on our packing. We leave Wednesday morning for our trip to Arizona. We have reservations at The Tombstone Hotel where we will base for the first 3 nights (Wed-Fri.). Mary (Cath’s sister) and Jim’s reception is on Saturday, in Benson, just a few minutes from there. Then we will move to Tucson, where we will stay Saturday and Sunday.  We get to visit with Frances and Kyle and family on Sunday. It will be a short trip, but packed in with fun things to do. More on that later…

Cathye made dinner and we settled in and watched tv until bedtime.        

Monday, November 14^th., 2022……   Good night’s sleep for me last night. My back feels really good!  Still a twinge now and then when I overextend, but all in all, it feels better. I was up and going at 6:30 to make my 8:00am acupuncture appointment. I made it with no issues and got that done and wrote the check to the engineer for the deck plans. When Russ was here Saturday, he said he was having more issues with that guy on his other jobs in regards to overdesigning and seismic requirements – things he’s not dealt too much with in the past. I think he’s ready to move on! Anyway, I need the guy to make the one page amendment to substitute on the project. Seems that Russ can’t find the 8x8 post material anywhere!  You’d think that the lumber capital of the nation would have an ample supply of wood!  But they are rarely used and not in stock in most lumber yards. Custom cutting them would be cost prohibitive!  Funny thing because the posts holding up the house are 6x6’s. The guy who came out and walked the job must have thought they were 8x8’s because they are wrapped with 1x’s on all sides (making them look bigger than they are!  Russ says he can use steel posts and still wrap them so they would look the same. He says the engineer just needs to make a one page amendment and the city inspector will use that when the time comes. I said ok so we are good to go. Then I remembered that I hadn’t sent the engineer’s check so I got that in the mail today!        

Tuesday, November 15^th., 2022…… We are doing last-minute packing today. Plus making sure we have everything Penny will need for the dogs when she comes over tomorrow. I think we’re ready. We have to leave here at 6:00ish tomorrow for the trip to Portland PDX. We’ll park in the long term lot since we’ll only be gone 6 days. I did have a dental appointment this morning and that went well. Just cleaning and x-rays today.

Wednesday, November 16^th., 2022…… We were up early this morning and quickly walked and fed the dogs. We loaded up the luggage and headed out about 6:00am for our 10:00am flight. There was lots of traffic in the metro area even on the 205 which skirts around the city. But we got the truck parked and shuttled in with a little time to spare. Cathye had pre-checked us in so we went straight to TSA. Well, I got detained! I was sent back to ticketing. It turned out that Cathye had misspelled the last name on my ticket! But they got it corrected and I headed back through security and made it in time. Our first flight was to Seattle, which took maybe 1 hour total. We made the connection and got in to Phoenix with no problems. We shuttled out to the rental car area. Cathye had suggested we try another rental company this time.  I normally would use my National’s Emerald Club. It’s super convenient and I get great cars, but it’s a little pricier than she thought prudent. So this time I had booked at Thrifty. I rented an economy car and we did get to choose ours. I chose a KIA Soul, which was an excellent choice!

It was very comfortable and roomy inside and had a bit of power. I would rent one again.  It took us 2 ½ hours to drive to Tombstone. But we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner. CB is not in Oregon so it was a nice treat! We checked in to The Tombstone Hotel about 9:30pm and settled in and had a nice rest. We had lost an hour with Mountain time.    

Thursday, November 17^th., 2022……  We went to the hotel’s waffle breakfast bar this morning. It was ok. We drove 5 min. to old town Tombstone and parked. 

Not crowded at all. First stop was the town courthouse. It was really cool and was very grand for its time.

We saw the jail and then the gallows in the courtyard.  Only seven people were hanged there. One other was sentenced to a term in Yuma Territorial Prison for life but a group of vigilantes came to the courthouse and busted him out and hung him from a telegraph pole. Western justice!  We were ready for lunch and headed over to the OK Café & had buffalo burgers which were amazing!

Then we drove 30 miles to our next outing. We were headed to Kartchner Caverns. We chose the ‘big room’ tour which was 1 ½ hours and a mile walk.  We had time beforehand so we went to their discovery center and walked through that. No camera are allowed in the caverns so we had to shoot the replicas in there.

We also tried out our ‘bat hearing’.

We met up with the tour guide and got the briefing and history. The tour was excellent and we will definitely go back again to do the other section of the cave next time. We drove back to our hotel and rested for a bit, then headed back to town for dinner. We chose Big Nose Kate’s to eat. Now this place was awesome!  These places in town are authentic and not replicas and this place was no exception. Of course they have added to the ambiance with a lot of decorations and pictures and such. It was really cool! After that, it was time for our ‘Gunfight and Ghosts’ tour!  Our guide

met the 7 of us on the tour outside on one of the street corners and gave us all either heat sensors (Cathye) or electromagnetic sensors (Terry) and off we went for our 1 ½ hr. tour.  We hit the gallows and Cat saw the heat readings drop as she scanned up to the top of the gallows and also the tree where the telegraph pole once stood. My meter went off where a little Chinese girl had fallen to her death from a second story building.  Since we all got ‘hits’ or ‘readings’ on our devices, folks believed. 

Let’s just say she did an excellent job.  I’m still a skeptic but she made believers of probably 4 of the 7 on the tour. Home to bed after our long but fun day!

Friday, November 18^th., 2022……  The main reason we made this trip was to attend Cathye’s sister Mary’s and Jim’s wedding reception. We already knew they wouldn’t be able to celebrate because Mary had covid and was really sick.  She had intended to cancel the party, which was being held at her old mobile park just outside of Benson. But her cousin Nancy, who also lives in the park decided to have it anyway. She said she would pick up the tab for the cake and the band. Cathye’s Aunt Dolly and Uncle Paul also live in the park so we decided to just go visit with them and Nancy this morning and then we could skip the party since we didn’t know anyone besides these guys. We had a nice visit with Dolly and Paul. They are both in their 80s so she was glad to be able to spend some one on one time with them in their home. Nancy came by later so we saw her too.  After that, we drove back home and ate leftovers in our room and rested a bit. Later, we drove back in to town and got on the trolley for a tour around the town. After that we got ice cream and walked around the shops and stores. We bought some souvenirs and then went in and toured the Birdcage Theater and saw the gambling tables and bullet holes and even the old town hearse! We eventually found an old vintage photo studio and had a pic showing us as the mean gunslinger visiting one of his ladies in the saloon.

I wasn’t too keen on the idea of any of this but it actually turned out to be one of my favorite things we did on this trip! After that, we hit the Crystal Palace and split a ribeye dinner and then had more drinks up on the upstairs balcony and watched the sunset and took pics up and down the street.

We came back to the room and changed into our swimsuits and hit the spa. It was a nice experience even though the temps outside were in the low 40s!  We leave early tomorrow.     

Saturday, November 19^th., 2022……  We checked out of our room in Tombstone and headed out to Tucson. We are booked in to the La Quinta Inn just east of the University of Arizona campus, but will check in later this afternoon. We stopped Since we decided to forgo the reception which was this afternoon, we found we had all of the day open. So we had more time to visit. This time with my side of the family. Lydia’s sister, Frances now lives in Tucson. She moved there a few years ago to be closer to her son Kyle, his wife Tiffany, and their three kids, Hera (8), Cora (4), and Luke (1). We decided we wanted to go see the Biosphere 2, which is just outside Tucson. A little history – back in the early 90s, they tried an experiment where a group of scientists tried to stay in an enclosed environment for 2 years, sustaining only on what they had and could grow. It was pretty much a failure and they had to evacuate due to dangerously low oxygen levels. They rebranded the project as an environmental experiment. Now, they are working trying to understand natural and human-made ecosystems and sustainability and quality of life under simulated conditions and controls. We bought tickets for everyone so they could go too, except Kyle – who had to work. We met them there and started in. The girls had a great time and ran around and enjoyed the time out. Both of them are smart and picked up on everything and understood the concept of the controlled space so they enjoyed their time there too! It was really fascinating, but I don’t think I could be enclosed for any length of time like those folks were!  We took pics as we went…

Once we were done with the tour, we followed Tiffany back to their apartment where we waited for Kyle. After a short visit, we went out to dinner. They chose Mexican and it was tasty! 

Thanks, guys! After that, we came back home to check in to our hotel and rest for a while. We liked the spa and pool area so we changed into our suits and relaxed in the spa for a bit before calling it a night.