Coyote doing the catwalk

Art Field Trip

Yesterday I went up to Phoenix with my two friends from Canada, Daria and Peter.  We visited about seven ceramic artists' studios and watched a few pottery demonstrations.  Seeing how good these full time artists were made me feel woefully inadequate in my efforts at pottery.

But first we had to wait for a dozen cows crossing the road as we took the "short cut" to Phoenix.

This potter demonstrated making a hollow egg on the wheel.  Then coloring it.

We got to go to an industrial factory that makes huge ceramic pipes for sewers.  I had never seen clay being used for such large pieces.  There were several GIANT kilns to accommodate all these pipes.  We even saw a lot of these tall pipes that artists were using as "canvas" for their ideas.  One of the artists was James Franco.  We did not see him.

This is Peter from Canada.  We went to this factory to meet up with Peter's friend, Robert Harrison, who is a famous artist who makes very large outdoor sculptures.  Even though he is from Canada and lives in Montana, his daughter just graduated from the Univ. of Oregon!

This factory was incredibly old, dusty and worn out.  Even these switches didn't look functional, but apparently were.

Biking in Oro Valley

We are so lucky to live so close to a wonderful resource.  The Canyon De Oro  (or CDO) wash trail.  This is a paved pathway that starts in Oro Valley and goes for at least 20 miles into south Tucson and loops around and back again.

This looks like a regular road and it is.  Except, no motorized vehicles.  Just pedestrians and bikes.  And golf courses, mountains,  and desert scenery.

Going into Tucson in on a slight decline, so that's a breeze.  Coming back is more work.  It was extra work for me because my new (used) bike had a tire explosion when on the drive back.  We had gone about nine miles south, turned around and about four miles into the return trip I hear a huge pop! So I had to walk my bike back for quite a while.

Here is the flattened blow out.

This is my bike resting against a Palo Verde tree while my companions went ahead and got the car to retrieve me.  Made for a disappointing event.  However, the trail is fantastic and it's a pleasure to ride without once worrying about autos.  The trail crosses major streets by going under them.  I hope to get a new bike, one that's not so heavy and with fresh tires, and begin again.  This is the second bad experience I have had buying a used bike in Tucson.  Never again!

Hike to Maiden Pools in Ventana Canyon

This hike is about a 45 minute drive from our house.  The weather has been great the last few days. We started hiking around 9am and took us about two hours to get to the Maiden Pools area.  There we could sit on some flat sunny boulders and eat our lunch.

This is Jeff.  He is one of our fellow hikers.  I liked this candid shot of him because the sun really illuminated his beard and the Saguaro cactus in the background.  

Our view looking out into the city of Tucson.  We were up pretty high.  Lots of climbing and rocks was pretty exhausting.  Going back down was a breeze, relatively speaking.

Volunteering

As if we don't have enough activities around here, I signed up to volunteer at the local thrift store called The Golden Goose, or The Goose, as those in the know refer to it.  Today I had an orientation with about a dozen other volunteers.  I want to work in the book section, since that's kind of my expertise.  Apparently there are over 400 volunteers.  This shop is always packed as everyone is looking for anything and everything, used.  A huge amount of the merchandise comes from SaddleBrooke homes.  We sent about half of our home furnishings there when we moved into our house.

This is the general manager showing us how to sign in for our shifts.

This is just a fun photo, using the selfie stick, when my sister was visiting a few weeks ago.  We had breakfast as a local spot and my aunt and uncle joined us there.

Shopping for Cactus

It's amazing how many varieties of cactus that are available.  There is a fantastic nursery called Bach's Cactus and it's just fun to go there are see the inventory.  Everyone is really helpful and you always get a free tiny cactus to take home.

These cacti look a bit like brains.  The plant on lower picture is just beginning to get tiny pink flowers.

This one is referred to as the Old Man Cactus.  One of my favorites.

These cacti were in the greenhouse.  I love how each one has white on the edging.  It almost looks like some kind of stitching.  We ended up buying a $40 pink barrel cactus.  They are pretty expensive and of course, the larger the plant the more the price goes up.

Fox in the Backyard!!!

This shot was captured with our motion activated night camera and it's a great one.  This was that little fox visiting at 3am last night!

Pima Canyon Hike

A new hike to me and this was a great one.  Several "water crossings" which some people don't like.  I think they are a lot of fun to hop on the rocks with the goal of crossing without getting wet.

This is looking back into Tucson.

Two of our fellow hikers.  Taking a break against some boulders with the Saguaro in the background.  This hike was about a 6 mile round trip with close to 1000' of elevation gain.  Lots of rocks and boulders, but it didn't seem bad at all.  All there were nice streams to cross!

Dave talking with a couple from Beaverton, OR!

This plant is called Fairy Duster.  One of the first to bloom in the spring.  It's a nice touch of color, but not the most beautiful by a long shot.

Valentine's Day

These donkeys greeted us at the entrance to Gringo!  This is a local Tex-Mex restaurant which has very good reviews.  We were excited to try out this place for lunch.

We were the only customers on a Tuesday at noon.  It's a beautiful restaurant and the food was very good.  We discovered that if you go out to eat on Valentine's Day go at lunch time.  Everyone else has already made dinner reservations so no one is eating lunch.  Perfect solution to avoiding lines and crowds!

Tree Ring Museum

I had never even heard of this place before.  But as I've learned, going on the daily morning walks with the walking group turns out to be where I get all my information.  Too much information.

The university of Arizona is really a fantastic school.  There is so much research going on, they have amazing lectures, and even their buildings are cutting edge.

We learned all about Dendrochronology yesterday.  This is not something you can major in, but you can get endorsements in this study.

The Tree-Ring building is only a couple of years old, so a lot of money went into this research facility.

This is one of the labs where samples from trees are studied.  They had pieces of trees from all over the world and from as old an medieval days.

The Ecology building is less than a year old.  This courtyard is designed to be like entering a Slot Canyon.  Once all the plants grow larger it will be more stunning than it is now.  There are piles of flagstone all over the place, desert plants, and the round metal vessels are cisterns to capture water.  I think.

Wheel of Fortune

My sister visited for the weekend.  For a try at something new we went to the Wheel of Fortune Auditions, held at a casino west of Tucson.  Very interesting.  We got in line two hours before the gates opened.  And the sun was getting hot.  We finally got let into the amphitheater.  By this time we were about #45 in line and the line went to at least 300 people.

Here are the people lining up to enter the seating area.

The closest we got to Pat Sajack.  It was a fun couple of hours.  Unfortunately our names were never drawn so that we could go on stage and "tryout".  The emcee would interview each person on stage to  kind of test out their personality.  In the one hour show we sat through probably 40 people were selected through the random drawing.  Interesting people show up for this kind of event.  However, I would go again if it comes to Oregon.

Romero Pools Hiking Adventure

We ventured out with a small group from the Hiking Club to do this moderately difficult hike.  The ice cold pools are the reward from all the climbing it takes to get to them.  And there are waterfalls.

The sky was such a beautiful blue.  We started the hike at 8:30 a.m. in order to be done by 12:30 and beat the heat (and the other hikers).

Ice water.

This is me cooling my feet.  Then the trouble started.  Somehow I carelessly bumped one of my hiking shoes and next thing I know one of our hikers said "Hey, there's a shoe is the water!".  The men made a mad dash to the stream to catch it.  But it kept on moving, along with my hiking sock.  Two men went ahead to scout out the river below and our hiking guide poked into some brush.  Just when he was about to give up, he saw it!!!!  The sock is gone forever, but I was able to safely walk the three miles back without tearing up my foot on the rocks.  Lesson learned!

Benefits of Helping Others

My 87 year old aunt-in-law lives nearby.  She wanted some help with her liquor cabinet.  Since she rarely drinks and her husband died a few years ago she didn't know what to do with all that liquor sitting there.  Since she was just going to throw it out.....

Now it has a new home where it will be used and she has regained cabinet space.

New Wheels

When I say "new" I don't mean new, exactly.  Nothing in this house is new.  But new to me!  We now have a golf cart!  Coincidentally, this golf cart was made the same year that our house was built, 1997.  There are definitely no bells (not even a horn) or whistles on this thing.  But it is Oregon Duck green and it never reaches speeds faster than 10 mph.  And it can make it up hills, though it literally crawls.  First it belonged to my mother's brother-in-law, then it went to my mother's brother.  Now me!

The other wheels belong to my "new" bike.  There are lots of paved bike trails that begin about eight miles from our house.  Apparently, we can ride 20 miles into Tucson without ever seeing a car.  Once we get the bike carrier we will be ready to explore!

The Pup

Here are just a couple of shots of the only dog in our family.  This is Lauren's dog, Hudson, who is a one year old Labradoodle.

He is very sweet and friendly to everyone.  Even at our family dinner of eight, he spent time with each person's lap as he kept near the dinner table, quietly begging for a bite.  Everyone loved how he would rest his head on our legs.

David Yetman Trail Hike

After a long drive, over an hour with a couple of stops, the hiking group ended up in the Saguaro National Park West for our 6.3 mile hike.  We started at 10am and finished by about 1:30 as the sun was starting to get too warm to hike.  For me anyway. 

I love this view of downtown Tucson from our hike.  One 81 year old fell down twice and one 65 year old tripped into a Cholla plant, but other than that there were no problems.  These hikers always come prepared with bandaids and tweezers!

Javelina by Morning

I am hoping to take much better photos one of these days.  But this was a 7 am, accidental run in with a herd of eight.  There was even a young one, but the lighting was still too dark to get good shots.  There is a Javelina in the background if you look closely.

My New Project

Just repainting some estate sale patio furniture.  The black on the wrought iron fades so badly in the AZ sun that I got some spray paint and am working on the pieces.  Once the paint is done I will tackle  some updated cushions on the seats.

Before the spray paint.

After the spray paint.  I like how the shadow still thinks the chair is black, rather than bronze.  Soon we may actually be able to sit on the patio and enjoy an evening sunset as the weather is getting great!