His, Mine and Ours
In mid-September, Ron and I started a discussion about whether we wanted to take a fall trip. Being relatively close, Yosemite was our possibility. Very, very tempting:
However, since the 2013 Wallace Family Gathering dates finally firmed up as October 16-20, our window was closing. We had already decided squeezing a trip in beforehand felt too close for comfort when the Federal Government shut down occurred- as it happened, the very week we would have tripped. That was a nice piece of synchronicity! Both of us thought late October was too chancy for weather.
Instead, we decided on an October Staycation. This involved both planning special events and taking advantage of occurring events for which we would now be home. Our itinerary follows:
Friday, October 4: I participated in Tai Chi Awareness Day, during which the club did Tai Chi outside and offered information and refreshments inside to potential new members. The Mayor was invited and spoke to the health benefits.
Ron went to the downtown First Friday Art Walk, particularly to take night time photos. This is his favorite:
Sunday, October 6: Ron and I went to Theatrikos, our local community theater, for a poignant and hilarious production of "The Cemetery Club".
Saturday, October 12: Ron and I went to Williams for their Second Saturday Art Walk. We enjoyed dinner at a busy local diner,
then perused the Art scene. Williams has successfully reinvented itself as a quintessential tourist town and Gateway to the Grand Canyon. As such, the bulk of the "art" was tourist kitsch and souvenir in nature. The remarkable exception was The Gallery In Williams:
Set up as a cooperative for local Williams and Flagstaff artists, on display is a variety of fine art, including paintings in different mediums, pottery, jewelry and so forth. The quality was excellent, and many of the artists were present to talk about their art.
October 16-20 we went to Tucson for our Family Gathering. A separate post will follow.
Thursday, October 24: Though I had wanted to get in a fall color hike when colors were at their best, we just couldn't pull it off. We chose this day to do a fall hike and see what color was left. A section of the Arizona Trail at the Snow Bowl was our choice:
It was a beautiful hike, and as usual the scenery was stunning.
As we suspected, however, the color was at ground level.
Saturday, October 26: Ron plays table tennis several times a week with a very active group at a local recreation center in Flagstaff. Tournaments are regularly scheduled, and he played this day.
I made arrangements to hike part of favorite Sycamore Rim Trail with hiking partner Lea and her companion Petey.
This trail follows the rim of wild and remote Sycamore Canyon, seen in the background.
Sunday, October 27: Ron has a long-standing friendship with Allen and his daughter Jenny, whom he met when they were all involved in the martial art Hapkido at a local dojo. Jenny is now a student in ASU and practices Jujitsu there. Allen invited Ron to go to Phoenix with him to watch Jenny in a tournament. Jenny's a scrapper-she's the brunette in this photo.
Thursday, October 31: Ron and I celebrated Halloween with this specialty pizza from our favorite pizza joint, Papa Murphy's:
We're calling our first Staycation a Great Success!
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