I took advantage of Spring Break to go to Tucson again this year. Cabin fever was a non-issue because of our mild winter here in Flagstaff, so my motivation was purely enjoying the the company of family and friends. That and a bit of swim-suit shopping.
Tuesday morning I left bright and early.
The drive had the usual gorgeous Arizona scenery.
I had to stop in Eloy to
but still made the drive in excellent time.
I stayed with my usual generous hosts, Mark and Cindy.
I also enjoyed the company of Cindy's mom Dorothy, dog Cinnamon, and cats Charley, Chloe, Riley and Anders. It's a full house!
Cindy was on Spring Break from her teaching job; Mark was unable to get the time off from work despite plenty of notice (note to self: be GRATEFUL that's not part of my life anymore!) Cindy and I had shopping and swimming days planned, neither of which were of interest to Mark, so it worked out to have evenings and the weekend together.
Wednesday was our first swim & shop day. Cindy belongs to the popular LA Fitness gym, and they gave me a free pass for the week. Generous!
The pool was very nice. The lanes were longer by 1/2 than the lanes at the Aquaplex in Flagstaff. I discovered how habituated I am to my usual swimming distance!
I found it quite amusing that the nice poster of the woman clearly preparing for a dive was right beside the "No Diving" sign.
We had a delicious lunch at
then headed for Tucson Mall, where both of us would look for swimsuits.
We made our way thru Macy's and Dillards to J.C. Penney, which was a gold mine for me last year. They had nice suits again, but the price was something more than I hoped to pay. We decided to expand our potential choices and carried on to Sears, Target and Kohls. By the time we'd been to all those stores, I was well past being able to make a decision. We went home to recover with another delicious Cindy dinner and the movie she'd picked up on DVD, "Frozen".
This was a delightful movie. I found the animation stunning, particularly when Elsa sweeps her way up the mountain, creating the snow castle.
Thursday I went to Mike's residence in Picture Rocks. He, Nicholas, Jonathan and I enjoyed a long-enough hike in Saguaro National Monument.
We hiked the Encinas trail, a sandy wash trail
to the Ez-Kim-In-Zin picnic area.
This collage of desert vegetation is courtesy of Nicholas and Jonathan, who enjoyed using the camera.
After our hike, I visited a bit with Karen, Karlie, Angel and Sammy.
Friday I met friend Pat at Chili's for lunch.
Both Saturday and Sunday mornings, I accompanied Mark and Cinnamon on their weekend walk along the Rillito River Park.
Saturday we went to the 4th Avenue Street Fair.
There were countless booths with interesting and beautiful crafts, including lots of pottery, photography, painting, and jewelry. We were more interested in gawking than buying; Cindy's new hair fastener and lunch were our only purchases.
Mark & Cindy have On-Demand through their cable company, so that evening we chose to watch another movie, "Saving Mr. Banks", the story of Walt Disney acquiring the rights to "Mary Poppins" from its crusty author, PL Travers.
An interesting movie, with Disney portrayed as a kindly-seeming man who always manages to get what he wants, and PL Travers as an author in need of money but desperate to maintain some control of her story. We know who wins.
Sunday morning Cindy worked, so after our walk, Mark accepted a piano lesson to help him understand more about the keyboard he got for Christmas a year ago. His head was pretty much swimming by the time we got done with naming the keyboard notes and an introduction to note reading. That afternoon, Cindy and I enjoyed another swim then went back to J.C. Penney to purchase at least one swimsuit each. We struck gold again when Cindy asked if we could get a discount using her charge card...no, but it they were having a Friends & Family special-an additional 25% off! That made the suits we liked a much more reasonable purchase. I'm not sure what the perfect number of swimsuits is, but right now it's five. So far one has met its chlorine demise. Two are still good from last year's shopping, and these three new ones:
Cindy liked the first one a lot, so that was her choice also.
After watching "Saving Mr. Banks", I thought it would be interesting to watch Mary Poppins to see just what Disney had done. About 50 years go, we sibilings saw it at the Kearney theater. We arrived late and had front row seats, so about all I remember is feeling kind of sick. The music was popular at the time, and I remembered quite a lot of that. It's in Mark & Cindy's extensive DVD collection, so Sunday night that's what we watched.
After watching "Saving Mr. Banks", I thought it would be interesting to watch Mary Poppins to see just what Disney had done. About 50 years go, we sibilings saw it at the Kearney theater. We arrived late and had front row seats, so about all I remember is feeling kind of sick. The music was popular at the time, and I remembered quite a lot of that. It's in Mark & Cindy's extensive DVD collection, so Sunday night that's what we watched.
Pretty Disneyfied. Once I arrived home, I decided a companion experience was in order, so I checked out the book Mary Poppins at the library.
After finishing the book, I'd have to say that the Disneyfied version was the more enjoyable.
I had arranged to meet Mike for breakfast Monday morning before I left. No exact time was mentioned, so about 8:00 Mark & I went over to their "town" house-the mobile home Mike inherited from Dad & Mom. His vehicle was there, but no one answered. We waited around a bit in case he'd gone for a walk, then decided something else must have happened and gave up. Hungry, we went to the local Denny's for our own breakfast. And who should we find there? Mike and Karen! HAHAHAHAH! They'd gone by Mark and Cindy's to find us....we just missed each other. So we ended up having breakfast together after all.
The trip home was without incident.. It's always nice when the San Francisco Peaks come into view in the far distance.
It's always so enjoyable to spend time with family and friends.
Family is a funny thing
People living in harmony
We will experience some pain
But in the end, we will always gain
People change and people grow
Yet every seed is always sown
We take from each other what we will use
In our lives that we eventually choose
Yet we never forget about who we are
No matter if we are close or far
Togetherness will always be in our heart
No matter if we ever part
So when we feel afraid and alone
Always remember that there is no place like home
I had arranged to meet Mike for breakfast Monday morning before I left. No exact time was mentioned, so about 8:00 Mark & I went over to their "town" house-the mobile home Mike inherited from Dad & Mom. His vehicle was there, but no one answered. We waited around a bit in case he'd gone for a walk, then decided something else must have happened and gave up. Hungry, we went to the local Denny's for our own breakfast. And who should we find there? Mike and Karen! HAHAHAHAH! They'd gone by Mark and Cindy's to find us....we just missed each other. So we ended up having breakfast together after all.
The trip home was without incident.. It's always nice when the San Francisco Peaks come into view in the far distance.
It's always so enjoyable to spend time with family and friends.
Family
© Catherine M. Davis
Family is a funny thing
People living in harmony
We will experience some pain
But in the end, we will always gain
People change and people grow
Yet every seed is always sown
We take from each other what we will use
In our lives that we eventually choose
Yet we never forget about who we are
No matter if we are close or far
Togetherness will always be in our heart
No matter if we ever part
So when we feel afraid and alone
Always remember that there is no place like home
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