April 27 – Our 31st Anniversary

Our wedding anniversary was spent in the solitude of  Benbrook C.O.E. Park on the outskirts of Fort Worth, TX.

 

We spent the afternoon on a long walk along the banks of the lake.

Benbrook Lake was a serene location to celebrate 31 years together.

Kerrville and Bluebonnets

Our stop in Kerrville to visit with Donna and Glenn coincided with the last few days of the spring wildflower blooming.

The Hallfords took us for a drive from Kerrville through Fredericksburg to the small town of  Willow City.  A scenic loop there revealed fields of wildflowers, predominately bluebonnets.  The picture speak for themselves:

Square Dancing with Friends

It’s always fun to return to our Square Dance “roots”, the Deming, NM area. Using Deming as the hub, we usually dance in Las Cruces, Silver City and Deming. 

Sunday night, Ted Clements was calling in Las Cruces for the Circle 8s.

Monday night, we drove to Silver City with friends Bill and Liv to dance with the Silver City Squares, but I forgot to take the camera.

Tuesday evening we danced in Deming with the Good Times Squares.  Rusty Wright is the caller for the small club. 

Sonoran Desert Museum

The name, Sonoran Desert Museum, is a misnomer, as far as I’m concerned, and I wonder how many pass up this outstanding facility because of the title, Museum?  It is, in fact, a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place! 

For years, we’ve seen the brochure, looked at the website, and said, “We’ve got to see that”, and finally this year, took the time to do it. The Museum is located just outside of Tucson.

What a delight!  Almost two miles of paths winding through the 21 acres lead you past 300 types of animals and 1200 plant species.   From the mountain lion to the scorpion to the cactus, it’s a captivating place.

One of our first stops was the Earth Sciences Center, a man made limestone cave that you would swear was authentic.    Next came the Mountain Woodland exhibit, with the mountain lions. There are many such exhibits, housing the many animal species in their own habitat.    I was glad for the new camera’s zooming ability for photos like this one.  We were probably 40-50 feet from the bear.One of the more unique aspects of the facility is its windows on the various habitats.  For the nocturnal creatures or those loving crevices, you get a peak at them there also.  (See the snake through the glass in this photo?)We were even able to observe a sleeping beaver up close in his den though a similar window.  Through the use of these windows and “hot spots”, places identified as most likely to spot the animals, there were very few species that we were not able to watch.

The  number of identified plants is outstanding – there are more cacti varieties than you can imagine.

There are two aviaries, one exclusively for hummingbirds.  We tried to capture a picture of them, but they’re almost too fast for the camera.  Here’s an attempt at one in flight. We attended two presentations, Running Wild, in which wild animals take turns circling the stage, including a ringtail cat and a porcupine.  Two tropical parrots even circled near enough over our heads that we felt the wind from their flight.

The second presentation, Live and (Sort of ) On the Loose, featured a Gila Monster and a Rattlesnake, and covered how to avoid being bitten by either, or what to do if you are bitten.

The day ended with a stroll through the beautiful pollination gardens.  The museum is almost too large to fully experience in one day.  I definitely would like to return.  We have lots more pictures!  Would you like to see them?  Click below.

For more information on visiting the Sonoran Desert Museum, CLICK HERE.

Mission San Xavier del Bac

I was totally unprepared for the sight of the San Xavier del Bac Mission in Tucson.  My pre-conceived notion of an old mission was perhaps a small nondescript adobe structure.  That mental picture could not have been farther from the truth. The Catholic mission itself was founded in 1692; the current building, also known as “The White Dove of the Desert”  took 14 years to build and was completed in 1797 .  A masterpiece of construction, it is considered to be the finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States.  Until 1854 with the Gasden Purchase, the mission building was located in Mexico.

A large reconstruction effort was initiated in 1992, and continues today as funds become available.

The building remains unfinished.  One legend suggests that early taxation laws exempted buildings under construction, so the builders chose to leave one dome unfinished.  Another legend is that the tower is being left unfinished until the “Excellent Builder” will come to direct its completion.

Much of the manual labor was accomplished through the hard work of the native tribe, the O’odham.  Children of the tribe still attend the school on the grounds and services are still held weekly in the sanctuary.      

THE MISSION SCHOOL

The interior is even more impressive than the exterior, featuring Baroque styling. 

As you enter the huge carved mesquite doors, your senses are flooded by the brilliant colors of the paintings, carvings, frescoes and statues. The interior is richly decorated with ornaments showing a mixture of New Spain and Native American artistic motifs.  Chapels sit to each side of the sanctuary.  The dome towers 52 feet above the floor.

The mission is surrounded by gardens and courtyards.  In the parking lot out front, O’odham tribe members prepare native foods such as fry bread to sell to the many visitors. 

We could not pass up the chance for fry bread, one of our favorite treats.

In the nearby San Xavier Plaza, more Native Americans sell their handicrafts.  Ron purchased a pair of turquoise earrings for me from Joe Begay, a Navajo.  Joe is a master of trades including acting, singing and silversmithing.  He showed us photos from his acting roles.  One of the first was Little House on the Prairie.  He says he was “lucky to be allowed to play an Indian.  Until then, all Indians were played by whites”.  He has also had parts in many movies, including Dances with Wolves.

For more photos of the mission interior and grounds, click on the collage below.

Justin’s Diamond J RV Park

We chose to stay at the RV park primarily because it was near the Sonoran Desert Museum, our ultimate destination, but were pleasantly pleased with the park.  Bordered by the Tucson Mountain Park, the landscaping of the RV park was well done, and pathways led into the Tucson Mountain Park.   The facilities were clean, the personnel friendly, and we even found a nice trading library.  We’ll plan to stay at this park again in the future. For a glimpse at our evening walk, click on the picture below.

Our Season in Yuma

This post covers our 6 months in Yuma, from October 3 to April 15, 2010

October 

Arriving in Yuma, we parked in our Camp Host site from last season, but the next morning, I was offered an office position next door in the sister park, Desert Paradise, so we moved from C-16 (the camp host site) to B-16, one street over.   I soon  grew to love my new job, and working with the Assistant Manager of the two parks, Sherry. 

Ron began to prepare for the Shuffleboard Season almost as soon as he arrived.  Workers added a new surface to two of the courts,  and before long play was underway daily 

A party is always held on Halloween.  This year I attended the party at both Desert Paradise and Cactus Gardens.  I didn’t get any photos at DP, but we really enjoyed the Horse Racing Bingo.  The regular Bingo at Cactus seemed boring by contrast, but we had fun seeing all the costumes.  Bernice took a prize for hers.  New Camp Hosts, Carol and Lauren came as opposites, the Devil and an Angel.  We teased Lauren about the appropriateness of their costumes. 

November

While in Hungry Horse, Montana we met new friends Ron and Anne.  From New York, they are new RVers taking an extended cross country trip.  They surprised us by coming to visit for a week.

We enjoyed many outings with them, including lunch at Golden Corral and then a tour of the Yuma Territorial Prison,

a drive to the Tumco Historical Mine, 

  

and square dancing.

A few days after Ron and Anne left, good friends Glenn and Donna arrived from Texas.  They parked across the park street from us for a month.  We enjoyed lots of good times with them, including Thanksgiving at Cactus Gardens.

December

December  started with a birthday celebration for Ron, and as we have in the past few years, we went to Golden Corral for breakfast. 

Later that evening, we played Pegs and Jokers with Donna and Glenn, Bunny and Wes and Bernice and Hoyt.  Christmas is always a fun time at the park.  I decorated out front, as do many others. Unfortunately, a wind bearing gusts up to 90 mph hit a few days later, and my decorating had to be done all over again.  At least our damage was trivial…some in the park lost their awnings. 

We didn’t square dance as often this season as in the past, but we still tried to get in 2 dances per week.   These photos are from the Association Christmas Dance.       

January

On a particularly pretty day in January, we went for a hike along the Yuma wetlands area, walking along the canal to the ‘Ocean to Ocean’ bridge.  The bridge, built in 1914, was a critical link joining the Atlantic to the Pacific with a highway.  At the time, it provided the only safe vehicle crossing of the Colorado River for 1200 miles.  It has been renovated and can still be driven across.

Bernice and I taught several craft classes throughout the season, but the best liked was the ‘Crayon Tee Shirts’.  We actually repeated the class a second time for those who had missed it.  

The Square Dance Association was asked to give a demonstration at the Yuma Friday Night Social (a monthly car show and entertainment).  5 squares (40 people) turned out to dance.

A new idea in the Shuffleboard games this season was the Rooster Award.  The idea quickly became popular.  Here , Larry wins the very first Rooster Award.

February

The big February event each year is the Square Dance Festival, drawing 700 dancers or more.  This year, the Diamond Jubilee, celebrated 60 years of square dancing in Yuma. Here are a couple of pictures just to give you an idea of the size of the 3 day event.

New to Yuma this year is the Yuma Fun Factory.  We celebrated Bernice’s birthday there with a pizza lunch, mini golf, and finished the afternoon with ice cream.    

One of the more unique experiences this year was attending a Mexican Rodeo.  One of the dentists in Los Algodones sponsors a Rodeo on his ranch 10 miles out of town each year.  There was a large crowd waiting on the bus to take us from town to the ranch, so many people, in fact, that they had to use 4 bus trips instead of one. Once we left the town, the countryside looked much as it does around Yuma, mostly farm fields.   Even the youngsters take part. The competitions were different from that of US rodeos.  Here, the riders were competing to see who could stop the quickest from a hard gallop.

Sandwiches made with fresh beef from the grill were unusual, but very good.

The best part of the rodeo was the performance by the young ladies.  Eight riders wove in and out while their horses ran at top speed.  Their choreography and speed was amazing. We were glad we attended the rodeo, for the exposure to the cultural differences, but overall, decided the rodeo was too abusive to the animals used.  In the US rodeos, cattle are primarily used, but in this rodeo, horses were used extensively.  It was disturbing to see horses thrown by lassoing their feet.

We made several trips to Los Algodones this winter, for dental work, eyeglasses and of course the shrimp tacos and new this year, milkshakes – thick, creamy with lots of Mexican vanilla. Lines at customs were long each time, sometimes taking 2 hours to get through, but at least the waiting area has been improved, with a framework that was covered to provide shade as the temperatures warmed.

 March

Another big event each season is our annual Quilt Show.   This season, the show was larger than ever, with several exhibits from the new class. 

  J. D.’s mother visited Yuma for the first time.  Wanting to show her some of the countryside, we took her on a picnic out in the desert at an oasis we discovered a couple years ago.   For a slideshow of the picnic click on this picture:

Just north of Yuma on SR 95 is Castle Dome, the site of many mines in years past.  Now part of a National Refuge, KOFA, Castle Dome Mine Museum provides a step back in time.  Ron and I enjoyed browsing the many buildings.

For pictures from that day click on this photo:

Earlier in the season, Ron enlarged the flower bed around our tree.  I filled it with petunias, but a few weeks later, the bunnies decided they needed a buffet dinner more than I needed flowers, and leveled it.  It was too late to replant, but my above ground planters did well.  

Leroy and Suzanne hosted a mini reunion for those of our Mainstream Square Dance Class who still dance together.  We enjoyed a fun evening of visiting and reminiscing.

Each year, the park hosts an Appreciation Dinner for the Volunteers.  This year Ron helped serve. The surprise entertainment for the evening was a Belly Dancers group, who were great.

Palm Canyon, the most visited site in the KOFA Wildlife Refuge, is a narrow, sheltered ravine which is the last significant location in Arizona where palm trees grow in their natural habitat.  A hike up the canyon provided the perfect setting to try out my new camera purchased that week.  For a slideshow of the hike, click on the photo.

 

Most Sunday mornings found us attending services here in the park.Park services end with the last Sunday in March, so we celebrated Easter with George and Liz at their church in Yuma, Faith Baptist, along with Hoyt and Bernice, and capped it off with lunch at Golden Corral. It seems time has flown more than usual this season, and soon all the snowbirds were planning their migration north.

Cactus Gardens actually held two Farewell Parties this year.  The first had great entertainment from the Yearys, out of Branson, but the company sponsoring the dinner didn’t come through with the promised meal.  Lois, our manager, arranged for a second meal the next week to make amends.  Sherry’s husband, Don, provided the music for this event.

Ron and Hoyt delivered meals to those unable to physically attend.

My last day of work will be on Wednesday, and we’ll leave Yuma on Thursday.  Looking back at this post, I know we’ve had some great times, but where has the past 6 months gone???