March 6 to 18, 2010

Lise and I have been taking golf lessons here in the park and we're starting to see some improvements in our game. The lessons are done now but we'll have to incorporate the new stances and dynamics into our regular game so that we can be consistent with it. Seems like a worthwhile expense anyway.

Our friend Earle, from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada arrived in Phoenix last week for a one week visit. He stayed with our friends Art and Linda, also from Whitehorse. Lise and I hadn't seen him since we left the Yukon in 2001. He looked just the same to us. We played a couple of games of golf with him. Most of the time Art and I found ourselves playing out of the left side or right side of the fairways (usually among the trees) while Earle was straight down the middle pretty well every time! At 83 he still does very well. It was great to spend time with him and we look forward to getting together again soon - maybe he'll spend some time here in the winters ?

Lise was in a softball tournament last weekend. They played 7 games over 2 days. Each game was about an hour long. Her team won 6 of the 7 games, losing only the last one, and came away with the silver medal. I saw the last two games and thought they played some pretty good baseball.

We finally got out on our bicycles yesterday and managed a 28 mile round trip. I now have so many sore muscles I can't keep track of them all. The temperature reached a high of 84 F so it was a beautiful day for riding. Earlier in the week we hiked the Peralta Trail again. Everyone likes to hike this trail and the view at the top is super. Here are some pictures.
Rest area before pushing onward and upward

View from the saddle - Weaver's Needle in the background

A beautiful oasis in the sky

February 21 to March 5, 2010

We've had a great two weeks. Busy as usual - I won't bore you with the details but I did want to mention that I volunteered at the Waste Management Phoenix Open again this year and enjoyed that very much. This is the third year in a row for me; it's lots of fun and I get to see some great golf! I'm not sure that I'll do it next year though - maybe get an entry pass and watch the golf as a spectator instead.

We've finally reached that stage of the year when we have to think about returning home - which way we're going to go, when, what reservations we have to make, what RV maintenance issues we have to see to - the list goes on. In a way it's a bit depressing, that we have to temporarily give up this life style as we head back north and into the colder weather. Last year it was abysmal in Ottawa (pretty well anywhere in the northeast) and we were wearing long pants and coats right into July. But, the flip side is we get to see family again and that is always a real positive. This year we'll be heading to Chilliwack, B.C. to visit family there and, hopefully, visit with our daughter in Kelowna and son in Grande Prairie. We will have to work out the logistics of how we're going to get that all in.

When we're ready to leave B.C. we'll probably drop back down into the States and travel east and cross back into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie.

We don't have to leave here until near the end of the first week in April so lots more time to enjoy our various activities yet. Yesterday we hiked Flat Iron in the Superstition Mountains. We thought we had lost out on that opportunity this year as our hiking group did that hike on a day that Lise and I were both busy with other things that had been pre-booked. Fortunately a friend in the Resort was looking for someone to accompany them to the same destination so we jumped at the chance. Lise hadn't done this one before so she was pretty pumped about it. It went really well. We left at 8:00 in the morning and arrived back home at 4:00 pm. A very exhilerating climb (and tiring - we dragged our limp bodies to bed at 9:00, which is a bit early for us). This hike is considered moderately difficult and, in the upper elevations, the trail is steep and difficult to follow. Total elevation change is about 2,800 feet as we went to the top of the mountain which is above Flat Iron. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
stopped for a rest along the trail - what trail!