Yikes, May arrives tomorrow and whole winter is gone….. Where
did it go? What did we do?
We got back to Queen Valley at the end of December and immersed
ourselves into “park life” so much that we lost complete track of time. What posting I did do on a regular basis was
on Face Book and some on Twitter. Anyone
can follow me on Twitter at: Cachinbird. Only you who know me by name can ask
to be my friend on Face Book. As Ken
says, our lives are an open book on Face Book (grin).
Every Monday morning we would get up early and go to the
park’s activity hall for morning coffee/donuts and social hour. During “coffee” we would get the latest
updates of activities that either happened or were about to happen for the
weeks ahead. Sometimes we had guests from
special interest groups come in and put on a show. Mostly it was a time to catch up with
everyone’s comings and goings in the park.
Ken was heavily involved in the Lapidary Shop again and would
spend Monday afternoon and all day Wednesday & Thursday (every week)
working on various projects in the “rock shop.”
He produced some gorgeous pendants of Jade and Mahogany Obsidian. In some of his spare time, he produced some
very pretty beaded earrings and necklaces/bracelets. His work was much sought after and he sold lots. While he was “out” I would catch up with
friends & family on Face Book, Twitter, and Email along with reading some
wonderful books. Oh yes, there was
something called “work” around the coach too.
Every Friday we joined a group of Jeepers (Rough Riders) on
some wonderful and challenging drives through the back country near and far of
Queen Valley. We went to many old mines,
the Salt River, and Coke Ovens. We
usually didn’t travel far, but the roads were so rough it would take us all day
to make the drive. We always planned a
nice place to stop and have lunch.
This first picture is our group. In the fore front is Ken letting air out of our tires in order to track easier over very rocky terrain.
The above describes what we did on a weekly basis, but there
was always something happening in the evenings and on weekends. We
had geocaching events, park dinners/pot lucks, along with Branson style entertainment who came out to the park. We also had
dinner out with many friends at various restaurants and sports bars around Mesa
and Apache Junction. Our favorite Sports
Bar was Native of New York where we had some great beer and wings. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Native had all you
want wings for .39 each (yum). Weekends
were our time to relax and maybe do our needed errands and town shopping. So much depended on what the weather was like
and this season it was usually very nice.
We literally had very little rain and some very mild temperatures. Arizona is once again in a drought situation
and desperately needs rain to raise the lakes and water tables.
Our biggest news of the season was the birth of two more
great grand-children. On January 26 our 7th
great grandchild (a boy, Tristen Raymond Allen) and on April 15, our 8th great
grand-child (a girl, Zoe Lavele Lopez) arrived.
We honestly don’t feel old enough to have 8 great grand kids!! They are both so precious and we have yet to
meet them in person. By the time we get
back to Salem, they will be so much bigger.
This picture is of Tristen and mommy just after birth.
This is Zoe and mommy just after birth.
