Friends, family, and flowers

 Before Pam and John left Wickenburg we enjoyed dinner at El Ranchero with them and MonaLiza and Steve.    No pictures...

Later that week "long time no see" rv friends Vic and Pam arrived for a short visit.   They braved our very washed out road in their small motorhome and parked next to Beluga's house.    

Since it was the day before St. Patricks Day I  invited Steve and MonaLiza over for a dinner of Guiness Stew and Whiskey Cake.    They had met Vic and Pam, briefly, in Florida many years ago, 2014 I think.

We first met these two in Florida also but were able to share many good times together there - enjoying Vic's delicous Chai tea for second cup at the beautiful Holiday Cove RV Resort, visiting Southeastern Guide Dog School and playing with the dear little puppies, happy hours, eating out with other rv friends, etc.     

happy hour in April 2014

in Bend 2016

As usual, we were all too busy talking and enjoying each other's conversations to take any pictures.    Dave did manage to get one shot of Pam constructing her delicous green salad while I looked on.   Thanks Dave.

The next day we continued catching up as we watched their two Portugese Water dogs (Rui and Cash) enjoy total freedom in the back yard.

Cash sleeps, Rui watches - just in case something fun happens.....

It was a great visit and over too soon.  We're so glad they reached out when they were in our area, so nice to be able to see old friends on the road.    Saturday morning they braved the road once again and headed for their next stop in Palm Springs.

The following Friday we drove into Phoenix Sky Harbor to pick up Jesse and Erin!    Our Christmas visit didn't work out so we were really looking forward to having them here with us.    Their lives are busy with work and preparing for the birth of their daughter so we all enjoyed a quiet and low key visit.

father/son second cup conversation in the sun

The weather cooperated and we were able to soak up some sun and warmth, eat, pursue some family stuff on Ancestry.com, and just relax together.

MonaLiza gave us some just picked citrus and Jesse spent way too much time juicing the oranges and grapefruit.    The resulting nectar was wonderful, fresh and sweet, but the process was pretty time consuming for the volume achieved!    Especially when someone we love dearly drinks an enormous glass each morning, 6 oranges worth!

Erin drank her grapefruit juice at second cup beside the chiminea

is she short, is she tall?

We took one afternoon to drive up to Prescott for lunch at Gato Azul.    One night we enjoyed dinner at nearby Rancho de los Caballeros but other than that we just hung out at home.

a morning taken up with Ancestry.com searches - Fun!

the lizards

here they are!

Tuesday we drove them into Scottsdale's Andaz Resort for some babymoon, alone time.    We stayed for dinner outside before saying goodbye until July.

That's about all that's new around here.   We're getting Beluga and ourselves ready for our summer trek east and enjoying the desert's beautiful flowers.    I guess there is something to be said for this winter's above average rainfall in the desert.