Judi!

 Judi has been one of my best friends since I was 7 years old.    We lived across the street from each other until we each got married.    I was in her wedding, she in mine.   She married one of Dave's good friends and we've stayed in close touch through the years.   We were so excited that she was coming out for a visit, her first time in Arizona.

The three of us talked and laughed and ate and reminisced for two weeks.  We drove off road, through the desert, to show her one of our favorite activities, ate at Lake Pleasant, (a lake in the desert?), we drove up to Prescott to show her that the desert isn't all sand.....and we went to Palm Springs to jiggle in the hot tub, enjoy the beautiful scenery and the great restaurants there. 

second cup

 Taos added her to his "pod" and stuck close by when she wasn't feeling well.   We rented a small transport chair for her to make the long walk down to Scorpion Bay Marina easier and more fun.

approaching the funicular

one of the wild Burro population along Castle Hot Springs rd. watches us pass by

We were able to rent the same Palm Springs house that we've used in the past.  Judi was supposed to join us there a few years ago, but it didn't work out, so we were happy to be able to recreate our aborted visit.     The home is located in a lovely quiet neighborhood, close to all we wanted to see and do.     Lots of sidewalks for Dave and Taos to do a bit of work.    All play and no work, ya know.....

The back yard is very private, surrounded by a tall, green hedge.   The pool and hot tub were perfect for us and Taos had plenty of place to explore and stretch his legs.

second cup, poolside

zoomies, poolside

Judi preferred the pool; Dave and I preferred the jiggly hot tub, especially Dave the Lizard.....

a hot and jiggly Happy Hour

Taos loved it all, except when his ball fell into the pool.   

help?

Sleeping is high on his list, once everyone is settled and accounted for.

We enjoyed some of our favorite restaurants and enjoyed the leftovers in our nice dining room.    Enjoyed the luxury of time with our good friend.

Blue Coyote's huge portions

Moules Frites makes Dave a happy man.

Judi flew home last week, and we all miss her.   

   

Here's another girl we miss.....

post Halloween fun?

  

 

  

Hmmmm....how did he get here?    My computer gremlin (or blogger gremlin) decided you needed to see Taos making eye contact with a parking lot burro at Lake Pleasant.

Lisa!

 Our favorite niece, Lisa, arrived last week.    It's been almost a year since we saw her, and we were looking forward to her visit.

We did a little relaxing and catching up, then took a trip up to Cottonwood for some wine tasting, beer tasting, train riding, eating and laughing.    Taos accompanied us.

   

Lisa, Janet, Bob and Dave

Lisa's cousin once removed (I think that's how it goes) and Dave's relative by marriage (this gets really complicated and I can't keep it all straight!) and his delightful wife came over from Scottsdale to see her.      After a quick happy hour here we all went to Rancho de los Caballeros for dinner, then they headed back to the Valley.

We rented a nice VRBO house in Cottonwood for three days so we could spread out and enjoy our time together.

see Taos watching me?

It had nice views towards Sedona and the Mogollon Rim in the distance.   

It also had a huge black leather massage chair in the living room.    We all tried it out, it was a very weird feeling.   Some of us liked it more than others.....

We had lunch at Page Springs Winery, sat beside a busy little stream and tasted some nice wine at DA Ranch, enjoyed a good German Lager at the Belfry in "downtown" Cottonwood, had dinner at Nicks Italian Steak and Crab House, tasted wines and ate a lite dinner at Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery and Trattoria, and had some yummy take-out Thai from Mai Thai on Main.      The weather was nice (ish) for our four-hour train ride on Monday, but we enjoyed ourselves, nonetheless.  

hinge details at Page Springs Winery

the boys walking to DA Ranch winery

waiting to board the train

comfy couch seats

Green Verde River path

We rode the Verde Valley Railroad train 20 miles into a beautiful canyon, following the path of the very verde Verde River.    Once through a dark tunnel and out of the canyon walls, the brightly painted locomotive engine disconnected, passed us all by, reconnected at the other end and off we went again.    The scenery was just as beautiful on the way back!

Eagle eye logo on the locomotive fills the window as it passes by a fellow passenger

Taos was a very good boy on the train ride.    He slept beneath the coffee table the entire time, only twitching his nose slightly when we opened our charcuterie boxes for a little snack.     He even handled the steep, open backed stairs onto and off the train with only a slight hesitation.   Good boy.....

 

After our visit with Lisa was over and before the next guest arrives tomorrow, Dave took care of a little business.     Actually, he's been brainstorming one particular job for a while now.   He likes to keep Beluga up to date and to replace things before they break down or malfunction, so in that vein, he bought two new air conditioner units a month ago.      How to get the two old units off the roof and then lift the two new, 100 lb. units up and put them in place......

   

up they go!

Steve came over this morning to help and they had the old ones removed, winched down to the floor and the new ones winched up and in place on Beluga's beautiful white roof!     Piece of cake!

Earlier this fall he replaced the inverter that, apparently, fried as a result of a neighbor's birthday balloons hitting our power lines and causing a blackout.       Ahem.       He also located (with Steve's help, again...) an air leak in the system that provides airbag suspension and brakes......All fixed now!

We don't traditionally have any little ghouls or goblins trick or treating here.   Probably not enough houses to make it worthwhile but......here is a little cutie I recognize...

go Annie!