Lakes, Food and Fun - Fall Wrap Up

We had a lovely day out with our friends Faye and Bob.  We enjoyed crepes and coffee at our favorite place in Cave Creek and then carried on to Bartlett Lake.  We have never seen the water this high up. 

There has been more rain in the last few months than in the last year. 

 

And here's Faye and Bob posing for the camera.   

 

Our wee car, running like a top and great on gas.   You can see how busy things were (not!) that day.  There were lots of cars and boats there but not as many as there on weekends. 

 

 

 Along with the rain comes the washout. They had started the road cleanup but there was still a lot to do in some places.

We had so much fun at the sushi place for diner one night - all those dishes going by on the conveyor it's hard to choose just a few!!  The charge is based on the color of the plate. 

 

 In our tours we also came across some interesting items. This is a neat wind object - looks easy to make. 

 These are objects made from old metal parts.

We saw our friends off to the airport and had a few days on our own at the condo.  We did the usual housework and cleaning, just like home.  Also got to enjoy some crepes again and discovered a new cafe to check out on our next visit.  It's like a grotto and includes a consignment store with some neat stuff for sale but all of it was very large.  Check out this bed frame and the cafe.

We are safely home now and adjusting to the cooler weather.  It was a great trip and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We are really looking forward to going again at Christmas. 

Cheers and thanks for reading my blog!!

Lynn

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are back in Phoenix and having a lovely time with our friends Faye and Bob.  The last time we were all here together a couple of years ago we enjoyed a mani-pedi session so we had to go again.   Our first full day here started off with our treat. Poor Bob is very senstive feet but he undures it and this time even had a manicure with a buff!! So cute.  Here's our day.

It's been very hot here (yay!!) and we have enjoyed a bit of time at the pool already.  There is always a lot to do here and yesterday the annual event Cruise on Central car show downtown was on so we headed there.  Some amazing cars but we only lasted a couple of hours because the heat off the pavement was so intense and it was over 100F (that's like 38C for the young un's) so we had to call it earlier than planned.  We saw one person very ill with the heat....some people who should know better since they live here, don't take the proper precautions.  Black clothing and jeans are just too hot.  And you have to hydrate and hydrate!!  Here's some of the pictures.

 Bob checking out the cars.  This paint job and upholstery was amazing.  It looks like it should be in an Austin Powers movie.

 Pink Mustang.

 Vroom!  Neat paint job.

 This lowrider was amazing and then I saw the sticker on the window.  Check it out.

 Unique Bug with matching trailer.

 Love this truck!!  Maybe it's the color. 

 This one was so funny....did you notice the foot hanging out of the door?

 Check out the matching surf board on the roof.

Today was shopping day for Faye and I and we did really well.  Some incredible deals and great selections.  We filled the trunk with shopping bags.  Craig was out for the day on his motorcyle with friends and Bob had a relaxing day reading and watching movies.   We did some chicken on the BBQ and had a nice meal.  It was perfect day for everyone!!

Spring Trip to Phoenix

Friday! - The date finally arrived.  It seemed a long time off when I booked this trip but it's here now and we are ready for some heat!!  We left cold and miserable weather and it was worth getting up at 3:30am to catch our flight.

On Friday morning we were all set for a day of errands when we noticed the house was getting warm and the air conditioning was coming on and clicking but no cool air.  oh oh...call the repair guy (where's Bob when we need him?) and he was here in an hour and a half.  He was very professional and did a great job.  We needed a new motor, coil, contact and refrigerant.  Ka-ching! It had not been serviced in a long time and we totally forgot to get it looked at.   We are now going to have it serviced every spring.  The house is now keeping temperature and feels great.

With the early flight you arrive early morning here and with the time change, you have the full day ahead of you.  We were very tired but did some groceries and had dinner out and managed to stay awake until about 8pm when I hit a wall and had to crash.  Craig only lasted about 20 minutes more and he crashed too. 

Road Trip
Saturday was tour day.  We had a day ticket for the Overland Expo 2014 held outside of Flagstaff.   It was something to see.  I have never seen so many expensive toys in one place!!   It was very interesting to see all these huge vehicles and motorcyles and listen to some of the people.  Some people just travel and don't work and they have seen most of the world.   This little orange baby below (note how the upper part of it lifts up) is worth a few hundred thousand dollars.  They are called Unimog - Global Expedition vehicles. 

 Here's some other neat applications for tenting on your travels.

 Everthing packed away for hauling - it's the tent on top and a pull out kitchen at the back.  All storage and cupboards.

 Here's one open and you can see the cooking and storage.

 Spot Craig in the blue?  He's enjoying wandering around and checking it all out. 

 On our way we stopped for a coffee and I spotted this bug - check out the tires!!  That is so cute on the car!!  Guessing it belongs to a lady!!

Heat Wave
It's been over 100F so far.  Right now it's 6pm here and it's 98F - it was 106F/42C today.  Very hot and everyone is hiding indoors.  Did some more groceries and a bit of retail therapy and then it was time for a swim.  Just heading out to see a movie - there's a lot of great movies out now and the theatre is just up the road.  * saw Captain America, special effects were awesome!!

cheers!  I hope you enjoyed my rambling.

Lynn

Here's the last blog I forgot to post....


Just finishing off the blog for this wonderful trip.  We only did one big day out to Flagstaff and spent the rest of our time enjoying the sunshine laying by the pool, having nice meals out, BBQ at the condo, going to movies and relaxing. It was just what we needed.  We also went to a house party and it was nice to go to someone's home and meet more people.

We discovered that we really enjoy mornings by the pool and going out for the afternoons when the heat of the day is the highest. (106F/41C one day)  We had some nice outings.  We went to our favorite crepe place in Cave Creek and had a great lunch.  It's called The Village Coffee Shop and they have gluten free options and the best coffee around.  While we were in Cave Creek, we found something we both liked for the wall in the living room - we've been looking but nothing caught our eye until this.  It's a metalwork sun and I think it looks great.   We also went to a sushi bar restaurant with the conveyor belt where you select what you want off it.  So much fun and the food is very good.

We saw four movies while we were there - yes, that sounds like a lot but the movie theater is up the street and is so nice (it's a Harkins) so we always try and catch up on new and old movies.  We saw the following:
Chef - go see this.  Love the cast and the story was cute and of course, the food will make you hungry!!
Captain America - the Winter Soldier - we enjoyed this second movie.  I would watch it again.
The Love Punch - love Emma Thompson and Pierce Brosnan, just not together.  This movie was barely a rental in my opinion.  Rotton Tomatoes agrees with me - 27% liked it.
The Grand Budapest Hotel - a light farce that had a lot of name actors in it.  And yes, it was George Clooney in a cameo!!  Apparently Cheech Marin was also in it but I missed that.

Now that my movie critique is done....I'll let you know that we had a wonderful time and just enjoyed being at the condo and relaxing.  It was nice not to do a lot around the condo other than repair the air conditioner. Of course we did some shopping too but we still only had carry-on baggage coming home! Ok, Craig had to carry some excess shoes in his bag!!

Many thanks to my Mom and neice Cassie who helped Grandma pick up the fur-kids from the kennel.  We usually arrive home within an hour of the kennel/vet closing so we have to wait until the next day to pick them up.  We missed them both so much and just loved having them waiting for us when we got in the door.  There was a lot of excitement for sure!!  At the vets kennel, Yuki was in a run with Kira and they did really well together.  (In the past, Suji and Kira had to be in separate runs as he was not always good with her.)  The vet staff commented that Kira is more confident and coming out of her shell a bit with having such a wonderful new buddy around.  He is so very sweet, he is affecting her positively and she is doing well.

That's it for this trip and posting!  The desert is so unique and in the spring it's alive.  All the cactus were blooming.   I hope all my friends get to see this beautiful part of the world some time!

Lynn