Arizona Trip March 2015
Gary and I flew down to Phoenix Arizona
to meet my cousin Rick and his wife Marsha
who were flying down from the Oregon Coast
We came down to stay with my cousin Danny and his wife Jan
It had been many years since we had been together,
we were also going to see my cousin Kenny, Danny's younger brother
and his wife Marilyn
Side note, Rick and Kenny had not seen
each other in about 50 years !
It had been about twenty years since I had seen Kenny
So this was all pretty exciting
Phoenix from the air
It just so happened that Gary's Sister Barbara and Brother in law Dave
were going to be in Phoenix the same time we were.
We had not seen them in 10 years
they live in Winter, Wisconsin
So we are convinced God let this trip all come
together the way it did
Barb and Dave
Yes we are in Arizona now !
Grapefruit in Dan and Jan's back yard
First day after everyone had arrived
Dan and Jan wanted to show us the sites and see how
the Valley had grown
This is a little town not far out of Phoenix
Played tourist for the day
Rick and Marsha doing a little shopping
and check out their favorite Tee pee
Rick and I showing off the family resemblance
Dan and I with one of the wild animals
Day two we headed out to a Desert horticulture park
these are a few of the many types of cactus
I hated them when I was little, I hated the desert but as an
adult living in Washington state for many years
I can see the beauty of the desert now
We brought a picnic lunch fit for Kings and Queens !
I think Jan must have worked for a week on this
everything was so good
Marilyn brought cookies for dessert
what more could you ask for
Gary, Rick and Marsha, on one side
Dan, Jan, Kenny and Marilyn on the other side
This was all the area you could hike in,
the man that started this was a miner but he loved plants
so they were a hobby.
In the picture below you can still see the wagon wheel
trail where the miners used to bring the oar down from the mine
They had Humming bird feeders out and they were all over the trail
Dan, Marsha, Rick and Kenny
Well is a little out of order
Rick was able to stay for 3 days, after he left
Dan and Jan took Gary and I to a Suns basketball game
Lots of fun
Day three and last day Rick and Marsha were with us
We headed out to visit Tucson and meet Kenny and Marilyn again
We stopped at this National Park
Rick really wanted to go visit Mammoth Arizona
His Grandfather had been the Sheriff here
and when he was young his Dad used to bring him here
It is in the middle of nowhere !
But on the way we needed to Spring Rick out of the Poky
Wow Tucson is Huge !
This picture is taken from "A" mountain
Darren says our Mom tells the story that it was named
after her, Ann
Danny and Kenny always know a good place for Mexican food
Rick was in heaven !!!
Gary not so much loved the food just a little spicy for him
salsa is spicy for him
We got to see the Dragon Boats that Dan and Jan
race
This was the first one their team had
it is wooden and I guess very heavy
This is the type they race now
Last night with Rick and Marsha
Rick was not much into playing games but Dan said we had to play this one
It was in honor of our family !
As the story goes
My Aunts and Uncles and my Mom had come over for a visit
and started playing this game
well my Mom had gone to bed in the back of the house
but as you can see the bell on the table
well everyone got pretty excited about the game and they
were making a lot of noise, shouting and ringing the bell
well I guess Mother got up came out and said
what the H--- (Heck) is going on down here !
Well if you ever lived with my Mom
and Rick and I did
It didn't take much to hear her saying these words
So we played the game in honor of Family !!!
