More of the Same but Cooler, Visiting a Friend for Lunch, Beautiful Scenery

It was 6:45 when I got up out of bed on Tuesday, Feb. 20^th. Another cloudy day coming our way and it was only 41F as I bundled to go for my walk. Without digging out my winter coat, which is under the bed where my boys are still in slumber, I triple layered with my hoodies and wind breaker. (I refuse to wear my winter coat down here anyway!) It was also a glove day but I just wore my fingerless gloves. I wanted to take my funky tripod for a walk today with my camera phone so needed a finger free.

The winds from yesterday calmed down late last night and it obviously rained a bit through the early morning. Everything was looking wet. I tried to get as much walking done early as I could since we had a lunch date in Vail near Tucson. I didn’t know if I’d get out anymore. More bunnies were out this morning and the Gambel’s Quail but I wasn’t quick enough to catch the latter.

At the back of the park, at the end of the lane, I wrapped my tripod around a sign post and played with the selfie. I  placed it low on the post so I got the sun fighting with the clouds behind me. I wonder which one would win today. 

Covering each lane, up and down, back and forth, I made my way back to our site. As I was rounding the curve coming to the front section, I could see Bill and Clemson coming to meet me. Here I am layered to the gills and he is in a t-shirt. Such a hot-blooded guy, I’ve got!

A bunny post

and a cardinal pose

I had the Keurig heated and ready before I left so walked in and made our tea and coffee. With just the Blue Flame heater on, even though we leave the bathroom door open it is still cool to take a shower. So Bill suggested we turned the furnace on for a quick burst of heat and after waiting 15 minutes, I had my shower.

The fence and area behind me is the east 

My boys come to greet me
I love that!

For breakfast, I cut a grapefruit to share. They are so sweet and delicious, I should have grabbed more at the KOA. We are really enjoying them. That should be enough to tide us over until lunch. While Bill was having his shower, I brought more bottled water in from the ‘basement’. We finished getting ready for the drive to Vail and all 3 of us were in Black Beauty by 10:30. It is about a 45 minute drive.

No words, it is just stunning

We were invited to Nancy’s for lunch today. Well, we were going for a visit and she extended the invitation to include feeding us. No complaints here! Nancy is a blogger friend whom we met for the first time this past January in Quartzsite. You can catch up on her story here. She declined my offer to bring something but I took along a bottle of Barefoot Chardonnay, 2 lemons from KOA and a package of the corn tortillas that I don’t like. At least I felt better contributing something.

Welcome to Sonoita is what this says

This is such a wonderful drive down Az 82 to Az 83, with so many different views. The mountains changed from the rocky faces we are used to, to the yellow and green grassy ridges that fold and roll with the pastures. Cattle roam the hills with plenty to munch on. Long horns and horses are spread out along both sides of the highway with no seemingly rhyme or reason to where they belong. Occasionally, they lift their heads from the thick grass to move a few feet or lay down.

Bill had his little GoPro camera hooked up today so turned it on video to record some of the route. Meanwhile, I snapped away with my camera phone. Every which way we turned our heads, we were still being mesmerized by the views. 

We can't wait to view the videos from this today

We found the turn off easily following the gps and Nancy’s additional directions and then located her beautiful hilltop home with the motor coach parked beside it. Outside, Nancy greeted us and I was oohing and aahing over her view. Wow, it is beautiful!

Her garage and her Phaeton

The view from her driveway

Inside, Cooper, her poodle, greeted us and he and Clemson did a bit of a dance around each other. Finally, Clemson settled down and we were able to relax and enjoy the conversation. 

Clemson wants to say hello to Cooper

We met Jessie, her Jack Russell, who isn’t ‘dog friendly’ and temporarily placed in another room. Nancy’s friend and neighbour, Chef Patty, popped over briefly so we had an opportunity to meet someone who we have read about. This is such a great lifestyle, we all have a commonality.

Nancy and Jessie
What a good dog she is, staying in the other room the whole time
Only barked when she needed to go out

Patty declined joining us for lunch and when she left, Nancy put out an awesome spread of meats, cheeses, buns, tomatoes, wraps, lettuce and salads. My oh my! We dug in using her beautiful Mexico dinner plates. 

I loved her plates

 Nancy and I had some wine but Bill, because he was driving, stuck to water today. I made a yummy wrap in a spinach and sun-dried tomato tortilla and had some of her chicken salad. It was really good. I must buy some of those tortillas.

Bill played ball with Cooper but then he got too busy talking
Cooper was waiting, pushing the ball at him
so, I played with him until the ball got too soggy

We chatted some more, Nancy took Jessie out for a nature call and I was able to get a picture of them together. Such a cute dog. We also got to meet her parrot, John. When we all laughed, he laughed and made a bunch of other noises when we first arrived. I'm sure he is saying many words in there. We laughed at his Stevie Wonder dance. Did you teach him that, Nancy? Nancy told us his fascinating story from birth and what was involved in his upkeep. Things you never know unless you ask. John is a handsome 46 year old bird.

Hi John!

And really close to her house is a train track

These 3 pictures are for you Dad

Bill noticed a few CN railway cars
You'd love this view and they weren't loud and annoying
Nancy said about 13 or 14 trains go by every DAY!
Makes you want to pull up a chair, no?

At 2:30 we packed things up and said our goodbyes. It was a really nice visit, and we got to know each other better than with a quick visit around Happy Hour. Thanks for that, Nancy! We pulled off Az83 to drive down Old Sonoita Road on the way back. 

We actually didn't see any cattle on the road

It was a twisting turning road but paved and actually in very good condition. It brought us back out onto the highway where further on, we pulled off to get some pictures of the Santa Ritas mountains and a selfie of the two of us.

We're getting better at this!

Bill was getting his own memories

We were home by 3:45 and it was then that we really felt the cold winds. Stepping into the Suite confirmed the cool down we are all experiencing in this part of the country. The inside temperature was only 60F and outside it was a cold 49F. Bill turned the Blue Flame heater on to about 2 ½ and then plugged us in. The sporadic sun today kept our batteries charged up while we were gone but now we’re home and we want to enjoy the evening without thinking about it.

We had planned to light the barbecue tonight and brown the ribs I prepped yesterday. However, the Jello on that meal jiggled after such a nice lunch and we decided to have something different tonight. The cool wind did not make for a pleasant grilling night anyway. I warmed up my soup and Bill had the last of the spaghetti sauce on a toasted bun. He enjoyed his supper and my soup was delicious! 

Homemade 'out of my head' Vegetable soup

We had dishes done up by 6:30 and we settled into the evening.

I had a really hard time trying to refrain from taking so many pictures today

Bill, focused on driving

This is just down the road from the Park

We have had an awesome day and are so blessed to be able to spend time with one of our new friends. We hope to see Nancy again before we start to head east on March 1^st. Have you had a good day too? I hope so!

when these clouds do finally disappear and we get full sunny days again
this is what I'll miss the most
Good night everyone!

Thanks for taking the time to read about ours. Feel free to leave me a comment.