Joshua Tree National Park with our new 4Runner

We made a trip to California in January to redeem a prizes I had won at a casino and a hotel in Highland, California.

Since we were going to be very close to Joshua Tree National Parks and her off road opportunities we decided to spend a couple of nights in Thousand Palms and do a bit of offroading.

Since we are new to this activity we did not take the roads that are considered 'expert' and state that you should not be alone in case you need to be pulled out of a hazard but rather the roads that you can't take a car on because of sand, rocks, water and clearance issues.

Just a little rock in the road but it would have definitely damaged the Acura!

Came across a lot of rock climbers in the park

We had a great time and are still pleased with the 4Runner!

Cushions and more cushions!

My sister, Beverly, and her husband, Cliff, came down last week for the Tucson Gem Show and brought our last cushion down with them! Bev had a bit more work to do on the cushion but when it was finished we sat down and toasted them!

Bev showing off the bbq cover?

Hooray!





Beverly also brought the new bbq cover down and finished it here as there are some strange measurements on the bbq and it required several fittings to finish it.

Whitewater Reserve with Good Friends

Steve and Linda have been going to the Whitewater Reserve to watch the birds.


We mentioned that we would love to join them so we met them at 4:30 in the morning and Steve drove there.

Even though we started so early we really should have left around 3:30 am to see the birds take off but even so we had a great day!




It was fascinating! We spent some time at the Reserve in the morning dressed VERY warmly as it was around 15 degrees out and frost and ice everywhere. Then Michael drove slowly to Willcox stopping whenever we saw a hawk on a telephone pole - which was quite often!

Frost! Brrrr!

Frozen Grass Spiders

We had a very unexciting lunch in Willcox before heading to their wastewater pools to watch more birds. One of the ponds was frozen and it made for humorous landings and walks by the ducks.

Would a hawk be considered a black sheep/crane in the flock?

View from one of the wastewater treatment ponds

Hawk along the highway - one of our myriad of stops

Any landing you can walk or waddle away from is a good landing!

Sunset at Whitewater Reserve

Then back to Whitewater to watch the birds return. Some had already returned by the time we got there but they were still arriving so it was exciting!

Full Eclipse

The night of December 20/21st we were able to witness a full eclipse of the moon from our home.

We managed to stay up until a little after midnight when the full eclipse was happening but didn't see the eclipse going away.



Gorgeous! Amazing! Cold!

Bird rescue

I was sitting at my computer in our office when I saw a hummingbird at the birdfeeder.

A second later a Gila Woodpecker landed on top of him - whether it was intentional or not I have no idea.

However, he left the hummingbird hanging by a wing and I thought he was dead.

I went out to take him off the feeder but by the time I got there he was on the ground and actually moving a bit. So I took him inside, Michael got a shoebox and picked some flowers which we could dip in to sugar water and feed him.

His left leg did not appear to function properly but his wings seemed fine.

We fed him several times before going out to celebrate New Year's Eve at Skyline Country Club with George and Marj & friends, Marty and Arlene. Had a wonderful dinner then Marj served us wonderful desserts back at their home while we waited for midnight.

When we returned home we checked up on the hummingbird and he was asleep.






A bit later I went to check up on him and he was alert and moving around well. His left leg seemed fine. I called Michael (Orthopedic Surgeon to the birds) and we opened up the box again. The hummer tried to fly out so we took the box outside where we opened it up and let him fly out. He landed on our house for a brief period then took off!

The whole event was very rewarding.

50 Years!

We were pleased to be included in George and Marj's 50th Anniversary Celebrations. (Our friends and cousins.)

A dinner hosted by their three children, Fred, Laura and Ben at Hacienda del Sol on Friday night.

The BIG party at Skyline Country Club Saturday evening. What an event! A very nice warm social hour before a fabulous dinner, speeches and then dancing to a great live band. Michael and I were the 'official' photographers for the event.

Then to end our participation - a big brunch on Sunday at their home!

They went on to stay with their children and grandchildren at a local resort for several days before returning home and relaxing.

Quite an event!

Zak, the youngest grandchild, delivering his speech. The grandchildren gave wonderful touching speeches as did Fred, Laura and Ben.

 George and Marj dancing the first dance.














Richard and Lynn, Marj's brother and Michael's cousins ( mine, too).











One note - Michael and Marj's brother, Richard, were the only ones at the party who had been at the original event 50 years ago! Other than George and Marj, of course.









 We had a great time helping them celebrate!

Zoolights at Reid Park Zoo

Our friend, Cara, gave us two tickets to the 2010 Reid Park Zoolights which we had never seen so last Sunday we drove down to the zoo (also the first time we had been to the zoo) for the event.

When we arrived the line must have been about 1,000 people long. We started to wait when Michael mentioned that maybe this was the line to buy tickets and there was a shorter line for people with tickets.

I walked up to the entrance and as I was walking up there a man was coming down the line asking if people already had their tickets and if they did he would direct them to the shorter line - I found that line and called Michael on my phone to come and join me in the line that had maybe 15 people in it!

Needless to say we were one of the first people to enter the zoo and that enabled us to get better photos.

We even managed to see one of the animals although he didn't display his face.

It was well done and we enjoyed ourselves.

We stopped by to thank Cara for her generosity on our way out.