Woke up to SNOW

We can now say we have been snowed on in Tucson.  Awesome. The weather people were telling us it was a possibility but we didn't believe them.

Now that the sun is up, everything is melting quickly.  The mountains surrounding us look beautiful.

My only wish is that we could have gotten a picture of saguaro's with snow on them.  Guess we didn't get up early enough lol.

Noisy neighbors

We were woken up around 4 am (yes, even John was disturbed) by a party that our neighbors were having.  We could hear between five and six very distinct voices going back and forth.  How rude you say.  Did I forget to mention that the party throwers were of the four legged variety?  The coyotes were having a party some in front of our rig and some in back of our rig . . . or at least that was way it sounded.  They were extremely close.  Their cacophonous calling back and forth seemed to go on for quite a while before they moved on and we were able to drift back to sleep.

Got er done

The non-functioning gallbladder is now history as it was removed yesterday.  Spent the afternoon and evening either zoning out or sleeping.  This morning I'm getting around pretty darn well and it is wonderful knowing that this is now all behind us.  Our friend, Y stayed with me while John ran out to pick up some prescriptions and  later brought down some home-made chicken soup for us.  Thanks so very much Y it was greatly appreciated.  Rick and Y stopped at the market while they were out and picked up some of my favorite cookies  . . .  John has thoroughly enjoyed a few so far.  Thanks you two, you are the best. 

Early Valentine's Day

While I was showering this morning, my honey was very busy outside being creative in the dirt and gravel.

Actually, I didn't discover his creation until we came back from running errands.  I was very touched.  All right, everyone say a collective aah or yuck, whichever suits you.    John knows that I am not too keen on holidays where merchandisers and card companies tell us that a particular day is the day where we must do something for the ones we love.  I believe that random acts of love and kindness throughout the year go further than any card, a box of chocolates, and maybe some flowers will ever do one day a year.  Way to go my love.  I love you also.

Beading and Indoor Sky Diving

The day started off with me taking a beading class here at Justin's RV Park.  Now, I readily admit that I somehow missed the female gene for being artsy/crafty as well as shopping (John at times is most thankful of this fact) but I still am curious about trying my hand at it so I gave it a go.  Cheryl joined me in the class and was on her second pair of earrings before I even got my beads picked out lol.  I was sort of like a deer in the headlights with all the choices to be made.  Soon I got in the groove and was able to make two pair of earrings in the time scheduled.  Here's proof of my accomplishments:

Bruce had another planned activity for our group of eight for the afternoon which required a drive up to Eloy.  The activity for the day was indoor sky diving.  Yep, you read it correct.  SkyVentures operates a wind tunnel where one can experience skydiving without the plane.  

Jenna and I decided to be the group's photographers while the others took the leap (ha, ha).  First the flyers received a little training on body position and hand signals and then got suited up for entry into the wind tunnel.

 

The wind tunnel was pretty darn impressive as it is operated with 4 - 400 hp motors that suck air up from the bottom.  Bruce had completed almost 300 jumps from a plane in his younger years and was eager to get at it so he went first.  Much to John's chagrin, he went second.  Relaxation and body position appeared to be a key in the success of staying afloat.  Bruce commented that when you jump out of a plane, you don't have walls or floors to be concerned with. John was the only one to suffer bodily injury . . . that is, he skinned up an elbow when he lost air for a moment. 

After the group was done, the instructors did a bit of showing off in the wind tunnel.  Wow, is all I can say.  When it was all said and done, John wasn't so keen on doing it again.  However, he has since changed his tune.   I guess we will have to wait and see what next year brings.

University of Arizona

Bruce arranged an outing for the eight of us (Ralph, Cheryl, Rick, Y, Bruce, Jenna, John and myself) to go to the University of Arizona's Tucson campus to go to the Mineral Museum.  We got there and found out that they were opening a new exhibit and it was an "invitation only" event for the evening.  Oh, oh there goes the plan.  We asked if the planetarium was going to be open that evening as we wanted to do some star gazing.  The front desk wasn't sure and we were told to check back later.  So much for our evening plans.  So we did what all good RVers do, we went out to dinner.  Actually that was part of the plan as Bruce wanted to take us to an Irish Pub called the Auld Dubliner which sits just outside the campus grounds.  We walked through the lovely UA campus and came upon this beautiful Saguaro Cactus:

This Saguaro's arms have actually mutated into a fan-like shape.  Apparently, it doesn't happen often but this is one of the most beautiful displays we've seen.

The pub was busy (Friday night next to a college campus - now there was a surprise) so we had a bit of a wait for a table but it seemed to be well worth it for all the empty plates at our table.  We were then off to the planetarium to which we found was locked up good and tight.  So much for looking at the stars through a high-powered telescope.  It would have been a neat thing to do.  The company was good, the food was good, and we got to see/walk the beautiful UA campus so it was a successful outing even if things didn't go as planned.

This is Tucson?

As I sit here updating the blog, it is currently 28 degrees outside.  The high today is suppose to be 40 degrees - burr!   The next few days are going to be terribly cold.  Thankfully, we don't have to suffer snow and ice storms like so many across the country.  If you are  enduring those terrible storms, you have our sympathy.  As for us, we have gotten terribly spoiled by the normally warm beautiful weather of Southern Arizona that we hope to see again real soon.