Plus we met some new people here... played every day that I didn't golf... or go to church.
Fred and Milly, our hosts, are very active in this local pickleball club. Milly is visiting with another lady. It wasn't until after that I realized I didn't have a close-up photo of them together.
Fortunately, I had a photo of Fred that I took about 4 or 5 years ago when we played pickleball back then.
Lorne lined up a couple of games. This course south of Tucson is called Sawailo... it was totally spectacular.
Lots of water means bring lots of golf balls. This was the finishing hole.
This picture on the 18th hole tells it all. Peter is holding the ball retriever... Jimmy and Lorne have golf clubs! But it was totally enjoyable.
Went to Mass in the chapel at St.Joesph's Hospital on New Years Day with Fred. The music was spectacular... and the service was very nice. It was very enjoyable.
I loved the stained glass windows in the chapel. I took this photo after Fred and I visited with about 30 patients and the chapel was empty.
I went with Fred on his rounds giving communion to all the Catholics who wanted. This quote was framed and in the hallway... it ties into my "Word for the Year 2019," which is Prayer.
Have you picked your "Word of the Year" for 2019? If so, please share it with me. There is more "Word of the Year" info in my blog post below near the end of December 2018.
Had lunch with our former next-door neighbors, Char and George, and then went to see their new home... which was pretty awesome! Our next door neighbors on the other side, Toy and Suk, also came over for a visit.
We met with Linda and Gary for lunch. Great to catch up with old friends. I used to shoot pool with Gary every Wednesday evening... when we had our home at Rancho del Lago.
After lunch, on Friday we went to the Tucson Home Show... and picked up a few great ideas. But the highlight of the Home Show was an antique car show.
We used to have a similar truck to this 1953 Chevy.
It has these same rounded corner windows as the 1951 GMC that came with the farm we bought on Mission Road in Redlands, California back in the early 1970's.
They did a really great restoration job on this pickup. It has power steering, air conditioning... even a blue tooth connection for an iPhone.
The policeman in charge of this raffle saw that I was so excited about the truck he gave me one of their promo posters... so I asked him if he would pose with Shirley for a photo. In April we will be back in Arizona to pick up the pickup.
Our last day in Arizona we headed for a hike in the park... our favorite spot to walk.
It is just so wonderful to be able to get out into nature and see the beauty in God's creation.
I call this going to God's other church.
There is not a lot of bright colors this time of year in the park, but this little flower was proudly being cheerful.
To my amazement, I spotted a new Crested Saguaro on the Loma Verde Trail we had hiked several times... but never noticed it before.
It was the most exciting highlight of the day.
Over the years we came here as snowbirds we photographed at least ten of this rare Saguaro.
It is amazing to see the dead Saguaro with it's wooden reinforced type of framework... kind of like the reinforcing steel we use in construction.
It has to be pretty strong to hold up those heavy arms that are filled with mostly water.
Shirley taking pictures of these Arizona Barrel Cactus.
A cute little nest of pincushion cactus.
Just like people, there are no two Saguaro Cactus' alike. This one is indicating a reverse in the stock market and then a short uptick.
As we were leaving the park, just off the loop road we saw a wedding in progress! Another first for us to see happening in this park.
This bush in the foreground is called a Brittlebush. It doesn't look all that spectacular now...
But in March these plants add a lot of color to the desert. (photo was taken March 2, 2014)
