BOB'S WEEKEND ADVENTURE

This past weekend, Bob went with some friends, Norm and Howard, to northeast Arizona on a rockhounding trip in conjunction with the Pima County Community College. They went up through Show Low to Taylor, where they spent the night, and then to the area near the Petrified Forest National Park.

Below is a picture of Harrison Yokum, the leader of the group. He is 86 years old, and according to Bob, has more energy than most young people.

Some of the scenery they traveled through to get to their destination.

Below is what was once a forest. This was back in the dinosaur age. Now it is covered with petrified wood.

Below are chunks of the petrified wood.

He had a good time, brought back lots of petrified wood, and learned a great deal about rocks!

PATAGONIA FALL FESTIVAL

We went to Patagonia yesterday with friends Jim and Linda. We specifically went to do some birding, but found that the birds had other ideas. There were hardly any. I think Bob said we only saw 11 species. So Patagonia was having their annual fall festival and we decided that would be fun to see. We were really surprised by the amount of craft booths they had. Patagonia is a small town maybe a few more than 1000 people, but this festival rivaled "Arts in the Park" in Boise. We were impressed.

They had a group of Native Americans dance and I took some pictures. They were very good, and very energetic.

The festival was fun, and we plan to make it an annual trip.

THE GRANDCHILDREN

When we decided we were going to Idaho, we decided to take all the grandchildren a gift showing them something about where we now live. We gave them all books about the desert except Gavin; he is a sports nut so we got him a U of A baseball hat.

Below are Jessica and Kip's girls

Jarod and Katie's

Jason and Sarah's

Those are all the Idaho grandchildren. On our way home we stopped in Spanish Fork, UT, to see the rest of the group. We just couldn't get Jake to hold his present up so that you can read his name.

It was fun seeing everyone. Now it's their turn to come see us!

OUR TRIP TO WINNEMUCCA

We went to Winnemucca, Nevada, on August 24. We went there to help K.C celebrate his 40th birthday on August 28.

He had decided earlier in the summer to have his house stuccoed, and they were finishing the last of it when we arrived. The picture below is what his house used to look like.

And this is front and back after the makeover!

He has taken out all of the trees in the backyard and put in a waterfall with two ponds. He and a friend built a new patio on the back. It looked great and it was a wonderful place to have a 40th birthday party!

Right to left: friends of Jerry and Dorothy's; Jerry and Dorothy Kracaw; me and Bob.

Jennifer Moore (an old friend of Katie's); me and Katie.

K.C, Don and Katie.

Annie and Jimmy Kracaw, Jennifer, Katie, and K.C

Emma and Will Kracaw (Jim and Annie's children)

K.C, me, Bob, and Katie

It was also Jimmy's birthday (he's 6 years older than K.C) and the two of them opened cards together.

Katie giving Aunt Coralee a big hug!

We had a great time and I'm sure that K.C is glad he only turns 40 once!!

HUMMERS, HUMMERS EVERYWHERE!

This past Saturday and Sunday we had a migration of Hummingbirds. There were conservatively about 40 plus Hummingbirds at the neighbor's next door and our house. I tried to get pictures of them all, but as you can see they do not hold still, so I did my best.

They are so cute and so busy. There were four types of Hummers: Anna's, Broad-billed, Black-chinned, and Rufous. All will eventually migrate to southern climates except the Anna's who stay here year round. Below are pictures of the Rufous female and immature Rufous male.

We are sad to see them go, but we know they will migrate back through next spring.

SUMMER'S HERE!

We are well on our way through July. Where has the month gone? The month began with the 4th of July. For all of you who have animals that are sensitive to the fireworks, Green Valley is a great place to be. People don't light fireworks for 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after. We're all tucked in by dark!!

On the 6th of July, Bob and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary by going out to dinner.

We had a nice dinner and were home before dark!!

The next day Kent and Lesley came from Casa Grande to spend a few days with us. We had a great time and got to show them what the Monsoons in Green Valley are all about.

Kent and Bob sat on the patio reading as the storm began.

After the storm we had "geedunks" on the patio

The sunsets after a Monsoon storm are amazing!

It's been hot the last few days -- in the range of 104 to 108 -- and the Monsoons haven't been as active, but when they are things will cool down as much as 20 degrees. We love Monsoon season!

DAY TRIP!

Last Sunday, June 14, we took a day trip to St. David, Arizona. Bob had read on the birding site he watches that a White Tailed Kite had been seen in that area. We didn't see it, but when we got home he read (on the same bird site) that it had been seen in Madera Canyon -- right in our own backyard so to speak. We didn't see the Kite, but we had a great day. St. David is about 70 miles from Green Valley. It is a green little oasis tucked in the center of nothing! We visited the St. David Monastery.

At the monastery they have a 2 mile bird walk. It was a nice walk and we saw a Thick-billed Kingbird (I didn't get a picture-it was too far away) which was a new life list bird for both of us.

While looking around the grounds of the Monastery, we came upon this headstone. It's hard to see the first name, but it's Robert. This gave Bob heart palpitations, and we decided we best be leaving so we headed for Tombstone, Arizona.

When we arrived at Tombstone where we were just in time for a parade and people dressed in period costume walking up and down the streets.

And we met this scary guy!

After Tombstone, we headed to Sierra Vista. We had been to a Bed and Breakfast near Sierra Vista where you can just go into the backyard and watch the birds, and they have Hummingbird feeders set up all over. They get quite a few Hummingbirds there that aren't normally seen in our backyard. Bob loves to go and just sit in chairs they have placed all around and look at birds. He calls it "Executive Birding".

While we were there we saw a Roadrunner and he could see his reflection in the window and kept jumping feet first at the window. I got the following picture of him just as he decided he wasn't getting anywhere and was leaving.

We had a great day, saw lots of birds, and did something to write for the Blog!