OUR SUMMER VACATION 2011(PART I)

We left home on the 24th of July and headed to Winnemucca to stay with K.C's menagerie while he attended a wedding in Idaho Falls. Below a picture of K. C and Bob enjoying his backyard and ponds. K.C's backyard is really nice and he has two waterfalls; below is one of them.

A butterfly on a lillypad flower.

In his pond are many, many Koi. Below is one of the bigger ones. It was Bob's job to keep these big boys fed!

K.C also has Poison Dart frogs. They are interesting little creatures. I finally got one to come out of hiding so I could take his/her picture.

Unfortunately I didn't get one picture of Shylo; K.C's African Grey Parrot so just imagine a smaller Boomer! We had a good time at K.C's, but then it was on to Boise; which will be continued in the next blog.

NANCY & MIKE'S WEDDING

We went to Scottsdale on Thursday (June 30) to attend the wedding of two of our BHS classmates. Nancy Tweedy Marcum married Michael McAllister at her home.

Roger and Cheryl were there.

Below is Nancy's sister, Diane, and Mike with his son Matt.

Mike and Nancy with her son's four little girls.

After the wedding we had dinner at a resturant in Scottsdale called Olive and Ivy.

The wedding cakes.

It was a beautiful wedding. So happy we could be there.

HOT, HOT, HOT!!

It is heating up here in the desert! It's dry, hot, and the fires are raging. If the Monsoon's don't start soon all of Arizona is going to burn up!

Meet Red Bird (yes, that's her name). She is owned by the son of some friends of ours. They were to have her for 6 months but had made a two week commitment to do some volunteer work in North Dakota before they found out she was coming to stay with them. So we are keeping her for them. She has fit right in with us and Boomer.

Shirlie decided she needed to get out so we went to Tubac for lunch on Father's Day. She wanted to go to Stables.

We sat outside even though it was a cool 102 degrees. But on the patio with the breeze it was very comfortable. We missed Cliff, but had a nice afternoon.

BIRDING AND CINCO DE MAYO

It is finally warming up in the southwest - well warm enough for me to go birding anyway! Last Sunday (May 1) we went up to Madera Canyon to check out the bird migration. We saw a lot of birds. It was a beautiful day!

On Wednesday, we went to Patagonia for the same reason, to check out the bird migration. It was another beautiful day. We saw these deer along the way and lots of birds.

We had a great time - as always.

CINCO DE MAYO!!!!!!!

This was our second annual Cinco de Mayo on the deck at the rec center. A great crowd; great food; and fun for all! Yvonne and Shirlie at the beginning of the party.

The Cinco de Mayo committee: Norm, Marge, Bob, Yvonne and Scott (and me). Shirlie and Cliff hadn't arrived yet. But really Marg and Norm did most of the organizing.

Marg and Barbara

Everyone enjoying themselves.

Norm and Bob having a good laugh!

Scott with a big smile.

Dancing the night away.

This is the last party before everyone heads for their summer homes. What a great send off!

A BEAUTIFUL DAY

We decided to go birding yesterday, and what a day we picked. It was beautiful - high 70's, low 80's. We went to Pena Blanca Lake where a Lesser Grebe had been spotted.

We weren't the only ones taking advantage of the beautiful day. There were other birders and a few people fishing.

The lake was like glass it was so calm.

Some people were even boating.

The rock formations are quite amazing.

Bob in his usual pose when we are birding. And we did get to see the Lesser Grebe. It was a life bird for both of us.

We ended the morning by stopping for a picnic. We had a great day; saw lots of birds; two deer; and got to be out in the warm!! Can't beat that!

TUCSON GEM & MINERAL SHOW

For about two weeks every year, Tucson is taken over by "Rock People." Hundreds of vendors come to show their rocks, minerals, fossils, and gems. Bob and I had never been to the gem show so we decided, along with Scott and Yvonne, to go see what all the fuss was about. Bob and Scott thought that the red carpet was just for them! Yvonne poses by one of the smaller big rocks.

Bob and Scott were checking out all the different rocks.

There were so many vendors and different tents, you just couldn't see it all.

My questions was, "what would you do with these?"

There were also big slabs of rocks - some with fossils in them some without.

Bob meandering through one of the tents.

I thought this sign was funny. Is the table broken or is what's on it broken???

After we left the Gem Show, we went to The Old Pueblo Grill for lunch.

It was a great day!