Life  in the fast lane 

Brother Gail and sister Cyndy provided us with a wonderful opportunity to get away for a week in sunny Arizona.  They came home to watch the granddaughters perform in various activities and for Carra's birthday party and they invited us to use their home in Mesa.  We met them at Peoria INTERNATIONAL airport (sarcasm alert) and exchanged car keys.  They took our Acadia home and we got their Toyota in Mesa.

We made our way from the airport to Good Life RV resort and found their winter home and got unpacked and into bed at 11:30 AZ time or 2:30 Illinois time.  YAWN!!!  Naturally I awoke on Illinois time or 4am Arizona time.  This is not working out right.  I tried to go back to sleep...I really tried...but to no avail. What a great start to our vacation.

Finally, sunrise came to AZ and Linda and I decided to walk the perimeter of Good Life and see what's what.  All told, we put on 4 miles today according to my Fit Bit.  Not too bad for an old guy and his young, voluptuous wife.  We scoped out the inviting pools, the putt putt green, the batting cages, horseshoe pits and the infamous shuffleboard courts with bleachers for spectators.  Yes, you read that right, bleacher seating for shuffleboard matches.  Can you feel the excitement building?

We had to be careful walking because the speed limit is strictly enforced.  And it is to a gnats butt, as you can tell.

The park is extremely clean and everyone very friendly.   Everyone says hi as you walk down the street. Gail & Cindy's neighbors greeted warmly and you can tell these people are all family.

We were able to get to the heated swimming pool later  that afternoon and it was filled with people much older than us. One older lady from Minnesota was swimming near us and I commented how pretty her earrings were. Linda accused me of flirting with her and I said yes I was; she's old, she's rich and ripe for the picking.  Then I found out her son was getting the farm, so I quit talking to her and set my sights on some other rich widow.

We finished the day with some chicken kebabs and fruit the sack and hit the sack. I woke up at 6 AM Illinois time which of course is 4 AM Arizona time.   We started getting ready for our trip south to Bill and Ellen Entwistles in Sahuarita,  which is about 15 miles south of Tucson. We stop for breakfast along the way and got to their place about 1015. We spent the day in  Tubec,  of touristy area not far from them.    We ate lunch at Shelbys and as we were leaving the young gentleman come running after us saying "Mr. Milton, Mr. Milton."  We stopped and looked at him and he said you forgot your credit card. I said that's not my card, I'm not Mr. Milton but I will gladly take  it and use it. Thank you very much.


That night, Linda went with Ellen  to a music recital and I went with Bill to his musical practice. Bill is once again directing a musical comedy and it should be a very fine show. It was fun to see him in action again .

Bill decided that he needed to protect himself from the sun's powerful rays, so he decided to purchase a hat that would help him in that regard.  If you drive past his "summer home" in Illinois, you might find him mowing his yard with this chapeau de grande' on top of his head.

We spent a day in Sabino Canyon on a bus tour and that was truly wonderful.  Lots of neat area of the canyon surrounded by huge rock formations from the ice age centuries ago.

We also saw St. Xavier Mission and thought this was simply gorgeous.  Linda and I fell in love with a  cross we saw at the gift shop but knew we couldn't get it into our luggage on the plane.  So we left the gift shop and Bill said "Hey, I'll bring it home for you in the truck."  So I turned around and bought our cross.  It is a beauty to behold and very inspiring to Linda and I.

St. Xavier Mission

We loved spending time with Bill and Ellen and we hope to return someday to that area of the country.  There is a lot to see, even if most of it is desert.

We spent the next day at Good Life recuperating from the 2+ hour drive to Bill's by hitting the pool again.  Just the warm water and warm temps did a lot to refresh us.  The worst part is the pollen that must have affected me the most.  I wake up unable to breathe during the night and everyone out there was complaining about it as well.

On Saturday, we left early for Sedona, red rock country 2 hours north of Phoenix.  There is lots of sights to see and shops to visit and Linda put emphasis on the shops to visit.  Again, we need to return to this area because we didn't even put a damper on the things to see up here.

Since they have not had rain in some time, the "red" in the rock was more of a rust in color and not as photogenic.  Still, it was beautiful and we loved visiting their incredible area.  Lots of home built into the rocks and mountains and are works of art and engineering.  One of our favorites is the current home of the surviving Doublemint Twins.  Truly a beautiful home.

We had a great time in Arizona and many thanks go out to Gail and Cyndy, John and Diane Nadler, Dorothy, Bill and Ellen and to all the wonderful people who made it so nice.

Here are some of the Putnam County people we met in the airports on our trip out to Mesa and back:  Senator Gary Dahl, Jerry Lenhausen, Cary Hartman, Andy Romangnoli, Ken Jenkins, Mike Grasser, and Daryl Bouxsein.

I don't know if I could live there for months at a time like some people do, but I could certainly go there for 2-4 weeks sometime.  The weather was perfect for us and I need to go before pollen season takes hold.  There are a lot of malls to conquer with Linda and SO MANY places to see.  The Grand Canyon is on my list and time didn't permit us to see it this time.

Ciao' baby.