"Feasting", fellowship and friendship in the desert

  We just spent 4 wonderful days at Casa Grande, AZ convention. Those of my readers who attend conventions would know how we felt being there, truly a foretaste of heaven.  The natural food was tasty too: tacos, chicken chili, pasta, hot dogs, and of course stew! The setting left a bit to be desired.... I want to apologize for those of you who live in and love the desert....but we find it kind of ugly! Too dusty, brown, dry and HOT for our taste. But it was a wonderful haven. And to top it all off, we saw so many old friends and even several relatives. It was a blast from the past. Plus we made new friends- always expanding our horizons. I wish I had photos of all those old friends but I felt a bit like a stalker :) Here are a few...

Autumn and Alec- our buddies from MN who are now nomads with their  parents. They plan to settle somewhere soon!

Another of Alec because I couldn't resist. They call us their WI grandparents but that has changed now to their CA grandparents.

Their nomadic parents- Brendan and Kayla sitting in their new temporary home- a 28 foot trailer.

Looking toward the meeting shed- 2 inch dust!!

Sarah - used to live in WI near us and Carmen- a good friend of Nikelle's

My good friend Mary who knows all my past....she went to AZ temporarily about 29 years ago and never returned! I am excited to be only living about 6 hours from her. Dawn who surprised me by flying in for the weekend form WI. And her sister Rhonda who also left for AZ years ago. 

My cousin Karlan and his son Aaron

Brad, Candace and  cutie pie AJ . Candace is Dave's cousin. 

Charlie - Nikelle's grandpa

We were the photographers for this family photo. A wonderful group with roots in WI and IL but they now represent TX and CA

My "daughter" Ahalya

It was great to get chat a lot with my twin cousins- Karlan and Arlan. I can even tell them apart now!

Please don't tell Chad that I posted a picture of him.... but they are too cute not to share!

Here is the scenery from our trip home- first the saguaro cacti

Then we stopped in Yuma for supper with this sweet couple- Dave's aunt and uncle

Next came the sand dunes...

That fence is the border of Mexico!!! We passed through 3 checkpoints on the way home. Luckily the questions weren't too difficult, "Are you both American citizens?" At one checkpoint he just looked at us and waved us through!

Finally over the mountains and back to nice cool San Diego. Dave did enjoy coasting at 102 mph down the slope!! Luckily he stopped before we hit the border patrol car!! So we had good days, a safe trip and memories to last a lifetime!

Catching up.....Part 2- Tristan!!!

 The featured guest for this post is Tristan! He arrived very late Wed night and we took him back to the airport Sunday afternoon. In between those times we had wonderful talks and MANY activities. We never want our guests to be bored!
  On Thursday Dave and Tristan golfed after we slept in. No golfing photos since I wasn't there!  Friday morning we headed out for the day at 8 am and we didn't return until 8 pm.  The first event of the day was to hike at Elfin Forest once again~ approx 3 miles uphill both ways....ummm maybe not!

Pretty blooming plant- some sort of succulent.

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Father - Son bonding on top of the mountain.

Dave texting- some of his co workers don't understand what "vacation" day means! That is Escondido in the background.

 Then we had a picnic lunch on the beach at Torrey Pines. After a short nap we headed out on our second hike of the day. This time we hiked from the beach at Torrey Pines up to the top and then back to the car. Probably another 5 miles or so.... I know I have posted pictures of this hike before ( like twice!) but the views are so beautiful I have to post more pictures.

First the stalking....

 Here begins the attack of the ground squirrel... Tristan sat down and took out his pack of nuts and immediately the attack began!

Next the approach....

And finally the attack!

And others were lurking nearby!

Looking down at the path to the beach and towards La Jolla

I can't get over how blue the sky is on clear days!

We stopped at Torrey Pines Glide Port and watched people walk off the cliff and then soar like the pelicans!

It looks amazingly fun even to me and I don't like heights!

 On the way to the glide port Tristan started getting all excited and frankly drooling... he saw the Salk Institute which was designed by Louis Khan. This meant nothing to Dave and me but apparently to an Architect this is IT! At first we were not impressed by this kind of shabby concrete and wood building until we saw it through Tristan's eyes. And then we entered the courtyard! Wow! It is hard to see because of the bright sun but there is water flowing down the center and it appears to be dumping into the ocean.

 After a delicious supper at The Fish Market we went to a little beach in Del Mar to watch the sunset.

 Saturday we headed out again but not quite so early! Just about 20 minutes north of us is Temecula. Temecula has just the right climate for growing grapes. We toured one of the vineyards.

It looks a lot like the photos of Italy. We are constantly amazed by the variety of things that grow here in our new part of the world:)

The machine that separates the grapes from the stems.

Oak barrel room- they buy the American oak barrels from Wisconsin at $300 each and can only use them 3 times. The French oak barrels cost $1300 each!

Then off to the beach again! We met Chad and Jacinda and Bob and Deanna at the dog beach in Del Mar. Talk about entertaining! Dogs were everywhere including in the middle of our picnic lunch. Note to self... do not try to eat at a dog beach!

This doggie liked the shade from our umbrella , the food, and Tristan!

Tristan and Dave even got to play some beach volleyball. We hated to see him leave on Sunday but he will return. He thinks we live in a really neat place and wants to move back in!!!