Megan and Jon visit in January

A new year brings new things.  We continued to have frost in the mornings - if you look closely you can see it on the grass as Mr. Shadow inspects it.

Patty got back to Phoenix Dec. 30 and Megan came to visit us in Phoenix Jan. 10 to Jan. 20.  Patty and Megan and I went out hiking on the 302 trail, also known as the Freedom Trail.  It is a loop around Piestawa Peak.

We also went for a hike with some of the Tuesday docents - we did part of Granite Mountain trail in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale and then afterwards went for lunch at the Gray Hawk Country Club in Scottsdale.

Both Patty and I had volunteered helping with the installation of the Bruce Munro lights at the Desert Botanical Garden, so we went one evening and Jane joined us as well.  Although the lights are turned on at 5:00 p.m., they don't really show up until it is completely dark.  Here are the watertowers before sunset.

And here is the approaching sunset that evening.

On Friday evening and Saturday, my Wayland Baptist class met.  Saturday afternoon, I took the class to the Capital Museum and Wesley Bolin memorial park - the park has some two dozed memorials to different groups.  I took a picture of the police dog memorial and posted it on Facebook for our friend Wade who is a K-9 officer.

I also took a couple of photos of the statue of Lt. Luke, a WWII aviator for whom Luke Air Force Base is named.  Luke is just to the west of Phoenix and is about a 35-40 minute drive from our condo.

Jon flew in and joined us on Saturday Jan. 16.  Megan took the light rail to the airport to meet him, and after taking my class to the museum, I drove to the airport to pick them up.  We then went to the convention center to pick up Jon's materials for running the marathon on Sunday, and then home for a nice dinner.

As planned, I drove Jon downtown for the start of the Rock and Roll marathon and dropped him off early in the morning.  After returning home, Patty, Megan and I then walked out to the corner of 7th St and Missouri, and listened to the band playing.  At this marathon, there are bands every mile or so along the route and the music encourages the runners and spectators.  Jon came by as expected, and then I drove Megan to the light rail station so she could meet Jon at the end.

Later that evening, we went to the Desert Botanical Garden to see the Bruce Munro lights.  We of course had to stop and have wine and munchies while there.

One of the spectacular things about the Bruce Munro exhibits is that the color of the lights is constantly changing.

Jon and Megan both left on the 19th as scheduled, and this allowed Patty and me to get back to our normal schedules.

A quiet Christmas and New Years

Christmas was a quiet time this year.  Patty flew to Ketchikan to be with Megan since Megan was alone for the winter (Jon is back in DC area visiting his family this winter).  So I was home alone with Mr. Shadow.  I did go out several times with various members of the McNamara clan and still had fun.

We had some unusually cold weather for Phoenix and this required plants to be covered and protected.

One trip I made while Patty was gone was to Tucson to visit step-brother Steve and to donate platelets.  While on the road, I saw this truck and I had to send a photo of it to Megan and Patty in Alaska.

Interesting times at the Desert Botanical Garden including seeing a hummingbird and a large roadrunner.

And even in the Sonoran Desert in Phoenix we can get heavy rains.  Consider that the average annual rainfall in Phoenix is seven inches, getting 1.6 inches in one storm is a lot.

But after the rain, there is always a rainbow.

The days between Kauai and Christmas, December 2016

For a change, Patty and I hiked into South Mountain Park - it is a bit of a drive, but it was well worth it.  We hiked the Mormon Trail and after reaching the National Trail, hiked another half mile along it toward Fat Man's Pass.  We then turned around and returned back to the trail head. There were great views looking north to the city and the airport control tower looks so small.

We continued to sort through our things and make more donations to Goodwill.

On Tuesday Dec. 15, it was a cold and very quiet day at the Desert Botanical Garden.  At lunch, all of us docents talked about how few visitors there were because of the cold.  Since it was Sharon's birthday, I suggested we all go to Gertrudes Restaurant at 2:00 after finishing our afternoon shifts - but being the wild and crazy bunch we are, we said why wait until then, so we went at 12:30.  Linda did not drink and went to do the 1:00 tour, but the remaining twelve of us stayed and shared a couple of bottles of a nice wine recommended by the other Linda - she apparently knows the owners of Provisioner Wines.

When I went out for Shadow's morning walk on Friday Dec. 18, I discovered we had a man made flood - I think a water pipe burst.  The underground pipes for the sprinkler system is not buried very deep and the boxes where the valves are located expose pipes to the cold.  I think one froze and burst.

My mother's second husband, Francis, had three sons.  The youngest, Steve, and his wife, Linda, are 62.  Linda retired in the summer of 2014 and Steve retired this summer.  They spent the last year cleaning out their home in outside Tacoma.  Steve brought five truck and trailer loads of their stuff to Tucson during the last year, they sold their home in WA and were preparing to buy a home in Tucson for their retirement.  Unfortunately, Linda started having both mental and physical problems, and shortly after arriving in Tucson in October, fell and injured her back.  She was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with Stage Four cancer in her brain, spine, liver, lungs and adrenal gland.  At first, they thought they could transfer her back to a hospital in WA to be near friends and colleagues - but that fell through.  After surgery on her back, Linda was eventually transferred to a rehab center.  From there she had radiation therapy on the tumor on her brain.  She has not progressed well and will not live much longer.  Patty and I have visited several times.  On one of the visits, we took this photo of the three of us bald people.

Our family and friends continue to have more problems as we age.  Last week, Jane had surgery on her left arm/wrist to repair damage done when she fell this summer in Maine; today (Dec. 22) she is having a new cast put on her arm.  Shawn had work done yesterday to deal with kidney stones in both kidneys.  After a rough night at home, she was admitted to the hospital today; we hope to visit her later today.

Yesterday (Dec. 21) Patty and I hiked Phoenix Trail #308, the Lookout Mountain Circumferential Trail.  We made a few wrong turns that let us explore the area more and extend the hike.  We came across one of the trees that had been decorated for Christmas.

 

 We also came across an unusually shaped saguaro.

Today, Patty is packing for her trip to Ketchikan - it will be the first time since at least 2007 when the two of them will be together for Christmas.  It will also be Patty's first visit to Ketchikan.  I hope to get there in 2016.

Our last days in Kauai and return to the mainland, December 2 - 4, 2016

On Tuesday, we saw trees that we misidentified as breadfruit trees.  While out for my morning walk in Lydgate State Park, I learned that they are lauhala trees.  The green fruit is about the size of a pineapple and when overripe, the pieces fall off the fruit and look like large kernels of corn, about two inches long.

Megan, Patty and I went to Poipu Beach State Park to see the Hawaiian Monk Seals - while they appeared inert, even dead, as the signs noted they were alive and well.  They were roped off and volunteers protected them from all the spectators.

We then went to Spouting Horn State Park.  Here, the lava and soft rock forms these caves and holes that allow the waves to come in and spout up through the holes, with both water and sound.

 On Thursday, before our flight, we visited the Koloa Rum Co.

They distill a variety of rums from the cane sugar grown on the island and in the tasting room, they had free samples every half hour.  We got to taste five different rums.

Megan, Patty and I then went to the airport and had lunch, then flew to San Francisco and stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel.  It is located on the waterfront and has a nice walking trail along the water, and great views of the planes landing and taking off from SFO airport.

On Friday, we had a great breakfast at the Embassy Suites, and then went to the airport and said our goodbyes.  Megan then flew north to Ketchikan and Patty and I returned to Phoenix.