I had a wonderful massage with Heather at Sheer Gossip Salon in downtown Casa Grande.
Later in the afternoon, Preston and I went to the Agility Dog Park for his 3:00 p.m. Meet-up. He especially likes an English Golden Retriever named Daisy. Daisy is one years old. Preston is two years old. It is a match made in heaven!
January 28 is my Highland Meadows friend --- Shaula Watson's 80th birthday! While I am not in Williams, a group of Highland Meadows ladies took Shaula to lunch.
Thursday morning, I took a drill lesson with Greg Brown and three other 3.75 ladies --- Jill, Joan, and CJ.
That evening, the Palm Creek Pickleball Club had their annual dance. Thaddeus Rose was the band.
The theme of the dance was Country and Rock 'n Roll. I brought my hat and boots from home to celebrate. Tom and I had a photo taken in front of the Cowboy Jail.
The next day, Tom and I drove out to Mariposa, Arizona. We had not visited this city since the first season that we were in Casa Grande. We had lunch at Culver's and then went to The Dwarf Car Museum. In TripAdvisor, it was listed as the #1 thing to do in Mariposa. The proprietor and maker of these Dwarf cars is Ernie Adams. He was even at the museum!
Ernie made a name for himself building Dwarf Race Cars and scaled down replicas of classic cars called Dwarf Car Cruisers. They are handmade works of art.
Several Palm Creek residents said that there was another Dalmatian in the park. I found Dalmatian Ares on Olympia. His owners are Sherri and Mike Pea from Indiana. As it turns out, I met them three years ago. They had two Dalmatians, Annie and Ares. I had Kelsey and Jamie. Ares was four years old. Now he is seven years old.
I connected with Sherri and we arranged a meet-up with Preston and Ares. On February 2, Preston and I walked along the green belt here at Palm Creek. Tom dropped us off at the Cottonwood Complex.
On Wednesday, Libby Beatty called me. She finally adopted a dog to replace dear Bucky. Lillie is a retriever mix --- 1 1/2 years old.
In the afternoon, I took Preston to the Agility Park to play with doggy friends. There was a greyhound named Springer. I texted a photo of Springer to my long-time friend, Joe DiMaggio. Joe rescued a number of greyhounds.
Creative Cafe is a Casa Grande restaurant with excellent New England clam chowder on Fridays. Tom and I went there and we enjoyed a bowl of clam chowder and a sandwich.
My brother Peter and his wife Terry left Southern California for a trip to Chile and Argentina. Lucky them!
Their flight out of LAX was delayed, so they missed their connection in Houston. But, they finally arrived in Santiago, Chili.
Preston, Tom, and I had our first meet-up with Dalmatian Ares on Sunday, February 8. It turns out that Sherri and Mike live in a suburb of Indianapolis. Tom knows that area well.
Ares is a little smaller than Preston, but they both have great markings.
Later in the day, Tom and I watched the Super Bowl LX on television. It was the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots. The Seahawks won 29-13.
Monday, Jon joined us for lunch at Su Casa Grande. We ordered chips and salsa made at out table.
That afternoon, I had a facial with Ana Moreno. Samantha, the receptionist, jumped into the photo. Yes!
On Tuesday, February 10, we dropped Preston off at Paw Ranch for several nights. Tom and I then drove to Williams to rendezvous with Pat and Bill Wheeler at the Best Western Plus. Pat and Bill were heading back to Michigan after spending a month in St. George, Utah. We had an early dinner at the Grand Canyon Brewery.
The next morning, Pat, Bill and I went to the Grand Canyon Hotel to visit with Jeff D'Arpa. I only stayed fifteen minutes --- as Tom and I are having breakfast together at our hotel. But, we did get a nice photo opportunity with Jeff.
Fernando, at Paw Ranch Pet Resort, texted me a photo of Preston drinking in a fountain.
Tom and I drove back to Palm Creek Resort. I had a Thursday morning mentored Round Robin the next day. So, I asked Tom too go to the pickleball courts to do some drilling. He was thoughtful and said yes. We there for less than an hour. But, it was nice having him back on a court.
Fernando, at Paw Ranch, sent me another photo of Preston enjoying their facility.
I picked Preston up on Thursday at noon. That evening, there was a gorgeous sunset!
Saturday, February 14, was Valentine's Day. It was also the beginning of the Can-Am Games at Palm Creek. This is a week long competition between the Canadians and the Americans. They celebrated the opening with a parade of golf carts.
Tom's sister Pat enjoyed a special Valentine's dinner with her husband Frank.
That evening, we had dinner with Jon and his friend from childhood, Michael Zody. Michael was visiting Jon for several days.
My brother Peter and his wife Terry were on a nature tour in South America. They visited some national parks in Chile.
Early Sunday morning, I took Preston on his first walk of the day. We were greeted with several hot air balloons.
My friend Jan Miller told me about a doggy day care place on Cottonwood Lane. Paw Ranch was full --- at capacity --- on a day that I needed to board Preston. I had a 9 am appointments at Danx. The owner needed to assess Preston. She needed to make sure Preston was suitable for boarding there. He passed the test!
Later that day, Preston and Ares had a meet-up. This time, we went to the dog park that was more conducive to running.
That evening, we went to Almari Mexican Grill & Bar. It was nice to visit once again with Jon and Michael Zody.
Jon and Tom shared a huge meal served in a volcanic bowl.
Peter and Terry were off on other nature adventures in Chile.
On Monday, I had another ninety minute massage with Cathy Kelly. Yeah!!!! She has the cutest little dog, Pepe.
On Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., we had another meet-up with Ares. This time, we were joined by a golden retriever.
Terry and Peter shared more photos of their trip through nature in Chile.
I had a hair appointment with Miranda Palmer at Bloom. She has done an excellent job for me these past three seasons.
Friday evening, Tom and I joined a block party. I brought an Italian cake for the dessert table. There were close to 100 attendees. The band was excellent.
Carrie and Brent were able to snow shoe outside of Bend. It was the one and only time this winter.
