Monday, March 1, 2021

Friday, February 19 to Thursday, March 11, 2021: Life in Northern Arizona and a Birthday Celebration

I had a manicure and pedicure on Friday. Jennifer always does a great job! Saturday morning was pickleball. There were eight of us --- two courts active.
After pickleball, I had a ZOOM call with the Northern Arizona Republican Precinct Committeeman. I am volunteering to be a precinct committeeman in my Highland Meadows neighborhood. It is Williams Precinct 98.
The call went well until my computer froze up. I had to leave the ZOOM meeting after an hour. Next time, I need to use Tom's computer.
 
On Sunday, Tom, and I met Jon off Devil Dog Road. We parked Tom's Subaru there and we hopped into Jon's Jeep Rubicon.
 Jon had a place he wanted to walk --- where last year he saw a herd of Elk. Jon led the way.
Tom forgot his phone --- which has the vehicle usage map of the Kaibab National Forest. So, we tried to visually keep together. There was more snow and mud than I expected.
That same day, my sister Wendy and her husband Kai took my sister Kimberly out to lunch in Palm Desert. Kim moved to Palm Springs last year.
My sister Carrie and her husband Brent posted an Instagram photo from Atlanta, Georgia.
My nephew Blake was celebrating a birthday with his wife Nicole, his sister Lauren, Mom Carrie, and Dad Brent.

Monday morning, there were six of us who played pickleball.
Later in the afternoon, I had a 90 minute massage appointment with Natanya Nagy at Gods Gift of Healing Hands.
Jon has a new project. He bought a 1989 Dodge Charger truck for $4,000 to tinker with and use in the woods.
Tuesday afternoon, I had a telemedicine appointment with Dr. Laura Wade. It was a ZOOM call format, so I used Tom's computer. Dr. Wade is a new physician at the North Country Healthcare in Williams. My former medical provider left the clinic, so I wanted to establish a new relationship with Dr. Wade.
Later in the day, a Rotech Healthcare technician from Prescott delivered Tom a new piece for his BiPAP sleeping machine. Such service!
Wednesday morning, Tom had an ultrasound procedure in Flagstaff. I had a conflicting appointment, so Jon took Tom to Flagstaff and they later went driving and walking in the woods. Twin Peaks Glass came to the house to took at a cloudy duel pane window that needs to be replaced.
They measured the window and would be giving me an estimate. I had to replace a similar window last May.  I knew that Tom would probably be late coming home, so I streamed the movie Sicario through Red Box.
It was an excellent movie about the Mexican Cartel. Since Joe Biden is reopening the southern border, there has been a lot of talk about the border, human trafficking, and illegal immigration.

On Thursday, I walked around nearby Cataract Lake. It was a beautiful day.
Thursday was also the start of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida.  I just watched the highlights.
On Friday, I walked in the neighborhood and noticed the beauty of Mt. Humphreys. 
Later in the afternoon, the new garage lights arrived. Tom ordered them on Amazon. These new lights are LED and will replace the old florescent lights.
Mounting the new lights was handled by Tom. I did help him install the first one. These new lights are very light, but very bright. Thank you, Tom!
There was a full moon early Saturday morning. The light from the moon was shinning through our sitting room blinds.
There was no pickleball on Saturday. The barn was reserved by another group. So, Tom and I went to Prescott. It is about a 65 minute drive. We parked near the historic part of town and walked around Courthouse Plaza, the town square.
Prescott was the territorial capital of Arizona from 1864 to 1867. The territorial capital was then moved to Tucson. The historical area of the town is very colorful.
After walking a mile or so, we drove a few minutes to a favorite restaurant, Augie's, for lunch. I had a large grilled artichoke with Aioli sauce and Tom had delicious fish and chips.
Tom and I enjoyed a leisurely afternoon drive back home. On Sunday, President Trump spoke at CPAC. He is quite the orator. It was a great speech!
Monday afternoon, I walked the dogs in town. It is fun living in a small town with the history of Route 66.
Tuesday afternoon, I had two appointments is Flagstaff. The first one was picking up my new prescription sunglasses. The frames of my old sunglasses broke last month. And, my prescription changed slightly.
The second appointment was at Canyon Pet Hospital with Kelsey. It was her monthly acupuncture appointment with Dr. Amstutz. Somehow, Kelsey lost one of her dew claws several days ago. She seemed to be more sensitive during the session.
Wednesday was no pickleball, as the elementary school has the Rodeo Barn every Wednesday morning. I went to the North Country Healthcare to have my blood drawn. Dr. Wade requested a blood panel for me. Colleen came to clean our house. Poor thing, she slipped and fell last month and broke her right wrist. She will have surgery next week.
That afternoon, Gabe --- the plumbing and heating fellow --- came to look at our potable expansion tank for the water heater. It has been leaking for several months. Gabe informed us that it needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, it is not covered by my American Home Shield policy.
Gabe will purchase a replacement for the expansion tank in a few days. After Gabe left, Tom and I went to lunch at the Wild West Junction. The relatively new owners of the complex have done a great job adding tasty food to their menu. In the winter months, the saloon/bar is where you dine.
Tom had their daily special of southern fried chicken. I had a cowboy chicken salad. Both were very good.

Thursday, we received 1 1/2 inches of fresh snow.
The book series of Dr. Seuss with cartoons and rhyming verses has been banned by Liberals. Somehow, it is politically incorrect.
The Democratic Legislature is passing another Coronavirus Spending Bill. This time it is for 1.9 trillion dollars. Only 9 percent of this huge expenditure is going to impacted Americans.
On Friday, a friend of mine shared a photo of rising gasoline prices. Way to go, Joe Biden --- cancelling the Keystone Pipeline project.
On Saturday, a package from Amazon arrived. It was a container of leather cleaner. Unfortunately, the top was no longer on the container and the sticky substance leaked out. Yes, this spoiled leather cleaner will be returned.
Tuesday morning, I dropped off the dogs at the Grand Canyon Railway Kennel. Kelsey and Jamie are staying there for two nights, as Tom and I are off to the Verde Valley for his 74th birthday celebration.
Tom does not know where we are going for his birthday. I finally hinted that it was the Verde Valley, so he could appropriately plan for clothing. Tom had to drop off his 3-day sleep study kit at the FedEx office in Flagstaff. So, we took 89A --- Oak Creek Canyon --- to Sedona. Once in Sedona, we drove down to the Village of Oak Creek. 
I had plans to eat lunch at Farm a GoGo in Cornville. But, they were closed for remodeling. So, we went to Old Town Cottonwood and ate lunch at Colt Grill.
Our table was on outside patio. There, a young man was cooking barbecue meats. Tom enjoyed a brisket sandwich with french fries. I had a Cobb Salad.
The Colt Grill Restaurant also had a nice bar area.
After lunch, we walked the three or four blocks of the Historic Old Town. Tom sat on a bench while I was using the restroom facilities of the Visitor Center.
It was now time to head to the town of Jerome. I finally had to tell Tom that we were spending two nights at the Jerome Grand Hotel.
This historic hotel was originally built as a hospital supporting all of the copper, gold, and silver mining efforts in the boom town of Jerome.

We had a beautiful Garden Room on the 3rd floor with a private sun porch. Tom is looking out one of the doors!
The Garden Room with the private sun porch had magnificent views of the valley below.
The Garden Room was lovely too.
That evening, we had dinner at the hotel's Asylum Restaurant. Happy Birthday, Tom!
I had a baseball Filet Mignon and Tom had their lamb chop special.
The food, drink, and service was excellent!

The next morning, I noticed that a film crew was in the Garden Room across the hall. Apparently, the Jerome Grand Hotel has resident ghosts. A documentary was being filmed by Texas company, Longhorn Paranormal. This was there fifth and final day of shooting.
Tom and I decided to do some sightseeing. We went to the Jerome State Historical Park. There, the Douglas Mansion is open to the public.
There were many exhibits and displays of Jerome in its mining heyday. We also watched a 30 minute video of the town history and ghost town elements.
For lunch, we went back into Cottonwood and dined at a local hangout --- Verde Lea Grill & Deli.
It was a fun "comfort food" experience.

That afternoon, I went walking around the town of Jerome. Our hotel certainly is a noticeable landmark, high on top of the hill.
That evening, we had cocktails in the Asylum Restaurant bar. The bartender made a great Old Fashion for Tom!
We had dinner once again in the restaurant. I had their King Crab Legs special and Tom had Roasted Duck. The food was excellent once again, but the service was subpar. The male server was not attentive as the female server was the night before. Too bad.

Thursday morning, we woke up to wet snow. Jerome's elevation is about 5200 feet. We had coffee and breakfast on our sun porch and leisurely began to pack up to head home. Bye-bye, Jerome Grand Hotel.
With slushy road conditions, we decided to head back to Williams over Mingus Mountain and through Prescott Valley. We were expected to pick up the dogs by 2:00 p.m. It was snowing lightly when we got home. By the end of the day, we only receive about 1 1/2 inches of snow.

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