Friday morning, I drove to Los Angeles. It was the first time that I drove to California in eighteen months. The drive to San Gabriel took me 6 1/2 hours. I was spending two nights at my brother Peter's home. His wife, Terry, was home when I arrived. We had a nice reunion. Also spending two nights at Casa Shelton was my niece Molly and her daughter Sophie. Molly and Sophie live in Bakersfield with Molly's husband, Matt. Terry has several tomato plants. Since she was making a vegetable pasta dish for dinner, off Terry went to pick ripe tomatoes.
Molly and Sophie arrived at about 7 p.m. It was fun meeting my grand niece and seeing her with Mom and Grandma.
For dinner that night, my brother Peter arrived and also Terry's mother, Dudley.
Molly's birthday was June 10. So we belatedly celebrated her birthday with lemon pound cakes for dessert.
Saturday morning, I snapped a photo of Peter and Terry. It is always easy to be with them.
Today, June 19, was their 39th wedding anniversary. But, the main reason I was in Los Angeles was to attend a 10:30 a.m. bridal shower for my niece Katelyn. Conveniently, the shower venue was just down the street --- at the San Gabriel Country Club.
Three of my sister Wendy's friends hosted the "Brunch with the Bride" shower. My sister Carrie came to the shower too. It was a surprise, as she has been up in Bend, Oregon, for several months.
In this photo, Katelyn is wearing a light pink linen dress. Her wedding will be the first weekend in October. Halfway through the shower --- when opening presents --- Katelyn's fiance, Dan Wallace, arrived. He brought her a bouquet of flowers.
It was a very nice shower. Later in the afternoon, Molly went to have a pedicure and Terry took care of Sophie.
Peter came home from work and doted on his granddaughter as well.
Tom texted me a photo. He found his first Elk shed. Quite a beauty!
Sunday morning, after breakfast, I drove back to Williams. It was an easy 6 hour drive. But, it was 118 degrees when I stopped for gasoline at the Flying J Gas Station at Arizona mile marker 9.
Monday morning, I walked to Cataract Lake. It was a hot day, so I tried to stay under trees.
Arizona has some severe forest fires. The Kaibab, Coconino, and Prescott National Forests are going to close on Wednesday, June 23. It is estimated that they will be closed until at least September 1.
Monday afternoon, I drove to Flagstaff. My prescription sunglasses frame broke while I was in Los Angeles. Fortunately, the frames are under warranty. So I dropped them off at Northland Eye Care.
In the evening, Tom and I drove to Prescott Regional Airport. Tom's sister was coming for a four-day visit. She lives in Fort Myers, Florida. Welcome, Pat Warner!
Pat was so sweet and brought us some delicious chocolates. Pat knows her brother's sweet tooth!
Tuesday morning, I played pickleball in the Rodeo Barn. We let Pat sleep in and Tom had a barber appointment at noon. That afternoon, we went to Bearizona. It was a hot afternoon, so the junior bears were enjoying some water play.
After completing the drive-through section, we parked the car and walked into the walk-through section. On our way to see the three grizzly bears, there was a new bear in an overflow exhibit. His name is Roscoe. He was found in the White Mountains without a mother. It is estimated that he is just five or six months old.
Roscoe was very active and playful. We found out later that this day was his second day in the outdoor exhibit.
Unfortunately, the three grizzly bears were asleep. There was no activity in their large exhibit. For Pat, darn!
We had adult beverages in the Canyonlands Restaurant. Thank you, Pat!
Before leaving Bearizona, we of course had to take the obligatory photo 😃😃😃
Wednesday morning, all of the national forests were closed. This is due to the extreme fire conditions.
Wednesday was our day to take Pat to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. She has already been to the North Rim --- in 2006 --- when Tom and I worked there. We were a little late heading to the canyon. We were met a 45 minute delay in getting to the entrance booth. Maybe the lines were long as the National Forests are now closed. Anyway, we parked in the usual place and walked to the El Tovar for lunch.
After lunch, we drove out to Shoshone Point. The skies were somewhat cloudy, but it is such a beautiful place! All four of us poised in front of Indian Head.
I copied my friend Connie Young --- taking a photo with my painted toenails and the canyon beyond.
I really like this photo of Pat with the canyon and north rim backdrop.
Since we are not able to formally hunt shed in the national forest, Jon decided to take us on a forest walk back to the car.
On our way back to our Highland Meadows home, we stopped at Jon's house to show Pat his property and to show her all of the shed Jon has collected. Pat adorned one of the dead heads.
Thursday morning, I took Pat to town. We walked a mile along Route 66.
We also said hello to Smokey the Bear.
In the afternoon, we went to the Grand Canyon Deer Farm. I won four tickets to the Deer Farm at a silent auction two years ago.
You are able to buy some deer food and feed the deer. The Deer farm had other animals on display --- a camel, a buffalo, four reindeer, several elk, a llama, several mini-horses and an alpaca.
That evening, Jon joined us for dinner at the Red Raven Restaurant. It was Pat's last night.
In the morning, I asked Pat to write in my red Williams Visitor book.
Pat asked to take a photo of Tom and me in front of our house.
We left Williams for the Prescott Municipal Airport at about 11:00 a.m. Pat's flight to California was at 1:30 p.m. She was headed to Palo Alto to visit her daughter and her daughter's family.
On Saturday, I admired my water feature and pond. I have to add water to it daily.
I also went to the gym to work-out.
Sunday, Tom and I met my friends Michael and Barbara Penna for brunch. Michael and Barbara live in Hollister, California --- but they bought a vacation home in Cleveland, Tennessee. They were en-route to Tennessee. We dined at Anna's Grand Canyon Cafe.
They had a short trip to Holbrook for the night --- about 2 1/2 hours --- so Tom and I invited them to see Bearizona. We were very lucky, as the grizzly bears were active.
And of course, we had to take the obligatory photo with the bear eating his honey.
Sunday, June 27th was also Richard's birthday in heaven. I added some more of his ashes around our newest Aspens.
Monday afternoon, we received some heavy smoke from the active forest fires. Fortunately it dissipated in an hour or so.
On Tuesday, I had my monthly Canyon Pet Hospital appointment for Kelsey. The acupuncture sessions seem to work well for her. The veterinarian technician gave Kelsey peanut butter to keep her calm and steady.
Wednesday morning, five of us played pickleball in the Rodeo Barn. Annette and Warren have a summer place in Williams. This was there last day to play until early August.
In the early afternoon, I had a nail fill and pedicure at 66 Nails Spa. Thanks again, Will!
I sent an email to my friend, Bill Ukropina. It is his 65th birthday today. He sent me a photo of him and his wife Linan. They are celebrating his birthday in the Florida Keys.
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