Saturday, February 26 through Saturday, March 12, 2022: Pickleball, Tom's Novice Clinic, Friends and Birthday Celebration in Cottonwood

On Saturday, I phoned my daughter Donna. She and David sold their home in Park City, Utah for $1.850 million dollars. They lived in Park City for fifteen years and took advantage of the current real estate boom. Their next move is to rent a home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, while looking to purchase there. Sunday afternoon was some good pickleball play.

On Monday, I had a nail fill appointment with Tori at Lush Beauty Bar.

That afternoon, I dropped in on Tom's Novice Pickleball Clinic.

Tom had twelve players attending his workshop.

Also in attendance was Gus Beatty's new girlfriend, Julie. They make a cute couple!

Gus has known Julie for 40 years. He used to work for her father at Cal State Bakersfield.

Tuesday, Jamie and Kelsey had appointments at Williams Veterinary Wellness with Dr. Ryan.

Wednesday, our new refrigerator was to be delivered. Tom and I moved the old refrigerator and cleaned the alcove for the new one.

Unfortunately, we got a telephone call that the truck carrying the refrigerator broke down. So, the new delivery date was pushed back two weeks. While dealing with the old refrigerator, we learned that the water line for the ice maker was defective. It would not shut off. So, I called Sutton Plumbing and two of their representatives came to the house and fixed the problem.

It involved a soldering iron and then replacing the valve.

Thursday morning, Tom and I had an appointment to meet with City Manager, Tim Pettit. The Williams Pickleball Group has been having some challenges with the city. It was a productive meeting.

After the meeting, Tom and I had breakfast at Goldies Route 66 Diner.

One of my Facebook friends posted an adorable photo of a deer in the snow. We had a few inches of snow on Friday, March 4.

It is always nice when the sun comes out.

My nephew Blake and his wife Nicole have enjoyed quick trips to various countries. They live in Atlanta and there are many direct flights to Europe. There most recent trip was to Iceland. Fun!

Friends Joyce and Don Wells planned to stay several nights at our home. They are doing a three week trip in their RV. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had her way. Too much snow. So instead, we met them in Chino Valley for lunch at Bonn-Fire Chillin' and Grillin' Restaurant.

My sister Carrie went to Atlanta to visit her daughter, Lauren. Lauren is pregnant with Carrie's first grandchild. Carrie also was able to meet Cody --- the father of Lauren's baby. It was a very nice time.

I played pickleball in the Rodeo Barn Monday morning. A 4.0 player from So. California joined us. It was fun playing with Todd (in the yellow shirt.)

That afternoon, I had several appointments in Flagstaff. My dermatologist checked my head wound. I also picked up my new prescription glasses.

Tuesday was the beginning of Tom's 75th birthday celebration. I dropped the dogs off at the Grand Canyon Railway Kennel for a three-night stay.

For Tom's birthday, we originally booked a cruise from San Francisco through the Panama Canal and ending up in Ft Lauderdale. We cancelled the reservation when Princess required vaccinations, masks, and multiple Covid-19 tests. Instead, Tom got to celebrate in Cottonwood, Arizona. 😆😆😆

On our way, Tom had an appointment with Alliance. He has been trying to get a better face seal on his Bipap machine. After this appointment, we had a very tasty lunch at nearby Cork & Catch Restaurant.

At about 3:00 pm, we arrived at the Tavern Inn, an upscale boutique hotel in Old Town Cottonwood. After having cocktails by the pool, we went to Merkin Vineyards Tasting Room and Osteria for dinner. The wine was so-so, but the food was excellent.

Wednesday was Tom's birthday. We had breakfast across the street at Crema Craft Kitchen. They have a nice covered patio.

This restaurant and our hotel are part of the Haunted Group. They have seven properties in this area. Afterwards, we decided to wander down to Camp Verde and go to the "Out of Africa" Wildlife Park. This park has been around since 2005, but I have never been.

To get acquainted with the park, there is a 30 minute bus tour through the Serengeti.

I was impressed with the number of animals in this drive-through section.

The next part of the park is a walk-thru. Again, the variety of animals was impressive.

Later in the afternoon, I introduced Tom to Alcantara Vineyards and Winery. It is just down the road to Verde Valley Thousand Trails.

The wine is so-so, but the property is very nice.

Afterwards, we went back to our hotel and took advantage of our two free drink coupons at the Tavern Restaurant. It was nice enough to enjoy a table on the outside patio.

That evening, we had dinner at Nic's Italian Steak & Crab Restaurant. It was across the street and down from our hotel. I had a filet mignon skewer with king crab legs. Yummy!

On Thursday, we had reservations to take the Verde Canyon Railroad. It is a nice four hour round-trip ride along the Verde River.

Our first class car was named Flagstaff.

There are a lot of eagles in and around the Verde Canyon. So, the engine was painted as an eagle.

A Thousand Trails friend, Becky Poremba, lives in Cottonwood. She noticed a Facebook post that we were having dinner in Old Town Cottonwood. She immediately called me and said that she would love to see us. So, we made arrangements to meet her at Tumbleweed Winery after the train ride. Around 5 p.m., we met Becky and her friends. Tumbleweed Winery is Becky's favorite and their red wines are excellent.

Becky has a boyfriend who lives nearby. So, we stopped by Jim's home for a wine night cap.

Friday morning, it was time to get ready and check out of the hotel. I asked Tom to take a photo of me on the large Adirondack chair near the hotel's pool.

We decided to take a different route home --- enjoying the beauty of Oak Creek Canyon. We picked the dogs up at the kennel before 2:00 p.m.

On Saturday, there was no pickleball. So I walked to town on Cataract Lake Road. Mt. Humphreys was so majestic.

Sunday, February 13 through Friday, February 25: Be My Valentine, Flagstaff, Winter Weather, Peoples Convoy, and Roy's Visit

As a mini-vacation and for Valentine's Day, I reserved a King Studio room at Flagstaff's Residence Inn by Marriott. It was a corner room with lots of windows to view the San Francisco Peaks and the city.

Today is Superbowl Sunday. The LA Rams are playing the Cincinnati Bengals. Tom and I watched some of the game before heading out for pre-dinner drinks.

The staff of the front desk highly recommended The Annex Cocktail Lounge for cocktails. It was an eight minute walk from our hotel. It was unique --- the building used to be handball courts.

I had a lemon drop martini and Tom had a flight of three bourbon tastes.

We also shared a delicious crab and artichoke fritters appetizer.

For dinner, we had 6:45 p.m. reservations at Lotus Lounge --- part of the Hotel Monte Vista. It serves Pan-Asian food. We made a meal of a number of appetizers --- eel sashimi, crab rangoons, pork gyoza, and softshell crab bao buns. All were delicious! While at the Lotus Lounge, we met a very nice and very pretty bartender --- Genesis Williams --- originally from Georgia.

Monday was Valentine's Day. Tom made an excellent suggestion to visit Walnut Canyon National Monument. It was about a twenty minute drive from downtown Flagstaff. We arrived at about 10:30 a.m. Our first walk was the Island Trail. Over 800 years ago, indigenous people lived in cliff dwellings inside the canyon.

These cliff dwellers lived in the canyon for over 100 years.

As we were leaving the Island Trail loop, a nice woman snapped a nice Valentine's Day photo of the two of us.

We also hiked along the Rim Trail which allows pets. After leaving Walnut Canyon, Tom and I had lunch at a restaurant highly rated by TripAdvisor called Northern Pines. Some friends of ours actually dined there for Thanksgiving last year. I had homemade french onion soup and half of a BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado) sandwich. Tom had cod fish & chips. Very good food, indeed!

We returned to our centrally located hotel and walked around historic Flagstaff for several hours. Tom was looking for some new hiking boots. My sister Carrie texted me and my other siblings. Her 28 year old daughter, Lauren, is expecting a baby girl in August. She and the baby's father are not yet married, but they are both delighted. This is a photo of Lauren and her boyfriend Cody.

Lauren lives near near Atlanta, Georgia. My sister Carrie plans to visit Lauren and meet Cody the end of this month.

For Valentine's dinner, I made reservations at Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar. I have never been there, but it has been a highly rated restaurant for a number of years. They have a fixed price tasting menu for Valentine's Day. Prior to our dinner reservation, we had cocktails at the bar.

We checked out of the hotel the next morning. A very nice thing about Marriott is that all of their properties have hearty hot breakfasts. We arrived home at about 10:00 a.m. --- unpacked --- and I was able to pick up the dogs before the 11:00 a.m. checkout time.

Tuesday, Jon came over to work on his jeep in our garage. He also helped Tom adjust our e-bikes on the Hollywood bike carrier.

Wednesday morning, Tom and I had dental teeth cleaning appointments in Flagstaff.

After our appointments, Tom bought a belt at Boot Barn. For his March 9 birthday, his two sons bought him a holster for his new gun. Tom needed a leather belt to hold the holster. We had lunch at Cafe Rio. It is fresh Mexican food. Very tasty!
 

When we arrived home, Tom had a package in the mail. How very timely --- the holster arrived!

That evening/early morning was a full moon --- the Snow Moon. I wasn't able to get a good photo, but my neighbor did! Thank-you, Maria Rendleman!

On Instagram, I saw a post from my son-in-law David Bernstein. He was riding his bike on the coast of California and he mentioned something about enjoying semi-retirement.

Of course, I called my daughter Donna. David was the Executive Director of a commercial laundry machine marketing company. Recently, David discovered that some of the board members were sabotaging his efforts and making his job unbearable. So, he tendered his resignation. Donna also shared that she and David put their Park City home up for sale and are moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in April. Their home sold immediately and they plan to initially rent in Santa Fe. In the meantime, they took a mini-trip to an RV Park in Malibu. They are staying in their air stream trailer.

David's parents live in West Los Angeles. My granddaughters Meghan and Emily are also in LA. Meghan has a sheepadoodle named Carl. What cuties!

When Jon and Tom were setting up the bike rack for our e-bikes, they noticed that my back brakes were shot. I contacted E-Bikes of Flagstaff and set-up an appointment to have the brakes fixed. Tom's Aveton also needed to be serviced. So on Saturday, I loaded up the two bikes and dropped them off in Flagstaff.

I had a 2:00 p.m. appointment in Flagstaff. A year ago, I was appointed a Precinct Committeeman for the Coconino County Republican Party. A three hour workshop was held at a Flagstaff church to teach us how to Go Door-to-Door. The meeting was kicked-off by Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers.

Sunday morning, both Jamie and Kelsey were enjoying the living room couch. So glad that we have the sofa cover!

That afternoon, I received a text from my girlfriend Connie Young. She and her husband Ray live in Oxnard. Sunday morning, they were having coffee and donuts with some Oxnard friends and the topic of Zion National Park came up. Their friends started talking about a couple who lived and worked at Zion Lodge. The story sounded familiar. Connie said do you know Becky Ebbert? Audrey and Werner Keller came to Zion while Richard and I worked there in 2003 or 2004! I knew Audrey through the Organization of Executive Women.

On Monday, four of us played pickleball in the Rodeo Barn. The barn was being used that evening for a concert, so the City Maintenance took the trailer out. Yeah!

Jon and Tom worked most of Tuesday getting the fishing boat trailer ready for registration. They bought the trailer several months ago, but had not readied it for transport. Nice job! And, they passed the inspection! 😁😁😁

A severe winter storm is in the forecast for Northern Arizona beginning Tuesday evening and continuing through Wednesday evening. In the morning, we had at least 9 inches of fresh snow. Tom tackled the driveway problem with our snowblower. 

Thursday morning, we woke to a total of 13 inches of snow and clear blue skies.

Truckers and other concerned citizens are rallying and crying out against all of the Covid restrictions across the nation. A People's Convoy started on February 23 near Barstow, California, and is headed to Washington, DC. Interstate 40 is their beginning route. Tom and I went to the Williams overpass Thursday morning to support the movement.

Later in the day, Tom and I drove to Flagstaff for my appointment with Dr. Risner. She is my dermatologist who is monitoring my head injury. We also picked up our e-bikes at Electric Bikes of Flagstaff.

Dr. Risner removed some of the dead skin around my wound. She also ordered a prescription of topical antibiotics. The wound is not healing as quickly as she hoped.

In addition to the topical antibiotics, Dr. Risner ordered some collagen powder from a medical firm in Tempe, Arizona. This should "jump start" the growth of hair around the wound. Friday morning, six of us played pickleball in the Rodeo Barn.

That afternoon, my former Executive Vice President boss --- Roy Henderson --- came for an evening stay at our home. Roy and I worked together at Union Bank of California in the mid-1990s. Roy and his wife Mel Gee now live in the Salt Lake City area. I had time to take Roy to Bearizona. The junior bears were active in the drive-thru section of the park. And, we saw the jaguars, Nacho and Libre.

That evening, we had adult beverages at home and then we went to the Best Western Steakhouse for dinner.  It was a very nice visit!