The Grand Canyon For Free

We spent yesterday in Grand Canyon National Park with our son and his family. It was a gorgeous sunny day. When we pulled up to the front gates of the park my husband had his wallet out to pay the $25 entry fee. The attendant handed us a map and a brochure and said,”Enjoy your free visit to the park.” Since it was President’s Day weekend national parks in the United States were offering free admission to all visitors. We got to see what is considered one of the wonders of the world and it didn’t cost us a penny. 

Other posts about Arizona scenery….

Hi Ho Tonto

Climbing Pinnacle Peak

The Pink Jeep

Fiji Inspiration

Without music, life would be a mistake.-Friedrich Nietzsche People have a good time when they’re wearing a hat. -Philip Treacy A rooster crows only when it sees the light.  –Muhammad Ali  Sound is the vocabulary of nature.-Pierre Schaeffer Many people go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. -Henry David ThoreauTranquility starts within you. – Christine St. VilA sister is a gift to the heart. ~Isadora James If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature–I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature.- Meister Eckhart Freedom of religion is the only way towards universal peace.  ― M.F. Moonzajer Dance is the hidden language of the soul.- Martha Graham

These photos were all taken on 2010 vacation in Fiji.

Other posts……..

Ten Abandoned Places

Wisdom From a Former Student

Taking Risks

Keep Your Mouth Closed Grandma

We went on a hike up the Hieroglyphic Trail here in Arizona with our sons, daughter-in-law and grandson.  At the base of the trail, we chatted with another family who was also setting out on the same hike. They were from North Dakota. Their crew included grandparents, their son and his wife and two little granddaughters.  

When we reached the end of the rocky, steep trail we grandparents perched on some rocks in the shade to rest, but the kids and grandkids from both families set off to climb up to some petroglyphs across a small pond and up some fairly high cliffs.

As our kids and grandkids started the climb up the steep rocks the grandmother from North Dakota who was sitting right beside me and I both inhaled sharply at the same time and then put our hands over our mouths.  

We looked at each other and laughed. “Knowing when to keep your mouth closed is the first thing you learn when you become a grandmother,” she said to me.  

We were both scared of the potential danger for our kids and grandkids climbing those cliffs, but we both knew better than to say anything.  Of course, everyone was fine, and the kids and grandkids returned to us excited about their little adventure. 

Other posts about family life…

Let’s Talk About Our Parents

Grandpa and Me

Aprons

String Em Up at the Handlebar

Last week we enjoyed an evening of Blue Grass music with the String Em Up band at the Handlebar Pub and Grill.The band members sing and play guitar, mandolin, banjo and bass and have a varied repertoire of familiar tunes. Our group of seven was singing along in full voice on some of the songs. We were there with our housemates Hans and ChrisArizona neighbours Rudy and Sue and  another Gold Canyon neighbor Ed who tried to have a good time but was missing his wife Val who would arrive the next day. Ed sent Val photos and even a little video of the band so she could feel like she was there too.The food at the Handlebar is always fantastic.  Dave had the pulled pork sandwich and the blue cheese potato salad. I had the smoked chicken salad and the flavor was wonderful.  Everything at the Handlebar is cooked over a pecan wood fire.  On a previous visit we sat at the bar around the barbecue grill and chatted with the chef about his job at the Handlebar and how he prepares the food. We always have a good time at the Handlebar.  I know we’ll be going back before our Arizona stay is over.  Other posts about eating out in Arizona…..

At the Handlebar with Paul and Shirley

Dinner with Uncle Herb

A Memorable Meal

Watching the Suns With My Sons

We went to watch the Phoenix Suns play the Houston Rockets last night at the US Airways Centre. We parked in Mesa and took the train downtown.  Had a great meal first at Majerie’s Sports Grill named after a long time Phoenix Suns player and NBA all-star. The Phoenix Suns lost the game 127-118. The third quarter of the game was the most exciting. Phoenix was on fire and pulled into the lead for a time. However they just couldn’t stop Houston’s bearded wonder James Harden who scored forty points.  Dave and I hadn’t been to an NBA game with our sons in a long time and our whole family had a fun evening. 

Other posts about professional sports games……..

Skol Vikings

Go Winnipeg Jets

The Tigers in the Pink

Dave Plays Ball in Arizona

I went to watch Dave play ball on his Arizona team The Castaways last week.  Most of the guys come from the same trailer resort called Coral Sands and a bunch of them are from Winnipeg and play on various teams in the same league in which Dave competes during the summer in Manitoba. I did a blog post about how Dave has been telling me I’m the only team wife of the fourteen players who doesn’t show up for games.  I decided it was time to prove my love for him by joining the other thirteen women in the cheering section. Imagine my surprise to turn up at the game and discover only four female team supporters on hand. After introducing myself I was to discover that two of the women in fact weren’t even wives of the players but were from the same trailer resort and had come to cheer on their community team.  I guess Dave had been exaggarating  just a little when he said I was the lone wife who didn’t attend. The Castaways were playing The Miners in a double header and they split the match with The Castaways losing the first game and winning the second. Dave played second base in the first game and third base in the second game. He says he really enjoys playing ball here in Arizona because the diamonds are in such beautiful shape compared to the ones in Manitoba. Dave had some good hits including a couple doubles. 
After the game we went back to the Coral Sands and the men gathered beside one trailer and the women on the porch of the other to have a drink and visit. I enjoyed chatting with the other women who were also from Winnipeg. One was was leaving on a trip to China in a couple weeks and another had just returned from a trip to Japan so we shared some travel stories.  The other women laughed when I told them Dave had said I was always the only missing wife from games. They too only attend on occasion and are often busy with their own activities. 

Now that I’ve been to one of his games and found out the truth about how many wives attend Dave will no longer be able to call me “the missing wife.” 

Other posts about baseball…….

Remembering Rudy York

Davey at the Bat

Take Me Out to the Ball Game- Osaka Style

Hawaiian Inspiration

A smile is the universal welcome- Max EastmanThe art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. ― Henry EllisYou were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life? – RumiLetting off steam always produces more heat than light. – Neal A. Maxwell

Camouflage is a game we all like to play. – Russell LyonsGo ahead. Venture off the beaten path a little. – Ronald RobbinsWe must look at the lens through which we see the world…….. and understand that the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world.- Stephen CoveyHug the shore. Let others try the deep.  -VirgilKnow what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal.― Elbert Hubbard

The life of mortals is like grass.- Psalm 103:5

I took all the photos in this post in Hawaii in January 2012

Other posts about Hawaii….

Hanging Around Hilo

Sleeping With Torpedos

Luau with the Mormons

The Arizona Opry

There was mist on the mountain after a rainy day as we drove to the…Arizona Opry– a supper show that Dave has been wanting to see ever since we first came here three years ago.

It’s a kind of dinner theatre that offers different shows every night- four different variety revues, three country western performances, an evening of Broadway tunes, a 70’s music night and two different rock n’ roll shows. 

The shows are hugely popular. The venue seats some 500 people and it was sold out the night we attended. There was a line-up at the door when we arrived although I’m not sure why because you buy your tickets ahead of time and the seats are assigned.I have to say the supper was pretty mediocre although there’s plenty of it but just in case you don’t get enough food ice cream is sold at intermission. Most of the musicians however were very talented and they rocked the house with lots of fifties hits like La Bamba, Pretty Woman, That’ll Be the Day and Thrill on Blueberry Hill. Most of the audience was just a little older than us.  The 70’s show probably would have featured more music from our teen years but we recognized most of the songs. The same performer doubled as the Barney Fife character from the Andy Griffith Show providing comic relief and… was also the Elvis impersonator singing the great king of rock n’ roll hits like Blue Suede Shoes and Can’t Help Falling in Love With You. The show provided a good two hours plus of music. George Staerkel- front and center here is the show’s musical director. According to his biography he can play fifty instruments. A former member of the singing group The Tokens George performed their hit song The Lion Sleeps Tonight for us.There’s a gift store and a CD store in the hall just in case you want to shop before and after the show or during intermission. We had an interesting evening at the Arizona Opry but I don’t think I need to go back. 

Other posts about musical experiences ……..

The Regina Folk Festival

Baseball Singalong

Saengerfest

Hiking Quail Trail

On Monday I hiked a new trail here in Phoenix.  Nicky led Marlene and me on the hike which is near the home Nicky shares in Avondale with her husband Ray.  The Quail Trail is in Estrella Mountain Regional Park. There were some very unique rocks on the trail that I had never seen before here in Arizona. I realized once again that cacti can grow anywhere. Dead saguaros make interesting sculptures. This one looks like a scarecrow. Because of the recent rain we’ve had there were quite a few flowers blooming on the trail. We saw city views from the trailand beautiful wilderness views as well After our hike we went back to Ray and Nicky’s house and met our husbands who had been out golfing. Nicky made us a wonderful supper of ribs, salad, corn, twice baked potatoes and apple crumb cake for dessert.  There was good wine and good conversation.  A great day! Other posts about friends……..

Minneapolis- Hong Kong Wedding- Part 4

Fun with Naomi

Visiting the Nikkels in Sarasota 

A Study in Contrasts- The Waste Management Open Golf Tournament

What a contrast! I spent last Thursday at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix. It’s the largest golf tournament on the PGA tour. For me it was a study in contrasts.

Famous players like Bubba Watson did some great golfing. We watched Watson drain a spectacular putt to get an eagle on the fourth hole. Other high profile players like Tiger Woods did some terrible golfing. We watched Tiger on the same hole, make a bad chip from the rough into the thick grass at the edge of the green, and then miss a three- foot putt.

We witnessed the play of promising young golfers and seasoned professionals.   Phil Mickelson was paired with Rickie Fowler nearly twenty years his junior. We watched the two of them on the eighth hole where the elder Mickelson bested Fowler with a birdie.

We followed Canadian Mike Weir for a few holes. Some fans watching Mike were obviously proud to be Canadians. One man was wearing a shirt with a huge maple leaf on the back and pants featuring dozens of smaller maple leafs. Then there were the American fans behind us who joked when Mike’s shot landed in the desert rough, “His caddy must have given him the yardage in meters by mistake.”

Fifteen of the greens were hushed and quiet when players putted. But the Phoenix Open is famous for its sixteenth green where fans can make as much noise as they want. We heard cheers and jeers rising in waves from the 16^th green.

On the 18^th green we watched Pat Perez putt. He had eye-catching plaid pants, a round stomach and nearly shoulder- length curly hair. On the same hole we saw Camilo Villegas putt. He wore perfectly pressed black pants, had a washboard stomach and closely cropped hair.

 Some spectators at the tournament, like me, followed the strict rules posted everywhere about not taking photos. These rules were repeated by course marshals and flashed on the screens. Yet many golf fans were snapping countless pictures and making video recordings with the cameras on their phones. In fact I found out when I got home that Golf Digest was featuring Instagram photos taken by spectators at the Waste Management Open.

 The course at the Tournament Players Golf Club at Sawgrass where the tournament was held was beautifully groomed. The desert landscape was impeccably landscaped for the PGA event. But I noticed a whole flock of wild birds landing on one hole and the golfers had to do their best to navigate around them.

 The Waste Management Open gives over $6 million in prizes to players, some of whom are already quite wealthy, but it is also donates a percentage of profits to worthy philanthropic causes. Since its inception eighty years ago tournament organizers have distributed $86 million to Arizona charities. Knowing that made it a little easier to spend $10 on a pretzel and a cup of lemonade. The salespeople’s T-shirts made it clear they represented various community organizations and were working to raise money for them.

We saw players from places we have visited on our travels like Danny Lee from Rotorua, New Zealand, Gonzalo Fernandez Castano from Madrid, Spain and Brian Davis from London, England. We also saw players from places that are on our travel bucket list like Retief Goosen from South Africa, Padraig Harrington from Ireland and Martin Laird from Scotland.

I admit I went to the Phoenix Open primarily to keep my husband company but I ended up being quite engaged by the striking contrasts I observed at the tournament. I had an enjoyable day.

Other posts about golf…….

A Prayer for a Golf Tournament

Tight Security

The Hong Kong Open