Vacation - The Final Two Weeks!

When Jack and I first booked our Ireland and Scotland trip, we thought while we were all the way across the sea, we might as well see where else we might like to visit, so we started to look around to see what countries were nearby that we would like to visit.  While searching I discovered that Princess Cruises was offering a cruise out of Copenhagen to Boston four days after our tour ended in Scotland.  That seemed perfect for us!  We could visit Copenhagen on our own, then take the cruise with its various stops and avoid that long flight back to the US, leaving only a five hour flight home!  Perfect!

So, after Scotland, we flew to Copenhagen that evening, arriving late at night and went straight to bed!  The following morning we went for a walk to get feel for the city and check out the hop-on-hop-off buses.  Copenhagen was cold and windy (all four days!) but at least it wasn't raining.  Our hotel was right in the heart of the city as we had hoped, so that worked out really well.  We were right around the corner from Tivoli Gardens and took a peek at it, but as pretty as it is (we could see into it from the restaurant "Cocks & Cows" we are at) it is mostly rides, so decided not to actually buy the entrance tickets and enter.  There were also some fun shops nearby too, like a huge, incredible Lego one with giant displays that were more than 7' tall!  The one thing that stood out more than anything else, though was bikes!  Tons of them everywhere, people riding them (all ages!) and parked.  You had to watch them more than the cars!  

 

Talking with a travel assist person, we decided that the two day hop-on-hop-off bus ticket was the best option for us to see all the areas we were interested in, so off we went!  

First stop, Christiania, also known as Freetown. An intentional community and commune of about 900 residents and is about 19 acres.  with its self-built houses, workshops and concert stages.  To say it's unique is an understatement.  You certainly could see their artist's in all the wonderful murals painted on their buildings.  I bet at night when the lights are on and the music is playing it is truly magical. 

 

From there we continued on to the canals where the beautiful colors of Nyhavn really show!  The red building is where Hans Christian Anderson lived.  The harbor was crowded, but so beautiful, it's no wonder everyone wanted to be there!  A little further on was the "big" attraction - the Little Mermaid.  She really is small, the crowd around her is much bigger, lol

 

All in all we were glad we only planned on a short visit to Copenhagen.  After experiencing two weeks with such fun, gregarious, happy Irish and Scotsmen, it was an abrupt comedown to be around such cool, staid Danes.  A smile was rare, let alone a laugh.  The food was also not what we expected either.  There seemed to be trash everywhere, but that could have been because of the wind, which was constant.  

Then, we were off to relax for two weeks aboard our Princess Cruise!

We had one day at sea, then our first stop was at Shetland Islands, Scotland.  This was a cute little island day stop at Lerwick that we were warmly welcomed by some "vikings" and friendly shop keepers.  Some of the passengers went off to see where Shetland horses were bred, but we just stayed in town and wandered around and enjoyed the locals.  

 

The next time we got off was in Liverpool England.  That was a fun visit, very "Beatles"!  But...they also had the most incredible cathedral ever!  Everyone kept telling us that "it's not that far, you can walk to it", so we did...up hill, mostly on cobblestones, 3 miles up, then 3 miles back down again!  I thought Jack would kill me (after my tenth time of "we're almost there").  He did admit that (after he could breathe) it was worth it.  It's the largest cathedral in the UK.  It took 74 years to build.  Beautiful.  There were other lovely sights as well, like their Chinatown Arch, and the long, long "love locks" at the harbor, murals, etc. 

 

After several days at sea, with fun entertainment aboard, we stopped at Sydney Nova Scotia.  The first thing you see is a giant fiddle!  They are into music here and we were told to come back in February for annual music festival!  Once again, we enjoyed walking around their quaint town, seeing historic houses, churches with cemeteries, and ran into a fellow blacksmither who makes incredible pieces, some of which we've never seen before, like a larger than life safety pin!  Jack had a great time chatting with him.  

Our last day stop was in Halifax Nova Scotia, and our 30th Wedding Anniversary!  We celebrated with a great lobster lunch out on the edge of the harbor, just lovely.  We'd been to Halifax several years ago in our motorhome, but it was pouring down rain, and all I wanted to do was leave!  This time it was lovely, so we actually got to enjoy seeing the town.  Found the Old Burying Ground, ran into "Winston Churchill",  saw the Province House, discovered that Samual Cunard was from here and built his first cruise ship here, learned about signal masts and saw some beautiful churches.  

Our cruise was relaxing, just what we needed after two and half weeks of steady go, go, go.  This was the same exact ship we had been on when we went to Tahiti two years ago, so we were familiar with it and comfortable getting around.  That said, we found that things had slipped a bit.  Food and entertainment were not quite as high quality as they were two years ago.  Our room was great, service, super, but not as personal (like nothing said or done about our anniversary), just the things that probably they are trying to cut costs down on.  The Princess entertainers were very good, it was the ones they brought on board, that were not up to standard.  The food that they prepared was okey, they just didn't have the higher choices, like steak, escargot, or lobster etc that they used to offer.  

It was a GREAT vacation, one filled with so many wonderful sights, adventures, experiences, laughter, and fun that we will treasure forever.  Will we do this again?  Probably not, as we age, that type of travel gets harder and harder, and we find that the packing and unpacking, the hassle of flying etc. more than we want to burden ourselves with.  We really love our motorhome and the convenience of having everything we need with us as we travel.  We are already planning next year's road trip!

I took a ton of pictures, so if you're curious, help yourself and check them out on my Flickr account (it's just under my name)

Hugs,  Marie

Vacation - Part Two!

The ferry over to Scotland was lovely, and took no time at all.   Then we had a nice drive along the coast with our first stop at Glasgow!  Such a beautiful city, full of incredible architecture, great murals, cute little Scotie dogs and statues (they have a "thing" about putting traffic cones on top of them!).  As a photographer, I was in my glory!  We had two days in Glasgow and it included a visit to the Clydeside Whisky Distillery where we saw how they made their whisky that included a tasting, yum!  

The highlight of the stay was that night when we went to Stirling Castle for dinner though.  We were greeted by Kevin, with his bagpipes.  He told us about the history of the castle, then playing his bagpipes, led us down to dinner passing a cool church with its graveyard.  Once there, he "presented" the haggis (in all it's glory),  then proceeded to entertain us with a Robert Burn's poem and even pull Jack into it as he "demonstrated" (with a flourish) parts of the poem!  Afterwards, Kevin continued to play his bagpipes while we finished our meal then lead us out to our bus for pictures afterwards.  What a fun evening!

The following morning we took a boat ride on beautiful Loch Lomand  and Loch Ness (where we searched for Nessie...but no luck) and then on to a short visit to Fort William and then on to the Isle of Skye.  The next day we were off to the beautiful Highlands!  We were lucky to see some Highlands cows with their shaggy hair, then on the road again to see Eilean Donan Castle and the beautiful scenery of the Highlands.  

The following morning was a visit to Blair Castle.  This was really quite something, a very large, white castle with every room full of beautiful furniture, clothing, arms, paintings, etc dating back centuries.  We were there for hours and evidently that wasn't enough as Jack was missing at boarding time and I had to go find him!  

We then traveled on to St Andrews and saw the "world famous" golf course, then Jack and I wandered over to the ruins of the old Cathedral which was absolutely fascinating, as well as the town itself.  We ended up having lunch at a cute little cafe called "Northpoint" that their claim to fame is that it is where Kate met Prince William when they were both in college (just across the way).  

We ended our day in Edinburgh and spent all the next day there.  We toured the Edinburgh Castle, and learned it's still an operating castle with on site military housing, a chapel and even a dog graveyard.  We then took a tour to see Rosslyn Chapel, the one mentioned in the book and movie "The DeVinci Code".  It was so much larger than I pictured it to be!  We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but trust me, it was beautiful.  

We spent the whole of the day exploring Edinburgh, and there was so much to see! Memorials like Sir Walter Scott and Robert Frost; statues like David Hume (another traffic cone "thing") and Grayfriar's Bobby (about a loyal dog!), a phenomenal National Museum, fantastic architecture (including their churches!) and a fun restaurant called Frankenstein's that had all the "required sights and sounds" including the movie going on and even the buildings that inspired "Hogwarts" for the Harry Potter books! 

That evening was the 'grand finale' of our trip - the Military Tattoo!  It was one of the reasons we booked this trip.  We had checked it out and looked forward to it, so had high expectations...well, it exceeded them and beyond!  If you have never been to one, it's a little tough to explain...but I'll try.  First, imagine a parade when the military bands march, playing and doing their routines.  Now, add military bands from various countries coming in one after another, playing their country's anthems and doing their drills.  Okey,  now, once they have all gone through that, marched in from the castle walls, and out the other side, they come back again and play music and have dancers perform "fun" music from their country - ie:  USA:  sports cheerleading,  jazz, country western, and rock & roll.  Each country was different - Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, etc.  Now, add on the castle wall images with story-telling, smoke, various colored lights, lit torches on the surrounding walls and you've got quite a show!  The grand ending was all the bands together led by the Royal Castle Band Leader and then they all marched out and down the street!  Wow, just Wow.  

What a way to end our two week bus tour.  We had a group dinner, of course, and it was hard to say goodbye.  15 days together with amazing people and amazing experiences one just doesn't easily let go nor forgets.  Most had very early flights, we were lucky, ours to Denmark was late in the day, so for once we could sleep in.

Our next adventure was on our own...off to Denmark!

Marie

Vacation!

Wow, looking back, I see why we needed one!  It's been way to long since we've been anywhere!   I don't know how that happened, but as they say, "time flies", and I guess it sure did!  Thank goodness my travel agent/friend called us and put the bug in our ear and got us up and moving!  So much so, that our "vacation" turned into a 4 country, 32 day adventure that included flights, guided bus group, days on our own and a cruise!  So...I'm going to break this into separate blogs, otherwise it would be way to long and you will all fall asleep!

So, our first country, IRELAND!  

Both Jack and I had family that came to the US from Ireland, so this is one country we were both looking forward to.  I've always had a special interest in seeing the area that the "Troubles" took place and was looking forward to that as well.  We had never done a group bus tour before, but being in the travel business myself for years, I had worked with Trafalgar and knew it was one of the very best, so I felt assured we would be in good hands.  

We landed in Dublin after a 3 connecting, long flights and were greeted with warm smiles and taken right to our wonderful hotel to rest!  The next morning we met the rest of the group, who turned out to be 42 of the nicest people you would want to tour with!  All a bit younger than us, but "mature", all, it turned out, always "on time", from as far away as South Africa and New Zealand, to Canada and various parts of the US and even one couple that lives about 5 miles from where we used to in California!  We rotated seats on the bus each day and sat with different ones each morning at breakfast which allowed us to get to know each other quickly.  It all made for a very fun group.  Our guide and driver could not have been better!

There were so very many great places, stops and visits we were taken to - but here are some of the "highlights":

A visit to the Irish National Stud and Gardens in Kildare;  House of Waterford Crystal; Blarney Castle; Celtic Steps - which was a wonderful entertaining evening; a Jaunting Car Ride - which was a horse drawn car(t) ride through the Killarney National Park; Ring of Kerry Scenic Drive; Be My Guest Dinner - An incredible evening at the home of sheep farmer (Michael) who shared with us what it was like and then gave us a fabulous catered dinner with live Irish music and stories. (I didn't want to leave!); Adare - where they are known for their thatched roof houses; Derry and the Troubles area where we had an incredible step aboard guide who was 11 or 12 when it started and lived in the gated area.  The gates were locked in at 9pm and unlocked in the morning for school.  She still lives there and they are still being locked.  Her knowledge was incredible with such insight and kindness.  We stopped and signed the peace walls as well.   From there we traveled on to the Giant's Causeway then onto Belfast and a visit to the best Titanic Museum I've been to (seen 2 others) that was almost like a Disney visit and Smithsonian rolled into one; That was all in week one!

Of course in between all this was lots of scenery with castles, beautiful churches,waterfalls, green rolling hills, great food, beer and whiskey tasting and of course wonderful pubs!  

From Ireland, we took a ferry over to SCOTLAND!

Of course I took many more picture that if you want... are on my Flickr account,

Marie

Dia De Los Muertos in Tubac!

When on RV Club decided to put together a rally to Tubac AZ for their annual Dia De Los Muertos festival, we were all in!  My niece had told us all about how that wonderful little artist town really goes all out with decorations, parades, altars, face painting, music, etc.  After our last visit here during the Christmas holidays, we knew we would be in for a great time...and we weren't disappointed.  

 We ended up with 10 rigs and 22 wonderful people.   We came to the same campground as we had previously, and were greeted like old friends, which is always nice.  De Anza RV Resort is such a nice, clean, well maintained place, with a great meeting room that is so wonderful to have our pot lucks in, that it's hard to go anywhere else!  The weather is pretty much the same as in Surprise, so it stayed in the mid-80's for us the whole time, which for us, is just lovely!  

Our first night in, we all met at our favorite restaurant, The Longhorn for dinner and got to know "who's who".  We had a few new couples with us this year, which is always fun.  

The next day was a casual day and many of us just wandered into the town of Tubac before the crowds descended on the town for the festivities the next day.  Tubac is such an artist's town with tons of galleries, a lovely museum and one of a kind stores that one could shop all day and still not see everything.  Several of us did that for a few hours then decided to go to lunch at another one of our favorite haunts, at a Mexican restaurant that we all call "the chicken place".  It's actually named Wisdom's Cafe, but it has a very large statue of a funny looking chicken out front...hence the nickname...Oddly enough, the only chicken on the menu is a grilled chicken sandwich, so we are not sure why they have that chicken out front!  ...but it does make it easy to find!  Further down the road is another great place (with a very large chili sign!) that has every kind of spice (hot and otherwise) you could possibly want...and of course I found some "treasures" I couldn't live without!  

That night was our pot luck dinner here at the campground, and of course there was tons of wonderful food and fun!  Chris, our Wagon Master really outdid herself - both in the decorations (wow!) and in coming up with some fun games for us to play and laugh at ourselves over.  

Information regarding the festivities for De Los Muertos said that "all traffic would be stopped by 9:30am" to allow for the parade, and gave directions to where people could park, etc. so we set off around 9am to be sure we got a spot and could scout out where everything was being set up.  As it all turned out...not all that was said & planned was carried out.  But in the end, it was ok.  The parade was delightful, colorful, full of music, great costumes, lively children and wonderful enthusiasm.  Over at the vendor area people were enjoying themselves, and the dance groups did a great job and the live music and DJ were wonderful to listen to as well.  Lots of people were getting their faces painted...I thought about it, but in the end, didn't after all.  I so enjoyed watching the little children the most, I must admit.  By mid day, the activities were so far behind from when they had said they were going to be doing them, and the heat and the flies were getting to us, we were ready to call it in and go back to the campground and get ready for our happy hour.

 At the group's Happy Hour it was fun to hear what everyone had done and seen that day (as we hadn't really run in to each other!) and see who did have their faces painted!  And gotten all dressed up for the occasion to!  More games were played, along with more laughter by one and all...

 Our last day together was a breakfast pot luck...yes, we all like to eat together!  We are all such great cooks, I must say.  Some headed out to various parts in the area, and some decided to head on back home, while Jack and I just relaxed here.  I've had some very stressful weeks, and will continue to do so when I return, that these few days "off" are my mini vacation, so I'm taking full advantage of every moment of it while I can...peace, quiet, fresh air and no stress!  

This was truly a delightful short little trip, that in reality, reminded me how much Jack and I need to do more of.  Sure glad we have this wonderful RV Club of ours that reminds us and tugs at us to get out and do this...as long as we let ourselves...

Until the next time...Marie 

A Quick Getaway in Vegas!

 It was time for a little getaway break.  We didn't feel like flying anywhere, nor going anywhere far...so, "where?"  Sedona?  Palm Springs?  No, we were there last year or so...Utah?  No...How about Las Vegas?  We hadn't been there for any length of time in years, why not go and see their museums, maybe catch a show, find a place with a really great pool and just relax?  Sounded good.  Contacted my niece and nephew in CA and asked them if they wanted to join us, they said "yes!"  So, off we went!

Our Time Share had a nice place outside the strip with a two-bedroom suite that fit the bill.  Huge pool with several hot tubs, and big slides and a restaurant on site along with other amenities.  Perfect.  We all settled in and decided what to do.  

First day out, we hit the 2nd hand stores, Fremont Street, Fat Sals for lunch and the Mob Museum!  The Mob Museum was on my nephew's "bucket list" so that was his first choice stop.  All of us love 2nd hand stores!  We all scored there.  The guys are the same size and have the same taste in Hawaiian shirts, so they tackled those racks between the two of them, lol.   

 

 My cousin David and his wife live in LV and we caught up with them the next night and all of us went out to a nice dinner at Silverado at Southpoint.  David shared great stories of his years of playing cards both in Reno and in Vegas and his wife being a dealer for years here as well.  

The following day we had a member's meeting while my niece and nephew continued to browse the 2nd hand stores.  They ended up having dinner at a fun German Restaurant while we had a member's dinner and enjoyed meeting a great couple from Colorado.  

The next day we ticked off one from my bucket list, the Arte Museum.  It exceeded my expectations!  They said to allow 60-90 minutes, we were there a little over 2 hours and loved every moment.  It's very hard to describe, like walking into art, actually being a part of it; experiencing it with all your senses.  Absolutely worth every penny.  

Afterwards we went to Bubba Gumps for dinner.  We hadn't been to one since Hawaii many years ago!  It was so nice to find again, and just a delicious as we remembered.   

The following night, our last, we checked off the last item on my "list" and that was to finally see the Neon Bone Yard.  We almost didn't get to as the weather was "iffy" and we had to wait awhile to make sure the lightening was going to stay away.  Luck was on our side and it did, so we were finally let in.  It was much smaller than I thought it would be (seems they break it up into different sections and you pay for each section) but never the less, it was still a delight to see so many signs from the past.  Having first gone to Vegas when I was 15 (that's another story), I remembered so many of them from it's "hay days".  Most of them were lit up, which was nice too.  They had so many just laying there, some just on top of each other, which is a shame.  Jack and I remembered the incredible Sign Museum in Cincinnati OH that did such an incredible job of displaying all their old signs.  LV could learn a thing or two from them!  

 

Our final time there we just enjoyed the pool...ahhh...watching all the little ones going down those sides was actually more fun than doing it ourselves!  Shrieks and giggles were such a delight to behold...life is good...

 

As usual I took way more pictures, which if you wish you can find on my flickr account,

...settling back in Surprise,  Marie 

 

 

 

Two Weeks in Washington...

 This was a "combination trip".  No RV this time, as Jack decided to stay home and work on some projects, while I had some of my own to attend to in Washington.  

For years I've been involved with our community theater here, enjoying the lip-syncing and dancing in various numbers.  For the past couple of years I stepped back a little as I was also involved in our HOA Board, with the last year being the President.  My term was up and I decided not to run again.  At the same time, the Theater's Diretor's also decided not to produce the next show...so, being at "loose ends" I decided to volunteer!  My friend Sandi and I have been talking about doing it together for years and she kept telling me that we weren't getting any younger, so we decided now was "the time!"  It seemed the membership agreed, and the "deed was done" as they say.

 With that decided, we quickly put a team together of "experts" (costumes, choreographers, music editors, comic mentor, etc) and set up a place and date to meet.  Since only Sandi and I were not in Washington during the summer, it was easier for us to go there, than the other six to come here.  One of our group, CiCi, graciously offered her large home (that slept 7) in Ocean Shores, and we all accepted!  

Since most of my family lives in Washington, I just tagged on another 10 days to my trip to see them afterwards, easy peasy.

 Our "Team Meeting" was super.  Everything it needed to be, and more.  We worked hard, laughed a lot and got to know each other even better than before.  We shared in the cooking or food prep, ate early and by 9am, started working.  We would take a 15 min. breaks, a half hour lunch and stop around 5ish for dinner.  We did this for 3 days.  One night we went until 7:30.  I'm sure the cast has no idea how much work it takes to put on a 2 hour show with 70 people and 33+ songs!  We have over twice as many women as we do men and we've been putting on a show for over 25+ years!  It was my goal not to reuse any song that has done in the past 7 years (which wasn't easy!) and to do our best to keep to our theme this year (Broadway & Musicals), also not easy.  

 

  

That was only the beginning of course, because as "now" the real work has begun!  LOL

After we all left here, I was kindly dropped off at my sister's for the remainder of my trip.   My sister is almost 91, so visiting her and checking up on her is important now more than ever.  I'm always amazed at how sharp she has remained!  Her body is fragile, but she's still the same stubborn, wild ole' gal!  ;-). 

It was my niece's birthday that weekend, so they had planned on celebrating it by going to the horse races!  I hadn't been in years!  There were 6 of us that went.  We sure had a great time!  None of us are much into betting, so we would pool our little $$ together and pick our "winner" and in the end, I think I came out about $10 ahead!  LOL.  The buglers came and played Happy Birthday to my niece, which made her day, and she also came out ahead, the sun shined and we even had great seats, so what more can one ask?

 I'm always treated to lunches and dinners by my wonderful nieces and my niece Shannon's partner Way.  This times was not exception.  The weather was lovely, sunny and in the 80's which is "just right" for me, coming from Arizona which has been in the 100+!  So they took us to places by the water and we sat outside and had FRESH FISH - something I just can't get here!  Yum!!!

 

 I'm now a great-grand aunt!  While I was there, I got to visit the latest member of the family, who is just one month old, miss Bryerose Delia.  We each got to hold her...until she "had enough" of us and wanted mommy back, that is...lol. 

 All in all it was a great visit with a lot accomplished and a lot of fun squeezed in as well.  It's now September and everyone here is praying that the temperatures will start to come down and stay that way, as we are all quite tired of this long, long hot summer we've had this year...

Staying inside in Arizona,

 Marie 

 

Traveling in Your Own Back Yard!

As "adventurers" we tend to seek out places far and wide to visit, but often times forget what we have in our own back yard.  It's easy to do.  I never gave it much thought about it before as my career as an Event Planner made it my job to see and do everything "tourest" in San Diego while I worked there.  Now that I'm no longer working, and now live in Arizona, I have a new "back yard".  

My birthday was yesterday, and so I decided that with the weather being so beautiful right now, it was a good excuse to explore Phoenix a little bit.  We have only been there for business reasons and never have taken the time to see anything fun, so I asked Jack to take me to see the State Capitol and the Japanese Gardens - two of my favorite things to visit when we travel.  So, he made the plans for the day!

First stop, the State Capitol.  Seems, like a lot of places, it got to small, so they built larger "wings" on either side of the original building and then moved in there, making the original building into a museum.  

It's a pretty building, not as fancy as some, but not drab either.  Four stories with a rotunda and topped with a lovely copper dome (AZ is the copper state) and it also has an unusual feature in that the angel on top is also a wind vane!  She's called "Winged Victory" and is actually older than the state of Arizona.  It was purchased in 1898 for $150.00 at the time the Arizona Territorial Capitol was under construction.  She sits on a rotating pedestal and spins when the wind hits her wings.  She's 17' tall, so it's easy to see her.  It's actually pretty cool to watch.  

 Inside they had several displays.  The ones I enjoyed the most were on the WWII Japanese American Interment Camps (I have visited the one in California at Manzanar).  I didn't realize we had two in Arizona.  One in Butte Camp - Camp Rivers and one at Poston in Yuma.  

The other display was on the Merci Train.  It was a great display of gifts from France & Italy to Americans, in response to the trains that we sent to them full of food and other items during the aftermath of WWII.  It was so interesting to read the notes and see the sweet items that people parted with from their heart in hopes that they would be shared with the people of America.  Each item was precious and given with love.  I'm sure the same was sent the other way, as we were in a great depression and any food we gave was food off of their table, out of their own pantry, knowing that they too were starving just like us here.  They too had lost husbands, fathers, sons and brothers - all were sharing the same loss, the same tears.  It was a very heartwarming display.

 There were other displays of art, and one large one of a 6.8' by 10.25' LEGO Arizona State Flag made from 113,998 blocks, including custom colors shipped from Denmark just for this flag!  ;-). 

 

Outside the Capitol is the Governmental Mall where a number of various statues and memorials are.  It's quite impressive, actually.  I only stopped at a couple as we were anxious to move on to the Japanese Gardens.  I did pause at the (very large) Navajo Code Talker's statue as I have a fondness for those people.

 After leaving the State Capitol, we went to the Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix.  I'm fond of Japanese gardens and have visited a number of them around the states as I find them not only beautiful, but so peaceful and soothing.  

This was quite a small garden, but the fact that they are in the heart of Phoenix and still thriving, says a lot.  To be able to create an oasis, albeit small, is quite a feat here in this desert city where the temperatures can reach upwards of 110 degrees in the summer months. 

The first thing you see when you enter is a large Kasuga Lantern (which makes for a great photo opportunity).  From this lookout point, it is easy to view the three defining elements of the Japanese gardens: stone, water and plants.  

The Koi Pond is visible from everywhere in the garden and holds 550,000 gallons of water which is filtered in a closed system through their nearby pump house.  It holds hundreds of koi fish and many western mosquito fish. 

They have a Tea House here as well, but it's only open for their monthly chanoyu experiences.  It's tucked in an area they call the Roji style garden that's like a small forest with a meandering stream.

Along the pond are several features - a lush waterfall surrounded by hand-picked boulders brought from Congress AZ.  The largest boulder weighs 25 tons and the water cascades from a height of 14'.   There is also a Beach Region which depicts the classic landscape of pebble beaches found along the island coasts of Japan.  Their beach represents a sand bar jutting out into the sea, with the stones meant to mimic the scales of a koi fish.  

The pond itself has two bridges - a curved bridge called a talko bashi, which resembles a talko Japanese drum and the zig-zag bridge called yatsuhashi, and is a famous motif in Japanese literature, art and garden landscapes.  

Throughout the garden were meandering pathways filled with trees, both flowering and pine, various grasses, statues and pagodas, wonderful birds to listen to and places to just sit and take it all in.  We even watched a mother duck with her babies for a bit.  All very enjoyable and peaceful in this busy city. 

After all that walking, we were hungry!  Jack had pre-picked out our restaurant and headed right for it.  A popular city eatery called The Arrogant Butcher where we promptly enjoyed a birthday drink!  I had something called a Blood Orange Paloma, a very refreshing drink that had Tradicional Tequila Plata, Blood Orange, Fresh Lime, and Fever Tree Grapefruit Soda.  Yum!  Then we settled down to a nice lunch...Jack said his hamburger was "the best ever!" and I enjoyed a club sandwich (which I couldn't finish) They treated me to an apple cobbler which I took home to enjoy.  ;-). 

No RV was needed, but much "adventuring" was enjoyed!  As we are aging, our trips are getting less and less, but that hasn't stopped us from seeking out places to discover and short trips to enjoy.  As the "snow birds" fly out of our resort to their other homes, the amenities here become even more enjoyable as they are less crowded.  We've become true "Desert Rats" as the saying here goes, and that's alright.  

Until our next adventure...Marie

 

...more pictures on my flickr account, if you like...