Fun Visits!

We are "wintering" at Happy Trails RV Resort in Surprise Arizona again this year for about three months.  I say "about", because we haven't quite decided if we are staying an extra month not just quite yet or not...we shall see.

In the mean time, as we sit back and relax, we've done a few (very few, actually) fun visits!

The first was to a wonderful Art Fair in Scottsdale.  The artists there put on a great show, displaying some very creative works.  We had a nice long chat with metal artists Jackie and Charles Nipper who make some really incredible statues and wall art from found pieces and weld them together to make flowers, horse heads, hearts, crosses, just all kinds of wondrous things.

Another fun artist was a lady who gathers together candy wrappers along with clock works and other bits and makes super-fun art works!  I was mesmerized by them!  So clever.  Don't you just love it when people come up with new ideas?  It was such a fun-filled day.

We always take a few days and travel to San Diego to have our annual dental check-ups and Jack's heart doc. appointment, along with the Toyota's checked.  We have dear friends who have a lovely guest house at their home in Escondido that often offer it to us, as they did this time as well.  It's pure luxury, especially after living in our RV all the time!

On the day that Jack took the Toyota in for it's check-up, it was going to be an "all-day affair".  He offered me the option of going with him and sitting in the service waiting area & joining him and his friends for lunch, or staying at the Guest House.  I told him I had a better idea...he could drop me off at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park for the day!  When he was done, just come back and pick me up; me and my camera would have a wonderful time just wandering around.  I still have a couple of friends who work there and if I play my cards right, I just might have a lunch date too!  ;-)  

The day was wonderful!  Being on my own at the Park was just lovely.  No one to please or or show something to, I could just wander willy-nilly wherever my feet just led me to.  No agenda, no time restraints.  Nice.  The weather couldn't have been better.  I did manage to meet up with my friends (I worked for the Zoo for over 20 years) and it was great spending a little time with them.  I even got to see a rare "duel" cheetah run that they decided to try, very cool.  Being in the middle of the week, the Park wasn't very busy, so that was nice for me as well, and made picture taking easy.   We ended our day by having a wonderful dinner with some friends at a nearby restaurant.

The following day, we met up with Jack's blacksmith buddy,  They have expanded the Wheelwright shop so they can make more than just wagon wheels.  They completed a full-on 1800's wagon, now they were finishing up an early buggy.   After a nice lunch, and a big bag of fresh oranges, we said our "good-byes" and headed back to pack up to head back to Arizona.

The rest of our time here has been attending wonderful dinners and spending time with friends.  We both caught colds, mine has lasted longer than Jack's, but I'm letting the sun "cook it out of me" while I read one book after another!  I'm not getting done all the projects I had on my "to do" list, but I'm still enjoying myself, and I guess that's what it's really all about anyway!

...kicking back in Arizona,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

A day at the Zoo!

Just before we left San Diego we had an opportunity to visit the Zoo.  Each time we come here, we always seem to run out of time and never quite get over there.  This was a quick trip into the city for us, and not much visiting was planned, so we were able to schedule a day to run over to see some of my favorite animals and maybe catch up with some of the people I know as well!

You see, the Zoo is my "old stomping grounds"...I worked for the San Diego Zoo for over 20 years and loved it.  The people, the place, the animals...all wonderful!  I don't miss "working", but I do miss "seeing", so when we can, we do like to visit both the Zoo and the Zoo's Safari Park in Escondido, which I also worked at and enjoyed.

This year marks the Zoo's 100th Birthday.  I had so wanted to make the "official" Birthday back in May, but just couldn't quite make it back, but was determined to at least get here sometime this year to see some of the things that were set up for it, and was so happy we did!

Being a holiday week, almost everyone I know, was either on vacation or at a meeting, so I didn't get to see many "human" friends, but Jack and I made our rounds to some of my favorite animals.  Even some of them were off exhibit tho!  ;-(

We also enjoyed seeing the newest addition, the South African Penguins.  The zoo used to have penguins many years ago, but hasn't for a very long time.  It's nice to have them back again.  They are just in a temporary exhibit for now, but once their new exhibit is built, it will really be nice.

Because it's their Birthday year, they have a new show in the Wegeforth Bowl too, called Centennial Celebration Show.  A nice show that had a combination of live animals and videos.  They brought out some new animals (to me), a couple of wolves which was pretty cool.  They also brought out one of the cheetahs and her dog.  The zoo pairs up a number of their mammals with dogs to help them be less frightened of people and places.  It has worked wonderfully for years. 
 

Since we were not trying to see everything, we just took our time and wandered around the wonderful aviaries that the zoo has.  It's so fun to just get lost in them!  You can stroll around and around in them and see and hear so many beautiful birds, then the next thing you know, you've found yourself in among the world of exotic monkeys swinging from branch to branch! 

Before we knew it, it was 4 o'clock and we were ready to call it a day...  One last stop in the gift shop (to pick up just a couple of things) and then a fond farewell for now...


...on the road to Desert Hot Springs,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/