Parties and entertainment

April was a month of personal good-by parties and dinners.  We finally got to meet fellow hikers’ Dee Dee and Lorraine’s husbands over pizza.  They showed us a new restaurant in Tempe called Spinato's that had excellent pizza.  Then we had a big birthday party for Mona Nussbaum and Phyllis Vandewerker at pool-side with entertainment.  Later that month there was a regular Happy Hour.  We had several lunches with friends on the agenda scoping out a location for next years “Secret Luncheon” for the girls.  And we had dinner with Howard and Linda Hudson (fellow Oregonians and Letterboxers).  They had invited several other local Oregonians and we all had a great time…..even though the meal was served “Oregon Ducks” paper plates.

One of the lunches was a pre-“payment” for taking a couple to the airport (at 4:45 am) and picking them up a week later.  It’s just a thing we all do for each other around here.

Molly and I took a couple days for a mini-vacation to Flagstaff to do some letterboxing.  We found

Letterbox location near Sedona

26 over the three days, and two "webboxes" by AZRoadie in some National Monuments, and one hitchhiker.  We couldn’t find one just out of Sedona and notified the planter (from Missouri).  She wrote back and gave us some defining clues, so on the way back be stopped and looked a little harder.  We found it, but it had been moved and she was glad to find that out.  She included in her clues the pictures we took of the new location.

Hierogyphics Trail Letterbox carves

Besides finding those Letterboxes, I carved and planted three called the "Hierogyphic Trail Series".  I've been wanting to hike the 3 mile R/T trail for some time, and I found some art that would fit right in the the trails' name.

Entertainment this month included a tribute to the Eagles called “Hotel California” at Chandler Art Center.  That’s the first time we had gone there.  The location was fine, but the group was a little wanting.  Next night we went to our old standby, Hale Theater in Gilbert to see Alfred Hitchcock’s play “39 Steps”.  It was hard to believe that four people could make over 150 costume changes in too many scenes to count in an hour and a half.  To say the least, it was GREAT. 

Willie Nelson and John Dever at the Opry

To end the month’s entertainment schedule, we went to the Arizona Opry’s final show.  They usually combine the best of their yearly shows for the final performances.  The next night we went to the new Silver Star Theater (used to be Broadway Palms Theater) to see the comedy “Butch Cassidy and the Sunburnt Kid”.  All of their shows are comedies with a tongue-in-cheek play on a common title.  Our next one is “Pirates of the Scaribbean”.

It's starting to get warm here in Mesa, but we still have a month to go….before we go!

 

Visits, Car Shows, and Parties

Drive-by Car Show, Yuma

Apache Wells Car Show

March was a month of car shows, visiting, and parties.  The month started off with us traveling to Yuma to visit Jim and Linda Newton, whom I worked with at ODFW for many years.  They got several other ODFW retirees together for a great dinner and reminiscing.  While there one of the activities was a drive-by car show.  We got to our prime spot on a corner and watched all the oldies go by, and the classic cars too.  The other car show we attended was right here at Apache Wells.  They have a classic car show every year at the club house parking lot where you can examin the cars up close and personal.

As soon as we got back from that, daughter Jeanette flew in for a six-day visit.  We had traveled around showing her the Arizona sites on previous visits, so this one was hers just to sit around and soak up the sun.  While she was here I went to a showing at the Mesa Arts Center of “Polar Exploration”.  Some of the feats were just amazing like circumnavigating the Artic sea in a catamaran and getting married at the North Pole.

The day she left, a huge weather front was coming and the managers were setting up for our Farewell Party the next day.  To say the least, the canopies were no match for the wind and had to be taken down and put up the next day.  The party, however, was another great success with the new managers.

 

McNasty Brothers and our ladies, Mining Camp Restaurant

A new activity for me this month was being one of the chauffeurs for 55 ladies for their “Secret Luncheon”.  No one knows where it’s going to be except the chauffeurs and the organizers, (one of which was Molly).  This year is was at the Mining Camp Restaurant in Apache Junction that included entertainment by the McNasty Brothers.  Everybody had a great time including us chauffeurs.



Herman at Green Valley, AZ

The other visitation we made this month was a trip down to see Nancy and Herman Ford in Green Valley.  We stayed for a couple nights and made a quick trip down to Tubac.  On the way back we stopped for another night to visit Nada and Dorsey Hensley in Saddlebrook north of Tucson.  Their new dog, Bailey, is much more disciplined than Cody was.  Of course on the way down and back Molly and I did quite a bit of Letterboxing and found 36 boxes putting us at 700 found.

Virgil Moyer's Memorial Fly-by

The only play we went to this month was “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Mesa Art Center.  To say the least, it was amazing.  A memorial for a friend here in the park held at the Arizona Wing Commutative Museum at Falcon Field.  Virgil Moyer was one of the pilots of the B-17, Sentimental Journey.  The tribute was very moving and included a fly-by of the B-17, B-26, and SNJ fighter.

 

Easter Brunch with friends

We finished the month with an Easter Brunch in the late morning and then a desert party in the early evening.  The weather has turned the corner and was just wonderful for the parties.  We have gotten to know many new friends this year and the parties are never ending.

Apache Wells Talent Show; Feb 2013

This month we went to the AZ Opry twice.  Once with friends Howard and Linda to see the Ol' Time Rock N Roll show and then within the week we went to see the Willie Nelson tribute show.  They were both, as usual, just fantastic.  We also went to a couple plays this month at the Hale Theater (in the round).  We saw "The Man With The Pointed Shoes" and "South Pacific".

Molly's Quilt (first one hanging)

Molly's big event this month was the Apache Wells Quilt Show.  She had eight quilts in the show which was a good percentage of the total on display.  One thing is for sure, Apache Wells has some very talented quilters.  The picture shows just one row on display, with one of Molly's as the first hanging quilt.

The big event for me was our Apache Wells Talent Show Feb 21.  We were called the Doo Wops from last year and this year we added a bit more comedy and costumes. Our groups' signature is the high-top tennis shoes we wore last year and this.  This skit was lip-syncing to the songs "The Monster Mash" (I'm "The Monster") and "Guitarzan" (I'm Jane).  In Monster Mash, the other actors are Keith Anderson as Igor, Larry Graves as Dracula, and Al Malcomson as Boris.  During Guitarzan, Kieth was the narrator, Larry was Tarzan, and Al was the Monkey.  Molly took videos of our performance and they follow.  ENJOY!!!

The Monster Mash

Guitarzan

"Jane", to Tarzan on left

The Monster?

Wyatt Earp-Carrie's Visit; Jan 2013

January 2013

My friend Wyatt Earp

We were pretty busy this month with social events.  We went to Prescott to see Wyatt Earp’s “Life on the Frontier” performance again and talked to him about his up-coming performance at Apache Wells.  I offered to combine two introductory CD’s of his into one for his convenience and we made arrangements for him to come to our site so I could copy them.  113 residents at the park attended his performance here and all enjoyed it.  I helped him set-up and gave the introduction.

Les Miserable comedy at Silver Star Playhouse

Events this month also included the plays “Forever Plaid” and “The Hit” at the Hale Theater, “Dream Girls” at the Mesa Art Center, “Les Miserables” (a comedy) at the new Silver Star Playhouse, and the John Denver tribute at the Arizona Opry.  Daughter Carrie and fiancé Mark came for a 4-day visit this month too.  We did the Apache Trail trip stopping at Tortilla Flat, the Olive Mill, and the Arizona Opry.  We hope that was enough of a taste of Arizona that they want to come back.

And I got the 2013 Apache Wells Residential Directory completed and out to the printers.  Everyone has been very complimentary about the new format and style.  It did take awhile to put together, but it should be easier next year.