Lunch on the patio

It was a sunny day so we decided to have lunch on the "patio" We whipped up a little Caesar salad and chicken Marsala with orzo and french bread.

A nice warm day with a little wind and good company..... L to R Jack, Gail, Janet, Del and Sharleen. Life is tough down here but someone has to do it.

A 50 year reunion

On Wednesday Jack, Gail, Sharleen and I drove to Peoria to visit three high school teachers that put up with us some 50 years ago. What a great treat after all these years.

Bill, Gail, Jack. Lou, Lowell and me. Teachers and students from Pine Island.

What a super way to spend a afternoon. Lowell and Lou provided a great lunch and we took time to "catch up" after all these years. HIOAG!!!!!!
Go Panthers!!! Thank you for the day!

Another hike

Tuesday morning nine of us headed to the Casa Grande mountains to do a little more hiking.

We headed up the trail for a 4 mile hike in the hills

It early in the hike so all is well and Del is being Del

Vic leads the way up the hill

We made it to the top! Do we look tired?

Del and Bob take in the scenery.

We're headed back to the trucks. Note all the cactus along the trail. I found out the hard way that they can jump. One of them jumped out and grabbed my hand! After Vic used his needle nose pliers to pull the needles from my hand ( not much fun there) I am now aware that cactus needles are nothing to take lightly. All in all a great hike!

A walk in the desert

The weather has turned cold as predicted but that didn't stop Sharleen and I from taking a three mile desert hike. Someone in Minnesota (Ella) wanted some cactus pictures so we set out to find some. Finding cactus in the desert is sort of like finding eggs in a hen house. We had no trouble spotting the little (or big) rascals.

This old Saguaro cactus was standing alone so we thought he needed company.

I stood by the old guy just to give Ella a feeling for how big he is.

He's been around a long time as you can see by the bottom area which has been ravaged by birds and the weather.

On the way home we found this barrel cactus along the road to the park.

Back at the park we even found some cactus at the office. So.... yes Ella, There are cactus in Casa Grande. Hope you liked the pictures.

Game day

Amid all the hustle and bustle we pause on Thursday at exactly 1:00pm to observe game day.

There's shuffle board, bean bag horseshoes, Boccie ball and a couple of others for which I don't have a name.
All are fun and I find that if you close your eyes it goes better.

Here Bob shows off his best Boccie Ball form. Note the angle of the legs and arm position. That combined with the torsion of the body and the John Deere hat gives him a great advantage.

Not to be outdone, Sharleen demonstrates her classic Boccie Ball form. Note the crossed feet and classic left hand position.
definitely world class!

After some strenuous effort it's time for a rest.
Gail, Vic,Claudine and Janet relax before the next round of Boccie Ball.. It's a tough life down here!