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IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

It's another week in Arizona but unfortunately on the chilly side and was a little disappointing. In fact, it even rained the beginning of this week and I didn't get a chance to even wear any cool clothing. But with the cooler weather, the desert is green and the cacti are nice and plump from all the rain. Of course, it is going to be getting warmer the day we head back. Even with the cooler weather, we've had a great visit with my sister and brother-in-law, and the weather was better than what we would have had back home.

Monday afternoon, Dave and I drove 75 miles south to Casa Grande to visit with his cousin, Del and his wife Bev who are "snow birds" and have been wintering there for over seventeen years. We had a real nice visit with them. We also had lunch with some other friends that also were in Casa Grande for a short stay. Scott worked with Dave and I at the Blazer games (he did stats for the visiting team) and during the car races in the summer. He and his wife, Jan have been touring the U.S. in their motor home for about six months and just happened to be in Casa Grande before they will start back north in a couple of weeks. As usual, we got so busy talking that we forgot to take pictures.

Jeanne and Bob are getting closer and closer to their departure to England. I helped Jeanne sort through a bunch of papers that she needed to organize and helped pack some clothes. They have to compact their lives into just eight crates for their move. A lot of their furniture that they haven't sold is going into storage but it has been really hard to decide what they will need in England and what to leave behind. We've been helping as much as we can - trying to help them decide what they have to leave behind. They're going to be gone for at least five years, so I'm sure they'll be able to replace some of what they have to leave behind. I am taking a few things back home with me and some of their stuff will stay with their kids. We hope we can take a trip in the coming years to visit them while they are England.

We really didn't have much of a plan for this trip - helping my sister and maybe a little sightseeing, that's about it. One thing we hadn't planned on was having an extra passenger on the way home. Since no one wanted to take Bob & Jeannie's Basset Hound, Stanley into their home, we found it in our hearts to bring him back with us. He is eleven years old and is a wonderful dog and everyone that we have told that we are taking him with us has given us their blessings. I hope we know that we are getting into. Stanley has been a "desert dog" all his life so it is going to be a big change for him too.

My diet has been nonexistent while I have been on this trip. If we didn't go out to eat, it seems like we were invited to potlucks. We headed out for Mexican food on Tuesday evening. Hey, where else can you find the best Mexican food but in Arizona!! We always enjoy the cuisine when we come here. We also had to make a trip to the In-N-Out Burger place. They have a very simple menu, No. 1, 2 or 3! And they have really, really good burgers. I wish we had this place in Oregon.

We took advantage of some of the time here to take in a couple of movies. That's almost two more than we usually see in a year! Dave and I went to see "The Hobbit" earlier in the week and then yesterday, we went with Bob & Jeannie and saw "The Life of Pi" in 3-D. That was interesting - we hadn't seen a 3-D movie in 40 years! "Hobbit" was entertaining - we'll probably go to see the sequels when they come out. "Pi" was a book I had read and enjoyed and I was glad to see that the film was exactly like the book.

Today, we have to leave Arizona and will start the 3-day drive back to Oregon with a dog in tow. We will drive as far as Barstow, California the first night, then on to Redding before we get to West Linn on Sunday. We'll spend the night there before we head to the coast on Monday. I am looking forward to getting back home in spite of the fact that I love coming to Arizona.