Benson/Family time Feb 3-6, 2016

Wednesday, February 3

Another visit to LA Fitness this morning.  No donut follow-up this time - we do have SOME self control! Over to I-10, headed south for Tucson.  We are going to stop and surprise Chap & Mam at their gem show booth.

Exit 22^nd street for the big tent that says 22^nd Sreet Show.  We find their booth and exchange hugs and meet their friend Chad.   Talk with Chap a bit, but they are busy so we go look around.

Lots of dinosaur fossils this year, as well as opals, onyx items, crystals, beads, etc.  

We run into Tom and Sue who are here with some neighbors!  We shop some and talk some till we've seen all the vendors at this site, then we leave for Tom & Sue's where we'll meet up with them later.

We've volunteered to make dinner, so stop for groceries.   We make salmon (rather tasteless), baked yams, green beans and ice cream for dinner and do some catching up with all when Chap and Mam arrive about 7:00.

Because the forecast is for 20’s tonight, we pull into Tom & Sue’s carport and run an extension cord to our small heater for the night.  Pretty toasty and all seems well.  We are not winterized so have some concern about water lines under the van if the temp stays below freezing for a long time.  Nice evening.

Thursday, February 4

27 degrees or so early AM but warms to 36 by 9:30.  Tom is going to play golf today, but Greg, Sue and I head for the gem show again.  We are meeting Anita and Kevin who flew in late last night.

We meet Anita and Kevin,  and all go to another venue – the Kino Show.  There are over 40 different venues of varying size in Tucson.  Kino is huge, so we spend a couple of hours wandering around there.  Few purchases of jewely, beads, and small dishes with fossils.  Nothing major.

Greg, Sue & I head back to Benson and find Tom there with friend and neighbor Pat Kelly.  Pat is sporting a bruised eye/cheek where a golf ball hit a rock and then hit his face, but he takes us over to his place to show us a brook trout that he has carved – beautiful.  His first effort at carving!  He is quite artistic and shows us other drawings and paintings he has done, mainly of wildlife and grandchildren!

Pat Kelly

Tom made a huge pot of chili today, so we dig in, as do Anita and Kevin and Chap & Mam when they arrive.   Delicious!

Tom seems to be doing well, spirits high.  He is now on 2 injections every other week which have some unpleasant side effects for a bit, but seems optimistic and doesn’t complain. He will have a bone scan next Monday which will yield important info. Sue seems to be doing well also.

We chat and catch up.   Chap and Mam are on their feet most of the day, so go to bed early and all follow suit. 

Friday, February 5

This morning we decide to go rockhounding near Safford, AZ in the Black Hills area. Kevin and Anita have been getting into this, as Greg and I and Sue have dabbled a bit as well.   We try a closer location first, but  the road is impassible - there IS a limit of what you can do with a rental car:) Safford is an hour plus ride through hilly desert.  The elevation here is around 3000’ and few of the plants have begun any greening – except mesquite which is pretty green. 

..

Tom again opts for playing golf with a group of guys who play on Fridays.  His bones are kind of fragile right now, so he sticks to nice even terrain.

We spend hours wondering around looking for fire agate and any other interesting rocks.  We find lots of druzzy quartz, chalcedony and who knows what else.  Fun “treasure hunt”. 

Back to Tom & Sue’s, we clean up a bit and try a local Mexican place Tom & Sue like for dinner, but it is closed, so we opt for another spot – Pablo's – where the guys go for ribs and the girls green chili burgers.  Not speedy, but good.  Benson isn't very large so choices are limited.  But they have a Walmart, an ice cream shop, a rock shop and many small businesses.

Chap and Mam have dinner meetings tonight so we hit the hay before they are even home!  Greg is getting over a bit of a head cold and now Beth is getting it.

Saturday, February 6

The Trek has not moved for a few days.  We hook up to power during the day and the heater at night, which seems to be working ok.  It was 32 degrees at 7:20, so probably a few degrees lower in early AM.

Greg turns the engine on briefly and notices that it is not charging,  neither the house battery nor the engine battery.  Drat!  He thinks it is the alternator, so we call Lawly’s down in Sierra Vista and they say they can look at it if we get it there by noon. 

We are all headed out to Whitewater Draw to see the cranes, but go via Sierra Vista so we can drop off the Trek. 

Tom heading toward Whitewater Draw

  Greg opts to stay with it, hoping it will be a quick fix and we can meet up again, but it is a several hour job, so we will end up meeting him later back in Benson.

Anita, Kevin, Tom and Sue and I head for Whitewater Draw and are amazed at the cranes.  They are returning here to roost after having fed all morning and they return in groups of 5 – 25.  At first they look like a dark smudge in the sky and then materialize into groups of cranes which gracefully turn and alight.  All while keeping up a steady vocalization.   This continues for over an hour.

Tom, Sue, Anita, Kevin

Quite a few ducks in the area today also, pintails and northern shovelers, cinnamon teals, and more.

 

Spoonbill

Pintails

We next drove to a wash area to look for more interesting rocks and found some – Kevin especially found a pretty chunk of pink & white quartz with gold flakes throughout!

Stopped at Safeway for a few items and ran into Greg, then back to Tom & Sue’s, where Tom fixed roast pork and sauerkraut for a great dinner we all enjoyed. Chap traded some stones for wine, so we have been enjoying great wines this week!  We'll be spoiled!