Day 138 – Monday, November 11, 2013

Julie notes “Lest we forget, we were fortunate enough to be able to watch the Capital Hill Remembrance Day Ceremony from Ottawa, even though we were all the way down here in Phoenix. As always, it was a moving reminder of sacrifices made for our country and for us. To quote my Aunt Janet ‘My thoughts were of all my family members who wore a uniform; my Dad, my brothers, Jack, Jim and Ron, my Uncle Harold, Aunt Olive and cousins galore. My thanks to all of them! And my hopes are that no family member ever has to put on a uniform again.’

We are making ourselves right at home at Bill and Mary Ann’s place. Julie notes “Mi casa et su casa! Looks like we belong here doesn’t it?”

We found Bill’s liquor cabinet. Julie notes “Brad’s early days in juvie came in handy. Took him a little longer but he was able to finally pick that lock. Party at our NEW house! BYOB please. (So we can replenish Bill’s cabinet before he finds out!)

We found their king size bed. All glorious. A real TV, couch and recliners, bed, kitchen… so nice to just relax and enjoy the environment. Julie notes “Luckily Lola (Kelly M.) knocked before entering. You know how Brad gets after a bottle of Captain Morgan. (Yes he falls asleep and snores like a drunken pirate. Didn’t want to expose Lola and her new camera to that!) There are 2 more beds to try out as well. Bill and Mary Ann may want to just give us this house after our wild week here as opposed to the other option of burning the contents and starting fresh. We’ll see what they decide.”

We all met around 8:00 AM and Dan and Maureen toured us through the development seeing some of the trails, the homes, the club house, and the golf course. Julie notes “Nice day for some ‘Arizona Dreaming’ on such a sunny day.”

The group on our walk. Julie notes “Hmmm one of these things is not like the other. I am thinking maybe I shouldn’t have worn my platform walking shoes.”

The streets were lined with the American flag in honour of Veteran’s Day.

The pool at the clubhouse.

Look closely for Brenda. She is trying to get her moment of glory on the blog but Julie and Lola (Kelly M.) are hogging the limelight.

Dan, Maureen, Lola, (Kelly M.) and Brenda all had a tee time for 18 holes of golf. Julie and I toured the area and made a few necessary arrangements. We then decided to visit the Queen Creek Olive Mill, Restaurant, Store. We had a great lunch and checked out the store. Julie notes “They had tours of the olive pressing plant, but olive us were pressed for time and wanted to press on to olive our other pressing business. Oil make sure olive us go see it next time. Oilvay!”

We came back to the house and relaxed for a bit before heading over to the 19^th hole to see if we could meet up with our friends when the finished their round of golf. We just missed them somehow but we got to enjoy a drink on the patio overlooking the 18^th hole and Superstition Mountain in the background with clear 30C weather. Ahhh, nice. Julie notes “This is Brad’s wistful way of saying we were stood up. I’m pretty sure I saw ‘our friends’ darting behind bushes, looking askance at us and whispering ‘shush, they’ll hear us!’ But they can’t ditch us that easily. We know where they live. Well at least Brad does. All of these streets look the same to a directionally handicapped person like me. For supper, we had a delicious mix of left overs (including Dan’s tender tenderloins, a double ‘entender’ as I like to say) and ‘grill em up, eat em up Emond pork chops and steak with some of Maureen’s side salads. Another delicious feast.”

…over and out, the muleskinner and his sidekick

Julie notes “Update on Kelly M.’s holiday: Kelly, you continue to have a great time. You golfed quite well on the front nine today, and not too bad on the back nine, despite using left handed clubs and wearing a skort. You have very nice legs by the way if Brenda hasn’t told you that lately. You have a massage booked for tomorrow to get some knots worked on. Be prepared though, it will cost a teeny bit more than your favourite Mexican masseuse, Marianna. You drove your wife in true Montgomery vacation fashion, to the hospital to check out her sore leg. You have been busy learning how to work your new camera. All in all you look relaxed and warm and enjoying your time here.”