OLD FRIENDS AND NEW ONES

When Lynn and Jim Mann returned from their visit to PA we got together with them a few times. I taught school with Lynn and she lived in a house behind mine in Parksburg. They moved out here to Periora after she retired, but PA keeps drawing them home (children and grandchildren). Lynn has substitute taught out here, but now is fully retired!

Jim and Larry enjoyed playing golf. They got three games in, even though we were staying about an hour away from their house. Using the HOV lane in the morning made the drive pretty fast and easy. Lynn and I shopped or took a hike while they golfed. We then met the guys and enjoyed a nice lunch. We will miss seeing them but plan to see them again when we are in Verde Valley in February.

This is the most amazing shuffle board courts we have ever seen. They shine like glass. Playing on them reminded me of curling for the discs went slowly down the lane with the slightest of push. It really took some getting use to in playing. The up keep of the courts was a full routine - sweeping , washing, waxing.

We didn't play shuffle board to often because we played pickleball each morning at the time the courts were opened. These are some of the pickleball club players here at Vista Point. We had fun playing with them and hope they can keep the club growing, it is their second year.

ARIZONIA STATE FAIR AND PLAY

On Wednesday afternoon, after Larry went to the dentist and had a crown removed and two cavities filled, we drove into Phoenix and went to the State Fair. Admission was a donation of a deodorant for homeless veterans, plus we found parking for $5.00. A good buy!
This is an amazing sand sculpture about Arizona.

The 5 C's are copper, cattle, citrus, cotton, and climate.

We walked around the fair, listen to some entertainment, ate some food and then at 7 o'clock we went to the Coliseum concert series and saw Montgomery Gentry. We had great seats for free (right next to the $20 seats !) They put on a good show.I saw a sign advertising this play outside a high school in Mesa. It is a play I've wanted to see so we went on Friday night. A gentleman offered Larry a coupon for $3 off our tickets so we only paid $5.00 a seat. The play was outstanding. the costumes were beautiful, the scenery superb and the singing was perfect. A Broadway performance couldn't have been better and to think they were only high school students. We have had excellent experiences seeing plays at high schools.

Don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour tonight. Arizona isn't on daylight saving time so we don't have to do anything.

A LITTLE BIT OF CULTURE

The Mesa Art Center offers free out to lunch concerts on Wednesday afternoons. Larry and I drove in to hear the first concert of the season. Keyboardist Ramon Crespo and guitarist Francisco Munoz brought Latin musical influences to classic and original jazz tunes. It was very enjoyable.

We returned to the Mesa Art Center on Sunday for the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration.

We spent a couple hours listening to this jazz trio.

During the trios breaks we were entertained by a local church's worship dancers. They were excellent.

They day ended with these mariachi players. We enjoyed their playing but not their singing. They defiantly had a following and were the highlight of the event. Being able to understand Spanish would have helped a lot in our enjoyment of them.

A mile up the road was a Native American Pow Wow. We stopped in looked around at all the vendors and watched some of the dancing. After I took this picture I was told I had to get permission to take pictures. They weren't very friendly. We didn't stay very long.

In honor of this month I put this political puzzle together. Don't forget to vote tomorrow.

NOSE SURGERY

I had a 9:30 appointment at the Mayo Clinic on October 13 to remove the basal cell carcinoma on my nose. It was Mohs surgery so they do a layer at a time and check it and see if they have all the cancer cells or have to take another layer. I had to have it done twice. Since the hole was larger then they were expecting they couldn't just stitch it close without a little cosmetic surgery. At 3:30 I left the clinic with this pressure bandage on my nose.

After 24 hours I got to take a shower and take the pressure bandage off. I had a slight black eye and the purple at the top of my nose is the ink where she drew the lines for the cosmetic surgery. I had to keep a bandage on it for the next week.

On October 20 I got the stitches out and I don't have to go around with a white bandaged nose any more. My nose sorts of feels funny, kind of tingly and numb. I keep thinking my glasses have fallen down my nose. The scar should heal in the next year. Must keep the suntan lotion (at least 30 spf) on my nose and face, good advice to everyone.

WHAT VIEWS AROUND PAGE,AZ

On Thursday, September 23, we drove to Page along Echo Cliffs. On Friday we drove along the Vermilion Cliffs to Jacob Lake and down route 67 to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Scenery along all of these routes were breath taking . We enjoyed a leisurly drive taking in each view.

At Lees Ferry we crossed this bridge and saw our first glimpse of the Colorado River.

The white bark and the yellow leaves of the Aspen trees dotted the landscape on route 67 and in the Grand Canyon. It reminded me of leaves changing colors in PA.

Right before we entered the gate to the Grand Canyon we saw a herd of buffalo in the meadow. On the way home we saw about 100 deer in this area.

The lodge at the North Rim was beautiful - inside and out. We walked down the steps to the overlook.

Bright Angel trail was about 1/2 mile long and very steep. Some of these people from a bus tour were having problems going down. I'm not sure how they made it back up. But the view was worth the walk.

We drove here, the highest point in the park.

From this point we could see the cliffs and the Marble Canyon we traveled along today.

A 20 mile windy drive brought us to Cape Royal. It is the only point where you can see a little bit of the Colorado River.

This is the wedding site where you can be married.

I think the river is there somewhere.

We had a lovely full moonlight drive back to Page, 155 miles.On Saturday our next adventure took us just a few miles away to Antelope Canyon. It is on Navajo land and we had to pay a $6 entrance fee and then $25 to take the tour. We had a three miles sandy, bumpy ride in the back of these trucks to the Canyon. Lorilee was our guide, she told us her grandmother found these canyons while herding sheep years ago.

A beautiful 1/4 mile walk through the canyon. The only bad part was it was extremely crowded. The canyon had three chambers and gets very narrow.

We were there at 11:00 and the sunlight sent beams of light through the openings. Photographers were there "chasing the light".

Our next stop was at the Glen Canyon Dam. We saw a very interesting film on how and why it was built in 1959. There were no roads here before that and much of the canyon was never explored before they were flooded, so many artifacts may have been lost forever. The city of Page was built for the workers building the dam.

The Glenn Canyon bridge. It had to be built before the dam so workers could go from one side to the other without a 200 mile drive.

A view of Wahweap campground along Lake Powell. It is on National Park land. We didn't stay here but at Page/Lake Powell campground.

We took a 1 1/2 mile hike up a steep sandy hill to see Horse Shoe Bend. The Colorado River goes around this sandstone. I laid on a cliff and looked down on it. Larry was a little nervous about what I was doing. Another amazing sight!

The trail we walked down and then back. It was like walking on dunes at the beach.