Feb 28 WOW, a day at the Nascar races!!

Over the years John has photographed lots of Formula 1 race cars in Europe.  Yesterday was our first opportunity to go to a Nascar race and take photos there.  When Ingried called and said they had extra tickets we jumped at the opportunity to go.

If you live in Phoenix and have an RV of any kind, many people go there two weeks early, park their rig in a parking line, then come back on Monday the week of the race to move it in and pick their space.  Ingried & Jack,their friends (and in-laws) Jerry and Bill, and daughter Nicole, husband Steve, and baby Alisa all have rigs that they brought.  They stayed from Wednesday on at the site and just enjoyed the camping and camaraderie, we showed up Sunday morning. Meghan got to visit and spent the day in the RV while we were at the race.

This year they were lucky and had pit passes for 7 so we all had a chance to go in and see the behind the scenes activities.  Nicole, Ingried and I were really proud of ourselves as we worked our way into the individual pit areas for each crew.  They were all finishing up their last minute preparations, some were eating, and cars were in line for measurements and weight.  It was really cool and we had a good laugh that we got in without any issues.  The others were all jealous until we heard from John.

The Menard team John hung out with

Of course he wanted to take very specific photos and got lost from the group.  We were all supposed to be out of the area by 12:30pm because the race was starting at 1pm.  John managed to get stuck in the pit area because he was late.  I think he did it on purpose.  Getting stuck let him smooze with the race teams, meet a few drivers and get better photos.  He spent a lot of time with the Menard team and watched them finish their preparations.  After the race started he was able to sit on the inside of the track right next to the entrance to the pit area, giving him great individual shots without people in the background.

After about 90 minutes he found a tunnel and was able to get to the seats and join us.  I had rented a pair of special headsets and a small handset that had a TV and a a scorecard on it.  It was pretty cool because you could listen to audio from individual cars or scan them all, and there was a way to watch instant replays.  It's a big Nascar thing I guess because most people seemed to have them.

Winner, Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon was the eventual winner of the race, very cool because he was on a losing streak and hadn't won in 66 races.  It was great to be there to see him break the streak.  And John loved it because he had a chance to chat with him before the race and wished him good luck - must have worked.!  He told the pit manager he expected a win also and he got a good chuckle.

The winning car

After the race we all went back to the rigs and had cocktails and dinner.  We had a campfire to keep us warm and some played a bean bag toss game.  Lots of others were staying the last night to avoid the traffic on the way out.  We left around 9 when most were gone.  Turns out Nascar is pretty fun.  Who knew?

Here's a family photo of our hosts:

Alisa, Brad, Jack, Nicole, Steve, Ingried, Bill and Jerry

Feb 26 - Spring Training, the Body Exhibit, Grand Canyon and more...

Last week was extremely busy.  John managed to get in another day at Spring Training, this time w/the San Diego Padres while I stayed back at the RV and did some work.

On Tuesday I attended my second weaving class.  There really is a whole lot to this set up.  It takes time and precision because if you get the weft threads loaded wrong through the treadles your final product comes out wrong.  I've read you can make corrections, but our instructor is trying to ensure we get our first project right.  I did a better job this night than the other and was the first one to get my project completely loaded.  Next Tuesday we'll load our shuttles so we can begin weaving the warp threads.  Only two classes left so the weaving will take less time than the set up.

We also had company this week.  Daughter Tonia, grandson Gabriel and Tonia's boyfriend Rick showed up and we were able to spend some time with them. First trip was to the Arizona Science Museum to see The Body Exhibit, The Brain.  This is the one with the human bodies and parts on exhibit.  It was really fascinating to see all the musculature, nerves, and other body parts up close.  It really opens your eyes.  They had healthy bodies, pregnant ones, diseased ones etc.  If you've never taken an anatomy class this would be a close second.  You can't help but wonder at the people who volunteered their bodies for this as a means to help the rest of us learn.

That night John and I took off for the Flagstaff (and to the snow) to spend the night.  The Grand Canyon train leaves at 9:30am from Williams, AZ which is 30 minutes away.  Tonia, Gabriel & Rick drove up that morning and met us there for the 2.5 hour train ride.

The train ride was fun, you get to see lots of open space and pretty scenery, and a few cattle and other animals.  Once you arrive at the train station you can see the Grand Canyon from the hotel and shops there, and then you can take buses around to various scenic outlooks.

  It was a cloudy day so the colors in the canyon were all a little muted, but it's still amazing.  If I remember right the Canyon is about 10 miles wide, 277 miles long and 1-2 miles deep.  It really looks like something that happened as a result of an earthquake instead of something that happened over millions of years; the striations in the rocks are amazing and show the various time periods.

We had a good ride back, then a 3 hour drive back to Phoenix.  Overall a long day, but very worthwhile.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip.  John and I would like to go back sometime and either take the mule trip to the bottom, or the hike.  The kids were interested in rafting the Colorado through the Canyon; that might be fun too. 


On their last day we ended up wandering around some shops and restaurants by the stadium.  The plan was to have dinner, but we found a great outdoor spot and had cocktails and appetizers.  After that John and I decided to go the movies while they headed back to the hotel.

It was really great to see them, and we appreciate them making the effort to come visit us in Phoenix.  They head home today and we'll go back to our "normal" days.  We are joining Ingried & Jack tomorrow at Nascar which is something new for us.  Should be a lot of fun if the rain will hold off.   

One bit of good news - my last day at IBM has been determined - it will be March 28th.  There were some head count reductions and I had raised my hand - better me than someone who needs the job and wants to work longer.  Because it's a formal program I'll receive a buy-out and then transition to retirement.  All in all it works out great for me and for IBM.  Until then I'll be working part days and handling small special projects that my team needs done.  I'm happy to do that since IBM has been so good to me over the years and then again now when I'm leaving.  It'll be sad to leave everyone, but I'll see my closest friends again I'm sure.

Feb 21 - So how many ball fields does each team need during Spring Training?

Well, this was a big surprise to me.  Phoenix has more ball fields and sports complexes than anywhere I've ever been.  Everywhere you go you see another stadium, outdoor lights etc.  They're in Scottsdale, Glendale, Peoria, Goodyear and more.

Each team has at least 6-8 different training fields for their team.  One for infielders, one for outfielders, one for pitchers and then the same fields for their AAA team.  And that doesn't count the full-size practice field for when they actually play a game with another team.  It's amazing.  Seems like a huge waste of space to me - a little bit better scheduling should allow them to use at least a few less fields.  Oh well, not my problem.

Today was our first day to go to practice, and probably my last.  John and friend Tony Chavez enjoyed it though, I skipped out quickly and went to Costco.  The boys watched the Cincinnati Reds today, tomorrow they're going to see the San Diego Padres - I'm gonna skip out until they go to an actual game, the drills aren't as exciting to me.

John got the picture he wanted of Dusty Baker, the manager of the Reds so I think that classifies this day as a success.

Feb 19 - So what have we been up to ???

I guess we've been busy since I've been so bad about updating our blog.  Keeping it current it a bit harder than I counted on, and then having something interesting to say is also not easy, but here goes.

PHOENIX
Things have been pretty busy here actually.  It's taken a bit to get the lay of the land.  Phoenix is so flat, and there are mountains everywhere it's easy to get turned around.  Thank heavens for the GPS, it's gotten a good workout here.

We're lucky to have good friends both here and in Tucson.  We've met my friend Lynn Dorsett from work here several times, dinner at her place, dinner at ours etc.  

We all went out one day and spent some time at the Arizona Biltmore, one of the oldest hotels in Phoenix.  It's really interesting, Frank Lloyd Wright had a hand in designing it.  Beautiful structure, interior, and the gardens and standalone casitas are great, and a lovely coffee/snack shop where we could sit outside and enjoy the scenery.   

Ingried & Jack Sigovich moved here 6 years ago - Ingried and I worked together at IBM close to 30 years ago.  They live in a great community built by Robson called Pebble Creek in Goodyear.  We've really enjoyed seeing them and learning about the community, they have pools, club houses, restaurants, golf courses, tennis courts, and lots more.  It's for active over 55 year olds, and boy are they active!  They moved down with their 2 neighbors and now they all live next to each other - it's party central!  I could get really used to it except for the summers. 

We also had a fun evening with friends from Reno; Trish & Steve Bersch were in town and on their way to see her brother in Mesa - we had dinner out and caught up on all the doings at home. 

TUCSON

Last weekend we went to Tucson.  There were sights we wanted to see and we wanted to visit some other friends Rose Clark and Michael McGrath.  Rose bought a house in Tucson almost a year ago (her first) and it's great.  While we were there we went to the Pima Air & Space Museum, the Desert Museum, and took a driving tour down to the Kartchner Caverns, Tombstone, and Bisbee.  

The Air Museum is amazing, over 300 planes in various hangers and outside, all with senior docents that flew the planes during the war.  Boy did we hear some great stories.  It's a terrific thing to see if you're down here.  The highlight for us was the hanger where they commemerated the 390th Bomb Group H - they flew the B17 bomber during WWII.  One of the guys there flew 28 missions and was shot down twice over Germany.  He later became a flight instructor.  What a guy!

The caverns were terrific also, but I was glad to see daylight at the end.  It was a great experience, but I know now that I selected well 30 years ago when I didn't become a spelunker.  

The Desert Museum was like no museum I've ever seen.  It's mostly outdoors and you see all the plant life, the animals, reptiles, and birds of the desert.  Definitely a must see!

          

Tombstone is of course the site of the fight at the OK Corral w/Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earpp - it reminded me a lot of Virginia City in NV.  Mostly touristy now, still has original buildings, but you can see a mock street fight, ride a stage coach etc. (we didn't do either).  We did have lunch at a place called "Big Nose Kate's Saloon" - we didn't see Kate, but we did have a guy playing a piano w/all the buttons so he sounded like a one man band - he was very hokey, but good, and the food was good too. 

Bisbee is an old copper mining town.  Great Victorian homes still up and down the hills, and a great Weavers Guild that we ran into accidentally.  One of the ladies there gave me a great tour and encouraged me in becoming a weaver - we'll see.  

We also visited a Robson community just north of Tucson, very nice, beautiful golf course, but I we've both decided if we ever considered moving again we liked Phoenix better. 

Our last day in Tucson we went out to Biosphere2.  Interesting place, worth seeing once for sure.  It's owned today by the Univ. of Arizona and they're still conducting experiments on plant life and environmental effects.  

PHOENIX Again

During the regular days when we're in Phoenix I've been working most mornings - still not retired, but hopefully getting closer.  John plays golf a few days, softball a few days, and we walk Meghan.  We've hung out at the pool a couple of days and finally gave shuffleboard a try.  It was so much easier before someone explained we needed to wax the court - boy the pucks flew then!  It would take a bit of practice to be any good, but it was fun and we'll definitely try it again.  

This weekend John was in a golf tournament - unfortunately it rained pretty hard during the last 3 holes.  It was a tough round overall, but he did manage to win a new putter with one of his raffle tickets.  Yesterday we also went to PeeWee Hockey to watch my nephew Christopher play - he and my sister-in-law are in town.  He lost one/won one and has more to play.  We'll probably see them again but our fingers are crossed that his team wins the tournament. 

Next week John's daughter Tonia, boyfriend Rick and grandson Gabriel will be arriving - we have plans to go see The Body exhibit at the museum, and take the train to the Grand Canyon.  More on how that all goes next week. 

Oh, and I almost forgot - I had my first rug weaving class.  So far so good.  We spent the entire session planning our project (a table runner), the length of yarn needed, measuring it out and getting it moved onto the loom.  Next week the actual weaving should begin.  It was fun and frustrating, especially if you measure out the yarn wrong.  I think next week will be more fun.