A flyover of Magic's current spot in Park City

2015 05 26 PCRV Creek from Gary Dickey on Vimeo.

My View

As I sit here with this beautiful blue sky and eat my lunch- this is my view ----

Arrived in Park City

Ahhhhh! Here we are back in "Our Spot" at the Park City RV Park. AND in 60 degree temps. What could be better?!?!?😊😊😊

Fresh, SWEET Strawberries;-)

What is the BEST thing about being in California this time of year?  The fresh fruits and vegetables one can get at road side stands.  Tonight's dessert - Strawberry Shortcake with the sweetest fresh strawberries and warm homemade shortcake.  What could be better ----

YUM;-)!!!!

Time to Hit The Road

The first 100 degree day in Scottsdale, and we Hit The Road!  A little detour to Park City was in the cards - as we headed to Napa Valley to meet up with three other retired Touche/Deloitte partners and their spouses to 'explore' the Napa Valley;-)  As usual, we took about three days to get there with a delightful stop our first night out.  Diaz Lake County CG proved to be a beautiful stopover - and a perfect way to start our trip.

Our spot at Diaz Lake near Lone Pine, with a sunlit
Mt Whitney just above Magic's windshield.

Our view in the other direction - Diaz Lake.

Our choice of this particular area to stop for the night, was so that we could visit Manzanar National Historic Site (NHS).  This was the site of the internment of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II and was established as a NHS to preserve the stories of the interred and to serve as a reminder to all generations of the fragility of American civil liberties.  Most of the buildings of the Manzanar War Relocation Center were sold as scrap lumber when the Center was closed in 1945. Original sentry posts and the auditorium, along with foundations, concrete slabs and some garden features still exist.  The National Park Service is in the process of restoring two barracks, a mess hall and some rock gardens.  Very disturbing and thought provoking to walk through here and see the stories of many of the interred.

An original sentry post near the entrance to the Manzanar Relocation Camp.

Just one of the hundreds of barracks type buildings that were inhabited from 1942 to 1944.

Several families may have been assigned to this small space - with NO privacy.

Our next few days were much lighter - as we met up with friends in Napa Valley for three days of eating, visiting, eating, wine tours, eating - - - oh yes - and more eating!!  Thanks to Jack and Richard we got first class treatment at Hanzell and Joseph Phelps -  

Some of the Hanzell Vineyards as seen from their winery.

A pre-tasting tour for the 8 of us.

The Hanzell caves.

Time for a taste

At the Joseph Phelps Winery we were joined at our picnic lunch by members of the Phelps family, Gary and Richard had fun flying their quadracopters over the vineyard and then we got a private tour of one of the Phelps family homes.  A really special day for which we were quite grateful.

Boys and their toys!

As mentioned - we spent a lot of time eating.  AND, we can highly recommend all of our stops - REDD, The Mustard Grill and Bouchon (all in Yountville).

While our camping spot was not the very best we have ever stayed in, it was quite adequate (especially since we did not spend any time at the Bus!).  And, we did wake up one morning to that sound of a burner in a balloon.  E ran outside quickly to find - A Balloon -

How perfect to get us ready for Park City!  See you there in a couple of days -

Elizabeth & Gary back in Magic - back on the road;-)

Where Have We Been??

WOW!  Hard to believe we have left you out there wondering what we might be up to?!?!?  Last we left you it was Halloween;-)  This, of course, means we had a very Happy Thanksgiving at Barb's house and several Christmas events at all of our houses - too much fun to contain in one spot.

Then a new year - 2014!  Can you believe it has been 14 years since that Y-2-K 'thing'?  Seems we have all survived it just fine.   The first of our year brings lots of birthdays.  Barb, Deme and Dorthy all celebrate another year in the month of February - along with those important Presidents.  So, we gather for lots of Birthday Banners and Birthday Cake.  And, for some reason, Gary's also seems to follow quickly even thought his famous day is not until April.

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you..too!  Dorthy got a baseball game AND.....

....A Red Carpet Academy Awards evening;-)

What a beautiful group!  We were all wearing.......dresses;-)

Happy Birthday to you..too - Gary was treated to a BBQ at friends, the Stinson's

When we were done with the birthdays - Gary and I celebrated a 20th anniversary.  Gary got toys and Elizabeth got jewelry.

First flight of Gary's Anniversary present, a quadracopter with camera...watch out NSA.

We also fit in a couple of Spring Breaks.  First was the end of March where we took niece Deme in the Bus up to the Cottonwood area.  There we hiked, rode horses, paddled kayaks, photographed wild animals and ate!

I need spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle.

Puebloan food processor.

Planned a couple of hours, stayed the whole day.  Pleasant surprise.

Hold on there little doggie.

Whew, we made it!!

Then a brief trip to Lemoore for Gary during granddaughter Haley's break -

Haley guarding the hood.

In between all the family activities, we attended both the Waste Management PGA Tournament just down the street and the Accenture Match Play Tournament in Tucson (thank goodness it did NOT snow on us this year!).  We also managed to play golf our usual 3 days a week - even in Tucson where the javalina were intrigued by Elizabeth's pink ball - which E decided to let them have.

Javalina trying to eat Elizabeth's golf ball right off the tee.

We also enjoyed - immensely - the desert in the Spring.  The hiking was beautiful, especially when the cactus were in full bloom.  And, what we didn't see on a hike we were sure to see at the Desert Botanical Garden, which we visited frequently.

A mushroom rock along the Landslide Trail. 

The desert was in full bloom.

You really do get to pick your favorite color of blossom during the spring here.

As mentioned earlier - Gary and Elizabeth celebrated their 20th Anniversary this year.  Doesn't seem possible.  We decided to celebrate with a couple of days where it all began - Big Sur.  AND, while in the area, we toasted to each other on the 18th green at Pebble Beach.  Guess this trip was definitely in the cards as the weather was very unlike the Monterey Peninsula - the sun smiled on us the whole time;-)

Our view from lunch at Pebble Beach, overlooking the 18th green.

Sunset in Big Sur.

And, as the sunset on our trip and on our 7 months in Scottsdale - it also set for cousins Vern & Betty.  After living most of their lives in the Phoenix area, they are picking up and moving to NC to be closer to their triplet grandchildren.  So - a fond farewell ----

A farewell to Vern & Betty.

After this wonderful spring in Scottsdale, the thermometer is creeping up.  So - it is time for us to hit the road again in Magic and see what might be in store for our next adventure.  We will be in Park City for a bit.  BUT THEN - the real fun will begin and you won't want to miss a thing!  Stand by for a journey to Nova Scotia and places in-between.

More to come - E & G ready to hit the road;-)