Arizona Adventures

I'm blogging from a motel business center late on a Saturday evening in Yuma, Arizona. Jan and I had decided we might just skip this annual event until Jan remembered we got bumped from our flight last February on our way home and had airline vouchers that were to expire March 1.

We always enjoy visiting Aunt Ruth Rus, my mom's sister-in-law. We help her with a few odd jobs and then find a place to go out for lunch. This spot is called the Five and Diner. Our cabin player piano used to be Aunt Ruth's. 

Last Wednesday evening we went to Mesa to attend the Presidential Debate. Security was everywhere. As you can see there were even snipers on the building roofs.

After the debate Rick asked if we would like to walk down the street with him to a film crew that was going to film him talking to Gretta on Fox News. We were surrounded by security. What a difference from back last summer in small town Iowa.

I had coffee with these guys one morning at a convience store. Although two of them were from Iowa, I had no idea who they were.

Jan and I went to a Ritchie Bros auction in Phoenix on Friday. Its always fun watching all the huge equipment sell. I promised Jan I wouldn't buy anything I couldn't carry in my pocket since we are flying.

Later that same day we headed west to the Emperial Valley which is vegetable country. Here folks are harvesting either lettuce or cabbage, I forgot to ask Jan which it was.

Of course you can't go by an implement dealer without stopping and talking shop. Empire Cat has twenty dealerships throughout AZ and California. The salesman gave me free caps so I can kid Ziegler, our dealer in DM, the next time they come to visit.

And of course we also stopped at every quilt store we saw plus a few we had to hunt for. No worries, I had brought a good book to read in the warm sunshine.

I'm finishing with a neat story. We usually go across to Old Mexico to visit and shop. Three years ago we met this fellow. He makes and sells purses. His family includes five daughters and some grandchildren all of which he supports with his sales. Well this year he was no longer in his usual spot. So with my small amount of Spanish I started asking if he was still around. Well we found out he could no longer afford his spot so he was working as an employee for someone else. He took Jan to another store where someone was selling his purses for him. We bought a purse from the store owner and later paid him as well so it would help provide for his family. The only scary part of the trip was when on the way back out of the country a big colored border patrol officer asked me why I was in Mexico with an expired passport. When we packed I had grabbed the wrong one.

Jan and I are having a great time. One thing about being gone a little while. It always makes home look good.