Week 7 - middle days - starting back East.

On the road

   We left San Diego on Saturday, March 24.  We drove Route 8, across southern California and Arizona.  What a day of contrasts!  We had temperatures from the 30's into the 70's.  We had elevations from -44 to 4,000+.  We drove up arid mountain passes into the Sonora desert, through El Centro and Gila Bend.  We were so close to the Mexican border at two different spots that we could see the fence beside the road.  We saw ATV's going up and down sand dunes.  We turned north, passing Phoenix and got onto Route 17 where we climbed into beautiful passes into the mountains were we could see snow. 

Sycamores by Camp Verde, Arizona

"Montezuma's Castle" a cliff dwelling that has nothing to do with Montezuma!

"Montezuma's Castle" outside of Camp Verde

    We stopped at a hotel in the small town of Camp Verde.  Then we drove to what is called Montezuma's Castle, but which is a cliff dwelling.  As it is a national monument, we got in for free - our first use of our new card.  It was only a short walk, but lovely, along a rushing creek lined with Arizona sycamore trees which were beautiful.  When we got back to the hotel (Days Inn), we went in the outdoor hot tub, which felt great.  We had a nice chat with two Navajo boys from Tuba City. Then, we ate our supper which we got at the local supermarket: some fruit, ham, yogurt and bread for supper.

Rushing stream, sycamores by "Montezuma's Castle"

    On Sunday, we drove almost 500 miles, up I-15 to 1-40 outside of Flagstaff.  It was another day of gorgeous contrasts.  The mountains around Flagstaff are gorgeous with lovely high valleys.  We climbed on more than one occasion today to over 7,000 feet.  Mount Humphreys, outside of Flagstaff was impressive at almost 13,000 feet.

Mount Humphreys, outside of Flagstaff

 As we drove across the rest of Arizona and into New Mexico, it got drier, but remained at high elevations.  We drove around Albuquerque.  Along the way, we saw quite a number of wild horses and a few antelope.  We were lucky that the weather was mostly overcast with times of sun.  Again, it was a day of great contrasts - green and lush to sandy and dry.  We saw a temperature of 38 in the mountains of Arizona and a temperature of 88 as we approached our destination - the little town of Santa Rosa on Historic Route 66.  It is touted as a town of lakes and their advertising makes it look great, but...Santa Rosa has definitely seen better days.  The lake in town was mostly dry.  And, the much-advertised "Blue Hole" was interesting, but not terribly impressive.  It is a deep hole (81 feet) which scuba divers use for training, but it is not much bigger than a few swimming pools.  But, evidently, it connects by underground tunnels to other lakes throughout the region, although the connecting tunnel had to be grated off due to its danger.  Anyhow, after a drive around the town, we had Mexican food at Comet II, a diner on the old Route 66.  Then, a dip in the hot tub at the Quality Inn.

Along old Route 66, which has seen better days

Week 6 - second day in San Diego...an almost perfect day!

Cabrillo Point on Point Loma, outside San Diego

    Today was an almost perfect day!
    The day started out a bit overcast and drizzly which was a bit of a bummer as we'd planned to have an outside day.  But, our air filter needed changing in the Prius and Mark decided to tackle that first.  We went to a Jiffy Lube where he talked with a guy about it and the guy showed him how to take off the glove compartment door and remove the filter. So, we went to an auto parts store and Mark changed it in the parking lot. That was a good start to the day as we felt we'd accomplished something.  (Although I did nothing at all!)

San Diego Harbor from Cabrillo Point

   Next, we drove out to Cabrillo Monument at the end of Point Loma, despite the weather.  I applied for my Eagle Pass for the National Parks, which is good to have.  I guess there are a few perks for getting older!  Now we get into all national parks and monuments for free, which is great.  Anyhow, we walked around up there and the weather began to clear.

Mark eating on Coronado Island

   Next, we drove to Coronado Island where we walked around and check out places to eat.  We decided to eat at the grand old hotel there and got two pre-packaged meals at their deli.  I had a chicken caesar salad for half of what it would have cost to have it at one of their restaurants.  Then, we took our meals out on the lawn and had a relaxing meal watching people, the water, the palm trees.  There was a woman who had four birds of prey, too which she said they use for pest abatement at the hotel.
   From there, we headed down Coronado Island to the Tijuana River Estuary, about 3 miles from Mexico and had a 2+ mile bird walk down to the river's mouth and back. Unfortunately, we did not remember our binoculars, but the ranger there loaned us two pairs, which was very kind and trusting.  I thought the best bird that we saw was a Western Meadowlark.  The colors were amazingly vivid and the song was beautiful.  We also saw some hummingbirds, pelicans, cormorants, a few curlews and some avocets, along with unidentified ducks.  There were also many red-wing blackbirds.  Anyhow, it was lovely and sunny and warm.

Imperial Beach 'art'...

And...from another angle!

   Then, we went back to our hotel and changed for the theater.  We stopped not far from Balboa Park for some take-out sushi and ate it outside the Old Globe Theater, one of our very favorite theaters in the U.S.  We have never seen a badly done performance and there is not a bad seat in the house.  It is theater in the round.  We saw Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill.  It was powerful and well acted.  The set, which re-created a barge at sea was amazing, complete with pretty dense fog.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Red-winged blackbird

Meadowlark singing away

Avocets in Tijuana Estuary

Curlew (I think!)

   So....what a great day!!!!  So, while our stay in San Diego was WAY too short, it really was very, very good.

Week 7 -first half - San Diego Day 1

Mission Beach

Mission Beach

Mark in San Diego

       We had a lovely two days (tooooo short!) in San Diego.  We are staying at a Wyndham on Rosecrans in Point Loma area.  After we checked in, we went to find the Korean restaurant where we ate two years ago.  It was not quite as good as we remembered, although good.  The fried egg rolls were really good, but I ordered something WAY too hot for me...which was not the restaurant's fault.  It was tofu, lemongrass and HOT peppers.  Mark had really good fried chicken wings.  Then, we went for a walk along the beach in Mission Beach.  It was a little chilly, but a lovely walk. 

Then, we went to a play in Old Town at the Cygnet Theater, Parade.  It was powerful, extremely well acted, but a depressing subject - the Leo Frank case in Atlanta in 1913.  He was accused of murdering a 13 year old factory girl, but convicted because he was Jewish.  A complete miscarriage of justice.  The governor bravely commuted his sentence from death to life in prison, but it ended his political career and he and his wife left the state.  After two years in prison, Frank was lynched with the complicity of many powerful politicians.  Anyhow, the play was very well done - a lot of singing and dancing, despite the dark theme.

End of Week 6 - Horseback Riding in Bonita, California

Barbara on the misnamed "Spirit"

Mark on "Tank"

     Today was a beautiful day.  Sunny and warm.  In the morning, we took a long hike on a wildlife preserve called Barnett Ranch.  We did not see anything out of the ordinary, but it was a nice walk.  After a nice lunch at the timeshare, we found out that the stables had time for us to take a ride.  So, we drove about 45 minutes to Bonita, California where we took a ride.  It was part of my birthday present from Mark and should be on the list of 30 things we are doing for our 30th wedding anniversary.  But, the ride was somewhat disappointing.  First, although it was a state preserve, it bordered busy and noisy roads, so not the idyllic afternoon we'd envisioned.  And, the horses were definitely stable horses - trained to follow.  No canter or trotting allowed.  But, on the positive side, the wrangler who took us was a lovely young woman whose husband is in a PhD program in San Diego.  And, the stables was an impressive organization - where the San Diego State Equestrian team practices, as well as a place where they do therapy riding - disabled veterans, handicapped people.  Because it was rush hour when we finished, we opted to go out to dinner instead and miss the rush hour, which we did. Then, we ended our lovely day with a log on the fireplace at the timeshare.

Week 6 - middle portion - Ramona, Julian...a harrowing trip over the mountains

Leaving the time share in Indio

   We left Indio on Sunday, after a quick visit to Shields Date Farm, where we bought some of their own blonde dates...yum.
   We left sunny Coachella Valley and climbed, climbed, climbed into the mountains.  The views into the Valley were spectacular.  But then - the weather deteriorated.  As we got into the mountains, we saw ominous signs telling cars to have chains.  We figured that they were left over from winter.

Looking back at Coachella Valley

Leaving Coachella Valley - note road

But, no!  We hit snow, sleet & hail at two places as we crossed over various mountain ranges.  The one hour drive took two and a half.  Mark had to creep along.  We saw 3 cars in ditches, one on its roof.  (It had happened several hours before.)  We saw a trailer truck jack knife just in front of us.  As everyone was going so slowly, the accidents we actually saw resulted in no injuries to people.  It was pretty harrowing.  It was also beautiful to see snow amongst cactus. 

Uh oh!.....but just the beginning!

Cactus & Snow

Then, we descended about 4,000 feet into Ramona, where we are staying at San Diego Country Estates, a beautiful tennis timeshare. The apartment is spectacular with huge rooms and a fireplace.
   We saw a Western Bluebird and an immature kestrel.

Snow

Getting more slippery!

Sleet & hail....from car window

   We spent one day going to Julian, a small mountain community known for its apples.  There was a lot of snow.  We visited Menghini Vineyards and bought one of their Merlots and went to a Witch Creek Vineyard wine tasting room and bought two of their Viogniers.  We were supposed to go horseback riding Tuesday, but the stables cancelled due to mud.

Week 6 - first half - End of Tennis and Indian Wells. Sigh.

    We had two more nights of tennis with great weather and great tennis.  We also found a wonderful Mexican super market, Cardenas and have been buying their homemade flour tortillas and various sauces and making some nice lunches.
   On Thursday afternoon, we went to the tennis garden a bit early and sat on the lawn in front of the big screen and watched Rafa Nadal and Mark Garcia-Lopez versus the Polish team of Krystenbert and Matkowski (who we saw beat Monfils/Kohlshreiber earlier in the tournament).  Even though it was a day match, they let people in to see the match from the grandstand, so we went up to see the end of that match which was fun.  Nadal and Garcia-Lopez beat the other team very easily: 6-2, 6-0.  Nadal and Lopez are now going to be in the men's finals AND Rafa will be in the Men's Singles Final, which will be interesting to schedule, not to mention the physical challenge.
  After seeing Nadal and Lopez, we went back to our "own" seats.  We saw a very intense Quarterfinal match between the young, tall American, John Isner (seeded 11) versus the 13 seed Frenchman Gilles Simon.  It went the distance - 3 sets, with Isner squeaking out a win in the third.  Isner went on to meet Novak Djokovic on the weekend and amazingly, took out Number 1 Djokovic in three tight sets.  So, it looks as if Isner will break into the top ten.
   Between the matches, Michael Lington, saxophonist, treated the stadium to some wonderful music.
   We next saw a very interesting women's Semi-Final Doubles match between last year's winner at Indian Wells (Vesnina/Mirza) take on the winner from Roland Garros (Hrdecka/Hlavachkova).  The first set went to the Czech team and it looked as if they were on their way to victory in the second set, when Vesnina and Mirza stepped it up and won.  It was long and exciting. By the end, though, there were only about 200 people left as most of them cleared out of the men's singles.  (There is not much interest in women's doubles without more highly recognizable names.) It turned out to be our latest night of the tournament; we got home around 1 a.m.!
   On Friday, we saw both Women's Single Semi-Finals.
   First, we saw the number one women's player right now - Victoria Azarenka, take on the woman who took out Li Na - Angelique Kerber of Germany.  Kerber played well and challenged Azarenka, but Azarenka was just too good and eventually won: 6-4, 6-3.  So, Azarenka went into the Finals.
  Next we saw a much anticipated match between two former number one players who are battling their way back to the top:  Maria Sharapova, seeded 2, and Ana Ivanovic, seeded 15.  We saw Ivanovic in two tough matches earlier in the tournament.  We saw her in a long three-setter against Pervac and then, saw her take out Caroline Wozniacki.  And, we saw Sharapova take out Gisela Dulko easily.  It was hard to know for whom to root as we like them both.
  The first set took over an hour and was worthy of the finals with high quality play and drama.  Unfortunately, though, early in the second set, Ivanovic retired, injured.  Sharapova moved into the Finals.
   On Saturday, we had tennis withdrawal symptoms!  And, the weather also changed  - rain in the desert!  We watched Djokovic lose to Isner on TV and then watched through a rain delay the Federer - Nadal Semi Finals.

Week 5 - 2nd half.....MORE tennis!

     On Sunday, we went to the big farmers' market-craft fair in Palm Desert.  All we bought were some vegetables  and some yummy dates.
     On Sunday, we started in Stadium 2 where we saw another huge upset.  Number 3 seed, Petra Kvitova was defeated by 19 year old Christina McHale.  It was a stunning defeat which took 3 grueling sets where McHale dug very deep.  Of course, the American crowd was solidly behind her, too.
      Later, we saw Roger Federer beat Denis Kudla handily - 6-4, 61.  He is amazing to watch; it is like a tennis workshop.  Kudla, born in the Ukraine, plays for the U.S.  At only 19, it seems he is someone to watch.  Later in the evening, we saw Agnes Radwanska beat Flavia Pannetta.  It was competitive in the beginning, but Radwanska got in rhythm and beat Pannetta in the second set by 6-1.
    On Monday we saw the tail end of a match between Mardy Fish and Matthew Ebden from Australia.  Ebden, a qualifier, beat Fish.  (He lost later in the week to John Isner).
We sat in Stadium 2 on the top row for hours.  (Not great for the backs!)  We just couldn't leave as the players were so compelling.  First, we saw almost a three hour match between Ana Ivanovic, who at age 24, is on a comeback. She took on 20 year old Ksenia Pervak of Kazakstan.  It was hard fought by both of them, but, in the end, Ivanovic prevailed.
    The next match was between the popular teams of Nadal-Garcia-Lopez and Alex Dolgopolov and Xavier Malisse. There could not have been any more people fit into the stadium which was rocking.  The match was well-fought and very entertaining as the players seem to enjoy playing doubles.  In the end, Rafa and Mark Garcia-Lopez advanced.
    That evening, we almost saw another upset as Caroline Wozniacki took on Sofia Arviddson from Sweden.  Wozniacki, seeded 4th, won the tournament last year and was favored, but the set went almost three hours.  Wozniacki squeaked out in the end with her experience.  Because that set went on so long, the next set between the upcoming 19 year old Ryan Harrison versus Guillermo Garcia - Lopez did not even start until around 10:30.  We were tired and cold, so we reluctantly left after the first set.  Harrison, amazingly, won, taking him to the men's round of 16.  (He later lost in another hard-fought 3 setter to Gilles Simon.)
    On Tuesday, we first went to court 7 where we sat in the first row, next to the coaches of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, who are a winning doubles team.  It was exciting to be so close, although I did worry about the serves coming our way.  But, it was interesting to listen to the coaches.  It was an exciting match.  Paes and Stepanek beat Kai Nishikori, an upcoming Japanese man and Juan Monaco.    It went to two tie breaks.
   From there, we went back to our seats in Stadium 1 to watch a close match between Roger Federer and the dangerous Canadian Milos Raonic, who at 21, has the highest ranking ever for a Canadian male player.  (27)   It went the distance with Roger winning in the third, but it was a challenge for Federer as Raonic has a huge serve.
    The next set was another shocker as we saw Caroline Wozniacki go out to Ana Ivonovic.  Wozniacki, like Murray earlier, just didn't seem to get it together and Ivanovic gained confidence as the match proceeded.  It is nice to see Ivanovic back in the mix, making it to the final 8.
     On Wednesday, we decided to sit in the lawn chairs for a while and watch the big screens as we didn't really want to subject our backs to the bleachers in the outside courts and it was relaxing to just sit there.  The crowd was glued to two matches:
Federer vs. Thomas Bellucci in the main stadium, and Ryan Harrison versus Gilles Simon in Stadium 2.  Harrison put up quite a battle, fighting to stay in the second set, after having been down. But, eventually Simon prevailed.  Federer faced a challenge from Bellucci, but picked it up in the third set and won.
   Later, we saw two matches in Stadium 1.  First, we saw yet another upset as the 8th seed, Li Na, went down to 18 seed Angelique Kerber.  (4-6, 2-6).  Like Murray and Wozniacki, it did not seem that Li Na got into any kind of rhythm.  And, Kerber played well.  She is a 24 year old German and the two women exchanged some very long, hard-hitting volleys.
  Finally, we saw another exciting three-set match, maybe the best match we've seen by the men.  It was ninth seeded Juan Martin Del Potro versus Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.  We have never seen either of them and they treated us to a 2 hour, 44 minute match that went three sets.  Istomin is 25 and Del Potro is 23.  Only in the last set did Del Potro take control, winning 6-2, but the first two sets both went to thrilling tie breaks.  We did not leave the stadium until just before midnight.  Whew.

Week 5 - first half - Tennis Anyone?

   I have to divide this week in half, too, as I want to leave room for photos and we saw SO much tennis.
   The weather first - sunny every single day!  The weather has been perfect for tennis as it has not been too hot, nor too cold at night, although we do go prepared.  We have been packing our dinners....mostly because we are cheap.  We have been taking hot tomato soup in our themoses, plus an occasional sandwich...one night we had sushi.
   One of the nice things about getting multiple nights in the same seats is getting to know the people around you.  We have two women next to us who are very nice.  One is from Colorado; the other from California.  Behind us are a very nice, older couple, Steve and Rosie, who are very humorous and keep up a running commentary.
   We went to see another movie in the first half of the week - "Hugo".  We enjoyed it on several levels - the acting, the cinematography, the history of Georges Melies, an innovative early movie director who was responsible for many film techniques.  So, now we have managed to see 2 of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture.
   Onto tennis:
We have night tickets which means we usually arrive around 4:00 - 4:30 at the tennis garden and try to catch some of the day matches in the outer stadiums, then go into Stadium 1, where we have seats (Section 165, Row M for our further reference) and there, we get to see 2 matches.
   On Wednesday, we started in Stadium 2, close to courtside, where we saw two former number 1 women's players play doubles together - Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva.  They lost to Baczinsky and Brianti.  The next set on the same court, was between an upcoming Canadian player, Vacek Pospicle taking on Nicolas Mahut, who won the match.  In Stadium 1, we saw Betthanie Mattek-Sands lose to Ekaterina Makarova.
    In other action in the first half of the week:
We saw Vania King beat Anastasia Pavlochenkova in straight sets  and an upset as Pavlochenkova was seeded #13.  Unfortunately, King withdrew in the next round, falling victim to what is being called Coachella Virus which has hit many of the players and coaches.
   We saw Gael Monfils and Philip Kohlshreiber in an exciting doubles match against two Polish players, Fyrstenbert and Matkowski.  It was entertaining and the Poles won.
    In the main stadium, we got to see a very entertaining doubles match where Rafa and Mark Garcia-Lopez took on the 3rd seeded doubles team of Llodra and Zimonjic.  (6-4, 6-4).
    We saw a huge upset in the main stadium:  Andy Murray, seeded 4th,  went out in the second round to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in two sets.  It was a shocker; Murray just couldn't seem to get started and Garcia-Lopez was on fire.
    Also in the main stadium, we saw Petra Kvitova, the number 3 seed, beat Barbora Zahlovova-Strychova.
    On Saturday, we saw a match on Court 7, between Maria Kirilenko, seeded 20, against Irina Begu, a 21 year old from Romania.  Kirolenko won, but not easily.
    In the main stadium we saw Maria Sharapova, seeded 2nd, beat Gisela Dulko with ease.

Week 4 - Las Cruces, Scottsdale, Indio

   We left El Paso and drove an hour to see my Marietta College roommate of two years, Jan, in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We had a lovely visit with her, complete with tea and croissants, as well as seeing Gambel's Quail, desert wrens and thrashers in her yard.  All too soon, we had to leave and drove Route 10 to Scottsdale, Arizona.
    Scottsdale:  Mark booked us, via Priceline, into a Hilton Resort hotel in Scottsdale.  It was much more luxurious than our usual accommodations!  But, he got us an amazing deal of less than $100 per night.  Our balcony overlooked a palm tree courtyard.  The first night, we went to an amazing sushi restaurant called Roka and had a superb meal.

Barbara at Phoenix Botanical Garden

Verdin, Phoenix

Ground Squirrel...in the air!

Gambel's Quail, Phoenix

Anna's Hummingbird, Phoenix

Old Scottsdale downtown

     Our second day in Scottsdale was wonderful. It was definitely good enough to be added to one of the "Thirty" for our anniversary year.  We started with a morning walk in the Phoenix Botanical Garden where we walked every  trail.  The weather was perfect - sunny and warm, but not hot.  This time, we recognized many of the desert plants, but also focused on the birds.  We met up with a couple of birders and they kindly helped us to identify:  Anna's hummingbirds, desert wrens, Ebert's towhees, verdins and more quail.  We had a late lunch at Dick's Hideaway, the unsigned restaurant that we ate in two years ago.  Still no sign!  We had an excellent lunch:  I had fish tacos and Mark had enchiladas with a chili flavored twice-baked potato which was excellent.  We then went back to the hotel and basked in the sun by the pool.  (But, it wasn't very warm.)  And, for dinner, we ate some groceries we got at Trader Joe's.  A lovely day!
    Our third day in Scottsdale was also very nice.  We ate at just a standard breakfast place which was much more expensive than it needed to be.  That wasn't a great start to the day, but it got better.  We found a fabulous farmers' market in Old Scottsdale - maybe one of the best markets we've ever visited. Too bad we were so full as there were many things to sample which we passed by.  We did buy some cider which had been pressed the day before.  Then, we had a really, really relaxing day...basking by the pool.  Mark met a lovely retired man from Canada who actually lives with his wife at the hotel for 2 1/2 months!  They had two long philosophical talks about life, retirement and noticing the things around you.
    Alas!  The resort life had to come to an end for us.  Just a hint of the high life for us!  We drove, again in the wind, to Indio where we checked into a timeshare where we've stayed before.  It is very modest, more our style, I guess!

Greta Arn

Julia Cohen

Michael Yani

    We have been here for 2 1/2 days.   We have not gone out to eat at all - it is good to have a kitchen again.  We went to the two days free days of tennis qualifiers at Indian Wells.   We saw just one match on the first day - Paula Ormachea (Brazil) beat Katrina Bondarenko.  (Ormachea lost the next day, so did not make it into the draw.)  The second day, we watched an intense and long match between veteran Greta Arn and American Julia Cohen, which was won by Arn.  Then, we saw a veteran American male, Michael Yani beat Roberto Mello.  We don't yet know whether either Arn or Yani made it into the main draw.
   Otherwise, we have just enjoyed sitting in the hot tub and reading.  ("Noises Off!")  We did go to see one of the movies that was nominated this year for the Oscar's Best Picture, "Hugo" by Martin Scorcese.  We enjoyed it, but agreed that "The Artist" was better. They both, curiously, were tributes to the silent film makers.

Week 4 - second half - crossing the South

     The last half of this week was a travel week.

Austin Botanical Garden

Austin Botanical Garden Gate

Austin Botanical Garden

Bee in the flower, Austin

     After a night in the Panhandle, we drove Route 10 to Lafayette, Louisiana.  We planned a stop in the Atchafalaya Swamp where we wanted to do some birding.  So, we got off on a recommended route which said that we'd go about 12 miles on a gravel road.  Hmmmm.  We drove and drove.  On the left was mainly a high levee which we could not see over and was marked as "no trespassing."  On the right was a swampy forest.  I think all we saw were a few crows!  Plus, we also passed by some pretty funky dwellings where the guys from the movie "Deliverance" would have felt right at home!  We ended up driving about 20 miles where we hit another road and then drove to Lafayette.  Oh well - we tried.  In Lafayette, we ate at Prejean's Restaurant, noted for its Cajun cooking.  Mark had a delicious sausage and chicken gumbo and I had a wonderful seafood gumbo.  We also had some shrimp appetizer and a crawfish enchilada.  All was yummy and we left very, very full.
    The next day, we drove all the way to Austin, Texas, a new town for us.  We took the 'scenic' route and left Route 10, which was probably a mistake as we hit quite a lot of traffic around Houston.  Mark also got stopped by the police for going 56 in a 45 mph zone.  Luckily, he only got a warning.  Whew!
    We stayed for 2 nights at a La Quinta in downtown Austin.  It was a nice hotel.

Fran's Burgers, Austin

Mark climbed to the top of the rock!

    The night we got there, we did a lot of walking, seeking barbecue, as well as getting our bearings.  We walked Red River Street down to the river and along what they call Town Lake.  (Really part of the river.)  We eventually ate at IronWorks Barbecue which was recommended by a local.  I had chicken and Mark had ribs.
    The next day, our only full day in Austin, we went to Zilker Botanical Garden to start our day.  It was clearly not the best time of year for the garden which seemed pretty rundown and little was in bloom.  Still, it was a nice stroll.  The day was very windy and we decided to go to a movie at mid-day.  We have been wanting to go to a movie ever since we left the island, but never found the time.  As the Oscars had been only 2 nights before, we felt lucky that "The Artist" which won "Best Picture" and "Best Actor" was still showing.   The theater itself was great - lounge chairs and ottomans.  But, the movie was great; we both really loved it.   Afterwards, we walked to a wonderful sushi restaurant.  Later, we walked to the State Capitol Building where we walked the grounds and went inside. The rotunda was quite amazing. The grounds were beautiful, but that Texas spirit of secession was a bit 'in your face'.  Suffice it to say, Texas politics are not our favorites....Rick Perry governor.  Ugh.
       To end the week on another high note, we drove from Austin to El Paso.  Wow - our longest day's drive yet - about 600 miles.  But, en route, we stopped at Enchanted Rock State Park, about 100 miles out of Austin, on strong recommendations from our friends, Fran & Al, who taught at the University of Texas for many years.  Anyhow, we drove through the lovely German town of Fredericksburg and then drove 17 miles north to the State Park.  Enchanted Rock is the largest single rock in the U.S., bigger than Stone Mt in Georgia.  It is the second largest rock in the world, second to Ayers Rock in Australia.  The weather cleared just as we arrived and it was good climbing weather.  Mark climbed the entire way up.  Whew!  Vertigo hit me about 2/3's of the way up, so I stopped and waited for him to come down.  It was a lot of fun.  Afterwards, we drove to El Paso, across terrain that became suddenly very Western.  Beautiful, although windy.  We stopped at the best Comfort Inn we've ever slept at there.  They had fresh-baked cookies and tacos for the guests and a fire going. The room was fabulous and we managed to do a laundry. 
  

Week 4 - first half....in Florida

Great Egret in Mating Display

Alice, Bev, Ted in Vero Beach

     I am splitting this week in half as half was in Florida and half was on the road.  This is the Florida half.

Cal, Barbara in Vero Beach

     One of this week's highlights was an overnight visit to Fort Lauderdale to stay with friends Denise and Jack at their wonderful condo on the water.  Staying with them is always a treat.  Friends Dick and Maureen joined us and the six of us went to a hockey game:  Florida Panthers vs Minnesota Wild. We had wonderful comfortable seats, thanks to Jack and Denise who are season ticket holders.  Mark and I sat with Dick and Maureen.  The whole experience was a lot of fun, even though Florida lost the game after one overtime and a shoot out.  Denise got up early the next morning as she is still teaching, but retiring at the end of this year.  Dick, Denise, Mark and I made up Cyrus Peirce's Seventh Grade Team for a number of year and we love doing this reunion when we can.  (I think this year was the 3rd or 4th time we've met in Fort Lauderdale.) The next morning, Mark and I met Dick and Maureen for breakfast.

Michael at Lake Worth Beach

Nancy at Lake Worth Beach

Tri colored Heron at Green Cay

Red winged blackbird

   Before we left Lake Worth, we visited another bird watching area - Green Cay.  It is very close to Wakotahatchee, a bit larger, with a visitors' center.  The highlight of this was the glimpse of a male and a female painted bunting.  My eyes were not good enough, though, and only Mark really can claim to have seen them.  (Darn!  Again!)  We both did see some limpkin, however.

Michael and Mark with their Twin Priuses!

   We also went to the beach area with Mike and Nancy to look at some properties that they have considered buying.
    We spent the last night with Cal and Alice and were sad to say goodbye.
    On Sunday, February 22, we left Vero and drove to Tallahassee.
    Goodbye Florida!