February 18

I'm baaaack!  Yesterday, I just got home after being in Phoenix since January 29.  I know that Phoenix gave us the worst weather it had to offer, but the weather there was certainly much better than the weather we escaped in Saskie.  On the first day in Phoenix, we attended the Waste Management Open Pro Am Golf Tournament.  We saw a few pros, but the big attraction was going to the Coors Light Birdsnest Concert in the evening.  Brandon Lay, Midland, and Old Dominion were performing.  All three put on great performances.  You will notice I use the pronoun "we".  I have been with the same lady now for 11 months.  She is a small town Saskatchewan person like me.  We both enjoy country music, dancing, sports, hiking, kayaking, travel, good food, good conversation, and spending time with our children/grandchildren.  Back to Phoenix...we were staying in an Airbnb north of Phoenix near Cave Creek.  There are a few good Country and Western bars in Cave Creek.  They offer great live country music on weekends.  We had a blast at the Buffalo Chip Bar on our first Friday night.  Excellent dance music.  Crazy good time.  During the time we were in Phoenix area, we visited friends, but most of our days were spent hiking the various trails north of Phoenix.  We hiked the Les Panecek, Go John, Spur Creek, Apache Wash, Lake Pleasant, Spur Cross, and Usery Park trails as well as the side roads near our Airbnb.  On February 6-7, we drove to Yuma to see my sister Polly and her partner, Vern.  Polly booked the hall at their RV Resort, invited 8 couples, and arranged a potluck/dance.  I was informed that I was the entertainment.  They arranged to get a guitar for me so I played and sang a few songs while the couples danced.  Then we had karaoke followed by Polly playing old time dance music on the sound system.  Polly teaches old time dance and pattern dances at some of the resorts down there.  We learned a few new dances that were pattern dance/mixers.  Great time spent with great people.  Before we left Yuma, we crossed through Trump's beautiful wall down into Algadones, Mexico.  I started out with a 4$ haircut, then we had lunch and a few margaritas in the Paraiso Patio Bar.  Of course, we had a few dances because there was live music playing.  I also went for a 12$ pedicure to make the trip complete.  They even painted my big toenails Rider green. The day after we returned from Yuma, we went to a parade in Scottsdale.  All the floats were horse drawn.  It was supposed to be the longest horse drawn parade in the world.  Well, the reason it is the longest is because there was a 2 block gap between each float...I guess to allow for pooper scooping.  It reminded me of the Shell Lake Parade that we attend every summer.  In Shell Lake, they make the parade longer by going around the parade route twice.  Anyway, now that I am home, it's time to pursue my hockey/volleyball career until baseball season.  I also have to spend some major time with my Luv Bug.  She just turned 10 months and is getting close to walking.  Mary goes back to work in April.  She's going to miss that little girl like crazy!  On another note, I am having my family over on Thursday evening for dinner to remember the third anniversary of Judy's death.  The girls, Judy's siblings, and I do all we can to keep Judy's memory alive.  There are so many good memories that Judy was faithful in creating.  Until next time, remember...