Our latest news? We bought a house in Green Valley Arizona. Our great experiment has gone well but one of us (ME!) just can't handle the extended hotel times. I love to travel but I prefer destination travel rather than full time travel. So Mike agreed. We will stay to our travel plans through September 2017 which means this winter we will stay in Tubac AZ and then Hawaii May thru August in 2017.
True to our past, we purchased a fixer upper. I'd love to have Chip and Joanna Gaines take it on but Mike and I will be making or overseeing the necessary repairs and upgrades. Our place is a 30 year old slump block townhouse with 2 bedrooms and 2 full baths plus a den/office. We figure with a townhouse we can lock up and go when the spirit moves us (summer travel with winter stays in AZ).
Our work list, so far? The house needs all popcorn ceilings scraped, kitchen drop ceiling removed, enlarging the kitchen entry, all new kitchen cabinets and appliances, new flooring through-out which will be Saltillo tile, new bathroom vanities and toilets, new gutters, and a new HVAC unit. We will be the demo labor and handle changing the landscaping to desert based and will contract out the rest. Most likely it will not be ready for full time living until late 2017. In the meantime, we'll be 'camping' there October this year and April next spring.
Yes, I know we have taken on a lot but it is something we enjoy doing. I will be haunting the consignment and second hand shops in Tucson to furnish it. I think our one splurge will be a custom mesquite dining room table from a shop in Tubac we have found.
Wish us luck!
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Post Mexico Travels
Since returning from Mexico, we've been on the road until this past week. We drove from Houston to Galveston TX, Galveston to Livingston TX, Livingston to Tucson AZ, Tucson to Santa Fe NM, and Santa Fe to Keystone Colorado. Poor old Sabine (our Toyota Tundra) is getting some miles on her!
We had fun in Texas but really enjoyed exploring the Tucson area. It is where we built a house in 2005, which fell through due to lack of golf course for Mike. We discovered a great little restaurant in Green Valley AZ call Arizona Family Restaurant. Good plain food, just like Bob Evans. The clientele is "over 55+" and we seemed to fit right in there. Green Valley is a retirement area 20 miles south of Tucson. It has a great climate as it is higher in elevation than Phoenix which makes it cooler in summer. The area also has a monsoon season during summer which is strong thunder & lightening storms. They are window rattlers and you would not believe how the rain just pours as if from a bucket.
Next we hit the road for New Mexico. It was pouring monsoon rain as we left our hotel and a truck in front of us kicked up a 'boulder' into our windshield. Hit us just right so that we had a big chip and starburst right in front of me! Mike was VERY unhappy about this. Our first night on the road we stopped in Truth or Consequences New Mexico. We were lucky to get a room in a new Holiday Inn Express just off I-25 -- senior rates of course. We went in search of dinner, driving towards town. We did not find a restaurant but we did find the Windshield Doctor. On our way back to the hotel we decided to chance dinner at La Cocina across the highway from our hotel. Great dinner! Excellent carnitas tacos. At 9 AM the next morning we were at the Windshield Doctor and he was able to repair our windshield for $25. Hooray!!!!!!!
We then spent 3 days in Santa Fe exploring and relaxing. (I really need to begin using some of our hotel points!). It has been about 13 years since I was in Santa Fe and it has really become a tourist area. The plaza is still beautiful but the stores are crammed with junk souvenirs and t-shirts or extremely high priced art and jewelry. We had a lovely walk though all the shops. I love old pawn silver & turquoise jewelry so I had hit the mother lode; however, I am a gold jewelry person. Mike bought me a new gold wedding band in a rare green turquoise. I love it!
Friday we took a day trip to Taos driving the "high road" up and the "low road" back to Santa Fe. The scenery was beautiful...it reminded us of driving from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe. When we found a parking lot near the Plaza, the owner gave us a map and told us some places to check out. Most of the stores were similar to Santa Fe except for one antique shop. It was gross with glass eyes and false teeth and all kinds of old medical equipment! The saving grace was stumbling into Plaza Café in the La Fonda hotel lobby on the Plaza. OMG!!!! My lunch choice was the Green Chili Pork Stew and a mixed green salad with lemon, ginger, & sesame dressing. I had to control myself from licking the bowl & plate. Just the right amount of heat and spice with well seasoned pork and the salad dressing was so full of flavor. I could eat this every day! The chef came out to ask us how we liked his food. We were surprised when he sent us out a sample of his Potato Leek soup. He makes his soups fresh every morning when he arrives at 8 AM. He recommended his coconut flan for dessert and we both had to try it. Amazing!!
Our last day in Santa Fe, we met up with our friend Carrie from So Cal. Carrie was my vendor at First Interstate and became a close friend. She was also our Big Bear friend. We spent many fun weekends at Mom and Pop's cabin in Sugarloaf. She and her husband moved to NM many years ago and I hadn't seen Carrie in 13 years, since a Cardinal Health business trip to Albuquerque. Mike and I were looking forward to reconnecting and within 2 minutes, it was like we had never been apart. Great catching up with all that's happened to our families over the years. At Carrie's recommendation, we had a wonderful lunch at Blue Corn Café.
Next stop? Keystone Colorado. See you there!
We had fun in Texas but really enjoyed exploring the Tucson area. It is where we built a house in 2005, which fell through due to lack of golf course for Mike. We discovered a great little restaurant in Green Valley AZ call Arizona Family Restaurant. Good plain food, just like Bob Evans. The clientele is "over 55+" and we seemed to fit right in there. Green Valley is a retirement area 20 miles south of Tucson. It has a great climate as it is higher in elevation than Phoenix which makes it cooler in summer. The area also has a monsoon season during summer which is strong thunder & lightening storms. They are window rattlers and you would not believe how the rain just pours as if from a bucket.
Next we hit the road for New Mexico. It was pouring monsoon rain as we left our hotel and a truck in front of us kicked up a 'boulder' into our windshield. Hit us just right so that we had a big chip and starburst right in front of me! Mike was VERY unhappy about this. Our first night on the road we stopped in Truth or Consequences New Mexico. We were lucky to get a room in a new Holiday Inn Express just off I-25 -- senior rates of course. We went in search of dinner, driving towards town. We did not find a restaurant but we did find the Windshield Doctor. On our way back to the hotel we decided to chance dinner at La Cocina across the highway from our hotel. Great dinner! Excellent carnitas tacos. At 9 AM the next morning we were at the Windshield Doctor and he was able to repair our windshield for $25. Hooray!!!!!!!
We then spent 3 days in Santa Fe exploring and relaxing. (I really need to begin using some of our hotel points!). It has been about 13 years since I was in Santa Fe and it has really become a tourist area. The plaza is still beautiful but the stores are crammed with junk souvenirs and t-shirts or extremely high priced art and jewelry. We had a lovely walk though all the shops. I love old pawn silver & turquoise jewelry so I had hit the mother lode; however, I am a gold jewelry person. Mike bought me a new gold wedding band in a rare green turquoise. I love it!
My new ring
Friday we took a day trip to Taos driving the "high road" up and the "low road" back to Santa Fe. The scenery was beautiful...it reminded us of driving from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe. When we found a parking lot near the Plaza, the owner gave us a map and told us some places to check out. Most of the stores were similar to Santa Fe except for one antique shop. It was gross with glass eyes and false teeth and all kinds of old medical equipment! The saving grace was stumbling into Plaza Café in the La Fonda hotel lobby on the Plaza. OMG!!!! My lunch choice was the Green Chili Pork Stew and a mixed green salad with lemon, ginger, & sesame dressing. I had to control myself from licking the bowl & plate. Just the right amount of heat and spice with well seasoned pork and the salad dressing was so full of flavor. I could eat this every day! The chef came out to ask us how we liked his food. We were surprised when he sent us out a sample of his Potato Leek soup. He makes his soups fresh every morning when he arrives at 8 AM. He recommended his coconut flan for dessert and we both had to try it. Amazing!!
Coconut Flan with Caramel Sauce!
Our last day in Santa Fe, we met up with our friend Carrie from So Cal. Carrie was my vendor at First Interstate and became a close friend. She was also our Big Bear friend. We spent many fun weekends at Mom and Pop's cabin in Sugarloaf. She and her husband moved to NM many years ago and I hadn't seen Carrie in 13 years, since a Cardinal Health business trip to Albuquerque. Mike and I were looking forward to reconnecting and within 2 minutes, it was like we had never been apart. Great catching up with all that's happened to our families over the years. At Carrie's recommendation, we had a wonderful lunch at Blue Corn Café.
Next stop? Keystone Colorado. See you there!
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