February 10, 2011
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| Old Tucson |
We took a great motorcycle trip to Old Tucson with some new friends, Mike and Julia. It is just outside Tucson and is an actual Hollywood Movie Set where many of John Wayne's movies were filmed. We saw lots of familiar places from favorite old movies.....McClintock, Three Amigos, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Tomstone.....just to name a few of over 300 film and televisions productions filmed since 1939. We walked streets where Clint Eastwood, Elizabeth Taylor, Kurt Russell and "The Duke" walked. Was really interesting, and a great ride from Casa Grande. Here are some more fun photos.....
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| Mike and Julia |
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| street scene |
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| Courrthouse/Town Hall |
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| Old Southwest |
Took another fun trip to Phoenix and had lunch at "Organ Stop Pizza". It is a great experience, as it houses the largest pipe organ ensemble imaginable.....hard to describe, but the organ itself rises out of the floor and is connected to hundreds of other musical instruments mounted all around the room, and is played by one organ player.....it spreads the entire inside area of the pizza parlor and is said to be valued at $5,000,000.00. The pizza was not too bad either! Many of us from Palm Creek went there for the afternoon and were treated to a private performance! Five couples went up on Harleys, so that made it even more fun!
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| Organ Stop Pizza |
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| Organ rising up on stage with pipes on back wall and other instruments visible from ceiling and side walls |
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| quite a sight! |
Another interesting outing was the Gourd Festival at the Fairgrounds just outside Casa Grande. It took all my willpower not to take up gourd painting as my next hobby.....it is amazing what people do with gourds, and how many special tools and equiptment is needed to turn them into works of art! Some are dyed, some painted with special metalic paint, melted colored wax, oil paint, or acrylic paint. Many are carved or have wood burned designs and have horse hair, beads or special pine needles woven into the tops.....here are just a few examples of what we saw...
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| silly gourds |
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| works of art |
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| interesting variations laced to the tops |
We also had a beautiful celebration at Palm Creek to highlight cancer awareness and raise funds for cancer research with a Silent Auction and several Raffles. I donated several of my "owl rocks" and was happy to raise $100.00 for the cause! The event ended with a gathering at the Activities Center with several Hot Air Balloons to view.
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| Luminaria bags lined the streets of Palm Creek |
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| Hot Air Balloons at Palm Creek |
As you can see, we are continuing to enjoy Arizona and look forward to another month of warm weather. Still playing tennis and golf and playing with pottery. We've made many great new friends and even attended a party for Idaho residents and were surprised to meet lots of people from Coeur d'Alene, St. Maries, Moscow and Boise. Miss all of you back home though!!!
