BeDillon's in Casa Grande

Ron suggested I try this restaurant in Casa Grande so I made it my first stop after leaving Tucson.  The  house, restaurant and gardens have been around for many years, though the owners have changed hands a few times

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Casa Grande is midway between Phoenix and Tucson and all I ever knew about the town was what could be seen from the freeway... ghastly fast food restaurants and truck stops-- so I was happy to learn about something different.   

In all the years I've lived in Arizona I don't think I had ever driven into the town of Casa Grande itself.  The freeway exit that led to the Dairy Queen restroom was an automatic stop in my otherwise boring travel plans of years past.  

Well, this little restaurant, tucked away in an older residential area, complete with its cactus garden was charming and worth leaving the highway to find.

I was surprised to discover the food was very American instead of Mexican.  I had a prime rib sandwich that turned out to be excellent.  Reservations are recommended--they appear to be exceptionally busy.

Afterwards I spent my first night sleeping in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel--and felt so guilty because I had eaten dinner somewhere else.  So, because I think CB's are awesome, I went in and had breakfast with them in the morning.  I knew this would be my last time for a while to enjoy the CB hospitality since California has yet to erect a Cracker Barrel within its borders.

  

 

Any restaurant chain that puts out a map showing RV travelers which Cracker Barrel restaurants are okay to spend the night, and then they go so far as to mark their parking lots showing where RV's may park, deserve a special salute.

It felt really good to be traveling again.  I brewed a cup of herb tea, pulled out my latest book, read for an hour, then snuggled with Sigh Me and slept soundly.

BTW, "Modoc" is another  book that has my 'seal of approval'.  A really charming true story about the ' greatest elephant that ever lived'.

The best laid plans...are full of surprises

If all goes as planned I will be leaving Tucson sometime tomorrow.  That is if I don't get any more calls from some lab or another telling me I have an 'unexplainable lump in the flappidoodle' and must see a flappidoodle specialist ASAP.  If that sounds silly then let me tell you, I have had all my flappidoodles examined, probed, stress-tested, camera-photographed, biopsied, tickled and massaged the last month--and all to little reward and lots of anxiety. Nothing serious has been found and no explanation for some worrying symptoms has come out of all the time and money spent.
So I am now armed with lots of vitamins, supplements and antacid tablets,  plus a membership in the Silver Sneakers Fitness Program--a fitness program that is available nation-wide through my insurance.



Fainally.....Westward Ho!  Time to get this show on the road.



I will miss Tucson.  This town is always producing surprises for me.  I know the above picture is out-of-focus but I think the fuzziness defines that 5:00 pm shimmer that often settles on the mountains around the city. The colors change by the minute and it is not unusual to see people stopped in their tracks to admire the 'glow'.



Tucked behind walls and fences are delightful little courtyards that are semi-cool reminders of a life before suburban sprawl, air conditioned houses, and life styles too busy for an afternoon siesta.  (I could not see this courtyard from the street but I stuck my camera up to the crack in the wall, clicked,  and this is what I found.  Okay, not very nice of me--I know.)



The Devil made me do it.


 

Some surprises leave me scratching my head.  This is on the side of a church.  Holy Hummingbird?

So now I will spend two days running around town, hugging and kissing and saying 'goodbye' to some of the greatest friends a person could ask for. I will miss them all for perhaps the next 9 or 10 months--when I expect to return-- if there aren't any more surprises.



Enough said!

More things I love--Janice

Number one on any Mom's list of requirements is to brag on their children.

It's not so easy if you have amassed a brood of knuckle-headed off-spring who more closely resemble the Neanderthals in the family tree ...

than that brilliant physicist your cousin produced.

Thank goodness that is not a problem I have had to deal with--my three children are talented beyond belief.

They are also loving and generous and good looking and....

creative!

Daughter, Janice, sews these little critters for pleasure, for friends, for families and to sell.

They just make me smile.

I wish I could show other of her great needlework.

She has a slew of ribbons from both the Washington and the Oregon State Fairs for her needlepoint.

But these little guys seem to bring out her inner personality. (Hmm, should I be worried?)

                                               
                                   And this week I relish any 'smile prescriptions' I can get.

                                      Thanks for the pictures, Honey.  I really appreciate them.

                                            Janice, Artiste Extraordinaire

Birth of Halcyon II

"Sail Date" was one week ago and I am still here in Tucson, cussing and spitting and wishing this whole grueling parade of doctors and dentists would just fade away in my rearview window.  But alas, it is not to be for at least another week.

Someone should have a chat with nurses and technicians on how to talk to those impatient women who really aren't interested in their triglyceride readings or their vitamin deficiencies and just want to get on the road. Okay, so there really aren't that many of us out there, but still...



 So, after several days of tests that required lots of fasting, I drove the RV up into Saguaro National Park just outside of Tucson and spent a very quiet and relaxing afternoon reading a good book while enjoying a great meal, lots of raw nature, and my 'sacred hyacinth plant'.



It was 'Super Bowl Sunday' so I had the entire wildly-beautiful park to myself for the complete afternoon.  It was truly a  Halcyon Day. (pictured--Cajun-seasoned Tilapia, vine-ripened tomatoes, fried potatoes, cantaloupe cubes and a crisp white wine--'Bon Appetit' would be so jealous)

I have been asked many times where the name 'Halcyon' came from.  First of all, Halcyon means 'peaceful' and describes some of the most pleasant moments I have ever experienced.   However, the word has been an influence over almost 40 years in my life and it has a unique connection to this RoadTrek.

In the 1970's my husband, Roger, and I sold our business and our house in Santa Barbara, Ca, packed up our 3 young children plus a cat and moved to Florida where we bought a 45' ketch-rigged sailboat from a man who lived in Fort Myers, Florida. The name of the boat was 'Halcyon'.  We lived on that boat and sailed in the Caribbean for 3 very exciting and often Halcyonic years before selling it and eventually returning to the west coast.

 

So, you can see there is a genesis to this travel adventure.  It is an odyssey my husband would have wholeheartedly endorsed, but that is not the end of this tale.  It was here that Serendipity stepped in.  When I decided to travel again I told my oldest son, Ron, who incidentally was living in Santa Barbara, Ca, at the time, what I wanted to do. He was wonderfully supportive and immediately began looking for the perfect vehicle for me.  His search produced a likely candidate on Craigslist--from a man living in Ft Myers, Florida!  So that little coastal town in Florida--all the way across country--has supplied two of the great chapters in my life and it was only fitting that the RV would be christened,
'Halcyon II'.

My daughter, Janice, thought so too.  She is responsible for creating and sewing that colorful tire cover as a surprise for me.

Long live the Sacred Peepal Tree!

   My very good friend, Lynda, suggested we have dinner recently so we chose a restaurant that had been recommended to me but I knew nothing about.  

Govinda's has been tucked away in a quiet, old established neighborhood of Tucson for over 20 years and is centered around the oldest of the modern religions, Hinduism.  There are beautiful gardens and a temple on the grounds and I saw that many of the guests that evening stopped in the temple for some meditation before or after dinner.

We skipped the meditation but, since Lynda has a dairy allergy, we chose the night that featured  a vegan buffet.  I would not have expected it to be so good, but it definitely was, and very interesting.

The gardens have an aviary ....



several peacocks....

 

  ...and a koi pond.  By the end of the evening I was feeling pleasantly relaxed and de-stressed.  Good food and good conversation are the best meditations I know of.

I found this sign in the garden and it seemed a worthy motto until I realized the Peepal Tree looked like the freeze got it. All that was left was a thin brown stalk.

 

But this is now growing in my cup holder and filling the RV with the loveliest scent.  It is a gift from another of my friends, Debbie.  It is now my substitution for gardening and provides a modicum of meditation for my soul...."Do not pluck the lovely hyacinth plant!" 

The Boneyard

I was crossing town last week during the busier part of the day and came to one of those intersections where everyone is jockeying for position against the traffic signals.  As the light turned green I fixed my eyes on the cars in the approaching lane that were trying to turn left--they just kept inching into my lane. Suddenly horns honked and tires screeched, I glanced quickly to my left, a big white sedan had run the red light and was headed right for my door! Without even thinking I slammed on the brake and veered sharply into the lane to my right where, of course, another car was approaching.  He braked and barely missed me as he came to a stop sideways in the road.  I watched in horror as the offender slid past my front fender, missing me by no more than a coat of paint.  A second later everyone drove on his merry way but I stopped in the next block and waited until the shaking stopped.



And when I turned around this is what I saw.  That'll teach me not to waste my time setting up some  neat filing system.

Sigh Me was last seen darting under the sheet where she remained for the rest of the day.  Anyway, it is a reminder that life can change on a dime no matter how careful you think you are.

That day I was headed to the Boneyard--the place where thousands of planes are stored--and mostly forgotten.

If you look on "Google Maps" for Yuma St and S. Kolb, Tucson, Az you will see the extent of this burial ground.

Most of the planes are in good shape--are we waiting for a war? A giant two-for-one sale?

  

I couldn't help but think about taking the wings off one of these babies and converting it into a rolling
hacienda...It's a new blog!  'Flying down the Road'

 

 Doors and windows are taped shut and most look like they just came off the assembly line.

And why here?  In Tucson?  I am told that it is because the air is so dry.  Nothing rusts.  No caustic pollution--only dust.

But think of the money sitting out there. Somehow I can't seem to accept that this makes any sense.

But many of these giants have been here for years--cannibalized for parts I suppose.

I was curious about this one--the door was open.  Has someone moved in?

And speaking of spare parts...

Gallstone update:  I will be seeing a surgeon on Wednesday to find out what might be done about this annoying 'glitch' in my plans.  I have had a pretty easy week and thought, perhaps, that the offending stone had moved into the nether reaches of my intestines, but yesterday an attack nearly brought me to my knees. Very little pain, just an intense pressure that saps all the strength and breath out of me.  I am sure the surgeon will  prescribe something simple like a vegan diet plus daily offerings to the 'God of Bile'.  I'll keep you posted.