Friday was the rush to by everything in the stores. It was quite entertaining since I was buying nothing and could sit back and watch the people scurrying from store to store trying to get all of the "great" deals of the day, which were nothing to brag about. I did break down and actually buy a magazine to read while the shopping was taking place.
Saturday we all took the tour down to Tubac, Arizona. Tubac is this little artsy-fartsy town that survives simply to provide items for the tourists.
So, while we were feeling all artsy, the shopping began. Gaye found this set of glasses that she loved so she got us new glasses for home. These glasses are clear with a red spiral of glass encircling the barrel.
We all ate lunch at this cool little restaurant back behind the scenes. The food was really good and we got to enjoy a moment to sit down together.
Then we had to view the art work of this one artist (Nick somebody) who paints these exquisite murals of desert animals that are so realistic you think they are three dimensional animals. We were told that he actually paints them with a brush that has only a single bristle so that each hair is painted separately.
Next, we hat to try out the rocking Aderondack chairs that were on display.
The next stop was about 4 miles further south on the same frontage road. The Santa Cruz Chili shop has all kinds of southwestern spices and spice mixes for making great sauces of every kind. They also have the tourist stuff too. We found a book for the grand kids that we just had to buy. It was a pop-up book of different animals but there is an animal sound track that goes with each page. It is a really cool book for kids.
The next stop was at Ben and Jenn's new home in Sahuarita, about 25 miles south of Tucson. They have been there almost a year but most of the extended family had never been there so it was a great opportunity to make the stop.
Jennie went off with Ben's family for a while to take family pictures for them. Ben took me over to the neighbor's to show me his shelves that they had done. He has this cool three-wheeled car that he built from the back end of a BMW1200 and the front wheel assembly of an old Mustang. He hand-crafted the body for this oddity from foam and fiberglass. And while this was going on, Ben abandoned me! He just left me to actually make conversation by myself! So I got all of the details about this car, and about the air plane that he built and another car that he made and some of the problems that he had with fuel lines and brakes and air plane crashes. It is a good thing that it was interesting stuff or it would be pay back time in a huge way.
Jennie was not about to miss the fun in the kids castle in the play room. It is a good thing that Ben built it for lots of kids. I think that she was probably encouraged by Emma to come and play.
After leaving Ben's we went to see the new Harry Potter movie with Ben, Jenn, Jennie, Kyle and Q. The kids went to the play area at the theater and Gaylen, Dena, Dawn, Bo, Kathy and Audrey left a bit earlier and went to have dinner. After the movie, Q headed back to Mesa and we went back to the hotel.
Sunday was spent at a little arts market at the west side of Reid Park. It was very fun to see all of the things that people were selling. Some were very original (at least to me) and extremely detailed and professional such as the guy who painted coins from all over the world to high-light the embossing that was already there, of the guy who made bird houses and feeders entwined in thick grapevines. There were also quite a few who made items that were less intricate and many who just did not seem to draw the traffic for a variety of reasons. But it was a very fun way to spend the morning before everyone headed off the scattered destinations that we each call home.
Goodbyes were hard, even though we expect to gather again at Christmas time. Gayle was missed at every turn. He was such a center of this holiday time that I think that his passing was especially hard for each of us.
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