Southern Arizona Events

Hard to believe but February is almost over! I was so busy having fun that I totally forgot about my blog. Barry and I together have enjoyed so many things in Southern Arizona since the New Year. We've met with friends that Barry had not seen in years. They originally met in Denmark over 30 years ago and had since lost touch. It was very nice to meet with them again, and we also met their friends, who have recently retired to Tucson. Then we went to Los Angeles for a bit of a mini-vacation. We enjoyed many different restaurants in Chinatown, in Koreatown, and in Little Tokyo. We also liked the Getty Center - the artwork, the buildings, and the tremendous overview of the city. But we were glad to get back home to Southern Arizona after being in LA a week. The legendary LA traffic was so stressful and congested that by the end of the week we were very happy to be out of that city!

Winter in Southern Arizona is the best. Our relatives and friends in the East Coast are all jealous of the beautiful weather that we have. For the last couple of weeks, Tucson hosted its (really world famous) annual Gem Show, Tubac has its fascinating Festival of the Arts, and then Chinese New Year coincided with Valentine's Day this past Sunday. This week Marana hosts its annual Accenture Golf Tournament, this year at the fabulous new Ritz Carlton Golf Course at Dove Mountain. So, we crammed in many fun activities over the last couple of weeks. We went to the Gem Show and the Tubac Art Festival. We also volunteered to staff the booth for the Tubac Hearts and Hooves Organization. This Organization is in the process of getting its non-profit (charitable foundation) status. The Organization has two delightful 5 year old mini-horses, and it is trying to raise money enough to buy a trailer and a small truck in order to take the mini-horses around to the various hospitals in Southern Arizona to cheer up the sick kids with a horse-drawn cart ride. It should be great fun for these kids, who otherwise may be shut in at the hospitals.

In the coming weeks, we are looking forward to meeting more friends for lunch, attending wine tastings, going to classes that we have joined, and in general, participating in all the events in this active community. The Rodeo Parade is going to be on Feb. 25 and different events are going to be at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds from Feb. 20 to Feb. 28. Of course, I work in between doing all these fun things :-). Life has been sweet and good for us in Southern Arizona. We are grateful, and we are really enjoying it.