Annndddd... We're Back!

   It's been a few days since my last installment so I figured I should get you all up to date. It's warmed up here in the Arizona desert and temperatures are now in the low 30's, heading to 35 by the time we leave Wednesday morning. Yes, it's almost time to leave!

  One thing Penny and I have both noticed is how dry it is here. I'm not a big drinker of water (wine, beer, tequila, scotch, but not water) so it's been very surprising how much we've been drinking. Yesterday, while refilling our water bottles, we decided we're both drinking about 2 litres a day... of water. It's so dry that you never notice yourself sweat but you do notice how dry you feel if you don't drink regularly. Craziness.

  Ok, so what have we been doing the past few days? Well, some sitting on our asses as we've spent a lot of time criss-crossing south-central Arizona and it's tiring! Also, the neck and shoulder thing required me to eat copious amounts of Advil and wait for relief, which finally arrived Wednesday.

  Thursday we headed up to Sedona to look around the town and play some golf. The dad and son we played with two weeks ago told us about a par 3 course we absolutely must see, that it was both scenic and fun to play. Well, it didn't disappoint:

... you'll notice the perfect follow-through position...

... and some views from around Sedona on the drive up.

And what kind of day would it have been without a decent Mexican restaurant for lunch, with guacamole and margaritas reminiscent of El Gordo's in Clearwater all those years ago. A great day all around.

  Saturday was the best of times and the worst of times (sorry Charles). It started with our usual hour in the bush with the dogs, which went as expected until Spike decided to go walkabout. After searching the trail and the surrounding neighbourhood for two hours I gave up, figuring he'd eventually find his way home or someone would find him and call Emily's number on his collar. Sure enough, after three hours she let us know he'd been found and we could stop worrying that we'd lost her dog.

  We celebrated by heading out to the annual Prescott Bluegrass Festival, held in the park surrounding the courthouse downtown. With lots of shade from all the trees, a cool breeze and our newly purchased comfy chairs it was a wonderful, relaxing time in a peaceful setting listening to some old timey bluegrass.

  Today, we intended to do some geocaching but our first two attempts were unsuccessful. We did get to climb to the top of the nearby hill/mountain so that was a bonus. Penny managed to snag a pic of this weird formation:

  That was about it for this week's adventures. We have two more days here before we exit stage left so I'm not sure we'll engage in anything interesting, although we might give geocaching another go. It's been a nice time here at Emily's house, except for the furniture, and we've had a terrific time exploring this part of the continent. We both agreed that, should the opportunity present itself, we would do this again.

  Starting Wednesday, we hit the road on the way to San Francisco. We've planned a shitload of fun and games and we hope you'll follow along as we head to the Left Coast. In the meantime, dos cervesas por favore!

So, About This House Sitting Thing...

  So, faithful readers, it's been a few days since our last get together. I've been dealing with a nasty muscle spasm in my neck that's only now, with the aid of copious amounts of Advil and Tylenol, becoming manageable.

  On Sunday, Father's Day, Penny and I went out to do what was supposed to be a scavenger hunt in downtown Prescott. It turned out to be more of a walking tour that asked us to read all the historical plaques and gave us points for reading comprehension, like elementary school. Since we finished with a very high score we can assume Penny and I are capable of passing Grade 8 English.

  The tour was interesting and pointed us to the oldest saloon in Arizona where, 140 years ago, these guys were patrons:

  The event completed, we headed off to El Gato Azul for some tapas, courtesy of my wonderful children, which brings me back to Advil.

  Earlier in the day I noticed my neck becoming stiff, so I ate some Advil and ignored it the rest of the day... until I woke up at 3:30 am Monday with a godawful spasm on the left side of my neck running down into my shoulder. After crawling out of bed without screaming, I transferred myself to the uncomfortable couch, ate some more Advil, and attempted to make myself comfortable, unsuccessfully.

  While lying there I figured I'd see if there was something stronger I could buy when the stores opened, since the regular concoctions weren't working. To my amazement, I found that OTC muscle relaxants like Robaxacet, etc. cannot be sold without prescription in Arizona! I guess there's a state-wide problem with muscle relaxant abuse... "Hey Bill, you're looking very tight today (whips open raincoat), how about a dime bag of some nice muscle relaxants?" Maybe I should hang out behind the high school.

  Anyway, long story short, a combination of Advil and Tylenol for the past 36 hours has rendered me almost functional, thus I'm able to write today and bring you to today's subject: house sitting. Is it what we expected?

  It's been two weeks since Emily left for Alaska and we've been in charge of Radar and Spike. As I've written earlier, we've managed to tour around quite a bit and see virtually everything there is to see in this part of the country. We've hiked, golfed, biked and kayaked. We've seen all the weird and wonderful things we can find. During that time we've also done all the mundane things that go along with daily life. We've shopped, cooked, washed dishes, done laundry, walked and fed the dogs. We could be anywhere doing these things but, right now, we're doing them at Emily's house.

  Do we like it? In short, it's just like living at home, except it's in someone else's house. I'll call it "life once removed", familiar yet unfamiliar.

  The routine is different. Since retiring we've adopted a morning routine which goes something like this: wake up around 6:30 am, drink coffee, read the paper, do the puzzles, eat breakfast. This routine takes 2-3 hours, during which no physical activity and very little talking occurs. We like it like this. Being retired, there's no compelling reason for us to go anywhere right away, so we don't.

  Dogs don't read the paper, drink coffee or do the puzzles. We're awake and they want to go for their walk where we take them into the bush behind the house and let them off-leash for a half-hour. It's a nice walk and the weather has been perfect every day we've been here. The thing is, we don't get to sit around, drink coffee, read the paper, wake up, etc. because we need to do it early before it gets stupid hot. If we had a dog and we were home we'd go for a walk later, when we felt like it. Traumatic? No, just different.

  By the way, we're in the Mountain Time Zone which is two hours behind Toronto... except Arizona doesn't do Daylight Time, thus we're three hours behind. So what, you may ask. Well, the earth doesn't rotate differently just because Arizona wants to be different so the sun rises here at 4:30 am instead of 5:30 like everywhere else. Because everything lights up early it makes it difficult to sleep later than 5:30, although I try. Also, not traumatic although it feels a bit like permanent jet lag.

  I mentioned before that Emily is in a wheelchair and this is her house, so she's designed it to suit her, as she should. For us, not so good. The chairs are supremely uncomfortable as these two examples show:

  The kitchen countertops are about 30" high. which is great for her and not so great for us, being used to 36" counter height. The tiny feather pillows on the guest bed have caused my current neck issues and the uncomfortable furniture and low counters aren't helping my back. Oh, and there's no TV either. I'm counting the days until we leave.

  Ok, enough whining. It's more comfortable and spacious than a hotel room. The house is in a beautiful, friendly neighbourhood. It's air conditioned. The kitchen is well-equipped and has super appliances. We're going out to buy pillows and more drugs today, so I'll survive.

  What about the dogs, the reason we're here? Radar and Spike are great dogs, super friendly and very protective. Well, overly protective. Radar is aptly named. The slightest noise anywhere within 100 feet of the house gets him barking and, as Spike is the backup barker, it gets a bit crazy when someone has the temerity to close a car door across the street at 3 am.

  When we walk them we have to be alert to other dogs approaching on the same path. Radar has a thing about dogs that are bigger than him... and some that are smaller. Ok, he has a thing about all other dogs. Spike is afraid of small children having to do with some abuse when he was a puppy. Put all this together and you start to understand why walking them in an isolated backcountry area is the perfect activity.

  Other than that, the dogs are easy to care for. They're easy to feed, eating kibble and canned wet food, and they're relaxed in the car. Since it's unlikely we'll encounter dogs on this trip that are laid back surfer dudes I'm going to rate these guys an "A".

  The only other thing worth mentioning is the robot vacuum cleaner. Why would I mention this? It's not like I have to clean the floors, right? Well, it's an old robot and it doesn't have much battery capacity and it doesn't hold much dirt. Put all that together and it never finishes. We start it up when we go out and, when we return, we find it's a) charging and getting ready to terrorize us, or b) dead because it couldn't make it back to the charger or c) full. We don't resolve any of these issues until we're ready to go out again because it's FUCKING LOUD and we don't want it to run when we're here. Before we leave I clean it out and re-start it so that it can vacuum all the same places it did before it stopped, then stop again. You get the picture. It's like Robot Vac Groundhog Day around here.

  To sum it all up, it's like home. Someone else's home, but home just the same. In eight days (I did say I was counting the days) we hit the road again on our way to San Francisco and there will be a whole new list of things to get used to. In fact, I received an email detailing six pages of instructions yesterday. It's only two weeks this time so all the crazy things the owner wants us to do shouldn't drive me crazy. I know it won't drive Penny crazy because nothing drives her crazy... except me. Until then, it's time to start the robot again.

Scenic and Scary

  We've had a very interesting couple of days since our last episode. Wednesday was laid back as we'd been doing a lot and just wanted a day to chill. Thursday, it was back to work! As I mentioned earlier, we planned to kayak on Watson Lake so off we went so we could get on the lake before the sun got too high.

  Like all our time here in Arizona, the weather was perfect; clear blue sky and temps in the high 20's. If I haven't said so before, the sun here is crazy hot. The air temperature might be very comfortable but, when you're in the sun, it seems so much hotter. Because of that we made sure we were off the water by 11 am so we wouldn't fry.

  Watson is an artificial lake which submerged an area of hoodoos, leaving the weird rock formations sticking out of the water. It's an incredibly beautiful spot and, being able to paddle right up to the rocks makes for an interesting trip:

  After our two hours on the water we headed into Prescott for Mexican Chocolate Lattes. Good decision 😋. It's something we'll partake of again before we leave in ten days. We topped the day off getting an oil change... we know how to have fun.

  Yesterday was another exploring day but, this time, I suggested we go further afield. Atlas Obscura turned up some interesting spots around Tucson, which is a 3 1/2 hour drive from here, so it became a full-day excursion to an area of Arizona we'd never seen before. The first thing we encountered was the only stretch of metric highway, Interstate 19, in the entire country:

  Our first stop was the Titan Missile Museum midway between Tucson and the Mexican border. Well, it's not really a museum -- it's a decommissioned Titan II missile silo and you take a guided tour down into it. What a scary place! Our guide was stationed there in the 1970's and told us everything about living and working there while knowing at any moment he might be ordered to kill millions of people.

  This silo, and eighteen others like it around Tucson, were constructed after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The Titan II missiles carried 9 megaton warheads and were designed using a new aerozine fuel that allowed the rocket to be stored in the silo fully fueled and able to be launched within three minutes of receiving the order. This was a major improvement over the Titan I which, using liquid oxygen, could only be fueled immediately before launch so had to be stored above ground. Since Soviet missiles could reach the U.S. in thirty minutes, the new development provided a serious retaliatory threat which established MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) and significantly reduced the chance that the USSR could carry out a pre-emptive attack.

  There is a missile on display in the silo with a dummy warhead, of course. This silo is one of the ones agreed upon during the SALT talks in the 1990's that would be open to Russian inspection at all times.

This picture is taken through the glass opening in the silo doors, designed to allow Russian spy satellites to view the missile from above to ensure it has not been re-armed:

  During the tour we were led into the control room where we were given a demonstration of exactly how a launch order would be carried out.

 

The safe where the launch orders were kept. There were two copies to be decoded by the two on-duty officers independently to ensure the message was decoded accurately.

  The underground spaces where crew were stationed were isolated from the surrounding 4-foot thick walls by a series of springs and shock absorbers to help them withstand the shock of a nearby airstrike or a launch from the silo. Of course, if there was an actual Soviet missile strike within a mile the site would have been obliterated, a possibility they all lived with throughout their time stationed there.

Walking from the control room to the silo... note the shock absorbers every six feet along both walls:

  Our guide also explained how the advanced (for the time) guidance system functioned and why it was so much more advanced that the Russians', which didn't become apparent until after the USSR fell. Finally, in a conversation with Penny and I he revealed he had been on duty in 1977 when a new radar detection system had mistakenly announced a launch of twelve Soviet missiles. President Jimmy Carter was airborne in his flying command post and averted WW III by deducing the USSR wouldn't have launched only twelve of their thousands of nuclear weapons and decided not to launch a retaliatory strike. Very scary stuff.

  Back above ground, the next stop on our adventure was to visit the border town of Nogales. Why? Back in 2018, Donald Trump's wall-building effort was in full swing and Nogales was in the news as he took a sleepy, peaceful border town whose residents were close with their Mexican counterparts and severed it with a 30 foot tall monstrosity, subsequently covered in razor wire:

  The town and its residents have never recovered. It's an example of how the shady politics of Trump and his followers have ruined some innocent peoples' lives and was worth seeing up close. While we were taking this picture there was activity all around with Border Patrol vehicles speeding up and down the surrounding streets... a bit like a war zone.

  Finally, because we were in the neighbourhood, we headed to Tombstone, the site of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral.

  Yeah, it's a giant tourist trap but we did spend some time in the Boot Hill Cemetery where we saw the graves of the gunfight's losers and some other unfortunates:

  That capped off a very long and hugely impactful day for both of us. Of course, on the return trip Atlas Obscura did direct us to an oddity we just had to see. Between Phoenix and Tucson lies the Coronado Spy Satellite Calibration Site. Here's what it looks like from the sky:

... and here's what the middle of it looks like from the ground... in the dark:

  Now that we've seen most of what Arizona has to offer we'll relax a bit for the next few days as the temperatures start to climb into the mid-30's. We'll likely head up to Sedona in the next week, do some hiking there, play some golf, etc. Because of it's high altitude it will be a refreshing spot to get out of the increasing heat. Until then, cheers!

You Got Some 'Splorin' To Do Lucy!

   Finally, some pictures to show you. No more food talk. Promise. We did some exploring the past three days and had a great time doing it.

  Even though we're just north of the Sonoran Desert here in Prescott there's more than sand and cacti. On Sunday, we decided to have a look at the three lakes that surround us here in the valley: Lynx, Goldwater and Watson. We took the dogs with us for a hike around Lynx Lake and they enjoyed it immensely:

  Especially Radar!

  Fortunately, Penny had his leash so I didn't get wet when he came out and shook all that wet fur 😁. Spike, being a much more considerate guy, just got his feet wet.

  After a long walk the dogs were tired so we dropped them at home and checked out Goldwater and Watson. We decided we wanted to spend some quality time at Watson so we left it for Tuesday. We finished the day with some GREAT BBQ (sorry... food).

  Monday was much cooler and not a great day for hiking, kayaking or biking so we did some ramblin' around the Prescott area. Penny had never seen saguaro cactus so we drove south towards Phoenix. Just southeast of Prescott the elevation drops substantially (from 5,300' to 2,500') and you enter the Sonoran Desert, with lots and lots of these:

  After wandering around the area a bit we headed back north to Montezuma Castle National Monument. The name is a bit misleading as Montezuma wasn't associated with the place at all. However, the natives built some impressive dwellings 800 years ago:

  It's worth noting the bottom image shows the lower part of a five story apartment building. There was no mention about how much the condo fees were but it's apparent they didn't spend much on maintenance.

  Continuing on our loop around the area, we headed west to Jerome, which lies midway between Prescott and Sedona. It's supposed to be an abandoned gold mining town but we saw a lot of people living there. The town is supposed to be the most vertically built town in America. It sits at 5,200' and most of the roads and buildings climb the surrounding hills:

... and the aforementioned gold mine...

  We completed our jaunt with a wonderful twisty drive to the top of Mt. Mingus at 7,000':

  Today, it was time to check out Watson Lake so we rented e-bikes. What a hoot!

  For those of you not familiar with these contraptions, they're fat tire bikes with electric pedalling assist. They don't do all the work but they do make those hill climbs so much easier. We headed off on the Prescott Peavine Trail, which is an old mining railroad bed through some incredibly scenic territory surrounding the lake:

  If there are any rock climbers in the audience (David) this place is a bouldering paradise. There were amazing climbs all around us everywhere around the lake. Here are a couple of views out over the lake itself. We'll be back later in the week to do some kayaking and it should be epic!

  After all the 'splorin' the past few days we're going to take it easy tomorrow. Penny blew out her flip flop yesterday but didn't step on a pop top. Fortunately, there's a booze in the blender, and soon it will render, that frozen concoction that helps us hang on 😎. Till next time, cheers!

Food, Glorious Food

   As seasoned travelers, Penny and I are always on the lookout for the unusual things that make the places we visit unique. It might be stumbling upon the Pantheon (down the block from the 2018 award-winning Best Croissant in Paris), or sleeping in a thatched hut on a white sand beach in Thailand, snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, or hot air ballooning in Albuquerque. The one thing we are guaranteed to seek out is the local food. This trip has been no exception.

  There won't be any pictures in this episode as I'm not one of those people who takes pictures of food. Sorry. You'll just have to read all the words today.

  First, let's agree on some parameters. All big-chain roadside food is shit. When you eat it you're stuck because you've been driving for hours and you're so hungry you'd eat roadkill if it was served with a side of fries. That eliminates the vast majority of food outlets in North America. That leaves the local, family-owned eateries, where quality can be hard to find unless you have insider information. Fortunately, along with Atlas Obscura, I never travel without TripAdvisor. Before we go to a restaurant anywhere in the world I consult my foodie bible and see what the locals think are the best places to eat.

  This trip has been no exception. Aside from a desperation breakfast at McDonalds we've managed to avoid all the big names... until today. Today I checked one place off my bucket list.

  In-N-Out Burger is a California-based chain that has the reputation as the best fast food burger around. They only exist in the southwest so this was our opportunity to test drive it. A quick Internet search revealed a "secret menu" and, if requested, they would prepare your burger "animal style" which means they fry your burger in mustard, top it with their special sauce, pickles and chopped grilled onions.

  Well, after savouring this masterpiece, two cheeseburger patties topped with the aforementioned "animal style" fixin's (plus chopped chiles) on a buttered, toasted bun, I have to say this is the best fast food burger going. Juicy, tasty, tangy, a 10/10. It was so good I needed a smoke afterwards.

  Just a side note, should you find yourself at said establishment skip the fries... bland, thin potato strings. Also, don't be tempted by the shakes -- some kind of glue masquerading as a drink. Stick with a cold Coke or Dr. Pepper and enjoy the burger on its own.

  Ok, enough about restaurants as we're living in someone's house, not a hotel. That means we get to cook and live like locals. As I mentioned in the last episode, we're doing what we like to call "supermarket discovery". We've now visited each of the four local markets. Walmart is the same as every other Walmart in North America, so I won't bore you. Our neighbours, here in our little old, rich, white people enclave, swear by Sprouts which is great but very expensive. That leaves Safeway and Fry's, both of which we've visited the past few days.

  Both of these markets carry a similar selection of foods but, wow, what a selection! During our last visit we discovered thirty feet of shelving dedicated to all things Mexican. They also have an entire wall display of tortillas in umpteen varieties. If you love Mexican food like we do, welcome to Nirvana! Yesterday Penny made chicken enchiladas with green chile sauce  from Hatch, NM -- the best. Today we picked up a jar of avocado salsa, a bag of salsa verde chips and a jug of Jose Cuervo pre-mixed margaritas. Sounds like lunch to me 😉.

  That's just an example of the cool stuff these stores carry that we can't find back home. We found so many cool packaged sauces that we're planning on smuggling them back across the border. And we haven't been to Costco yet. I hear they just released frozen bbq brisket burnt ends which will go well with the jalapeno corn bread mix we bought today.

  Yes, we love to eat and eating the local stuff when we travel makes it so much more enjoyable and memorable. Like I mentioned in the first episode, Penny and I remember what we ate and drank on our first trip to Florida in 1982.

  Now that I've bored you with all this food talk, stay tuned for some fun stuff upcoming in the next few days. We'll be kayaking, e-biking and doing a scavenger hunt in downtown Prescott. And maybe some eating and drinking too. Cheers!

Settling In

   We've been here four days now and starting to settle in. We've done some exploring around Prescott and Prescott Valley so things are starting to look a little less foreign around here. The dogs have become our buddies and we spend a couple of hours every day taking them for walks in the surrounding hills and trails. Here's a sample of the views we get during our walks:

One amusing image I found on a trash can designed for dog walkers to deposit their dogs' deposits:

  Speaking of Radar and Spike, yes, they are well-trained. They walk and heel, sit/stay, come when you call them, etc. Oh yes, and they go absolutely batshit crazy if anything anywhere near the house makes a noise, moves, breathes, farts... you get the picture. Yesterday a Jehovah's Witness came to the door. They won't make that mistake again. Emily, the homeowner, has been receiving lots of packages and the dogs go nuts with every delivery. The backyard sprinklers are automatic. Whenever they turn on, you guessed it. Otherwise, they're wonderful.

  We played golf today although the course was nothing special. We played with a local father and son and had an enjoyable 14 holes. Penny and I were done after that as it was getting windy and cool and we were hungry and tired. Oh, and neither of us could hit the ball by then. I'm chalking it up to the three hour time difference. That is, I'm pretty sure I hit my tee shot on 14 about 3 times zones away. There is a terrific looking layout nearby the house but I figured we needed to warm up on something easier first. After today I think we still need a warm up.

  Our first real grocery outing was today and, if you haven't shopped for groceries in the U.S., the selection is both enormous and interesting. It took a lot of willpower to not fill the cart with every new thing we saw. There's time yet. Tomorrow's plan is chicken and green chile enchiladas. If you like Mexican food then this is the place.

  The weekend is wide open so no idea what trouble we'll get into but I'll be sure to let you know. Watch this space!

Welcome to Prescott Valley

  Good riddance to Gallup! Sunday was spent on the road to Prescott Valley, AZ and it was not without incident.

  First, we stopped at Petrified Forest National Park which includes the Painted Desert. The actual painting only really occurs during sunrise and sunset when the angle of the sun causes the sandstone to glow in many different shades of red, orange and yellow. Since we were there around midday we didn't see any of that although all the tourists pointing and staring were sure it was happening. Having seen it myself back in the 70's I can attest to the beauty of it -- it just wasn't there at midday Sunday.

  We did spend some time checking out the bits of petrified wood which were quite fascinating. For those of you who are curious as to how this occurs, I'll explain as best I can after digesting the Park Service info sheet.

  About 200 million years ago, before the continents drifted apart, this area was about 10 degrees north of the equator, equivalent to modern Costa Rica. Consequently, there was a large rainforest on the site and, as trees fell, they sank into waterways and swamps, Once underwater, with no oxygen to enable decomposition, the wood absorbed silicas which gradually displaced organic material. As more and more silt covered them the weight of the upper layers compressed the silica, forming opalines and, eventually, quartzite, which is what we find today. As the area started to shift upwards to form the modern plateau, the logs, brittle with dense quartzite, shattered and left fragment across the landscape, which is how we see them now.

  I hope you understood that... I'll be asking questions later. Also, for the picky geologists in the audience, any errors are mine so don't complain to the National Park Service. Did I mention I'm not a geologist? Anyway, here are a few pics from the park:

This image came from what they call "Newspaper Rock" which was covered in petroglyphs:

Although the following look like rocks they are actually very good examples of petrified wood:

  After we left the park we made a couple of stops because they were there. First, the giant rabbit at the Jackrabbit Trading Post:

  I mean, who doesn't want to ride a giant rabbit? Am I right? The next stop was in Winslow, AZ, and all the Eagles fans in the audience know what that means...

  Once we finished with sightseeing we hightailed it to Prescott Valley. Well, maybe lowtailed is more appropriate. When we arrived at Flagstaff Google informed us there was a 45 minute delay on I-17 so the 90 minute trip was going to run more like 2 1/2 hours. We decided to go through Sedona instead -- same elapsed time but far more entertaining than a 20 mile traffic jam! Although we don't have pictures as the drive required all my driving skills and concentration suffice to say it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever done. We'll be back that way and we'll get pictures later.

  We finally arrived at our house sitting job and met Emily and her two dogs, Spike

 and Radar:

  Emily doesn't have the use of her legs due to an accident 30 years ago so she's confined to a wheelchair. Having said that she doesn't use it as an excuse, being more active that most people we know. She was a dominant figure in wheelchair marathons 25 years ago and age has not slowed her down. She just left for Alaska for the next two weeks where she's joining a group that will trek to Denali. After that she's meeting up with a cruise down the Inside Passage to Vancouver, returning home in three weeks. When she's home she has a recumbent bicycle she rides around town or uses her motorized chair to take the dogs out for 90 minute walks morning and evening.

  Her house is small but very open and nicely finished. We're in a subdivision right next to some small mountains and desert scrub.

  There are lots of trails for hiking and dog walking, a beautiful golf course nearby and a 5 mile drive to shops and a billion restaurants. Yesterday we went into the main part of Prescott for breakfast and stumbled upon a bistro that served us Brisket Benedict with poblanos. Love at first bite! The fam can look for that at an upcoming New Years brunch 😋.

  The weather has been perfect since we arrived, with temps in the high-20's (C) and lots of sun. We've spent the past two days getting to know Emily and the dogs and, with Emily's departure this morning, it's just us and the guys.

  The dogs are very well trained and there's lots of space to let them off-leash in the bush above us. They're pretty good at coming when you call them although Spike gave us a bit of a scare this morning when he disappeared for ten minutes. He eventually showed up with a big smile on his face so no harm done.

  With cooler temps rolling in for the next few days we may get out on a golf course. Even though it hasn't been super hot, being in the sun makes it feel that way. Like everyone says about the west, it's a dry heat. Blistering sun but dry heat.

  Ok, now for the skill-testing question I mentioned earlier. If a train leaves Los Angeles at 2:00 pm traveling east and another train leaves New York at 4:00 pm traveling west, who won the 1946 World Series?