Art Festival, Gem Show and Trikes!

Art Festival, Gem Show and Trikes!
(Sorry about the photos being all over the place...don't know why I can't keep them in place but they seem to move from the time I write to the time I publish the blog...oh well, I'm sure you can figure it out!...enjoy)

 

A lot has been happening in the past week or so.  The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is going on this month.  It is HUGE!  There are about 32 locations around Tucson for this show and the show goes almost all month long.  Some of the locations are in hotels where they book a whole floor, remove all the furniture from the suites and each vendor sets up their own little store there.  Other places are stadiums or outdoor open spaces where huge tents are erected and vendors from all over the world come to sell their goods.   It is amazing.  To give it some perspective…the one site we went to was about the size of the PNE grounds…so many things to look at.  Vendors are selling everything from high end jewels to rocks with crystals or fossils in them.  There are a few places carrying clothing or purses but most are selling gems or minerals.  We saw these white marble sculptures at one of the vendors’ tents and thought we might buy them to put in front of the mansion…oh, and then we remembered we didn’t have a mansion.  Oh well, we didn’t buy anything but it was sure fun to look!




And we had a “Full Moon Rising Party” with some friends here at the RV Park.  You’d think we’d never seen the moon before…sheesh!  Anyway, it was simply an excuse to get together and have a few drinks, a pot luck dinner and spend some time together. The party got big enough that it spilled out of the site and onto the street! We’ve met a lot of really good people here and had some good times with them.  Our next party is scheduled for Valentine’s Day…should be fun!

There are things going on almost every day of the week at the RV Park.  They have indoor things like Scrabble tournaments or cards, water aerobics, swimming, yoga, quilting, etc., and outdoor games like horseshoes, bocce or ladder ball.  There are golf outings for those who golf and lots of other organized activities to take part in.  You truly can be as busy (or lazy) as you want to be

The Tubac Arts Festival was happening this past weekend as well.  It began on Wednesday and went through to Sunday…amazing things there too!  There are three main streets in Tubac and they were all lined with vendor tents on both sides.  Tubac is fun to go spend some time in on a normal day but this was amazing. There were lots of high end hand-crafted goods and so many artists!  There were metal arts, paintings, scratch art, amazing carvings and jewelry.  I bought a couple pair of earrings the first time we went…yes, I said the “first time”…I had to go back with the girls (good friends
Helene and Audrey) another time and enjoy the festival again!  We wandered the streets, stopped for a beer and lunch then wandered some more.  They were offering horse drawn wagon rides around town and so we hopped on.   It was great fun.  I’m sorry I don’t have pictures though but I forgot my camera that day.

And now we’re getting to some exciting news…I got a new bike!  Well, actually it’s a trike.  Now for all of you laughing right now picturing me on one of those three wheelers like the kids used to ride, you can just stop…this is my trike!  Yes, it’s a recumbent trike. It is the most fun I’ve had in a long time as well.   It steers from handlebars under the seat, has 21 speeds of which I will likely use 3 or 4, and is the closest thing to a lazy boy recliner that I could find!   All it needs is a big screen TV hooked up to the front and we’re good to go!  It is incredibly comfortable to sit in.  There’s no stress on your shoulders or on your hands (my hands tended to fall asleep on a regular bike).  Anyway, I love it and have already put quite a few miles on it.  If you’re lucky, I’ll let you try it when I see you!

Well, that’s about all for now.  We are going to Tombstone tomorrow with Jim and Helene (our friends from Castlegar) and so will have more lots stories to tell you when we get back.    Hope you all are enjoying a little bit of springtime…it’s warm as could be down here!  Tom is outside getting a tan…I think I’ll just mosey off for another bike ride…see you later!