Final Roundup

Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Tucson

This is the "down day" that we've been promising ourselves!  We usually build one or two into each trip and somehow they got used up other ways this time!  We've been sitting around with Auntie Edna trading family stories, working on our blogs, enjoying coffee in the cool morning air and eating fresh sweet corn!  It is so relaxing and I feel as though I'm part of Auntie Edna's family.  It really does feel like home here.  The stories about Marilyn's father, after his passing, would make a remarkable movie!

These little guys are so much fun to watch!

This little tease only hung around for a moment!

Marilyn is getting AE hooked up with Ancestry.com so they can both work on their family tree.

I'm all caught up with my blog and have to start figuring out which pictures I want to put in a Shutterfly book and on a CD to inflict on unsuspecting friends!  Later we will go see AE's church which was built on Native American sacred ground and has petroglyphs.  They are currently hosting a two-week retreat for fifty-two people from all around the world!

I've managed to get everything in my suitcase!  (Never mind that there are three packages scheduled to arrive at my house after I do!)  Marilyn hasn't tried to pack yet;  hope that works out well!!

Ah!  Time has past and Marilyn has been successful!  And while she was packing Auntie Edna showed me a DVD with lots of footage of Marilyn's dad, who died when she was five.

Now we're off to the Redemptorist Retreat Center, just a few miles away.

It is quite a lovely place and we get the full tour, including the reception desk where Auntie Edna works, the large dining hall, the beautiful library, the motel area where the retreat guests stay and the petroglyphs and stations of the cross.

The reception desk with inlaid wood.

Entry to the sanctuary with hand-carved wooden doors with stained glass.

Labyrinth

While we are up the hill we see a poisonous lizard who carries his tail like a scorpion when he is angry, a couple of chip monks and A COYOTE!!  The coyote only showed his face for a moment and the chip monks dive for cover really quickly!

One of the many petroglyph panels

This is the rock wall covered with them.

This is the poisonous lizard

If you look closely you can see his tail curled toward his back.  It is black and white striped.

The serenity of the center is so pervasive;  what a joy it would be to do a retreat here! There are so many lovely decorative touches, too, like this light.

Home for a salad and quesadillas for dinner and our last night with Auntie Edna before catching our plane tomorrow.  It's been so wonderful!!