Feb 1: We went to our favorite state park, Patagonia State Park. We were happy to see the birding trail as now open!
Luckily we did not run into this aggressive cow! In fact we only seen one cow, across the stream eating greens.. He pretty much ignored us.
We began our Pickleball lessons on Wednesday. 2 hours of intense workouts! We thought it would be more fun but these coaches are very serious! We did learn a lot and have a lot more to learn. today we practiced serving and returning the serve. Our lessons are from 3-5 which is normally our sitting outside, having a drink and listening to the radio time.
Another cold front came in.. 23 deg this am with windchill feels like 17! The coldest front in a couple of years. Too cold to swim outside so Eric went to the indoor pool, which is much longer, 86 deg and made for laps. I tried the fitness center but of the dozen people in there, I was the only one wearing a mask. On Friday morning the temp was in the mid 20's again. Eric thought its not too cold for a swim outside. He got 3 laps in before they came to close the pool! they are afraid someone will get out of the pool, drip water, the water freezes, someone else walks on it and slips and falls..
Our weather is expected to improve this week, with 40 being the low from now on.. we hope anyway.
Feb 8: on our morning walk we went 1.6 miles when we ran into two cows on the path. They won! we turned around...
Walking the De Anza trail near the golf course: Big Foot!
Feb 5: up to the mountains for todays hike..
Feb 10: Eric left early for a flight to MSP. We could not get a direct flight from Tucson to MSP. His flight from Tucson to LAX was MIA. An empty plane finally showed up, they quickly boarded and took off. He originally had about 60 minutes between flights. Now its about 30 minutes but when they arrive at LAX there is a plane at their gate!!! They finally deplaned with 18 minutes before take off. Eric managed to get on his plane with a minute to spare! Why we really don't like connecting flights...
LA Super Bowl venue....
Temperature in St Paul: 25, snow and wind. Temperature in Green Valley: 74, sunny, light winds.
Ray volunteered to deice the windshield. No Hat!! He is out of practice.
We looked for the Louisiana Waterthrush up in the mountain at least 8-10 times, we finally found it! We found the Rufous Backed Robin and the Painted Redstart before finding the Waterthrush.
The Rufous Backed Robin is a visitor from Mexico, rarely seen in the US
We walked that path back and forth and as soon as we were gone someone would find it. But yesterday we stayed the course and found it! It was a cold and rainy day. After finding that elusive bird we wanted to walk a bit more but the rain was consistent. We went to the local casino. Masks were required by everyone, no eating, drinking or smoking in the gambling area. We got to play for awhile, Eric lost $1 and I won $8. Its been a long time since we enjoyed a session..
Our Pickleball lesson was postponed until Thursday because of the rain. We had a beautiful day on Thurs. Learning a lot and getting better!
Saturday we went to Longhorn Grill in Amado:
there are only 3 outdoor tables but they have a tent set up in back for music, drink, food and line dancing lessons! We were able to get a table and order food while enjoying the dancing and music. The food was really good, smoked meats. We will try it again for lunch sometime.
Another bird that has been eluding us is the Virginia Rail:
Pied Billed Grebe eating a frog!
Another great read❤️
ReplyDelete