Tombstone, AZ

I went to Tombstone, AZ, the other day to help Wyatt Earp clean up the town. We had to run some rowdy tourists out of town! The town has changed a little bit since 1880.

Happy Valentine's Day

I can't believe it has been over a month since I last posted. I have been busy, not my photographer has not been taking any pictures.
The day after the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Cousin Jim received a phone call with the sad news that his mother passed away. She was almost 98 years old and still active until the end--in fact she had just returned home to Iowa from a trip to Minnesota to see her daughter and grandchildren (and great-grandchildren). Up until the trip, she was still driving her car and went to the local nursing home weekly to help the "old people" play bingo.
When Jim returned from Iowa after the funeral, we parked the motor home in the Palm Springs, CA, area. We attended the Bob Hope Classic Golf Tournament, but since cameras were not allowed, there are no pictures of me on any of the four golf courses.
Jim and Pat met their friends Rod and Joyce (Aurora, CO) several times to play golf. They also took me and Sami to the College of the Desert Street Fair, where there are hundreds of vendors on weekends. Mostly, we have been enjoying the nice weather (between rainstorms) and glad to not have to shovel snow.
We will be going to Lake Havasu City again for a week and then to St. David, AZ, before attending a rally in Las Cruces, NM.
Hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day. I may take Betty out for dinner.
Warmest regards, Gus

Sierra Madre Float

Here is the City of Sierra Madre float (California Girls) in the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade. This is the float I help prepare flowers for and you can see some pictures of the unfinished float in a previous blog.
I sure had a great time at the parade. The flowers on the floats look so much better in person than on T.V. The weather was great today and I really recommend that you attend the parade some year.
The New Mexico float was very nice, too. It was called "Enchantment is in the Air," and it won the Grand Marshal's Trophy for most creative concept and design.
Happy New Year!
Gus

New Year's Eve

I took Betty to a dance on New Year's Eve. We had a good time and sure glad we brought in the new year on New York time. We were back home by 9:30 California time!
I had to get up at 5:00 in the morning to get to the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Sierra Madre Princesses

Here I am with three of the Sierra Madre Princesses who will be riding on the float on January 1st. They will be among the "California Girls" sailing and windsurfing. Watch for this float in the parade, as I got to help prepare some of the roses which will decorate the float.
Warmest regards.

Tournament of Roses

Yesterday I got to help decorate the City of Sierra Madre float for the Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1st. In addition to glueing seeds onto the float, I helped trim roses in preparation to placing them on the float during the hours leading up to the parade. The theme of the parade is "2010: A Cut Above the Rest." The City of Sierra Madre's entry is called "California Girls" and will be entry number 64 in the parade.
Gus

Wine Tasting

Jim & Pat took me wine tasting today in Temecula, CA. We found some very nice wines and met some really nice people. The Temecula area has developed into quite the wine producing area. There are several dozen wineries and most of the grapes are grown locally. They do import some grapes from other vineyards in CA and some from other states. Many of the wineries are less than five years old.
The Wiens Family Cellars that we visited today only produces about 9,000 cases of wine per year and sells most of it from the premises and through its wine club.
As is true for many wineries in the area, the wine is available in some restaurants but generally not available
in the stores.
Hope you had a nice Christmas.

Warmest regards, Gus