Sunday April 10th 2022

Sunday morning and another six o’clock start, Mr. Sam heard me stir and I heard him leave his cat bed and run to the bedroom to greet me, to be real honest I am moving a little slow today, too many activities over too many days, and it seems to be taking a toll. After Sam’s treats, I’m allowed some lap time, and with the Wordle complete it’s on to the blog, as I watch the sun rise over the mountain range. This is our Friday, and I’m looking forward to a busy day in the admissions booth, sitting on my butt, followed by a happy hour at Tom & Kathleen’s coach, before some YouTube videos and back to my bed.

So now that I have my day all planned out, let’s see how it actually plays out, HoneyNut Corn Flakes for breakfast, of course my Irish blessed fresh perked coffee with my old fart vitamin as a chaser. We are watching Willie Geist, as we prepare to venture off to the admissions booth, 7:45 coach departure seems to work the best, the five minute walk, and ten minutes to get prepared, and ready to accept visitors by the eight o’clock opening time. Well it was a busy day with just over eight hundred and fifty visitors, and although I do get tired of saying the same greeting over and over again, we still get excited when someone exits the arboretum, and you can see that they have fallen in love with this magical place. We regularly get people that have been to many, many, gardens and then we hear them singing the praises of this arboretum.

The arboretum just celebrated its 98th year on last Friday, and today I bet at least twenty five percent of our visitors have never been here before. I’m back to calling it “Arizona’s best kept secret”, word of mouth is our best form of advertisement, and still with as many growing pains as the arboretum has right now, most visitors never see those issues. This is without a doubt the best deal for a arboretum or garden in the State of Arizona and I’m thinking maybe any where west of the Mississippi.

Oh our days are not always as smooth as they may sound, like today a rescued greyhound escaped from its owners grasp and ran into the arboretum, so Miss Laurie went to try to help wrangle the dog, it made it well into the arboretum before it could be captured. The fear of what could happen is just so great, as people get off the designated pathways to help, and most things in Arizona either want to stab or bite you. About fifteen minutes later the owner and the dog make their way back up the path, and no one seemed any worse for the experience, we like pets, but way too many of the dogs brought to the park are not well enough trained or mannered, it is not a dog issue, but actually a owner issue.

I finished the long shift today, Miss Laurie went to the coach for a short nap and to prepare some snacks for happy hour with the Andersons, today was just about perfect at 75°F (24°C), nothing but sunshine, and a light southerly breeze, a great temperature for a beverage or two. Followed by dinner and American Idol before a well deserved rest.

Monday morning and the first of our three days off this week, our workdays are shifting again to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Miss Lynnea has a injury to her knee and she needs to be off of it, which has proven to be a difficult ask, so she is going to work the admissions booth on Sundays, forcing her to stay seated for most of the day. So our work schedule has changed, but obviously not mine because I’m awake again at six o’clock, and while Mr. Sam did get his morning treats, I did not get any lap time today, I guess he had a better offer somewhere else.

The overnight low was 52°F (10°C) which is not too bad at all and by 8am the temperature is up to 64°F (16°C) with the forecast high today of 81°F (27°C) by 2pm, todays humidity is 26% with a WSW breeze of 8 mph. We went for a walk in the arboretum this morning at seven o’clock and got some great photos today’s blossoms, below are a few of the blooms.

After our walk we had breakfast on the patio, as the U.S. Air Force jets streaked across the cloudless blue sky. A regular event, I’m assuming there is a base in Tucson, and we are only a little more than an hour north of Tucson by car. Mr. Sam is stalking his little gecko friends, Miss Laurie is pulling weeds (I know that is hard to imagine) and I’m in one of the anti-gravity chairs typing away on my iPad. We are surrounded by blooming aloes, so lots of hummingbirds, there are a couple dozen buzzards circling over head, so I don’t want to fall asleep.

We have been invited for dinner and drinks on Wednesday by the staff at the arboretum, all the host volunteers are invited, this should be somewhat interesting, as some of the hosts have been off sick for a couple of weeks, and others are barely speaking, so like I said it could prove to be very interesting, my money is on the sick ones being there, and there being a splinter group that separates away from the main group. Now I hope I’m wrong about this but I’m usually not.

A toasted tuna sandwich for lunch, and I may have had a small nap in the antigravity chair on the patio, and as luck would have it I think we got a preview for Wednesday night. Lincoln’s parents flew in yesterday, so he is planning a happy hour in the common area and has invited all the host volunteers as well as Mary to meet his folks. And while it was an honour to meet Lincoln’s folks, this was not a warm and friendly group, but everyone did make an appearance, which was nice. After the happy hour, I barbecued pork chops for dinner, along with some rice, and we settled in to watch American Idol, then caught up on YouTube videos, before turning in sometime after nine o’clock.

Tuesday morning and another six o’clock start, treats for Mr. Sam, lap time for me and all is good, Wordle was not too bad today, and my steak is up to fourteen days, an Irish blessed cup of coffee, before heading out to the arboretum. Miss Laurie and I walked for two hours again today and while quiet and beautiful, we are a day or two till the next bunch of cactus blooms, that big white cactus bloom only lasts for one day, all that intricately and complexity for just one day.

Breakfast this morning was a green chilli omelet, and by ten o’clock we were on the patio under the shade of the awning, Mr. Sam is again on gecko watch, and I’m poking away at this keyboard on my iPad, Miss Laurie is working on laundry and as we close in on eleven o’clock we are well up into the seventies (upper twenties), with sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.

Today was just a relax day, it’s too warm to finish off the couple of roof projects, there are a couple of cooler days forecast for next week. With only three week till departure I need to start preparing, and if our schedule stays the same, we work the three days before our departure. I’m starting to map possible routes, as well as look for overnight spots along each route, there is the I-5 route, the I-15 route and something up the middle, which is a combination of many highways some federal, some state, and having never done this trek, I may have look to some YouTubers for their ideas, fuel prices will be a contributing factor, as I-5 runs through California, which has the highest prices.

Tom & Kathleen stopped by for happy hour, they had a school trip class today, and I understand it went well. There had been a rumour of a lady getting bit by a rattlesnake, on her foot, apparently she stepped on it, so I’m thinking maybe she was not on the pathway, but no confirmation yet one way or the other. We are all looking forward to the thank you dinner tomorrow evening (nudge, nudge, wink, wink), and are planning going over early to maybe pre-drink just a little, we heard that is a thing. Kathleen and I discussed some books, I had lent Kathleen a couple of books, one written by a Canadian explorer, the other was about technical diving on a sunken passenger ship that sank in the St. Lawrence River, possibly sank by a German submarine at the time of World War Two.

After happy hour, dinner was tacos, for Taco Tuesday, a little world news, followed by an episode of Outlaws on Prime, and then we caught this week episode of This is Us on NBC, we are finally caught up, then off to bed at around nine o’clock, we shut the air conditioners off and opened the coach windows, as the evening temperatures drop and a nice breeze picks up.

Wednesday and I’m awake a little earlier this morning, it’s just after five o’clock, it was still dark out, but Mr. Sam was ok with an early start as long as his treats were on the agenda, didn’t get as lucky with Wordle today, my eclectic list of starting words either mays me a hero or a zero, but so far more wins than losses. Another walk through the arboretum this morning after Miss Laurie rose, a two hour wander that brings us in each day with around 2.5 miles (4 kilometres) the temperatures are around 60°F (14°C) when we leave the coach and are near 70°F (18°C) when we finish.

Today was a good wildlife day as Miss Laurie seen a coyote as well as some javelins in the arboretum on our hike today, no photo of the coyote and only one photo of the javelina. I got some decent photos this morning as well, below is a few snaps from today.

Now I could tell you how it is almost too hot here today, but not wanting to annoy of the folks back in Canada, let’s just say I’m sitting in the shade with a cold beverage in hand as the mercury pushes past the 80°F (24°C), and we are still well before noon. I see a little drizzle in the forecast for our friends back at LHR (Lake Huron Resort) is on the way, but it’s these April showers that bring on those May flowers, or at least that’s how the rhythm goes. I’m sure everyone back at LHR is chomping at the bit, for May the first to roll around and the start of the Ontario camping season.

This evening is our volunteer thank you dinner, and it is being held at Porter’s in Superior, there are only five host couples left here at the arboretum, and we were hosted by Lynn, Lynnea, Shelbi, John, and Emily. Porter’s is a beer and burgers kind of place, we have visited there before, and the food is good, but the service has never been the quickest, and with fifteen sitting down and ordering all at once, some body is going to be last, so tonight it was my turn, my burger eventually got there as everyone else was finishing, the burger was fine, but of course no one down here in the States makes French fries well, I assume that is why every place has some type of loaded fries on their menu. It was a good evening, but a very noisy one with everyone talking over everyone else. But after three drafts it all seemed ok, again the Superior burger with green chili that I ordered was ok, but not spectacular enough that I would order it again.

We had driven Tom & Kathleen over to Porter’s to save one vehicle, I found that it said a lot when no one else car pooled, like seriously we all live within a hundred feet of each other … quite an eclectic group of volunteers. We had enjoyed a beverage with Tom & Kathleen before the the dinner, and when we returned Kathleen and Miss Laurie went for a walk in the arboretum while Tom and I decided we had our fill of excitement for one evening and retired to our coaches.

Thursday morning and it is six o’clock, just day break and Mr. Sam is up and ready for his treats, the Wordle today ended up being a last chance guess but the sixteen day streak is still in place. Being a work day a bowl of cereal, a vitamin, and a cup of coffee with a little blessing of Irish cream. As I mentioned earlier our shift has changed again to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Lynnea is working the Sunday shift, with the idea being to keep her off of an injured knee.

Today was not busy at all, and a glance at the week’s attendance shows just over four hundred visitors a day, definitely not the numbers we used to dealing with last week. I got tapped around ten o’clock to water all the sale plants at the visitor center, and lets just say, there are still a lot of potted plants that need to be watered, with record high temperatures and a humidity of only 5%, daily watering will be required until further notice.

This is Masters Week, questionably the most important week on the golfing world calendar, this is one of the Major tournaments, that is held on a very exclusive and remarkable course in Augusta Georgia, designed by Bobby Jones (a legendary armature golfer) and Alister Mackenzie (a legendary golf course architect) on the course that opened for play in 1932 with the first Master’s tournament being played there in 1934, and I could go on about all the crazy fact and figures about the golf course, and the changes that have been made over the years, but let’s just leave it that it is a big deal in the golfing world.

In case you haven’t been able to figure it out yet, I’m a real Masters golf tournament fan. We are normally on out trek north when the Master’s is being broadcast, and we are usually stopped somewhere with the satellite dish up so I can watch. This year I have to work so I’m only able to catch an hour or two each day after work, although I will be watching all day Sunday. It is a shame that it has being turned into yet another Tiger Woods, comeback part (I have lost track of which number this comeback actually is) whatever, and the broadcasters are of course blowing this way out of portion. I wish Tiger no ill, but there are eighty nine other players that all have a story to tell as well, so let’s show the leaders of the tournament at least as much as the drama king. Anyway I got to the coach this afternoon to see the last hour of play, and thank goodness Tiger played earlier so they had to show the actual players on the course, who were the actual tournament leaders.

Friday and I roll out of bed at 5:30, we actually left the air conditioner on over night, it did cool off, but it was still very warm when we went to bed last night. Wordle today was only three guesses, and Mr. Sam did grant me some lap time this morning, with this heat all the sale plants need lots of water, so I’m heading to the resale greenhouse area to water this morning before the admission booth. A bowl of cereal, a blessed cup of fresh perked coffee with a vitamin chaser and I left the coach at seven o’clock to start my watering.

The water pressure in the arboretum this morning was good, and it still took a full two hours to water all the potted plants in the nursery, so it was nine o’clock before I made it to the admissions booth, not our usual busy Friday morning, you can tell that spring break is over and that the snowbirds are headed north. There was a high school trip in today, a very well mannered group, and there are still lots of first timers to the arboretum, so the joy of upgrading them to members is still happening.

I watered part of the sale plants at the visitor center before lunch today, only the leafy needed to be done so it took around three quarters of an hour to complete that task. The admissions booth was slow after lunch so I cashed out the overflow till and headed back to the coach around two o’clock, the second round of the Masters is on and I’m hoping to catch the last couple of hours of play. And to everyone’s heartache Tiger had not scored as well today, so every announcer had to explain why, over and over, meanwhile a new tournament leader emerged from those same terrible conditions to turn in the best round of the day.

A catch up on some of the news, dinner was a pork fajita with a couple of adult beverages, followed by shark tank, a YouTube video, and an episode of Outlaws, before turning in at 9:30. The temperature was still 75°F (22°C) and the air conditioner was still cycling occasionally so we opened a window in hope of the cool from the desert night, our forecast overnight temperature is 60°F (14°C) which is ideal for sleeping.

Saturday and Mr. Sam was pretty insistent that I should get up and get his treats, it was just a few moments after five, but I knew I had a lot of catching up on the blog with the publishing time less that 24 hours away, so he got his treats and I got to work. First the Wordle challenge, a second guess day, now up to an eighteen day streak, Mr. Sam is on my lap as I find myself in a small rant about the Masters announcers, sorry it just happens. It is looking like another beautiful sunny Arizona morning, and that just never gets old, especially as we watch another snow storm in the northeast, so I will try not to complain about the warmth here in the desert.

A bowl of cereal, and of course a cup of our special coffee with my vitamin, and a little local news as I prepare to start watering at resale greenhouse, at seven o’clock again this morning. Today was just water the leafy plants today so just a hour long task today, then to the visitor center to water the leafy sale plants there as well, I was in the admission booth by nine o’clock to assist Miss Laurie and we were over 150 visitors by nine, the day was much busier which makes the day roll by much faster. The attendance ended up being well over seven hundred and below are a few photos that I snapped today, before I cashed out to watch the Masters tournament at two o’clock.

The couple hours of the golf tournament that I watched showed that it was a chilly, blustery day in Georgia, it also showed that Tiger Woods, should never have played, as he looked like a crippled old man struggling up the hills of Augusta National. Way to early to try to stage a comeback, after almost loosing a leg in a car accident a little over a year ago. I hope that he withdraws tomorrow before he hurts himself and can’t ever play competitively again. The field is separating it self from the leaders, and it looks like a good race between about five or six players that are possible green jacket winners.

Tonight’s dinner was barbecued burgers, always a hit in our house, so after the local news, it’s looking like an evening of mindless television before turning in. Well I also have to edit this blog for publication later tonight.

Stay strong, be safe & respect yourself

Blog 412

Day 1650

Sunday April 3rd 2022

Sunday morning and if today’s Wordle is any indication of the week to come, I thinking it could be a tough week. This is our last day in the nineties as we return to normal temperatures for a few weeks before climbing back to the nineties about the same time we are preparing to pull out. Miss Laurie has had the window open at night, and we have had the air conditioners running during the day, to help Mr. Sam stay comfortable during his mid day naps.

This is the week we will say goodbye to the Savino’s as they start their summer adventures through the north western states, and we are preparing for our trek to British Columbia which now becomes my top priority. This is our Friday and after a bowl of cereal, a vitamin, and a cup of coffee with a little splash of Irish Cream and we are ready for our shift in the Arboretum. Before we started we walked into the arboretum to see the Puya, this is a plant that only blooms every ten years, and while not in full bloom yet it has opened a lot since Wednesdays walk through the arboretum.

The flower is supposed to be turquoise with orange, and while starting to open it is still a few days away. But we did have a visitor near our admissions booth this morning as a rattle snake make its way up the arboretum entrance path. Because these creatures are just part of the southwest deserts, they are just picked up and moved to a new location, usually within a couple hundred feet from where they are found. All of the staff is trained on how to handle the snakes and there are numerous snake bins located in the arboretum. Because of our unique location, this is a great hunting area for predators such as snakes and coyotes, and much to Miss Laurie’s chagrin it is just the circle of life. Here are a couple our rattler photos.

The admissions booth was not busy today as we were under six hundred visitors, the heat could be part of the issue as we are very warm for the end of March. Seems strange having this kind of heat as our friends in Ontario are hunkering down for a spring snow storm, now I have to admit, that is one of those things that we do not miss at all. I was asked to remove a couple of the stainless steel shelves from the exterior of the admissions booth, in the direst sun they get hot enough to burn some one if they lean on them, and they also seem to be a collection area for too many things. As time goes on it seems that there was little to no thought used in the design of this admissions booth, windows on four walks cause horrific reflections on the screens making the hard to see, let alone the greenhouse effect from the sun, but those issues are way above our pay grade.

After our shift we had a happy hours at Tom & Kathleen’s coach, we were joined by Lincoln and Mary, and enjoyed a variety of beverages, before Tom & Kathleen served us a barbecued salmon dinner, yea this full-timing is a tough lifestyle, being retired and enjoying life to the fullest, here with our RV family and living our best life!

We made it back to the coach to watch the end of the Oscars, apparently just after the Chris Rock / Will Smith thing, one of the benefits to being on the west coast is that we get to see the end of the Oscars for once. As I’m working on the blog it is 8:30 as the Oscar’s is ending, and we prepare to watch something else before bed, not something we are used to doing from the east coast.

Monday and it was a five thirty start for me, and yes I got some kitty lap time following those precious morning treats. Wordle could have been a multitude answers but I got lucky. Today the temperatures will be much cooler than yesterday as we get back to seasonal temperature for this time in March, there is rain in tomorrow’s forecast, and it is so badly needed here in the desert. The lasto rain storm with a measurable amount of rain was back on New Year’s Eve, so to say things are dry is a real understatement, and the fire hazard is way too high to early in the season.

As we catch up on the news this morning, Mr. Sam is pacing as he wants some outdoor time, he loves watching the geckos from his tent. He can spend hours watching them as the scurry by just out of his reach. This game of kitty and gecko goes on for hours each day, hence Mr. Sam’s great desire to get outside to his tent. So after a fried cheese omelet I took Mr. Sam to his tent while I enjoyed my coffee on the patio.

So with rain scheduled for Tuesday, today is fix the skylight day, as I had indicated earlier, I was not happy with the with the thickness of the material used for the new dual pane skylight, it is held in place by 24 screw spread along the flange. When I put it in place and tried to tighten the screws this is what the seal looked like.

As you can see, the skylight mounting flange was not rigid enough to hold its shape, and when I spoke with Ray last week, I explained my concern, and that I suspected that I would have to add another twenty screws to get a better seal. Ray suggested installing metal strips to gain the rigidity that I was looking for, again that second option can be so valuable. So this morning I purchased four metal pieces, drilled holes to match the skylight holes and this was the result.

Now the skylight is sealed properly to the coach roof with butyl, and the butyl is being squeezed out evenly, I did need to use some longer and larger screw to pull it into position. But now I’m happy with the results, and I just needed to seal all the edges oand screws with Dicor, a self levelling sealant made for repairs such as this … finished product.

After a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, I put all my tools away in preparation for tomorrow’s rain, the we headed off to Costco for a supply run. This was the task that got put off last Thursday, after our last kayaking endurance test. We also needed a few other items so we stopped at Bashas’ in Gold Canyon, it was here that my afternoon went for the perverbial dump. As I was trying to exit the parking lot that I was involved in a collision, the exit from the lot is a high traffic area and the long and short of it I didn’t see a little car going too fast and there was a collission. Damage to the SportTrac was just the tow bar and shouldn’t be too bad to repair, when it gets repaired will depend if I can get the parts before we are ready to pull out.

Further inspection of the tow-bar has me thinking that the ends of the vehicle frame may also be bent, so my thought is that we will tow the SportTrac back to British Columbia before attempting any repairs. The last thing I need is to get held up at a repair shop, before our departure, so I have left it as an open claim with the insurance.

The wind and dust in Mesa was crazy this afternoon, on the news tonight they were talking about 50 mph (80 kmph), the debris flying along with dust clouds blocking out the view of the surrounding mountains, it was crazy, but dust storms are a real thing here in the southwestern desert and just like snow can limit visibility. So tonight was a barbecue night, sausages and salad for dinner, before settling in to watch some YouTube videos and one episode on This is Us, we are actually only a few episodes from being caught up, off to bed shortly after nine thirty. We are getting an occasional sprinkle this evening, but the real rain is forecast for tomorrow with wind.

Tuesday, well I woke this morning to the sound of a torrential down pour at 4 am, the winds were gusty over night, but the rain seems to have lightened to nothing now, it is now six o’clock and the sky is starting to brighten. Mr. Sam is on my lap, he really doesn’t like the rain, I’m not sure just why, but as the rain continues I just thinking about how badly we needed this rain here in the desert. As I look at todays forecast it calls for possible drizzle for most of the day, so I can see a walk in the Arboretum on our agenda this morning. Then there is no rain in the long range fourteen days according to the forecast, and the radar is showing little to no rain for the rest of the day, just a few possible scattered showers.

Well at eight o’clock and the sky has opened to more heavy rain, this time accompanied with lightning, never a good thing in a dry desert, but I have put that walk in the arboretum on the back burner for right now. Our weather app is indicating that we have received more than an inch of rain so far, which should mean that Queen Creek should be flowing when I get to the arboretum.

At eleven o’clock we finally headed to the arboretum, it appeared that we had a couple of hours before the next storm would roll through. It looks like we have received over an inch and a half of rain already and both Queen Creek and the Silver King Wash were flowing, thank goodness that the Benson Bridge over the Silver King Wash has finally re-opened. There has been a lot of damage done in the arboretum by the wind storm that accompanied the rain storm, with a number of broken branches and even a mature Joshua tree broken off.

Then we look past that damage and see so many of the cactus varieties budding, knowing the blooms are just a week or so behind, the Benson Bridge reopened just in time to allow access to the arboretum as the Silver King Wash was obstructing access from the main arboretum trail when we went for a walk today.

We of course stopped by the puya plant to check the bloom, and sadly there is not a big change from Sundays photo, but we will remain diligent to catch the first of the bloom.

At two o’clock and there is another thunder head is rolling through, not a lot of rain this time, but plenty of thunder, and really dark clouds. Queen Creek is running hard enough that we can hear it from the coach, for dinner tonight we are going out to Jalapeños in Superior, an authentic Mexican restaurant, we are meeting up with Rhonda and her granddaughter Olivia for dinner. We had meet Rhonda & Pat at a Beaver coach rally in Quartzsite in January 2020, and had also seen them two years ago in Tucson when the pandemic was just taking hold, sadly Pat passed away a year ago, so it was great to catch-up with Rhonda.

We made it back to the coach near eight o’clock, and watched a couple of YouTube videos, then an episode of This is Us, before heading to bed near ten o’clock, knowing that this day of rain will help the arboretum sustain itself for some time.

Wednesday and it was light when I woke, shortly after six, yesterday’s clouds have given way to Arizona blue skies, Mr. Sam meet me in the galley for his treats, and again I was rewarded with a little lap time. The lap time was short because Miss Laurie was up shortly afterwards and Mr. Sam was headed to the big bed, he will need a really big nap today because he a very stressful day yesterday, he has developed a fear of thunder storms and has even got to the stage off disliking any rain storm. Today’s Wordle was a tough one with multiple choices but I got lucky on the sixth attempt.

Today Rhonda and Olivia are coming to the arboretum this morning, for a guided tour by Miss Laurie, it is a beautiful day, with perfect weather, sunny, and the temperatures are in the low seventies (twenties), so Miss Laurie made us a cheese omelet before I retrieved the lawn chairs from the truck where I had put them to keep them dry from the rain. We normally don’t go to the arboretum at this time of day and I now know why we avoid this time of day, as there were people everywhere, but the park is looking better everyday as we prepare for a couple of major events at the arboretum this week.

We spent most of the afternoon on the patio, Mr. Sam watching the geckos, and Laurie and I watching the the birds, Hummingbirds, Orioles, and Laurie had put out some orange slices for the Orioles, but we had Gila Woodpeckers and Cardinals visiting the orange slices as well.

We had a quiet night with some television, before turning in for what we know will be a busy day tomorrow

Thursday and I’m awake early, the problem is I start thinking of all the things I need to accomplish, and then my mind is off and running, processing all sorts of different things, so falling back to sleep can be almost impossible, but Mr. Sam was ok with early treats, he always seems to be. Again today’s Wordle was a tough one, but I pulled it out it together to keep the new streak alive, so today is the last day of March and is going to be a busy day for us. But for now I’m catching up on the blog and enjoying some lap time from Mr. Sam, we are assisting with a donner event today, it happens this afternoon with tours of the refurbished Smith building and ends with a reception in the Taylor garden. I will be tending bar with Tom Anderson, and Laurie is manning the charcuterie table, it starts at at 3:30 and runs till 6:00, todays event is an open bar, and have approximately 75 donners.

A short walk in the arboretum this morning, after a toasted western sandwich, Queen Creek is still flowing, they have started to clean up the downed Joshua tree, lots of work going on in the picnic area, preparing for the spring concert on Saturday, many gardeners in many of the gardens as we prepare for the event this afternoon, and the Puya still has not bloomed.

This afternoon we are working, the donner event that is being held at the Taylor Legume garden, it was to be a tour of the recently refurbished Smith interpretive Center, a building that is over ninety years old and was the original greenhouses at the research center. The afternoon was catered, with an open bar, for the people that had made donations to the refurbishment. The tours started at 4:00 with the reception immediately after through till 6:00, after clean up we made it to the coach by 7:00. Dinner was some Costco barbecued chicken with a salad, before watching a couple episodes of This is Us and turning in just before 10:00.

Friday April the first and again I woke this morning to day light, right around six o’clock, Mr. Sam was glad to receive his treats, and I was feeling a little sore from the clean up last night, I guess I’m not used to slugging chairs, but most of the staff snuck out with out helping at all, leaving it up to very few of us to clean it up. Today is our first day in the admissions booth, so a bowl of cereal, a vitamin, of course a cup of coffee. And out the door around 7:45, today is always a challenge, as it is difficult to get the booth back to a workable condition, finding equipment, removing extra signs, getting terminals back up and running.

It was about an average Friday with a few more than six hundred visitors, and I would say the weather was about perfect, big blue skies, a light breeze and temperatures in the seventies (twenties), a great start to the month of April. We have not spent any time in Arizona in April, as we are usually headed east to Ontario, so we don’t know exactly what to expect from the weather, but if this any indication, I’m thinking it could be very good.

Dinner was barbecued burgers, followed by the most recent episode of This is Us, followed by a episode of a new Prime video series Outlaws, the journey is still out on that one, and we made it to bed before ten o’clock.

Saturday morning and it’s light out again, as I roll out of bed, Mr. Sam greets me in the washroom as I head to the galley, a few treats latter and I’m getting some lap time as I knock off todays Wordle. Today will be another hectic day for me, so some cereal, my coffee, with a vitamin and we had off to the admission booth at 7:45.

I didn’t get to check the Puya plant bloom today, but I was lucky enough to get a photo taken by Lincoln, so you get a glimpse of the partially opened flower. Until I can get back into the arboretum, either tomorrow morning or Monday at the latest.

There is a Spring concert going on today in the picnic area at the arboretum,, and I’m bar-tending again today, so at 10:15, I head back to the coach to get my shirt and tie and report for duty by 10:30. Todays event was to start at 11:00 in the morning, there was to be a food truck from Phoenix, then a single performer to put on a concert, and if the food truck had have arrived on time the day would have worked out much better. So many people ended up standing in line for the food and missed the whole first set of the performance

The problem is that the food truck created the problem but it is the arboretum takes the heat for their failure, the concert ended shortly after 2:00, and I helped clean up and stack chairs, to be put away. Miss Laurie managed the admissions booth on her own until I made it back to close out the second till. We had a happy hour with Tom & Kathleen before returning to the coach for chicken and salad again, before watching Shark Tank and American Idol.

I’m working on the blog, but I could be crawling into bed just as easy, a busy day and a few adult beverages I’m feeling very mellow, but I will try to finish tonight to meet the schedule. There is talk that we may be going back to a Thursday shift again, we have told the management that we are OK with what ever they need.

Let’s all hope for peace in Ukraine!

Blog 411

Day 1643