Experimenting with Painting

The scene below is of Fort Craig in New Mexico. It is painted with acrylics. The rose is a chalk pastel painting. I haven't tried painting before and it was quite fun. The instructors here take you step by step and make it easy. And mostly fun.

Experimenting with painting

Living in a 12 X 35 foot box

The most common question from friends before we started this trip was how are you going to like living in such a small space. So far the answer is.... very well. We are having a blast and the bad weather days have been a good excuse to do some inside work on the coach or just read a good book (right now my good book is the Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver). In the good weather we are out most of the day and coming home to our little nest feels great. It helps that we are in an RV park with interesting people, things to do, and facilities for exercize and entertainment. We carefully stocked the coach to have what we need without too much. As a result there is room to live and the only thing we have missed is a cheese grater ;-) When we need a break from each other, the trails are 20 feet from the front door or there is an activity to join. So how is living in a 400 sf box? Great! With one exception, we miss everyone from home.

Eclectic Week

An eclectic week. A local producer created a film called Living on the Border. We went to see it with our neighbors Kirsten & Cline. When you live 70 miles from the Mexican border, the topic is extremely relevant. It spurred some great discussion. The next day we went downtown to the Ansel Adams survey at the Art Museum. His art is a favorite of ours and spent a couple hours. The buildings there are as fascinating as the art. The museum is next door to the old Presidio of Tucson (circa 1783) which has been preserved with wonderful shops and restaurants. El Nacimiento was on display which is a traditional Mexican nativity scene with hundreds of miniature figurines portraying various scenes relating to the birth of Christ. Mesmerizing. Later in the week we ventured out on a couple fun hikes just outside the park and one to a ridge in Saguaro National Park with lovely sunset views of the city. Too bad we forgot the camera. Next post will have some new pictures.

Tucson weather this year

Woke up this morning and it was 38 degrees here in Tucson and frost on the pumpkin (or coach). Whoa baby, the coach doesn't hold heat very well. The sun is up now and the sky is blue so will warm up quick. Last year we didn't see rain for the whole time we were here. This year it has rained twice. On Sunday it rained for 6 hours straight with overcast, felt like Seattle;-) Another storm is hitting California today and on the way to Tucson on Wednesday. They are even talking about snow, just a dusting but heck this is the desert. The beauty about the desert is that the weather moves through quickly and we are back to blue sky and sun very fast. Heading out to aerobics class. Later.

Tucson and plans for the spring & summer

We made it to Tucson. Mimi wasn't crazy about 4 long days in the car and neither were we. Glad to be here at Desert Trails. Such a great place to stay with friendly, fun people and tons of activities. So far we have been to a presentation by the Border Patrol, Yoga, aerobics, lots of hikes, chalk painting class that was surprisingly fun. Doing some maintenance to the coach while we are in one place for a while. We plan to be at Desert Trail through mid-April. Then head to New Mexico, Colorado, South Dakota, and Yellowstone (with Ryan & Annie) before getting back to Vancouver for wedding preparation in July. Shannon's wedding is August 7th then we head for the Puget Sound area. Port Townsend in September. After that, we head towards Texas but don't have many details yet.

Come visit if you can.