My sister flew down for a few days the end of February.  She was a our first overnight guest in 17 years!   Since she was here for just 3 days, we did a couple of touristy things and then just gabbed and gabbed and gabbed.  

Started Tueday with a drive down to the Casa Grande Monument in Cooledge, Arizona.   The first time Dave and I saw it in the early ‘70s, you could still walk through the structure.  Now it is closed off, but you  can walk around and look into the structure.  We have more pictures of it here.  

Even though the museum part was closed, the gift store was open (4 only at a time) so we found another book about the desert for Megan’s students to read.  And Margi got a sweatshirt to show she’d visited the area.    Afterward we stopped at the Olive Mill in Queen Creek where she sampled some of the olive oils and sauces - and ordered some on-line for delivery to her house.

The next day it was raining - yes pouring in the desert - so we decided to go to the MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) for a few hours.   Only problem was EVERYONE IN PHOENIX with visitors thought the same thing.    But we did spend a few hours until our knees and feet were giving out on us.  We didn’t make it through all of the areas - but then there is always more to see at the MIM.   We had a originally been scheduled to see Ladysmith Black Mombasa that night in concert, but unfortunately they had to cancel the shows.  

The final day we didn’t do much, just sat around talking, driving around the neighborhood, and generally enjoying seeing each other again.   We went to Panera Bread for dinner and to Chocolates & Cremes for fruit filled desert crapes and ice cream!   And then the next day we put her on her flight back to Mill Creek, WA and snow and rain.

Because of our grapefruit tree being VERY productive, we have picked and given away or  shipped out over 100 grapefruit and haven’t really made a dent in the amount still on the tree.  So I had to add another accessory to my Kitchen Aide Mixer - a juicer.   I get about 1 cup of juice from each grapefruit. So I have been experimenting using a Key Lime Pie recipe and am making Grapefruit Cream Pie:

We also got our 2nd booster (Covid) on April 1st.   Yes, I know, but it was the FIRST day it was available in this area and we weren’t going to wait.

Otherwise, we are just muddling along with having people over to break in the grill and patio, doing physicians visits, and other boring life tasks.   Yes, we have become very boring retirees enjoying the sun and lazy days, and a couple of concerts along the way.