Apricity West 2

March 25, 2022, Friday

Today I did 24 laps walking the width of the pool, 12 laps of swimming, and 50 more walking.

 

We stopped at Murphy’s Bar and had a great conversation with Matt, the bartender. Turns out he plays Mandolin and sings, met fiancee on Tinder, moved to Tucson on a whim to help his grandparents get back from Minnesota, pours a good Guinness, and turned me on to Strawberry cider.

Matt the bartender 

KFC dinner with Marilyn. We ate inside as it was too hot to sit out. More great conversations. She started her solo RV journey in 2017 and has been to all states except Alaska and that is happening in 2023. 

 

March 26, 2022, Saturday

Today Shannon, my daughter, was inducted into the Berkshire County Basketball Hall of Fame. Her father, a great athlete himself, had his sights set on organized sports for both of our kids from the time they were born. So proud💕

We ate dinner at T&J’s - Jim’s specialty of flank steak and fettuccini Alfredo accompanied by a delicious salad a la Terri!

I had picked up some blueberries which were quite bitter so Jim doctored them up with guava and orange liqueur over ice cream...

March 27, 2022, Sunday

Our last full day of play with T&J, so we filled it up starting at 9am at the DonutBar where they serve donuts with beer. Jim and his riding buddies visit here after an early morning bike ride. 

On to Hotel Congress with live music in the courtyard. A great duo of bass and guitar entertained us. 

Thunder  Canyon Brewery  

Cool art…

Pueblo Vida Brewery - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED - 20 Breweries visited in the 2 months we were here!

20 Breweries!

Back to Borderlands and a pleasant surprise of more live music. Apparently there is a female brewer here - there is a program that sends women to Mexico to learn how to brew. 

A little dance step or two…

On our drive around town, we saw many more murals, including black and white tiles of people which Mike from Harbottles installed. Had crackers, cheese and salami at T&J’s - I gave them the Saguaro Cactus lap-ghan I have been working on. 

Sisters Cindy (Jimmy) and Leslie (Johan) took Mom out in Lee for her 92nd birthday❣️ Don’t they look great?!

March 28, 2022, Monday

Did my swim routine this morning before going to Harbottles. 

 

John Randazzo and another strummer gathered on the office porch for an impromptu jam session. I was invited to join them and they called out the chords as they played. John described this as a Buick mechanic, Ford mechanic, and Chevy mechanic trying to be Mercedes mechanics. 

March 29, 2022, Tuesday  

No swim today - black skies, possible lightning, 55 degrees, small hail pelts. 

 

Got my hair cut by Aysha, Terri’s hairdresser. 

Stopped at Murphy’s for a Guinness and a Strawberry cider. Gabe was the barkeep today - brother to the owner’s wife. He was born and raised in Tucson, went to U of A for business and he and his wife will be opening a coffee shop next door to Murphy’s. His parents came in and have friends visiting from the Adirondacks - small world!

 

Tonight was our final farewell to Terri and Jim. They were able to get out of work early to come over for dinner at TTT Truck Stop next door. It doesn’t seem possible that 2 months have passed and yet, we accomplished so much, visited so many great places, and created so many wonderful memories. We were able to celebrate a new job for Jim which he is very excited about. He is a very gifted artist and graphic designer who is moving upward and onward. Best wishes, Jim!

 

March 31, 2022, Thursday

Started the day off with my last swim/walk in the pool routine. Went for our last pizza, beer, and sour at Harbottles and picked up a four pack of beer for Perry’s birthday in May. When we got home we said goodbye to our neighbor on the left from Quebec and started picking up our table, grill, rug, wheel covers, et al. 

Our neighbor on the right (with 2 empty sites between) came over to introduce himself. After 1/2 hour of discussion we realized that this was the picnic table guy! If you remember from last year here, Lorenzo asked us if we would like a picnic table. We said, Sure and asked, Why us? He said, “You’re my neighbor aren’t you?” And here we are the last day of our stay realizing we were next door neighbors last year. He did offer us a table this year, but we declined as we had our little grill table set up and have chairs with tables on the side. He has been working here part-time for 5 years refurbishing picnic tables. He went over to get Susie, his wife, to meet us. It turns out, she journals every day! When we mentioned that we were moving to the site next to us on the right because of the flowers and concrete pads, they said they were moving into the one right next to that next year. So we will be neighbors again.   

 

Marilyn stopped over to say goodbye and we gave her a 4" x 6” picture. We will probably see her in Deming for a few days. Safe travels to all. 

We had a brand new A-Frame popup pull into the site on our right (New Mexico plates) and they were having trouble with the water - first time out in it. Rich helped him figure it out and, as always, he asked where we were from. When we said Berkshire County, he asked  where. Turns out he was born in Pittsfield, six brothers, Schnopps (spelling?) is the name. Small world...