February 10, 2023 - Friday
Missing the Elks tonight as it was our Friday night “go to place.” We will be checking out other lodges in the area, but know they won’t compare to Wickenburg!
February 11, 2023 - Saturday
Jim served up a delicious breakfast of yogurt, scrambled eggs, bacon and muffins. We are very spoiled! Next was the Ignite Sign Museum which very much surprised us with its diversity of advertising and the number of items in the indoor/outdoor exhibit. There are so many displays and puzzles throughout the building that it is hard to imagine how they planned, organized and executed this project in 4.5 years.
Ignite Sign Art Museum: The Story
Ignite began as Jude Cook of Cook & Company Signmakers personal collection. His first sign, a Coca Cola sign came his way when he apprenticed as a signmaker in Cedar Falls, lowa, in 1977. The back of the sign was being used as a paint roller pan. Jude collected many signs over the years that struck him as interesting enough to collect, plus he received signs as gifts.
On the 40th Anniversary of his sign business, he lit up all the signs and invited family, friends and clients. Attendees were in awe and several said, "This looks like a museum." And so the idea began and grew. It took two years to find the appropriate building with high ceilings, a sign yard, parking and room for a museum store. It took another year to prepare the building and display the sign collection.
Ignite opened in October of 2018. We consider it a working museum.
It takes you back in time.
Argon is the gas used to fill glass tubes for neon signs.
An added bonus was a demonstration of making neon lights. See a short video clip in the body of this email.
Not too far from here is an HF Coors Dinnerware shop which was like eye-candy with the various patterns on display. Love these…
We ate dinner inside as it was cool, very windy and cloudy today. It was a joint effort from all to produce grilled chicken, roasted butternut and broccoli which we polished off with the greatest of ease. Yummy...
Jim put on his bartending cap and made a refreshing cocktail using some of the fresh lemons a neighbor gave them - vodka, simple syrup, triple sec, lemonade and zest. He named it the LeMonda!๐
Father/Daughter Dance - my son, Randy and Lily (age 11) back home in Massachusetts.๐
February 12, 2023 - Sunday
Our neighbor left today giving us a view of the pool until someone else pulls in...
Went to Terri and Jim’s this afternoon - a warm, sunny, non-windy day in the backyard. Terri and I did Jane Adams’ Chair Yoga while Rich and Jim discussed art projects. Rich made shrimp scampi for dinner - yum.
February 13, 2023 - Monday
Tried a new Irish Pub - Mulligan’s. Rich got his Guinness and I had a Mango cider. We ordered wings - half Teriyaki and half parm/garlic (as if there wasn’t enough garlic intake from the scampi).
I asked what the count down was for - St. Patrick’s Day! ☘️
Then we stopped at Murphy’s - the sky was black when we went in. A loud clap of thunder could be heard and it poured and even hailed.
I practiced my ukulele and found new songs to play.
February 14, 2023 - Tuesday ๐ HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY ๐
My refill of Tramadol said every 8 hours as needed, so I am trying to take them at 9am and 5pm to see what works. I was fine last night and today so this might be the right schedule for the "least to take for the best results."
A van with New York plates pulled in near us a couple of days ago. Haven’t seen much action until today, so Rich went over to find out more… (I was still in my PJs or I would have gone to conduct an interview).
When asked where he was from in NY, he said the Adirondacks! Actually Glens Falls! WOW! Rich’s kids, as well as his sister, live in Glens Falls! His name is Jim Appleyard. He asked Rich his name and when he heard Colomb, he said, "I know Dave Colomb from a photography club - we have gone hiking together. He lost his wife (Bonnie) not long ago.” Dave is Rich’s cousin whom we have visited with several times back in NY. I had met Bonnie before she passed. Jim is heading for Tombstone - we will be going there this weekend with Terri and Jim, but not sure how long he plans to be there. It is SUCH a small world. But wait, when Rich called his sister, Eileen, he mentioned this chance encounter to her. She asked his name and when he told her, she said, “Steve (her husband) knows him!” Just saying’…
The wind blew up to 30 mph in the afternoon. Unfortunately, there was a deadly accident about a mile up the road from us. A delivery box truck rolled over carrying nitric acid, bursting into flames and killing the driver. Not sure if the wind was the cause of this tragedy, but hazmat alerts came over our phones warning that Interstate 10 was closed down and to stay inside with windows closed.
February 15, 2023 - Wednesday HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY LEANNA! !
First granddaughter, now in 8th grade with high honors playing varsity basketball and a really good kid๐
The wind howled through the night and we woke up to snow on the bikes. Notice in the background a child making snowballs before heading to school. They don’t get much of this white stuff here.
We keep trying to find a place that suits our needs - Guinness for Rich and cider for me. Today we drove to Canyon Crown Pub near Sabino Canyon. Voila! Nice atmosphere when you walk in, open comfortable stools right in front of the Guinness tap, and a nice bartender.
I heard the guy two stools over ask her if they made good Scotch Eggs. He said the best he ever had were in Prescott which is near Congress. So I started my interview… I asked about the eggs as I had never heard of them. He said, “You’ll see when they bring them out. Where are you guys from?” When I said Massachusetts he told me he was from Revere and had lived two floors up over a restaurant growing up. We continued talking and he told me that now he had a home in Newport Beach, CA and in Paradise Valley, AZ. His wife was a realtor and she invested wisely in their future. She died 15 years ago so he has to take care of these places now. Poor guy. He is 82 in May but will never retire - from drinking Tequila and chasing women. He encourages us to go to happy hour at Jonathan's Cork down the street for their escargot and other foods he loves. Now the eggs are delivered and he immediately asks for another plate and scooped 1/2 egg and sauce for me to try. I protested, but… It was absolutely delicious.
He was telling us to be sure to get over to California to visit this place and that. Then he pulled out a business card and said if we ever get there to give him a call and he will set us up. I read the card and tried to make sense of it:
Harry Wheaton
What does this mean? What is your line of work? What do you Consult? “You know the Wynn Resort Casinos? In 1993 Steven Wynn’s daughter was kidnapped and we rescued her. It used to be that this type of work was $1million, now it’s $10 million.” I said, “You mean the ransom?” He replied, “No, the fee we get with all of the search equipment, helicopters, tech stuff, artillery, etc.” So I had to ask what kind of training he had for this work. He shot back, "Navy Seal for 15 years!” Nuff said…
February 16, 2023 - Thursday
Just chilling today - literally. It was 27 degrees at 5am and has climbed to 55. Enough warmth with the sun to actually sit outside which we love to do.
The Tramadol is doing its job keeping pain down with 2 pills - 9 and 5๐๐
