Living on the View

My new hat...a
nice change!

My husband and I rented a little house when we were first married and the view from every window was absolutely spectacular. My husband was still in college and I was working in a tiny town teaching 4th grade.

The old farm house had an oil stove and walls so thin that the slightest touch would put a hole in the wall paper. There were pine wood floors throughout and the kitchen was designed for a table large enough to feed a big family. It sat on a country gravel road. The river was a short walk away. We lived in the middle of an orchard.

In all ways it was the perfect "house". My mother absolutely loved it. She was sitting with us in the front yard under the giant tree drinking coffee one morning when she began talking about all those things that made the old house perfect...the view, the orchard, the river and of course, that big kitchen with room for lots of children.

That was when my quiet father said "But, Agnes, they cannot live on the view."

See the thing was, the place was perfect but I thought it was in the wrong place! I agreed with my father. I didn't think we could make a living so we could support our family. Yet, my husband who is not connected with places nearly as much as I am was willing to stay and make it work for us somehow. He could hunt and fish, coach football and teach. It was perfect for him.

I often wonder if my ambition was actually his too. Or were we so connected that what I wanted and what he wanted were somehow the same. Oh, and we did move to a bigger town and my husband worked in that school system for a majority of his working career.

I often wonder what our life would have been like if I had been more content with what we had and had not always been looking over the fence at the adventure around the corner.

The view from my back patio here in the RV Resort.

So life goes on. We are getting ready to move to a new location here in Tucson, Arizona. We have always lived the six months we spend here in a very temporary way. Our park model is very nice and I love it but our needs and wants have changed as we age.

We have found a different place in a town house located near walking trails and just across from the pool of the townhouse complex. It is just down-at-the-ears enough to suit us. What keeps us going is the projects and change.

We will keep our friends here in the park because we are not going that far. We will keep our golfing world because the new location is closer to that place. We will keep so many things.

But the view...well that will not be the same. Our beautiful mountains that we see from two sides will not be there. As we grow older, I keep remembering what my father said. He was so right...living on the view is not enough.

Have a wonderful day.

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2013 Best of Tucson AZ: Retire In Style Blog Recommendations

This is the "I did this and I recommend it" list for 2013 snowbird season.  My husband and I have visited each one of these locations plus a lot more.  I hope that you will give each one a try and let me know what you think.

Best of 2013, Tucson AZ 

Restaurants

• Best Wine List at a reasonable price: Zona 78 Italian Kitchen
• Most authentic Sonoran Food: El Charro (Court Street, original location)
• Best Historic Old Pueblo Restaurant: Congress Hotel (breakfast)
• Best Outdoor Dining: Old Pueblo Grill (best outdoor patio)
• Best Mexican Family Owned: La Sur (Yelp recommended)
• Best Southern Arizona Country Restaurant: Wisdom's Cafe (Tumacacori, AZ)

Old Town Artisan Entrance

Best Golf Experience

• Best Golf and Fish Fry for Friday nights: Del Lago Golf and Hacienda del Lago
• Best Golf Deals: Golf Now Tucson or Easy Links (24 cancelation option)
• Best Beautiful Low Key Resort: Tubac Golf Resort Spa and Restaurant (Tubac, Az)
• Best Municipal Golf Course:  Haven Golf Course (Green Valley)

Best Arizona Folk Art

• Old Town Artisans

Best Band for Dancing

• Sixties Garage Band (playing at Elks, American Legion, hotels and casinos)

Del Lago at sunset

El Charro Restaurant (Original location)

Haven Golf Course

Tubac Golf Resort and Spa

Tucson Recommended Restaurants: Mexican & Italian (gluten free)

Taco Giro Logo

I love ethnic food.  In Tucson the trick is finding someplace that has excellent food for Italian, Sonoran Mexican or Japanese sushi.  Today I have 2 for 3...not bad if I do say so.  So here are my choices for Sonora and Italian choice.

Sonoran
When you have friends that not only love Sonoran food but are actually from Sonora MEX, you really do get the best recommendations of all.  Our friend, Lupe and Victor, are neighbors here in our park.  We were sitting with them at happy hour last night when we began talking about the best Mexican food in Tucson.  Because they are both from Sonora, their tastes differ from what we here in America have been accustomed to.  I mention Tucson's landmark restaurant El Charro in the Presidio area in downtown Tucson.  El Charros is noted for its Sonoran food and is a great tourist attraction.  Lupe said, yes, it is OK.  But had we tried Taco Giro on 22nd?  Well the answer was no but we will be trying it soon.

The thing that caught my interest was the fact that I was talking to someone that actually cooked this regional style Mexican food. Even better yet Taco Giro is featured on Restaurant.com. Get a coupon too.

Italian
Tucson has a regional food all it's own.  Finding that Italian or even Japanese sushi can be very hard.  Lucky for us an Italian food restaurant called Zona 78 has been around for a number of years.  Better yet (at least for me) they have some very tasty gluten free items on their menu.  On top of that the restaurant attracts a young crowd...that is wonderful for those of us that live in 55+ communities.

Last night we had our anniversary dinner there.  We were treated to free dessert, lots of attention and a beautifully served dinner.  We will be going back.

The restaurant has locations on River Road and Tanque Verde.  The River Road location has more outdoor seating but I think both has the same wonderful menu.

That all for today.

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15% RV Resort Discount through Retire In Style Blog

Arizona Sunset...every night!

Arizona National Photograph by b

I live in a beautiful RV resort in the winter.  The business that runs two RV resorts in Tucson is giving discounts to people  if they are referred by a "friend" living in the park.  Both of these parks are rated very high in Trailer Life.  A park on the west side of the city has the coveted 10/10*/10 rating.  The park on the east side that I live in is rated 9.5/10*/10.  My park is a little smaller and really has a sense of community.  The maintenance on both parks is about the best I have ever seen in my travels around the United States.

If you mention my name when you make your reservation you will receive $20 for a week stay or $100 if you stay a month.  The weekly rate is $230+ taxes and the monthly rate is $639+ taxes.  The discount for a monthly rate is a little over 15%...nothing to sneeze at.

So send me an email to orencoopinions@gmail.com and I will forward you the information so you can take advantage of this service.

Take a look at the resort information to see if you are interested: RinconCountry.com.  Then contact me and let me be your friend!

I hope to see YOU next winter.

b

The information I have from the park says I can refer as many people as I can find.  Let me say here...I am operating at the whim of the owners and can not guarantee space availability, etc.  My advice to you would be to act as soon as possible.  The park we live in was filled totally last winter.

Related articles

• Behinds Can't Take It Anymore! - Tucson, AZ (travelpod.com)
• RV Park Finder Powered by: Trailer Life Directory - Consent Media & Waterfield Technologies (itunes.apple.com)

Skinny Blue Jeans and Horse Shoes!

Beautiful well used horse shoes!

June...a cowgirl dressed in vintage denim jacket and creased skinny blue jeans.

Hal and his beautiful hand crafted horse-shoe box...a gift.

When people like Hal (Harold) and June come out to play we take note. They are the heart of our winter home and have our admiration and affection. 

Hal is in his late eighties but he still plays golf several times a week.  His second hobby (if you don't count playing poker) is horse shoes.  Hal lives directly across the street from us.  He is a widower and his name along with his late wife's appears on a name plate on the front of his park model.  His lady friend doesn't seem to mind...they are very close but live in different parks.  I think he is a wonderful example for the rest of us.

June is approaching 90.  (Advanced Style.com...you have nothing on us!)  She was very ill winter before last.  She had lost control of her diabetes.  She showed us what strength and a lot of smart can do when you are ill.  She is very well now so she shops, plays bingo and attends the cocktail hour several times a week.  On top of all this...this woman knows how to dress!!  Her denim skinny blue jeans and her vintage blue jean jacket show what a very very stylish lady she is...here in Tucson AZ.  After all this is cowboy country!

I am very proud to share the lives of people that are wise and very strong...someday I want to be as well respected as they are. 

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Cowboy Songs for the Country Music Love in Your life!

After all Christmas is coming!!!

 

Tucson AZ Restaurants....El Charro Cafe Orginal Location

When Marcia and Leon were here the other night we decided to take them all the way downtown to original El Charro Cafe on Court Street.  The old restaurant located in the El Presidio area is the oldest Mexican restaurant in Tucson.  We have been visitors to this restaurant for all the years we have been coming to Tucson.  The area has gone through a lot of changes during those years but El Charro remains a gem in The Old Pueblo's crown.

Food in the restaurant is more than your normal "Taco Town Mexican Plates and Pet Food Store"...much, much more.  The wonderful Sonoran food that it is famous for is a treat for out of town guests.  We sat outside on the patio under the stars.  We could look up above the roof and see the cage used to dry the beef for their carne seca dishes.  Everything in the restaurant and cantina had a sparkling clean refurbrished appearance and almost every table was full even on Tuesday evening. 

I would give this restaurant 5 stars...5 for location and ambience and 5 stars for food.  Okay it gets a lot more than 5 stars.

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Fashionable Beauty Salon in Tucson, AZ? Check the location before you make an appointment!

This is why we talk to someone or get information before we head out to get our hair cut or waxing done or any of that girly stuff. Today I was schmoozing around on the internet looking at anything of interest in Tucson, AZ. I happened to notice a segment of the information on fashion in Tucson. The link led to beauty salons that offer eyebrow threading.  If you have never heard of this ancient technic of removing extra eyebrow hair, I found a You Tube video to explain what this is all about.  NOTE: I have never had this done but thought I might try it out for you.

SOOOOO...I went out on the internet to look at Blondies Hair Salon because it seemed to be easy to get to on the internet and offered threading as one of it's services.  Here was the picture that came up.  Is this scary or what????  Seriously, you need to go to the link.  All I can hope for is that it is a huge mistake.  At any rate, I will not be going to Blondie's anytime soon.  How about you?

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Maybe just buying a tool to do yourself is a good idea!

The Perfect Dripless Candle (Trader Joe's) ++ more!

March 2013 update:  I am told that these candle are available during certain time of the year when candles are more popular. I think Christmas may be one of those time of year.  Ask about them at your local Trader Joes.

Retirement Thoughts

It's Thursday...finding things to do on Thursday can be really hard!  Like a child on summer vacation when the weather is cold and windy, Mom and Dad are at work and you are at loss ends, Thursday can be hard.  That is what retirement is like.  Thankfully we are old enough to read and make soup!  Sigh!  The photo above was taken yesterday after a cleansing 1/2 inch of rain.  Today the mountains are black and the wind is howling. 

Perfect Candles

 

I have a wonderful product for center pieces when you are entertaining.  It is candle season in the northern hemisphere and candle season everywhere in the world.  Candles can warm a dark room, provide light when the power goes out and even get rid of the smell of cabbage cooking!  I have probably bought enough candles in my lifetime to fill a semi-truck.  Finally, I have found the perfect affordable solution to the dripping messy taper dilemma.   Trader Joe's carries a wonderful product called Eight Candles.   I doubted their claim to be a dripless and self-extinguishing candle.  You know what...they really are.  I used them for a party of 60 last week and placed them on rented table clothes.  They burned for the whole evening without a sign of a drip.  (Trader Joe's says they will last 6-7 hours.) The wick is treated with a non-flammable solution that makes self-extinguishing possible.  I bought several packages and paid a little over $3.00 per package of eight including taxes.  I love them.

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Tucson, AZ Places to eat, pictures and more!

La Placita Village...nearly abandon but still
beautifully colorful!
Downtown Tucson

The end of the season is here....so soon it seems. We came to Tucson almost 7 month ago and took a short break to be home for Christmas. Time flies so fast it seems.

Tuesday night we wandered downtown to take a few pictures at La Placita and then venture out for dinner on 4th Avenue near the University of Arizona campus. The neighborhood is so quirky and interesting.










Photo taken with camera pressed against the door of a furniture refurnishing shop...unique light!
4th Avenue
Tucson, AZ

Caruso's Italian Restaurant
434 N. 4th Avenue
Tucson, AZ

Caruso's is a Tucson landmark and has been in the same location forever. The food is good Italian and the restaurant is so family friendly. The waiter on the terrace gave us wonderful service and as the evening settled in the lighting was just perfect. 3 1/2 Stars

Courtyard at Caruso's

I have a few last pictures from Tucson for you and then my next post will be from Las Vegas where we will be spending a couple of day in our World Mark timeshare. We will east at one of our favorites, Chicago Joe's the first night...more about that later I suppose.

Tucson AZ Update...the cactus are in bloom!

Flowers in Our Yard
April 10, 2009

Haven Golf Course
iphone photo
2009

GOLFING

The weather in Tucson is generally just gorgeous! Yesterday we played golf in Green Valley, AZ. It is located south of Tucson and is about 40 minutes away from where we live. While Green Valley has some very upscale courses that cost a great deal, they also have a municipal course called Haven that serves all of the area. It is well maintained and very, very busy. We booked our tee times on a discount web site (Golf Now or EZ Links , a bidding website) and were paired with a couple from Germany. Green fees run at about $43.00 for 18 holes with a cart if you book through the course. We payed $23.00 + Tax. It was a wonderful day at the right price.

CACTUS

This may be a Beavertail Cactus...I am not an expert. The blooms are yellow like a Prickly Pear but the thorns are very short like a Beavertail Cactus. It is blooming in front of our neighbor's park model. The plant is more than 6 feet tall.

Sony Cyber Shot

2009

WEATHER

The wind is howling here today and dust obscures the mountains. It is a good day to stay indoor and blog or clean drawers. It is like a snowy day in the north...you know how that is!

Have a nice day.

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