Ross and Beverley: 2016

Tuscon

Tucson is a city and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States, and home to the University of Arizona. The 2010 United States Census put the population at 520,116. Tucson is the second-largest populated city in Arizona behind Phoenix, both of which anchor the Arizona Sun Corridor. The city is located 108 miles (174 km) southeast of Phoenix and 60 mi (97 km) north of the U.S.–Mexico border. Tucson is the 33rd largest city and the 59th largest metropolitan area in the United States. Roughly 150 Tucson companies are involved in the design and manufacture of optics and optoelectronics systems, earning Tucson the nickname Optics Valley.
The Spanish name of the city, Tucsón [tukˈson], is derived from the O'odham Cuk Ṣon, meaning "(at the) base of the black hill", a reference to a basalt-covered hill now known as Sentinel Peak, also known as "A" Mountain. Tucson is sometimes referred to as "The Old Pueblo".

It has some interesting sculptures situated around the city. This sculpture is located at the base of poetry tree. It looks up to an electronic screen which has poetry scanned across it.

Tuscon is also the home town of Linda Ronstadt. The transit is named after her.

There are many interesting shops to be seen in Tuscon such as Isabellr's Ice Cream Parlor. Which comes with an old world bike.

And a very old car.

There are many eating establishments to choose from however, we were fortunate to find The Coronet. We enjoyed brunch on Saturday and Happy hour downtown Tuscon on Sunday. Have a look at the menu below.

We enjoyed Mimosa accompanied by warm olives ,Pate de Campagne & Winter Bruschetta. All delicious.

The same folks who have The Coronet also have a restaurant closer to where we were located. So we popped in for an afternoon cider and sav blanc both of which come from Washington and were very good.

This is the bar that goes with the wine and cider.

The bar and restaurant looked out onto the square where each weekend there is a market.

More to follow. Our next stop is Phoenix, AZ.

Cheers,
B and R

Christmas Trip - 2016 - SAT to Tuscon

We departed San Antonio on 12 Dec in our RV which needed 6 new tires at the cost of US $ 650 each. At least these tires should last for some years to come.

Our first stop was Kerrville, and enjoyed lunch at Billie Gene's restaurant. This is a Texas Salad.

The Buckhorn Lake Resort RV Park is a great place to stay and on this evening there was a beautiful sunset.

Dinner that evening was home made Beer & Beef accompanied by The 7 Deadly Zins. (Zinfandel) Not bad for dinner in the RV.

From Kerrville we travelled to Fort Stockton then stayed over night at Fort Bliss RV Park in El Paso. The last time we stayed in El Paso was in 1997 with friends from Australia.
We departed El Paso to travel to Tucson which is some 300 miles. As we crossed the dessert plains we encountered very strong winds & very thick dust.

Finally passed through the Texas Canyon, AZ, 60 miles East of Tucson where we saw the famous rocks the Canyon is known for. We also passed the turnoff to Tombstone. We spent 3 days here before we traveled to Phoenix.

More to follow.

Cheers, B and R

Australian Visit - Departing Australia- Dec 2016

While we caught up with the family the first weekend we arrived it did not give us much time to speak to all individually. Toni and her girls visited with us in TX some 3 years ago so lunch with Toni at the Tradies Club was a good venue to meet. On a Saturday morning it is popular in Australian pubs and clubs to have a raffle. As Christmas is almost upon us hams were a very popular raffle item.

Toni always looks very elegant and especially happy that she had the opportunity to have time with her big brother.

I also enjoyed the time we all spent together. Toni was our Matron of Honour when we got married 26 years ago.

A few days after this we departed back to the USA. The Business Class Qantas Lounge has a number of delicious foods to eat.

Apart from great Australian wines to go with the food they also provide great cappuccino coffee.

Our trip home was busy but very rewarding. We got to spend time with our much loved families and friends. It always about the people which makes our lives so rich.

Cheers ,
B and R

Australian Visit - 2016- Visit with relatives & gift to Jake.

We left Canberra late on 30 Nov for a very quick visit to the Gold Coast, Queensland, with our very much loved cousins who we had not seen for 8 years. Before leaving Canberra we enjoyed some delicious calamari accompanied by a NZ Sav Blanc.

On arriving at Coolangatta we stayed at a quaint motel. This was reminiscent of the 1950's era. It was great.

After getting lost and having been guided in by Kathleen we finally got to spend time with our much loved family on Beverley's father's side. Here is Ross next to Mavis and Jill, both cousins to
Beverley. Allen who is the husband of Mavis and Kathleen is the daughter of Mavis and Allen and second cousin to Beverley.

As is the norm for the Wright Clan lunch was magnificent.

It was Beverley's birthday the day before our visit so her family made sure that she was remembered and much loved.

After our visit we traveled back to Kirra and had a cool drink looking over the Pacific Ocean at the North Kirra Surf Life Saving Club.

Here is an Australian surf rescue board,

Welcome to the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

This is what a Life Guard hut looks like in Australia.

While waiting for our plane to fly back to Canberra we experienced a very severe storm which saw all workers removed from outside of the airport buildings because of the lightening.

On return to Jerrabomberra, Ross presented Jake, the grandson of Debbie and John and son of Brett and Shanon with one of Ross' guitars. The smile on Jake's face says it all.

With dad looking on Jake and Ross share a special moment.

While we choose at this time to live in North America we are so fortunate to have so many who care and love us in Australia. We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

More to follow.

Cheers.

B and R

Australian trip - 2016- Bathurst - NSW

We tried to visit with as many of our family and friends while in Australia . This weekend we traveled to Bathurst, New South Wales, (N.S.W.) which is about a 3 hour drive from Canberra. It is a very nice drive which takes you through some pretty little county towns.

Ross did all of his schooling in Bathurst, N.S.W. and still has several dear friends who continue to live here or at least return home frequently to see family and friends. Over many years when we lived in Australia we used to travel to Bathurst to have the weekend with his friends from the "famous" band called the Leedons. This afternoon we were thrilled to meet up with some friends he has not seen since the 1960's. We met up at the local Bowling Club.

The Leedon's was a band made up of Bob on bass, Ross on guitar, Paul on guitar, Pat on vocals, and Robert Donnelly, the drummer. No one knows were the drummer is these days. Peter was Ross's best mate at school and he and his lovely wife Jenny always make the group who also consists of Julie, Karyn and Beverley very welcome . We all converge on their home and have a great weekend together. The opportunity to meet with these great folks started some years ago when Pat tracked Ross down to let him know that St Stannie's was having a reunion. This was the beginning a renewed relationship with these interesting folks. Next November the guys will have finished school 50 years ago and their school with be 150 years old. Couple with this is a reunion with Ross' mates from his Army days, so all being well we will make the trek back to engage in both activities.
We always enjoy great food and wine coupled with lots of laughter when we get together and here is the table set with our Saturday evening meal at Pete and Jenny's home.

Here is the group. going from the left is Peter, Pat, Paul, Jenny, Karyn and Julie. Beverley is the photographer. It was a grand evening.

As several had already celebrated their birthdays and some were still to come, a birthday cake to celebrate us all served as dessert.

For Sunday breakfast we enjoyed Jenny's delicious Eggs Benedict.

On return to Canberra we met up with other friends. These photos are of the foreshore of Lake Burly Griffin. Burly Griffin was an American who designed Canberra, our National Capital.

Around the foreshore there are lots of very expensive apartment's which start at AU $ 450k for a one bedroom apartment with a lake view.

We enjoyed a magnificent lunch with our dear friends Helen & Jack at the Wild Duck Fine Asian Cuisine Restaurant on the Kingston foreshore, Canberra.

It is very elegant inside.

We have known Jack for many years and in 2005 we went with Jack and some friends to China for a visit. We were also privileged to attend Helen and Jack's wedding a few years back.

The food was fantastic. We started off with shrimp & calamari. This was followed by a duck pancakes. Next came Balmain Bugs with noodles. Finally poached barramundi .

Here is Jack with a piccolo latte.

Thank you Helen & Jack for a wonderful lunch. It was so good to spend time with you once again.

We also got to have lunch with Steve, a very dear friend from our Army days. We met at the beaver galleries .