More of Arizona...and a side trip

It has been over two months since I've  blogged.  We have continued to stay so very busy!  I will try to pick up from about where I left off! 

We flew back and had a great (albeit short) trip back home for Christmas.  

It was Moxie's first time being boarded and I think Bryant and I were more nervous than she was.  She was so happy to see us and be back "home" and into our routine again! 

Of course the old routine was short lived as we had reservations at one of our favorite spots, Lost Dutchman State Park.  Here (Apache Junction/Mesa) we danced three to four times a week  (square dancing)!  We were getting ready for the Tucson Square Dance Festival late in January.  An entire three days of endless hours of square dancing!  We were feeling pretty good!

  Then on to Yuma to check it out.  Hearing that it is warmer there got our interest!  On our way, the ABS light came on intermittently  on the VIA and then would not allow us to use cruise control!  Yuma was nice and warm and we rode our bikes...took Moxie to the river for a couple of photo shoots

(practiced with the camera) and enjoyed! 

We were in a newer RV Park and it was very nice...we even went to a T. Graham Brown concert at the RV park which we thoroughly enjoyed!  Our only complaint was the noise...planes, trains, and, automobiles...the type of noise you can do nothing about!    We met with a high school friend of my moms, and she shared this photo with me

...my mom is the short smiley face on the right!  Was wonderful to catch up with her as many years ago (2006)  my mom and I stopped by for a visit on our way to Zihuatanejo...a much longer story for another day!  

Remembering the ABS light, I made an appointment with the Mercedes dealer in Peoria to have it checked out when we left on our way back south.  Only a little bit out of our way (north)!  As we were pulling onto the freeway on-ramp...the check engine light came on and for a moment the engine started sputtering!  I pulled over and called our "guy" that always takes care of us in Peoria.  I alerted him that the check engine light had come on...so to be prepared when we got there...we would either "limp" in or get a tow depending on how the VIA was running.  We disconnected our toad (the jeep) and decided to drive them separately to spare extra strain on the Via.  Upon starting the engine back up the VIA ran wonderfully...even getting 15mpg!!  We spent the night in the spot that the dealer had coned off for us even making sure we had an extension cord if necessary (these guys are GREAT)!  Longer story short...we were soooo lucky!  The ABS light was just a sensor that had gone bad...the check engine light was the DEF sensor!  That was the lucky part...we were told that usually when a DEF sensor goes bad it will usually spray all the DEF in the tank into the exhaust system...this of course ruins the exhaust system!  Luck was with us...out of all the repairs they have done we are only the second to have been spared this EXTRA expense.  It still was expensive...we both swallowed hard...stayed in their parking lot for a few nights and "got er done"!  
On to Tubac!  The Tubac Arts Festival was great fun for both of us for different reasons!  

I rode my bike into town each day and set up my display outside the art gallery displaying more of my underwater photos on metal inside.  It was great fun to chat with the Festival goers...and even sold some T-shirts and bags!  Wooohooo!  Bryant on the other hand went sightseeing with my son (who had flown in to Tucson a few days early to help me drive our truck back home) to some really cool places...Karchner Caverns, Biosphere 2, Missle Silo, Airplane Museum, and Madera Canyon.  On the last afternoon of the festival he walked all around the very cute town of Tubac!  

And, then came the road trip for my son and I!  We had a blast! 

From Tubac Arizona to Pismo Beach California for the first day drive.   

To Santa Rosa, the Point Reyes Lighthouse

boxing elk...first time ever seeing that...amazing to watch...neither one was harmed 

and then to Windsor California to stand in line (for an hour and a half) for Paul to taste and buy the limited number of bottles of the Russian River release of Pliny the Younger beer (Two bottles per person...thus why I was there).  But, after standing in line with so many others and chatting with them I decided I must at least taste it.  Once we got inside the bartender gave me a shot glass taste and I will say that even though I do not necessarily like beer...I would drink Pliny the Younger beer over any white wine (really do not like white wine at all) on a warm summer evening at the lake!  Just so happens it's not available for sale anywhere near the lake...so until it is...
Then through the Redwoods...

such an awe inspiring moment...even though we hurried.

not so fast that I couldn't fit (very slowly) our truck through the drive through redwood!

and carefully take a shot through the windshield...

and then all the way back home that evening!  I was able to spend more time with my son, some time with one of my daughters and also with my mom before flying back to Tucson where Bryant and Moxie waited patiently for me!  We will be here in Tubac for a few more days and are riding our bikes on the beautiful Juan Bautista de Anza trail!

That is about all I can "catch up" on blog-wise for the moment!  We do so enjoy our travels and have more reservations booked ahead of us yet this year to enjoy!