Season Greetings. We wish you all the very best for the holidays and for 2010.
This past year has been the year of exploring new things for us. It was the first full year of retirement for Gary (he is adjusting nicely!). We were able to spend more time in San Diego. We were able to visit with family on lots of different occasions. We spent time playing golf, hiking, taking trips exploring Arizona and California, visiting family and friends and trying out some non-credit classes. It has been great. Gary even volunteered to teach a seven week course for senior citizens on leadership. Retirement is a BUSY time of life!
What follows are highlights of things we did this past year. POW means that we have posted pictures on the Web. If you want to see them go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/garykleemann or click POW.
We spent Thanksgiving 2008 with Cricket and Marty, little Marty, Larissa and the girls and friends. The girls are really cute. Mike drove over from California and was able to join us. POW
We started off December by visiting the Chilhuly glass art outdoor exhibition at night at the Desert Botanical Garden with good friends and new retirees Dave and Karen Schwalm. What Dale Chilhuly has done with glass is hard to describe but wonderful to look at. POW
Vina, Vera and Hector all have December birthdays so we got together for a combined birthday celebration at Mimi’s in North Phoenix. POW Then, on Vina’s birthday, we attended a Holiday gathering of good friends from ASU Poly at Chuck and Judy Backus’ ranch in the Superstition Mountains. Rustic and bit chilly but really wonderful. POW
We then headed to San Diego to spend the holidays. We were fortunate to have dinner with an old friend from Vina’s early San Diego days – we joined Buzzy and Susan for a lovely dinner at Balboa Park.
And it would not be Christmas with the family without Christmas Eve tamales at home in San Diego. Even though Vina and her sisters didn’t make them themselves this year, the Costco tamales were delicious. POW
On Christmas Bob and Natalie treated us to a delicious dinner they cooked and then we opened gifts. POW
Every year several of Bob and Natalie’s friends get together to hold an “Emeril’s Step It Up” party where everyone brings a gourmet dish and accompanying wine. We felt honored that they invited us to participate. Part of the fun of the event is the preparing of the food. We tasted food and drank wine for more than six hours before we had to quit! They kept on going! POW
Then we were able to get together with some good friends from Gary’s high school days. We had lunch with Doug and Sue Halliday and Denny Miles in San Juan Capistrano. It was really nice to get to see them. POW
We stayed in San Diego for New Year’s and instead of a traditional Mexican dance like we normally go to we went to the New Year’s Eve dance at the Community Center in the 55+ community where our condo is located. The event was sponsored by the Dance Club and they put us to shame with their expert dancing. But we did have a great time. Maybe we should take dance lessons the maybe we will do it again. POW
Vina and Gary both joined the local hiking club. Our first hike of 2009 was the Apache Tears – Perlite Mine hike. Bill and Susie Wright, good friends from Oregon were in town and they were able to join the hike. A great way to start the hiking season. POW
Since Bill and Susie were in town and we wanted to see the Chihuly exhibit again, we all went to the Desert Botanical Gardens in the daytime and got a different but still spectacular view of the exhibit. POW
In February we took a driving trip with a senior citizens group through Southern Arizona and visited places that we had not seen before. We went to Colossal Cave, POW wine tasting in Elgin, Arizona, Tumacacori Historical Park, POW the Titan Missile Museum, POW San Xavier del Bac mission, POW and Kitt Peak Observatory. POW
And there were three hikes in February: South Mountain Park Desert Classic Trail hike, POW Cave Creek Trailhead hike, POW and Piestawa Peak. POW Piestawa Peak was more challenging than we had imagined – but we made it! We are so fortunate to have such wonderful places so close.
We went on three more hikes in March: The McDowell Mountains Scenic Trail hike POW, Ballantine Trail Hike, POW and the Superstition Mountains – Siphon Draw Trail hike (near Flatiron). POW
Much of the family – Hector, John and Vera, Marty and Larissa with Bella and Alex, and Gary and Vina got together for Easter at Marty and Cricket’s home. POW
Toward the end of April we took another driving trip – this time to Canyon de Chelly in Indian country in Northern Arizona. We visited the Painted Desert and Hubbell Trading Post, POW Canyon de Chelly, POW and drove back through Winslow (Standing on the Corner) and stopped at the La Posada Hotel for lunch. POW The Canyon is very impressive.
We spent much of May in San Diego. We celebrated Mother’s Day with a brunch with Bob and Natalie and Mike. POW We joined the Guaring Family who were visiting Bob and Natalie at the Hotel Del Coronado one day. POW
We came back to Arizona in early June to help a friend from Poly, Vinette Williams, celebrate her retirement. POW Then it was back to San Diego where Gary celebrated his 64th birthday with family. POW
In July we made another short trip back to Arizona and on the way we stopped in Palm Springs to help our very good friend, Bob Serrano celebrate his birthday. We were joined by Jason and Kirsten West and their niece. A grand time was had by all. POW
After a short stay in Arizona, we returned to San Diego to spend the rest of the summer. In the middle of August Gary’s sister was getting married at South Lake Tahoe, so we decided to take an extended eating and drinking drive around California. We left San Diego and headed up to LA where we had lunch with sister Elsie, Eddie and Mason. Then we proceeded up the California coast to Santa Barbara where we had dinner and spent the night with brother Hector and Liz. POW The next day we drove to our old stomping grounds of Stockton where we stopped to see our old house and our next door neighbor, Betty Iler. POW We then joined some good friends from UOP, Judy Chambers and her fiancé, Jim Darrah, Jesse Marks, and Elizabeth and Bob Griego for a wonderful dinner. The next morning we met Peig and Paul Fairbrook for breakfast before heading out toward wine country.
We stopped and had a great visit with Jerry and Lynn Jakubowski, former colleagues from Poly now at the Maritime Academy, at lunch in Vallejo. Then it was on to Napa and visiting the wineries. We visited Sterling Vineyards (we like their wine) and then had a truly great meal at Mustard’s restaurant. POW The next morning we visited St. Supery Winery POW before hitting the road for South Lake Tahoe. That evening Gary’s sister Joy and her fiancé Dan, hosted a BBQ at their home. POW The wedding was the next day – also at Joy's. POW Before the wedding we took a drive around Lake Tahoe and had a nice lunch on a patio on the Lake edge. Just beautiful! POW We were thrilled that we were able to attend the wedding and see Joy so happy.
After the wedding we decided to take Highway 395 down the “backside” of California. We stopped half way down in a small town called Independence where we stayed at an interesting but not updated bed and breakfast. POW We went to an amazing French restaurant called Still Life Cafe for a truly delightful meal. Next time you are in Independence, we recommend it.
At the end of August we went to Aunt Edith and Uncle Howard’s 65th wedding anniversary celebration in Costa Mesa. POW It was great to see cousins including Tris and Kevin and Carol. Family, including extended family, are important to us.
In early September Cathy Fligg, an apartment mate of Vina’s almost 40 years ago, paid a visit to San Diego and joined us for dinner. It was a delight to see her after all these years and for Gary to get to meet her. POW
We then celebrated our 39th Wedding Anniversary with a dinner with family in San Diego. POW Then we returned to Tempe for the Fall.
In November we took another driving trip to Northern Arizona and the hiking season started. On the trip to Northern Arizona we went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon POW It is quite different than the South Rim. We stopped at Navajo Bridge and then on to Glen Canyon Dam. POW We took a dinner cruise on Lake Powell that was very enjoyable. POW The next day we toured the Antelope Slot Canyon – which is hard to describe but the sandstone walls of the slot canyon are quite beautiful. POW
Hiking trips in November included a hike along the Mogollon Rim, POW South Mountain Park hike. POW San Tan Mountain hike, POW Lost Dog Trail hike, McDowell Mountains, POW Hackberry Springs Loop, First Water Trailhead, Superstition Mountains, POW and finally we joined Bill and Susie Wright for a short hike on the Lousley Hill loop in the McDowell Mountains out close to where they parked their motor home. We hiked, had a great dinner and enjoyed watching a desert rainstorm. POW
Our kids were not able to make it home for Thanksgiving but we were fortunate to be joined by friends Bill and Susie Wright for a great turkey feast.
As 2009 winds down we are preparing to head to San Diego and enjoy the holidays visiting family and friends. It has been a good year. Gary and Vina find they are very comfortable with each other in retirement and taking on new adventures.
We wish you much success and happiness and new adventures in 2010.
