Monday, December 9, 2019

Happy Holidays 2019




Happy Holidays 2019

The end of one decade and the beginning of a new one!  We are doing well and are feeling healthy.  We remain quite active and come together at the end of the day to share our separate activities.  We spend most of the year in Tempe were we play golf, attend various classes and lectures at ASU and New Frontiers (Mesa Community College), enjoy dining with friends, attend Broadway plays at Gammage, enjoy classical concerts at the Phoenix Symphony and ASU football games. Vina has her Mah Jongg and Spanish groups.  Gary volunteers with the ASU Emeritus College and currently serves as the Director of the Academy for Continued Learning for the College.  We continue to spend our summers in San Diego golfing, hiking on the beach, playing Mah Jongg, participating in our various discussion groups, enjoying dining out with friends and on occasion seeing our two boys. 









Bob  and  Mike  are well and keeping busy.  Bob’s divorce has been finalized.  He and Melissa and daughter Maya are making a new life together.  Mike is without a housemate and has found out that living by himself is OK.  Bob continues as a computer programmer and Mike is quite active in his disk jockey business.  We are very proud of them.


This year our big trip was on the Backroads of Iberia – a trip through Portugal and Spain staying in Portuguese pousadas and Spanish paradores.  Still working on getting the pictures organized but if you would like to see them, click here or scroll down or click the link to the left. 

We are looking forward to the next decade and hope to remain as active as we can.  We hope that you are well and would love to hear from you and see you if you are anywhere near Tempe or San Diego.

Wishing you a healthy and happy 2020!

Gary and Vina

2019 Pictures in Review



As is normal we are ending 2019 with several events which didn’t make it into the 2018 Pictures in Review.  So we will start at the end of 2018.


Both Gary and Vina enjoy taking classes and participating in other activities with New Frontiers at Mesa Community College. 



Another group that we really enjoy is the Oaks North Hiking Group. This annual holiday tradition is a great way to end/start the year.


A happy tradition in the Kleemann house is have tamales on Christmas Eve with family.   Once upon a time the extended family would make them but now we enjoy store bought.   Manuel’s in Tempe make great ones. We brought some with us to San Diego. 



 The next day we cooked up a prime rib for the holiday. 



An annual tradition for the past several years has been to enjoy a dinner with friends from Vina’s time in San Diego before Gary.  It is a great tradition that I hope will continue for a long time.



We headed back to Tempe to join Vina’s sisters and brothers-in-law for a New Year’s Eve Mexican dance at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix.  A good time welcoming in the New Year was had by all and we will do it again this year.



One of our favorite things to do is to enjoy a meal with friends.  Each month during the academic year, Gary organizes a gathering of former ASU Poly co-workers for lunch.



During the academic year the ASU Emeritus College hosts “Short Talks” – a luncheon and speaker.  Another opportunity to share a meal with friends old and new.



In March we joined New Frontiers friends for a behind the scenes tour of Phoenix Sky Harbor airport.  We rode the light rail from Tempe to get to and from the airport.



While Gary has been unable to fit fall and spring hiking into his schedule, Vina went hiking and took some pictures.



Besides the Short Talks, the Emeritus College also sponsors monthly colloquiums on a variety of interesting topics.  We always learn something when we attend these events.



When spring arrives in the desert, it can be very colorful.  The palo verde tree in our front yard has thousands of yellow flowers.  Take a look.


In May we visited the Backroads of Iberia – Portugal and Spain.  Pictures from our adventure may be found on a separate posting on this blog or by clicking here

We then headed to San Diego for the summer.  We joined the Hiking Group for twice weekly hikes around San Diego with a special emphasis on hiking the beaches.  Pictures from our hikes may be found on a separate posting on this blog or by clicking here.



On the 4th of July we visited the local Rancho Bernardo daytime festivities before boarding a bus with friends to watch fireworks on the Bay.



Good Friends Dave and Karen Schwalm came for a visit and we visited the Safari Animal Park.



In August Gary was able to have lunch with two high school buddies – Larry Pegram and Steve Milakovich. 



Another annual tradition that we look forward to each year is the Ajo High School Class of 1960 Reunion lunch. 



Another organization that we participate in and enjoy is the ASU Retirees Association (ASURA). 

It has been an active year filled with many wonderful experiences and friends.  We look forward to 2020 and the new decade of friends, family and active adventures.







Our Trip on the Backroads of Iberia – Portugal and Spain 2019



In May 2019 we took a three-week trip through Portugal and southern Spain.  We started with a visit to Porto in Portugal and then on to Lisbon.  From Lisbon we went to Evora and Merida, Portugal.   Then we traveled overland to Carmona, Spain.   We explored Seville before going on to Ronda.  We visited Cordoba before journeying on to Ubeda.  We traveled overland again to Madrid and explored Segovia.  We ended our trip in Madrid.  We greatly enjoyed the experience.


























2019 Oaks North Summer Hikes


Click on the link to go to pictures from that hike.