Bill and Kathy meet us in Mesa and...what the heck...let's buy a house

We met Bill and Kathy in Mesa over the 2017-2018 New Years.  

We all had spent so much time here with my parents, and we had gotten together for several years, that we thought this would be a good place for this year's meeting.

Also, we had originally planned on meeting back at Joshua Tree National Park, where we spent time together three years ago, but Twenty-nine Palms was all filled up.  

This is one of those times in life when you think maybe something is pre-ordained.  Because meeting in Mesa changed Vicky and my life.  

We ate at the usual places we ate at with my parents.  The diner:

Serrano's:

One of the things about Bill and Kathy that we so love is that they are also "doing things.'  They go places, do stuff.  They are adventurous like we are.

For this trip we decided to go to Old Tuscon, a tourist attraction in Tuscon, AZ.  Until most of it was burned down, it was where a lot of old movies were filmed. 

 

 Contention was the town in the 1957 movie 3:10 to Yuma where Van Heflin, a farmer desperate for money to feed his family, agrees to get Glenn Ford, an outlaw, onto the 3:10 to Yuma train so he could be jailed.

It was filmed here, in this valley.

This film has a particularly poignant memory for me.  I remember it distinctly.  I was 9 years old.  My father and I saw a lot of Western movies together.  For this one, my sister Kathy also went along.

About two blocks from home I asked Dad to stop the car.  I felt bad that mom was home by herself, and so wanted to walk home so she wouldn't be alone.  My father stopped and let me out.  Then he talked to me and said that mom would be fine with us going.

So I got back into the car and we went together.

That night, in bed, I heard Dad tell my Mom about this.  I never expected it to get to her.

Ironically, it is one of the best westerns of the 50s.

The next day we hiked Superstition Springs Mountain, a hike we did frequently with my mother.

 

Let's see.  What else did we do.....hmmmm.

I know!  We bought a house in Leisure World, that's what.

We had not even talked about it.  But Bill got sick, so Kathy and we needed something to do, so we got permission to tour Leisure World with a realtor.  

And during this tour, it is sort of like Vicky and I decided to buy a house here.  It really was that impulsive.

Before we left, we had made an offer.  

One of the best decisions we had ever made.  Thanks, Bill, for getting sick.  You took one for the team.