Diane had not seen Leisure World. And Jules and we had not seen Diane's old haunts at Arizona State University, where she attended college. This was a fun Show and Tell weekend.
They arrived late Thursday afternoon. We had Mexican take-out, and then Vicky surprised Diane with a birthday cake.
The next day was the Leisure World tour: Our Show and Tell day.
We walked on the golf course over to the cafe by Rec Center 2, where we had our breakfast outside in the sunshine by the pool. The cafe is one that Jules went to many times when his grandparents lived here.
We walked home walked along the Leisure World streets where we could admire the homes surrounded with flowers and cacti.
After a short rest, we took the 3.5 mile pond walk.
Then we cycled for an hour in LW. No photos, unfortunately. Jules and Diane rode the tandem, and we rode our Rads. It was a blast.
Then we relaxed out on our back patio and enjoyed the sunshine, the eucalyptus trees framing the fairway, and the buzzards soaring in the sky. Beautiful but kind of freaky to have a colony of large buzzards living in our senior community and always circling overhead….
For dinner we barbecued hamburgers. Vicky surprised us with her Christmas fudge for dessert. She and Diane frosted their fudge with peanut butter. Those two are clearly kindred spirits.
The next day we were off to Arizona State University for Diane to do Show and Tell:
The dorm she lived in for awhile in the Honor's complex:
Here is the side view of her college dorm and the balcony where she lived. You may ask what are Diane and Jules doing? Well, Vicky wanted to make sure to not cut off their feet in the photo. As you can see, Jules and Diane also wanted their feet in the photo.
The Old Main building.
Then we took a walk to downtown Tempe, so. Diane could show us all of the restaurants, bars, hang-outs, etc.
And then we did something that Vicky and I had never done. We stopped for awhile at a Board Game Cafe. We don't know the real name for one of these places, but Board Game Cafe will do. It was called Snakes and Lattes.
Diane had remembered this cafe from her college days. She was thrilled that this old haunt of hers was still open, and that she could show it to us!
We learned a game, a Board Game, called Azul. Jules and Diane were very patient, allowing us "do-overs."
We had so much fun playing Azul, that as soon as we got home I bought one as a surprise for Vicky!
Today was eleven years since Vicky and I first saw each other and danced together. It was a special to get to celebrate our 11th anniversary with Diane and Jules!
For dinner Vicky had made her family's broccoli casserole, homemade fried potatoes, and her adaptation of Jules' grandmother's meat loaf. Then? Vicky's death by chocolate cookies and her fudge.
The next morning after an early breakfast, they had to head out to catch their flight home. It seemed like they had just gotten here.
Like my father always used to say when we came to visit.....on our way out the door: "I wish you had never come." We knew what he meant then, which is that saying goodby after a wonderful visit was so hard. And we know what it means now. The same thing.
We are blessed.
What a wonderful visit. It hurts to say goodbye, but it is a good hurt because it comes from the love that Dan and I feel deep within our hearts.
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