Thursday, January 12, 2012

Good Bye Mesa, Hello Q

We spent most of our time during our last week in Mesa getting ready for the two weeks we plan to be in the desert in Quartzsite. There are only a few stores in Quartzsite and just purchasing the basic essentials can be very expensive. We did get together for some good-byes with friends and made a trip to the Phoenix Art Museum.

The museum had a special exhibit of Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural drawings and we never miss a chance to see any of his work during our travels. No photos were allowed so only this model of a mile high building at the entrance of the exhibit could be photographed. There were drawings of a few of his works that we have seen during our travels, including Taliesin, Taliesin West, Marin Civic Center and the Price Tower. There was a special video exhibit of our favorite Western Pennsylvania Wright building, Fallingwater, which we have toured several times. This is a very interesting stop if you are in the Phoenix area.
Nanc and I in one of the many galleries.

Alan and Sharon explaining this life size pastel drawing by William Merritt Chase. The texture and detail made it look like the woman could step right out of the painting.

A few of my personal favorites from the Western American Gallery.

Here are the two new additions to the Frey family, Elsie and Murray, two cute wire haired dachshunds. They are busy learning the most important of new dog tricks, going outside.

We got together with the gang from Sun Life one last time. Here are Nanc, Jim, Rene, Suzanne, Lynn, Dick, Lorraine and Keith at our favorite local spot, Red, White and Brew. We had a great time on our extended stay at Sun Life and plan to return the next time we are out West.

Our arrival at Q was less than spectacular as I "tried" to drive our 40' motorhome through a 35' wash because I did not follow directions. That resulted in the back getting stuck with the rear wheels spinning in the air. That is the BAD news :-( The GREAT news is, we were rescued by three or four very helpful RVers who brought blocks, shovels and a heavy duty jack. They managed to get it to a point where I could drive it out some three hours later. Without their help I'm sure this stupid move would have cost us several hundred dollars. RVers are the most helpful people in the world. We have no pics because I want to erase this event from my memory, but I am sure there are a few somewhere on the net as we attracted quite a crowd. The full moon rising over the mountains was beautiful. A nice ending to a not so nice day :-)

There were four other rigs with 07 folks when we arrived with more coming in each day. (I hope they follow directions.) Our first day we had a fish fry with the main course provided by Bobby and Sal from their Alaskan trip. Everyone else contributed tasty side dishes so, as usual, we were well fed at a Class of 07 gathering. At top left Sal mans the grill. On the right are Hank, Linda and Bobby waiting to dig in. Bottom left facing the camera are Marty, Nanc and Ron sitting and Marcia standing. Bottom left are Joe and Marty. We are looking forward to a fun couple of weeks in the desert with the "official" 07 reunion starting on Sunday.

2 comments:

Judy Rinehimer said...

On our first trip to Q we had a 22-foot Class C that we were in the process of trying to sell (a 24-footer was on order). We cut through a wash and tore off the steps. Start a topic like this around a campfire and you'll be there for hours listening to everyone's goofs.

Doing It On the Road(Part II) said...

Wow, glad you didn't have any damage! Wish we were there.