Rowkin Rovings Blog

All good intentions were that we would blog on a weekly basis whilst we were in Phoenix but things just seemed to get away from us. Hence, we will just do a quick summary of our time whilst there.

Our accommodation this time was great thanks to Linda and Gabby who we rented off. They had made their second home very comfortable for us and even provided us with a golf cart for December which was handy to take Toquie down to the dog park.

Our focus really seemed to center around pickleball nearly every day with both of us climbing our way up through the ranks.

Fras though, became Mr Supreme at the game and shot up two levels.

There was a tournament of which he won the men’s singles and the men’s doubles.

There were lots of social events, game shows, quiz nights, crochet.

Fras also got to go “desert” walking when his friend Lewis from Calgary was visiting. Hiking isn’t one of those pursuits Di is very comfortable doing.

We had Fraser’s birthday where he celebrated with his birthday plunger. Many of you will know the close association that he has with toilets and their evacuation methods.

We had many friends visit us including our good friend Barb who we have connected with around the world over the years. She currently lives between Colorado and LA. It was so nice to catch up with her as we had not seen her for about five years.

Patti, Di’s very good friend from Calgary came down to keep her company for a week and play some pickleball and the girls did some touristy stuff at the same time.

Fras went for his annual visit to Australia to catch up with family and friends. When sitting at US or Canadian airports, it gives us the fuzzies when we see either an Air New Zealand or a Qantas plane. This was at San Fran where Fras connected with this flight.

He got to go to the footy with his mum and also attended a family reunion in country Victoria catching up with many relatives he had not seen for many years.

So, after four months of beautiful sunny weather, running ourselves ragged with pickleball and many other activities, we climbed in our car and headed north home to Canada. Our original plan was to do an extended trip going home but our hearts were just not in it, so we just went straight up north. Without being political, it was getting uncomfortable in the US plus the US dollar was so very strong against the Canadian loonie that staying extra nights in hotels was going to get just too expensive.

We did make the effort though at Page, which is near the east side of the Grand Canyon to go and visit Antelope Canyon. Many people had mentioned it to us, and we were not disappointed.

The canyon you walk through is only 600 feet long, but it was so interesting.

The sun streaming down through the canyon was breathtaking and the height of the walls is not had justice done by the photos.

Our final stop was at Horseshoe Bend which is also very close to Page. It is where you can see the Colorado River just after it comes out from Lake Powell head down through on its long journey through the canyon.

Our trip up north took three days of 8-9 hour driving days and we were very lucky that we did not hit a lot of snow on the road. It was great to spend what would have been a cold northern winter in the Arizona sun.