March 1-3, 2024 Phoenix to Burbank

A cool morning in Anthem, and a lazy one at that. Friday, we decided to be slightly more active today. Our intent was to spend some time in the hot tub and then head out for a meal. Unfortunately, the hot tub decided to go on strike. It wouldn‘t heat, nor would the jets stay on for any length of time. Possible diagnosis is either a faulty igniter or pack rats nesting in the system. Either way we are out of luck. We regrouped and decided on a drive to downtown Phoenix for a tour of the Japanese Friendship Garden.

The garden features more than 1,500 tons of hand picked rock, stone footbridges, lanterns and more than 50 varieties of plants. It includes streams, a 12-foot waterfall, and a Koi pond with over 300 Koi fish. One of the main attractions at the Japanese Friendship Garden is the Japanese Tea House. 3.5 total acres with a koi pond that is 5/8 of an acre.The Koi pond holds 550,000 gallons of water and some of the Koi have been in the pond since the opening of the garden in 1996.

The Garden showcases more than 50 varieties of plants including two varieties of bamboo. The designers chose plant species that can withstand the rigors of a desert environment while still reflecting the serenity of a Japanese Garden. 1,500 tons of rock handpicked from quarries in Arizona near Jerome, Superior, Congress and Florence line the stream beds, walking paths, lake shore and main lake waterfall. It is a soothing and relaxing Garden and is designed for contemplation and rest. 

We left the garden and then drove back towards Anthem, arriving at a First Watch restaurant at 1:00 for our noon lunch. We dined on eggs, sausage, hash browns and a sausage and biscuit plate that was as good as ever encountered. We were back at the old homestead by 3:00 and ready for some nap time or some reading time. As cocktail hour proceeded, Dell produced some huge steaks and fired up his grill. Karen prepped a salad and some boiled potatoes and we dined quietly as the sun set over the western mountains.

Saturday morning we cleaned our bodies and packed our bags. We departed Anthem around noon and drove to Cave Creek for our annual meal at The Horny Toad, a notorious burger place that we hit every time we are in the Phoenix area. We arrived at Sky Harbor Airport around three and bid goodbye to our friends and hosts. Another calming few days in the Phoenix area.

We boarded our flight to Burbank at 5:30 and settled in for the quick hop over the mountains and into the LA area. Ed, our eldest son, was there to meet us and we made the 20 minute drive to the apartment where Meg greeted us warmly with a ready cocktail and a home cooked meal in the oven. We petted Addison the dog, and fought off the constant attention from  Millicent the cat. We caught up on life in general and dined on roast lamb, home fried potatoes and a wonderful arugula salad. Relaxed, we chatted into the night, watched the movie “American Fiction” which is up for some Academy awards then falling into our newest and third bed of the trip.

Sunday morning we arose to coffee and some reading time as we perused our Omaha World Herald (not much to read) and our Sunday New York Times.In the early evening, we headed into downtown Hollywood to meet Ed & Meg’s good friends Katie and Wayne at the legendary Musso & Frank Grill. This iconic restaurant was established at this location in 1919 and is dubbed the oldest restaurant in Hollywood. It is famous for its decor, its waiters dressed in their red cats white shirts and black bow ties and its food. Dubbed a “New York style” restaurant, it serves steaks, Welsh Rarebit, Lobster Thermidorian and other old style cuisine. It is famous for its Martinis and has an excellent wine list.   It lived up to its reputation.

We enjoyed the Martinis, and dined on several steaks and  grilled Branzini over rice. Dessert included some cheesecake and a strawberry tort that was enough for two. Many of you have seen Musso & Frank’s as it is featured in many movies and television shows. We remembered it as almost another character in the TV show, “The Kaminsky Method” starring Michael Douglas and Allan Arken. Also it is a frequent feature in the Harry Bosch series. We returned home and fell into bed, with true Hollywood memories. 

Monday morning, we lazed around, read our newspapers and completed our daily puzzles while Ed and Meg worked (both from home.)  At noon, Ed took us to lunch at the “Front Yard” restaurant, a part of the Garland Hotel, just around the corner from Universal Studios. No famous sightings but great food.

We returned and helped Ed pack his bags, as he had to leave at 4:00 to handle his teaching gig as an adjunct professor at Cal State LA, and then on to LAX for a “red eye” flight to New York where he is spending the rest of the week. With Meg, we walked a few blocks to the Idle Hour pub for some wine, burgers, flatbread and fried chicken fingers. A walk back, an attempt (only Deb did not fall asleep) to watch the new TV series “The Regime” with Kate Winslet and then crawled into bed to end the evening.

February 28 & 29, Tucson to Phoenix

Wednesday morning was a bit cloudy but otherwise typical Tucson weather. We picked at the remains of the breakfast bar this morning, made use of our hosts washer and dryer, and packed up our bags. Del and Karen had spent the previous night in a Comfort Inn near Mt. Lemmon here in Tucson after driving down yesterday from Phoenix. They arrived at Potosi Point Drive just before lunch, bringing along the second half of the huge sandwiches they had dined on the night before. Mark and Karen split her muffuletta sandwich and we also finished off some of Kevin’s remaining tortilla and rice dish.

As rain showers started, we said our goodbyes and our heartfelt thanks to Tom, Kevin and Liam the Scotty dog for their wonderful hospitality and headed north to the Phoenix area for the second leg of our annual free-loading sojourn in the Southwest. The rain became heavy for a short distance as we initially headed west but as we turned north on I-10, the rain dissipated and traffic was not too bad. We arrived in Anthem, north of Phoenix around 5:00.

We unpacked the Ford and then enjoyed a cocktail and glass of wine. After calling in our order, Del jumped into his Mustang convertible and drove to a nearby Asian restaurant to pick up our take-out, returning with the warm and satisfying meal in about 20 minutes. We dined, talked, and then sat watching the antics of the talk show hosts on You Tube for a few hours, turning in after another “tough” day as travelers.

Thursday we leapt out of bed to meet the day (wouldn’t that be a sight to see!) Deb did a little remote travel work, Del puttered around the house cleaning the deck and skimming the pool, and Mark sat on his anatomy reading all day. Deb and Karen checked out restaurants and finally settled on a place the Sennentz team was unfamiliar with - Kiki & Rae’s Seafood Bar in nearby Cave Creek.We arrived a few minutes late for our 6:00 reservation, but were seated promptly on the patio under a  portable gas heater. We enjoyed great clam chowder, deep fried cod sandwiches, scallops on rice medley and shared a bottle of Pinot Noir. A relaxing and delicious  meal.

Arriving back in Anthem we watched part of a movie, read for a awhile and retired around 10:00. A quiet and relaxing day.

2024 Arizona Spring Fling

Saturday, February 24, 2024 and our “Uber” driver, Abigail picks us up promptly at 10:00 AM to transport us to Eppley Airfield for the beginning of our spring trek to the great Southwest. Our Southwest Airlines flight to Denver departed and arrived on time. We lunched on a Caesar Salad and a Ham and Swiss sandwich plus a pair of cans of Pinot Noir for the princely sum of $68.00, this from a stand-up sandwich purveyor. We found our way to our gate and sat at a computer hook-up station / desk to eat our meal. Surprisingly good food, with one of the best ham and Swiss sandwiches ever encountered. (Topped off with a huge Rice Krispy & marshmallow treat for dessert.) 

The flight to Tucson was delayed due to late arrival of the equipment, but we landed safely in Tucson at 5:45, met by our host Tom. Our bags arrived on time and intact and we spent the next 45 minute drive catching up enjoying the sights as we headed for home in the suburb of Oro Valley. Kevin and Liam the Scotty Terrier met us at their home and we rested on the patio, looking at the Catalina mountain range, enjoying a dirty martini and dined on a taco bowl dish Kevin had been preparing in his Ninja pot. We notified Abby that we had arrived safely. Darcy was on a flight returning from Denver after a drive out from Omaha with her friend Erin and her son Sam. Ed & Meg were also in Arizona, Scottsdale, and were busy touring the Biltmore Hotel and enjoying a cocktail in this Frank Lloyd Wright designed structure. We will meet them in Burbank next weekend. 

Sunday morning we awoke fairly refreshed and enjoyed a breakfast buffet of pastry, chopped fruit, cereal, juice, toast and jam and the all important coffee. The morning was beautiful, the mountains gleamed and we sat on the deck admiring the day. There is a huge bicycle road race occurring here in Oro Valley today.

The traffic is diverted and there are hundreds of bikers racing around a 4 mile stretch of the town. We walked about a block up to the highway area of the race and watched the pelotons racing by and then, later in the afternoon, watched the professional racers as they tore around the route at a torrid pace. This event began at 8:00 this morning and went to 4:00 in the afternoon. Exciting to watch although it was quite a disruption to traffic and caused us a bit of circumnavigation when we returned later in the afternoon.

Shortly after the noon hour, we hopped in the car and headed out for our day’s adventure. We drove to the nearby town of Oracle to Biosphere 2. This 3.14 acre facility was originally a ranch, then a hotel conference center and  in 1984 construction began for the Biosphere as a simulation for exploring human living possibilities in space.

The original 8  Biospherians were locked into the facility for a two year period, raising their own food, cooking and living together to test the possibility and life activities away from Earth.  After the initial two year period, a second set of 7 Biosherians entered the facility for and additional period. The facility is now owned by the University of Arizona and continues into research of life science. There are five Biomes under glass at the facilit. These biomes, ocean, mangrove wetlands, tropical rainforest, savannah grasslands and fog desert, are all huge structures under glass similar to enormous greenhouses.The walking tour takes approximately 90 minutes and is truly amazing.

Biosphere 2 is meant to replicate Biosphere 1 (Earth) and is undertaking all kinds of research that is fascinating and basic to life. As an example, There are three huge, under glass “hillsides” that are constructed on steel frameworks under glass. These are each approximately 33 feet wide and 100 feet long, at a 10º slope and will be planted with a variety of plants and grasslands. The object is to find how water is purified as it percolates through various layers of growth and soil. There are nearly 1,000 sensors in each area of soil, and, as it is all under glass, the temperature, humidity, and sunlight can be controlled and measured.

The object is to find the effect of each input on the plants and the resulting water that percolates through the soils. To me, as a building guy, two of the most interesting structures were the Lung buildings. Since all the structures are sealed under glass, the temperature and humidity combine to continually change the pressure inside the structures. If not properly vented the structures could explode or crush under the atmospheric changes. These huge lungs are designed to breathe via huge floating aluminium floors that rise and lower as to maintain an even pressure with in the building structures. The facility is open from 9:00 to 4:00 every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Tickets are $27.00 for adults, $25,00 for seniors and $15.00 for those 17 and under. There are a limited number of tickets available for each day and hour so are best purchased in advance from Biosphere 2.org.  Anyone planning a visit to Tucson should add this to their agenda - it is not to be missed.

We returned to the house for the rest of the afternoon for cocktails and visiting. We snaked on cheese, crackers, and some cookies and ice cream. As we were still in travelling mode and under the influence of toile changes, we retired at 10:00 having enjoyed our first day of learning about our world and resting by the pool with cocktails and good friends and hosts.