Return to Scottsdale!

Thursday, January 21

We got all of our things together (I'm pretty sure our hosts and hostesses when we get to stay in friends' and families' homes will tell you we tend to spread out a bit as house guests!), had a little breakfast with Barbara and David Walker, and had set 7:30 to 8 as our departure time from Tucson as we wanted to arrive in Fountain Hills to visit with our friends, Anne and Charles Mullany before he had to go off to work. I missed a turn for Gary, however, and we ended up coming into Phoenix near Mesa, and so actually arrived nearly an hour after we had planned. We also had rain to contend with, but fortunately Charles' work schedule was a bit more flexible and we did get a chance to visit with them after all.

Charles and Anne were Gary's next door neighbors on 10th Avenue, just across the back yard from St. Mary's Hospital. Charlie (a, now retired, cardiothoracic surgeon at Mayo Rochester) and Anne are Australian, and Gary was contacted regularly by the Australian consulate in Chicago to vouch for their residency, etc.,along with their 8 children when they lived on 10th Avenue. He was always pleased to do this as they were such great neighbors with gorgeous, smart kids and nice dogs with whom he could trade dog sitting favors. Charlie retired from Mayo about two years ago, but he wasn't ready to give up medicine. He would have liked a teaching job, but encountered a need at the Maricopa County jail and now works as an intake doctor who sees the inmates first off when they come through booking. I actually did this kind of work in Olmsted County for a bit, and it is quite interesting, and very much needed. He loves it, in spite of a somewhat grueling schedule for someone in retirement: he works about 2 pm to 10 pm on Tuesday through Friday nights I believe.

Charlie fell in love with Arizona when he helped cover call when Mayo's hospital first opened in Arizona ... in some ways it reminds them of their native Australia. Anne and Charlie are very fit people and being able to walk and hike year around fits them to a 't'. They have a lovely home with a view in Fountain Hills, and had just welcomed a second grandchild the day before (born in Baltimore) the day we visited. Here's a picture of Ann with Liz and Ann's lovely birds:

We had a lovely visit, and then stopped in the Fountain Hills "mall" to do a little shopping: Liz needed some new tennis shoes, and we found some super comfortable and cute Skeechers at Famous Footwear, along with some Minnetonka fleece lined suede slippers which she just loves.

We were planning to arrive at our friends, Anita and Greg Mayer's home, around 5 pm, but we had a little extra time so we drove up to North Scottsdale past Pinnacle Peak to Carefree to visit with our friend Derry Shoemaker who lives at Desert Mountain.

She looks out from her perch up the mountain, and about 4 o'clock we could see things getting darker and darker. Then the torrential rain started, and I called Anita and said I/we just didn't feel comfortable driving the (only) 30 minutes to her house in this weather. She was actually glad because she didn't want to have to get out into it and direct us where to park! So we had a cozy evening tucked in with Derry.

Derry is a dear friend whom I actually got to know through Posy Krehbiel. Posy suggested to Derry that she come to see me as a patient (Derry lives in Lake Forest, IL, too), and probably on our second visit, Derry was telling me about having a girls' week at her ranch in the Swan Valley in Montana. I said, "That sounds like such fun," and she said, "Why don't you join us?", and so I did. This was probably in 1996 or so. I was single and had a wonderful week with a group of about 8 women most of whom had known each other for 20-30 years. We stayed in touch, and I was happy to return to the Swan to visit Derry and her husband Don for a number of summers when we would float and fly fish down the Snake River, hike, visit, have Yoga in the house, and eat fabulous meals planned and executed by Derry! The highlight was a week long pack trip into the Bob Marshall wilderness in Montana to fly fish. You can only get into "The Bob" by horseback or floating in. It was fabulous ... I didn't catch much fish but had a wonderful time with the Shoemakers and their friends.

Since then we've stayed in close touch, particularly in the last year when Don became very ill with a systemic infection, was hospitalized at Mayo Arizona, and ultimately succumbed. What a loss! He was a very beloved husband, father, grandfather, business colleague and friend, and I was honored to attend his memorial service last March. Derry is an incredibly strong woman which she has demonstrated again during this grieving process. It is so heartening to see her rebuilding her life in such a healthy way!

Friday, January 22

I had asked my friend Anita Mayer to help me obtain a follow-up test I needed from last fall, but I wasn't sure what time the ultrasound was scheduled for. At 8:00 I learned I was to be at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale by 9:30, so I got on my horse and made my way through some morning traffic and arrived just in time. Once again, thankfully, all is well.

As the morning progressed I learned that Derry had invited Liz for a "Girls' Day" and sleep-over, so Gary came on down in Buster, and met me after my appointments. I had time for brief visits with former colleagues Mike Covalciuc, Bob Orford, and Carol Ann Atwood. All seem to be doing well!

We found our way through Scottsdale and into Paradise Valley where our friends Anita and Greg Mayer live. Anita is a general internist at Mayo Clinic Arizona, and is very involved in mentoring programs for young women faculty within the Mayo system. She has a little more time now that her children are grown. Greg us the medical director of Hospice of the Valley. We became friends back in my Arizona years (1987 to 1990) when Anita and Greg were the parents of four adorable toddlers in 1990 (well, Grant was a little more than a toddler), and now all of them are wonderful, accomplished twenty-somethings. I was honored when the three girls, Rachel, Julianne, and Madeline, were my "sweethearts" in our wedding ten years ago. Now the eldest, Rachel, is a bride herself, and we were so happy to be able to have a curbside seat to the wedding planning the week-end we were there. Anita was still working on the tables, Grant was playing a way high-end team computer game during his breaks from college, and, best of all, we got to see a demo of Greg and Anita practicing their wedding dancing! (Greg was able to work in the dancing lessons in between laundry ... he is an expert, and we were the beneficiaries of Greg's laundering ... sorting, spotting, drying, folding ... it was fabulous!) We had such a great time, and were so happy to reconnect with them!

Saturday, January 23

We had a nice dinner together on Saturday night, joined by the younger two daughters, Julianne and Madeline, both of who are attending Arizona State University, living in an apartment together on campus. They are gorgeous, brilliant and fun, and it was absolutely wonderful to see how they've grown into fabulous young women from the promising girls they all were. We had the dancing demonstration on Sunday morning, just after the bride and groom (Rachel and Ross Buettner) -- who were to be married the next Saturday -- came by. Liz had an absolutely wonderful time watching Rachel open a myriad of wedding gifts, and was so pleased to be the recipient of numerous Crate and Barrel ribbons. They, through the generosity of the bride, are now traveling the US with us in the motorhome!

On Saturday morning Gary and I had a wonderful walk in the Mayer's Paradise Valley neighborhood, and Saturday afternoon we hooked up with Liz following her Girls' Day with Derry. They had had a fabulous time, ending with a viewing of Avatar. They both loved it. We had a good lunch at the Yard House, and then wanted to make a short visit with the Ruben Mesa family, our former neighbors in Rochester. Ruben is a talented young hematologist who has recently relocated with his family to MC Arizona. He, unfortunately, was out of town, but we had a chance to visit with Kris (his wife), their two kids, Katie and Ruben, and Kris' parents, June and Paul Belin, who live with them. They were such a great family across the street on Fox Hollow Lane, and it was terrific to have a neighbor girl, Katie, nearly Lizzie's age .... they played together so well, and loved a chance to see each other again. All of them have settled in nicely in Scottsdale and are really happy they made the move.

Sunday, January 24

We wanted to spend a little more time with Derry, so drove Buster back up to Desert Mountain on Sunday. She was happy to watch the Vikings game with us, and she had just had a new huge flat screen TV installed. But even with HD, we couldn't help Brett Favre and the Vikings defeat the Saints. It was so sad, seeing that short run in the 4th quarter that Brett would have needed to make to get a first down enabling a field goal, but instead he threw a short interception and the Saints got the ball back. They proved to be the best team, but for those of us in Minnesota, it was a sweet run.

Monday, January 25

We knew we needed to arrive by January 26th, in Murrieta, California, to begin our next visit with Gary's daughter Polly and her family, and begin our time helping with the care of the now 3 month old twins. So we had one more day in Arizona ..... we decided to go up to Sedona and the red rock country which I have always loved, and which Gary and I visited about three years ago and really enjoyed. It is only about a 2 hour drive from North Scottsdale, and we had a pretty nice day for driving the car.

I had remembered, and Derry reminded me, of this great, unique shopping area in Sedona named Tlaquepacque. We found our way to Renee's, who had a delicious lunch menu including the "best" onion soup. It was good (not sure the best; I always liked Hamburger Hamlet in Westwood/LA), but overall we had a nice lunch. We looked around at some beautiful galleries, jewelry shops, glass arts shops, and found a nice Valentine's present for Liz: a semi-precious stone heart necklace that needed creating and stringing of the beads. Gary also got a little bit more involved project for her to do if she liked the first one.

On the way home, we decided to stop by Montezuma Castle. Sinagua farmers began building this five story, 20 room dwelling early in the 1100's. It stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley. Early settlers once again thought it was Aztec in origin, hence the name.

(I loved this picture of the tiny moon in the afternoon sky!)

We had a date with Derry for Pasta Night at her club at Desert Mountain. We were joined by some very interesting friends of hers, attorneys from Chicago, who have also retired there and dinner conversation was interesting and stimulating. Liz, once again, charmed all; we really are so proud of how she just goes with the flow. She has spent A LOT OF TIME with adults this year, and has been very patient and easy to have around. This trip has matured her a lot, and I want to be sure to get her back into some real "kid" experiences when we get home .... even though this year will forever be memorable for her, I don't want her to have missed a year of her childhood, either!

We so appreciated Derry's hospitality, and were very sad to say good-bye to her. She was set to return to Chicago to take care of some business and visit with her family, but we really look forward to visiting her at her ranch in Montana in May.

Tomorrow begins our return to California, this time with Buster, and getting to know our precious Jack and Justin even more. We can't wait! I'm also looking forward to seeing many old friends .... remember: I'm a California girl!

Julie, Gary and Liz