THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES ARE NATIONAL CHAMPS!

Tuesday, January 12 – The big game is finally here. The inaugural National Championship college football game would be played tonight. Our The Ohio State Buckeyes, which after their loss to Virginia Tech were given only a 40-1 odds to be in the playoff, will play the Ducks from the University of Oregon. Marsha’s biggest decision of the day was what would she wear? She knew her Buckeye necklace was a shoe in. She didn’t know if she wanted to wear the short-sleeve T-shirt, long-sleeve T-shirt or sweatshirt. If all life’s decisions could be this easy!

It doesn’t take much to make her happy.

It was the battle of the O states. Lee Coro picked the Buckeyes to win the game on ESPN Gameday. We thought that would be the jinx that would do us in.

 

The game was awesome. Both teams played their hearts out. We were nervous wrecks the entire game. We were just waiting for the shoe to drop. But…..

	1st	2nd	3rd
OSU	14	21	28
ORE	7	10	20

FINAL!

Ezekiel Elliott was named MVP. What a game he had!

This was only Cardale Jones’, our third-string quarterback, third start. Outstanding!

Now here is a class act. Urban Meyer, OSU football coach.

What a night for the Buckeye Nation! Congratulations to The Ohio State Buckeye football team.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

A GORGEOUS HIKE…SWEETWATER PRESERVE

Saturday, January 10 - We've been anxious for the weather to warm-up and the wind to slow down so we could go on a hike. Finally, Mother Nature cooperated, and we had an opportunity to head to the hills. We headed to Sweetwater Preserve on the Northwest side of Tucson.

The Sweetwater Preserve is a 703.26 acre preserve located in the eastern foothills of the Tucson Mountains. It is a beautiful area and some amazing trails allowing one to hike among the towering Saguaros. We even found three more crested Saguaros.....cool! Hiking among the Saguaros is so weird. It's like we are on another planet. It simple brings a smile to our faces!

Paul looks like a midget compared to these Saguaros.

We hiked the trails that make up the outer perimeter of the preserve. The trail is not rated, but we would guess it to be easy to moderate. The change in altitude is only about 450'. One of the bothersome, if not difficult, aspects of the trail is the "marble" condition of the gravel on much of the trail bed. A little rough on the feet!

The trails are fairly well marked with signs at intersecting trails. The maps on the signs are a little confusing giving us a chance to test "who knows best" where we should go between the two of us. Marsha was usually right which is amazing because she has absolutely NO sense of direction. There are also arrows pointing out the trails which we actually found the most helpful.

There are many different cacti families represented on this Preserve.  

There are some really odd looking cacti along the hike.

Little babies are all over the place.

The last mile of the hike gave us a great view of Tucson.

By the end of our hike we had traveled a little over 5 miles and where happy with the workout we had received.

If you want to hike among the Saguaros, this is the trail for you. We truly enjoyed our day and look forward to our next hike here in the Tucson area.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

MESQUITE SAWMILL AND TUBAC

Friday, January 10 – After we left the Tumacacori National Historical Park, we then traveled a little over a mile north on the I-19 access road to the Tumacacori Mesquite Sawmill.

Paul, being a woodworker and wood carver, enjoys finding local woods for projects he may do in his spare time. He's in search of some native wood pieces to build a rustic dining room table and thought they might have some interesting pieces.

The rough sawed Mesquite was beautiful but sadly very expensive. Then, of course, there is the problem of hauling it all over the country before he can put it to use. Darn! They have some outstanding pieces in their shop. We wanted to buy this piece for our new son-in-law, Dave. We love you but not that much. LOL

$1,650.00

So we left empty handed and headed to our final destination for the day.

The artsy city of Tubac, Arizona, was our final stop.

Surrounded by dramatic high desert vistas, the village of Tubac features over 100 eclectic shops and world class galleries situated along meandering streets and hidden courtyards.

One could spend an entire day wandering amongst this wealth of painting, sculpture, ceramics, regional fashion, leather and jewelry. There is a significant Native American influence and Mexican craftsmanship present in the items on display and for sale.

There are numerous locally owned restaurants and bars offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner so you won't go away hungry if your looking for something to eat.

K. Newby Gallery has a wonderful sculpture garden.

Marsha got to hang out with her favorite President of all time.

This isn’t really our cup of tea, but we enjoyed strolling along the streets, stopping in numerous shops. We mostly were window-shopping, but Marsha was able to find a couple gifts which she always seems to be looking to buy.

On our drive back to the 5er, a miracle occurred. We saw our first crested saguaro. We have been looking since 2009. Paul saw it from a distance. He pulled over and Marsha jumped out. Yipee! It is a miracle!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!