Accepting the Invite
My sister and her husband have a cabin in the White Mountains here in Arizona.
They have invited us numerous times, and we have either been out traveling or had other commitments and not able to go. We begged them to keep inviting us!
Over the past year or so they remodeled the cabin. During that process, we were able to go with them to see the progress and help move things around for the next phase of construction.
Then, after my sister had surgery, we accompanied them to the cabin for a few days of rest and healing for her.
So I guess we have been a few times, but I promise the invites were more!
All of that to say, this latest invite we were able to accept, and we very much looked forward to getting out of the heat.
You see, we were running somewhere around 110 to 112 daily here in the desert. To say we were grateful for the 80 degree weather of the mountains was definitely an understatement.
So we headed north on Saturday morning, planning to stay until Tuesday.
Golf for 4
Unbeknownst to each other, my sister and I have both been attempting to learn to play golf. Let me first start by saying golf is hard!
Leslie has taken a few lessons and played a bit with her husband, Larry, up at their cabin. I have been going to the indoor simulator with Tracey.
Now Tracey will tell you he is not a coach, but I beg to differ. He has such patience with me and the other wives that have come along.
Back to the mountains—Leslie booked us tee times on both Sunday and Monday mornings. Tracey was excited. I was nervous.
We had the best time though. We played best ball as a group and it worked out well. No one really played stellar, and no one was horrible the entire round.
We don’t tend to get much time really getting to know my sister and her husband, since we live two hours apart and each have very busy lives. However, now that all of our kids are grown and we have all retired, we’re making an effort to change that.
The course at The White Mountain Country Club is in great shape, was unbelievably green and not too awful to the two beginners.
We laughed a lot, we sulked a bit, we lost some balls and found others, we got rained on and sweated toward the end of our second round.
Can’t wait until the next time.
Food Food and more Food
Tracey and I have been “learning” to eat healthy and just have a healthier life.
Telling you that so you’ll know that some of the food we had tasted SO good, but not sure if it was really THAT good or if it was because we haven’t been eating some of the choices we made in quite awhile.
We made a return visit to Annie’s Bistro, where we indulged in yummy salads.
There was also a new BBQ place we tried, one that didn’t even have their phone line connected yet.
We drove to the Silver King Smoke Lodge and asked the server, who by the way used to bartend at The White Mountain Country Club, for recommendations.
Then we took our order back to the cabin, where we thoroughly enjoyed every bite.
We ate a couple of lunches at the country club, where everyone knows Leslie and Larry, kind of like “Cheers”. (I know, showing my age.)
We tried the fish tacos, a Turkey Bacon Avocado on Sourdough, and Larry had a burger every time.
All the food was really good, full of flavor, but the view was even better.
We ate a couple meals at the cabin, mainly breakfast and snacks. That gave us more time to visit.
Tracey and I ventured out and tried a new to us place called Darbi’s.
Service was a bit slow but the food was good. Their menu was so vast, we vowed to go again so we could try more things.
Rest and Relaxation
We watched a movie or two, played some games (Mahjong, SkipBo, Cribbage) and put some puzzles together.
Outside, we enjoyed the lovely cool weather, listened to thunder, and watched it rain.
We cleaned a little, we made a few minor repairs.
Mostly we enjoyed just being together. To quote my sister Leslie: “Who knew we actually liked each other.”
Goodbye and Not Ready to Go Home
On Tuesday we were tired from two days of golf but not ready to leave.
We were very much enjoying our time all together and the beautiful weather, so Tracey and I stayed another night.
Wednesday morning Leslie and Larry had to head home, a sick friend and the next family trip to get ready for were calling them home.
They generously offered to let us stay even though they were leaving. We graciously accepted and actually ended up staying until Saturday morning. Even then we were not ready to go home.
We cleaned up the cabin, did laundry, changed sheets and towels, cleaned out the fridge, took the trash to the dump and even left a couple of gifts for when they return to their cabin.
Their generosity means so much to us—we needed to get away and have some unplugged togetherness, and this was the perfect place for it.
We look forward to the next invite!