Festivals Abound

We have been to a few interesting places in the last couple of weeks.  We decided to take a drive to Scottsdale one day and found that they had an Arts Festival on as well as some sort of street festival.  The Arts Festival had lots of artists and artisans showing a variety of wares.  We then wandered on and found that the streets were closed off in parts of Old Scottsdale.  There were stages set up with live entertainment (Is that as opposed to dead entertainement??  I always wonder that when the TV announcer ways filmed in front of a live studio audience.  Do they sometimes film in front of dead people?)

I digress...  There was a classic car street. stage entertonament and some vendors and loads of people.  Since we were walking by, we went into a little adobe church.  It was the Our lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church.  It is the first Catholic church and oldest church in Scottsdale.

It has been restored to its original condition as much as possible.  Although the stained glass windows had been removed, they were found at a window company who had wondered how long it would take for someone to come back for them.

Here are some of the people who were sitting and walking around - and some of their wares:

 

 

 

We have been to Scottsdale a couple of times since then to have dinner with my friend Evelyne and her husband and to have lunch with Dalton's cousin and her husband.  We are getting to know how to get around there.  We like the Old Town with its interesting shops and eating places.

 

 

We have also been to the Renaissance Festival.  It is held on weekends just east of the Mesa area.  There are lots of booths to look at, food to eat, tournaments to attend and entertainers (live ones; no dead!!)  to enjoy.  We especially liked that many of the attendees also dress up in medieval clothes so it is difficult to tell the staff from the visitors.  If you want to participate, you can rent costumes or buy head gear and such.  Most of the visitors who were dressed up, appeared to arrive in costume though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed the jousting tournment and our knight won which was a bonus. (Each section was assigned a knight.  We all got to cheer and boo as was appropriate.)

 

 

There are lots of activities for children so we think we will take Beth, Tim and Sarah when they come this week.

The last festival we have been to was right here at Towerpoint.  All the activity groups made displays to show what they have been doing all season.  Of course, our quilting group put on quite a show.  I only put in a couple of small pieces.

 

There were lots of other bigger (and better) ones to see though.

 

 

You get the idea.

Saturday was the third and last day of the Festival and there was a parade.  It had a Woodstock theme so there was lots of peace and love - and not a few pretend joints being smoked.  I think some of these people were at the original Woodstock!!

This is our neighbour's car. 1941.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good time was had by all.  Oh and I forgot to mention that food and wine/beer flowed pretty well for the three days.  No wonder a good time was had.  Peace and love to you all.

 



 

 



 



The Lazy Blogger

I think I should start a new blog called the Lazy Blogger.  By way of excuse for not blogging more is that I have been quilting my brains out.  There is always something new being taught at the quilt guild here at our resort. So I won't bore those of you who don't quilt with the details but will email my quilting friends.  Well,  except I will show you a couple of pictures from the quilting show here.

First, let me tell you abotu Cave Creek.  We went there a couple of weeks ago with Norm and Larree.  Cave Creek is just north of Phoenix and Scottsdale in the foothills of the Black Mountains, Skull Mesa and Elephant Butte.  It was established in the 1870s as a gold mining town and a stopping point for the U.S. Cavalry.  Today it has a western charm seen in many of the buildings.  We stopped for a lunch at a western saloon, The Buffalo Chip Bar, that was adorned with all manner of western memorabilia.  It had a nice atmosphere, the staff was very friendly and the food was good and plentiful.

After lunch we found a market selling mainly Indian items that were very nice  - some very expensive.  Had we had a place to put artwork, we might have been tempted to get the interesting woven metal wall hangings or the solid glass (not blown) sculptures.  As it was, I bought a necklace and ear rings.  They fit perfectly into the motorhome!

 

 

 

We also stopped at another little market which had much more typical touristy things.  I wasn't much tempted by their wares.The town has loads of little stores and not a chain store in sight.  One of the interesting ones we went to was The Town Dump.  It has a lot of decorative pieces especially for the outdoors. 

There is still lots to explore at Cave Creek so we will likely go again sometime.

While I was quilting one day, Dalton went to the Falcon Field, a municipal airport I guess you would call it, located in Mesa not far from us.  It has a museum and a chapter of the Commenmorative Air Force.  The CAF was founded 50 years ago to try to preserve every aircraft from Workd War II.  Today, they honour all American military aircraft no matter the era.  They have 70 units in 27 states and four foreign countries.  They have over 160 aircraft of which 2/3 are in flying condition and they are working on the rest.

Here are a couple of pictures Dalton took:

B52 Mitchell Bomber

Nieuport 17 WW I Fighter

Stearman WW II Trainer


Earlier this week, I convinced Dalton to go with me to the Phoenix Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival.  It didn't have the quilt show component but it had loads of vendors and classes.  Two huge buildings worth! Here is a picture down the aisles of one (each building had about three aisles with vendors on each side).

 

 

The food court area was all outside with long lines for most food.

 

 

There was a dog show going on in the next building and we discovered that they had food booths too.  So over we went and had a picnic table all to ourselves with hardly any company.  We even found a little shade.  We got to visit with a couple of nice dogs as a bonus.

 

Back at our resort, there are activities going on all the time.  Last week, they had a dinner and dance for the Canadians.  The hall was full.  We had a good dinner and good company.

 

 

 

 

Today we went to the Great Canadian Picnic in the South Mountain Park Preserve in Phoenix.  There were a lot of information booths (insurance, health, etc.) as well as places to try cattle roping or slide down a snowy hill.  And yes, they brought in snow (maybe the scrapings from an ice rink??) to slide on.  The kids seemed to enjoy it. There was entertainment and prize drawings.  Oh! and Mounties, of course.

 

 

There was a good view of downtown Phoenix from the park.

 

 



On the way home we visited the Fry's Electronics Store.  Fry's is our local grocery store so we were surprised to see this store so we stopped.  It was HUGE, with every kind of electronic device and all the accessories to go with them.  Also large and small appliances.  Dalton bought a small wireless keyboard but that was the extent of our shopping.

I think that brings me up to date on our ramblings.  I see that the weather in Saskatoon has improved somewhat.  I'm glad for all our freinds and family there.  Enough of the winter cold already!!

I guess I could tell you that January in Mesa has been unusually cool and wet.  Records for both.  Still not as had as being home and nothing to shovel.

Till next time....