Lasagne, Pool, Hot Tub, Pinochle - A Very Relaxing Day - Sunday, March 24, 2019

Sleep in? What's that? This morning we took it easy and relaxed. At 9:00 a.m., Louise (Bob's mom) and Laura (Bob's sister) came to visit us in our 5th wheel at Lake Pleasant Regional Park. They were on their way home to Las Vegas and the park is on the way. We said our "good-byes" and "see you later's" and they continued home. We thought we might go back to see Skip and Sally one last time, but decided we needed some downtime.

The middle part of the day was spent relaxing and I blogged. Later in the afternoon, we went to visit our friends from Oregon, Charlie and Debbie Smith, who now live in Sun City West, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. 

It was our first time to visit their home in Sun City. It's a lovely home with a pool, hot tub, and grapefruit and orange trees in the back yard. We took our swimsuits in case swimming or hot tubbing was on the agenda. For sure, we'd be playing pinochle. 

When Charlie and Debbie lived in Oregon, they lived down the road from us on the Willamette River. We used to go water skiing with them in the summer. Later they bought a yacht and kept it on the Columbia River and we'd go with them on their yacht to see fireworks on the Columbia. But no matter what, we always played pinochle.

My family loved to play pinochle. For years in Oregon, a group of us played pinochle once a month. We had so much fun. There was always a first prize, a booby prize, and lots of snacks. As people moved away, it became harder to find replacements to play the game. Anyway, a few games of pinochle is always on the agenda when any of the old pinochle group gets together.

But back to today. We had a wonderful visit with Charlie and Debbie, their daughter, Nicole, and their grandson, Christian. We've known them so long, they're family to us. 

For dinner, we had lasagne, salad, French bread, and great conversation. We caught up on what's been happening since we last saw them. 

I'm kicking myself because I forgot to take pictures this evening! I don't think they took any either.

After dinner, we got in the pool. The sun was going down and there was a slight chill in the air. The pool wasn't super warm and I was all for going in the hot tub. Charlie had just turned on the hot tub heater, so the hot tub was the same temperature as the pool. As we sat and chatted, the hot tub finally warmed up. Then we got out so we could play pinochle. We had ice cream for dessert after playing a few hands of pinochle.

Charlie and I were partners and we couldn't get any good hands. Bob and Debbie beat us every game. Oh, well, it was still a very fun evening. 

Since I forgot to take photos at Charlie and Debbie's home, I am posting two photos from yesterday's capital walk of a Korean Bell dedicated to those Arizonans who gave their lives in the Korean War.

Pavilion housing the Korean Bell.

Korean Bell.

Thank you, Charlie and Debbie, for having us over for dinner and a fun evening socializing. We also are enjoying the grapefruit and oranges! They are so good.