THANKSGIVING

What an absolutely wonderful day. the weather was winter desert perfect; sunny with a slight breeze and in the low 70's.

We hiked all day doing one of our favorite loop hikes from the Douglas Spring Trailhead. We've never seen so many people; probably waiting for the turkey to get done. (there were also big groups as we headed back at the end of the day; this crowd was decidedly different than the first group which consisted of alert, talkative - almost manic - fast walkers. The end of the day crowds were somnolent, burping, overstuffed strollers.)

Once we got off the Douglas Spring Trail we saw no one. Had a great lunch in a wash; wished Alicia a Happy Thanksgiving, talked a lot about our upcoming travels and finished the day by eating at Denny's. What a great experience. It was very very well staffed and all the help seemed like they enjoyed being there!! We were seated promptly and our order taken efficiently and the food came out fast and hot and quite good. Bill had his usual tilapia and i had chicken fingers and red potatoes and sauteed squash and zucchini.

Fantastic holiday.

HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE

we were very disappointed in this film. It was a weak and unimaginative replay of the first one.

It started out with promise. Snow (all the characters were back; including the hilarious campy hunger games master-of-ceremonies (Stanley Tucci)  and the brilliantly groomed, dressed and made up Elizabeth Banks playing Effie. Effie is sort of the media manager for Katniss and Peeta. Effie's costumes and hair styles are so much fun to look at. ok back to Snow; he wanted to keep Katniss alive and the phony story of her romance with Peeta as sort of a 'wag the dog' technique; get the masses to be involved with their story and they will forget how miserable they are and the burgeoning uprising in the Districts.

But Snow is also teaming with the new gameskeeper and gradually comes to realize that he's got to kill Katniss because she is openly revolting now and showing that her sympathies are with the masses.

So this introductory theme gets expanded and the preparation for another Hunger game goes on and all that is interesting. But once the 'games' start it becomes dull. no clever hide and seek action; just monsters and monkeys and a lot of Katniss almost dying and then worse of the worst, she starts having emotional feelings toward Peeta and there is some kissy-face scenes; UGH.

Everything remains stagnant feeling and the supposedly surprising twist (revealing people who are really on the opposite political side) is yawn inducing. The film ends with a perfect setup for the next film which i think we will just skip.

I rated it a 7 and bill gave it a 6.

EARLY THANKSGIVING WITH THE GANG

waiting to dig in with Matt, Peg, Jim and Sara

Kellee and Matt and part of Peg

Sara and Nancy 

putting the food on the table with Megan and Ava and Nancy and Bill and Karen and Carol

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Very good movie (based on a true story) about Ron Woodroof who contracted AIDS in the 80's from drug use and unprotected sex - lots of unprotected sex! Ron is played by a mesmerizing Matthew McConaughey who has improved and broadened so much as an actor its hard to remember his roles in stupid adventure movies or mindless romantic comedies.

Ron is often hard to like. He is a heterosexual, homophobic drinking, drugging, sexist, dishonest, volatile man. when he gets diagnosed with AIDS and given 30 days to live, he is transformed through his blazing rage into a man on a mission. He does NOT accept the prognosis so educates himself about the various treatments and through this finds out about the various modalities that are showing success that are not approved by the FDA and are only used in foreign countries.

Well, by God, then that's where Ron goes and he brings back a lot of these drugs (all non toxic and mostly protein solutions and vitamin and mineral combo's) and starts a buyers club in Dallas. He sells them to other AIDS victims. Of course, he gets into a lot of opposition with the government and the FDA agency.

Through out the movie, Ron is changed into a slightly gentler man and someone who starts accepting homosexuals and makes friends with a man who is in the process of changing sex. It was very difficult to recognize Jared Leto in this role because most of the time he/she had makeup on and women's clothing and the transformation was incredible.

The only slightly jarring note was the obligatory role of the supportive doctor played by Jennifer Garner. Isn't she married to Ben Affleck? It appears that she has taken zero cipher acting lessons from him. Fortunately, she wasn't in the film very much.

We both gave this movie an 8 and McConaughey a 426.!

ROAD TRIP IN THE SLOW LANE

Bill looks like one of those retired seniors snoozing on a deck chair on a cruise ship going to the Caribbean. However, he's only on our patio in this airbnb house.

Starting to enjoy being on the East side now that we've figured out traffic patterns and i've discovered some great neighborhood walking loops with hills too!

THOR: THE DARK WORLD

Very entertaining sequel. All the characters were back; Odin, Loki, Odin's wife played by Renee Russo and other assorted and sundry monsters and creatures.

I had a little bit of trouble catching on to the relationships; remembering who was who but after that, i really enjoyed the film. Natalie Portman was Jane, Thor's romantic love though all you get are 2 kisses and several almost kisses. The friend/working partner of Jane, Darcy, was too manic and hyper for me but her lines were good and she wasn't in the movie very much.

The dialogue was funny and clever.  The ending was great and if you stay for the credits, you'll be rewarded with the plot of the next Thor movie. Some good special effects too.

We gave this movie an 8.

WHAT TO COOK?

cooking and baking in someone else's kitchen and adjusting to the lack of kitchen tools i'm used to having and getting used to a new oven or microwave (we have no turntable because the microwave, as  are all the other appliances, is  dated- harvest gold dated) is way more difficult that i thought.

I believed - prior to our move -  that it would be fun to be let loose in a strange kitchen and see what was available and work with that. BUT its not.  we already went out and bought cookie sheets, a meat thermometer, measuring spoons and some Tupperware bowls.

Last night we talked about buying a crockpot. I have amassed so many great meals and I miss it a lot. And every place we stay in will have an outlet and the cleanup is a snap since we use slowcooker liners (thank you kathie.) so we're going to go back into the scary world of our storage unit and just look to see if the box is visible because i remember exactly what shape box i stored it in. But if we can't see it, then we'll probably buy one.

This is all a white man's luxury problem.

newbie road trippers get together with experienced road trippers

Our friends from Portland, Ann and Ralph, were in Tucson for several days on their way to their 'winter' home by the Colorado River in Earp, CA. They have been RV'ing it since retirement and absolutely love it.

We got to spend 2 evenings with them and this picture was taken after our delicious meal at Pho #1.

We will see them again next year during our gypsy-ing. and here's what i heard: not every one who wanders is lost.

WHERE DID ALL THIS STUFF COME FROM?

the day after we moved into our first airbnb house, we had to bring some things back to our storage unit. I was shocked when i opened the door and scared too. I don't know where, when or how or most importantly, why, we accumulated all this stuff.

and what brought quakes of fear into my soul was the thought that at some time in the future, i'm going to have to unbox all this and make it part of our lives again.

UNLESS bill and i become zen monks wandering with our begging bowl and only the robe on our back. Oh, that won't work. i'm a real high maintenance eater.

Even though we are only about 15 minutes from where we lived for 4 years, it feels like an adventure. Getting used to new driving routes and figuring out what is in the kitchen. Cuz this dictates what our meals will be.

I'm loving this. Feels like i've shed some responsibilities. oh, and our bed has a memory foam mattress which makes our sleep similar to being back in the womb.

NYPD - TUCSON, AZ

NYPD is New York Pizza Department, a restaurant near Pima and Wilmot. They serve pizza, subs, salads, calzones.

We split 2 sandwiches and a small garden salad and were very happily satisfied and full. The sandwiches were huge - on great bread, crusty exterior but soft inside. The East Coast Bomber was italian sausage, peppers and onions and had a great flavor. So many onions that even I, major lover of onions, had to remove some.

The other sandwich was meatball parmesan and had 4 mafia sized meatballs that were delicious and lots of parmesan cheese and marinara sauce.

The salad was good; nothing really unusual but all the ingredients were fresh and it was a nice sized portion.

We will be back for sure.