Lazy Summer Days

 Apache Junction   High 112  Low 80

Summer has arrived here in AJ.  Today is the summer solstice, so we have an abundance of sunshine hours to enjoy. Starting tomorrow you will lose sunshine every day. So get out there and enjoy the day. For those of us in the southwest, that means getting out there before 8:00 a.m.  

This post is going to be a catch up post with pictures I want to keep. There will definitely pictures of my grandson.

I love clouds. During an Arizona summer we don't see them very often. We have to wait for a storm to come our way to bring them. The first picture was taken later in the afternoon and we did get a little rain from it.

This was a beautiful sunrise.
 

And one day we actually had some fluffy clouds.

There are not many of us left in the park but we still get together on Tuesday mornings and we occasionally have a pot luck. No lack of food here.

 

I seldom go to movie theaters but I've been to two movies in the last month. Carol and I went to see Mission Impossible - the Last Reckoning. It was a good movie but at 2 hours and 50 minutes it was definitely too long. I thought the under water scene could have been much shorter, but the airplane battle was epic. 

The second movie was The Last Rodeo and I went with Pat. This is a faith-based, family movie that I really liked. I thought it was so neat that they used real bull riders (not stuntmen) and some of the rides were incredible. 

The third member of our girl's group, Marilyn has headed north for the summer so we had one more lunch together before she headed out. It's always a fun time with these two.

Marilyn and Pat

 We had a very sad occurrence here in AJ. Police Officer Gabriel Facio was shot and killed in the line of duty. He was the first AJ officer to be killed.  On Monday his funeral was held in Mesa and members of our church offered our building and volunteers to have a luncheon for the family and his fellow officers. Pat and I helped with the set up. There were around 200 people that came after the funeral for the luncheon.

I seem to stay busy in the summer heat but I am looking forward to heading north (plans keep changing as to when) to see this special person and his parents.

At Home Depot making his first bird feeder.

First Dental Appointment

Helping rebuild the fence

Sleeping in a big bed 

Just hanging out

If you need a great way to greet your morning, listen to The Rascals - It's A Beautiful Morning. Go outside and breathe. 

Chocolate Anyone?

Apache Junction. Highs in the 90s, lows in the lower 70s. 

I've been back from traveling for a week, so it's time for another experience with the Girls. And what better than a tour of a candy factory.

Yes, there is a candy factory in Glendale. Cerreta's Candy Company that was founded in 1968 by Jim Cerreta Sr. and is still a family owned business. 

 

 The recipes used for their candies are the original recipes and the candies are still made by hand using vintage machinery. The chocolate beans are aged for six years to get the right combination of acidity and and sweetness. Kind of a mix between European and American chocolate.  

  

French Mint is the most popular candy they sell.  I'm not really a mint person but even I have to admit, this candy is good. 

They offer 1/2 hour tours with prices ranging between $12 and $16. We took the $16 tour which included us being allowed to make our own candy bar.  

 

Our tour guide 

Those blue basket are for the wrappers we took off of all the samples we got to try. And there were a lot of goodies. She explained how the machines worked and which candies were made on each machine. 

 

Now prepare to drool. We each made our own candy bar. And yes, they are as good as they look.

Marilyn's candy bar

Pat's 

Mine

If you are interested, they have a 300 lb football for just $10,000.

They also sell some of the best tasting popcorn I've ever had. It comes in 3 lb bags (which is a lot of popcorn).

 We just may have to schedule another tour next winter.

Jerome and Beyond

 After leaving the state park, we stopped to check out the sliding jail. The jail was part of a larger structure built in 1905 and made from wood and tin. In began sliding in 1938 when the mountain it sat on was blasted with dynamite. It slid 225 feet and in 2017 the Jerome Historical Society took over control of the jail and plan to eventually restore it.

This next picture is from the Wikipedia page on the jail.

Next up we decided to head up to main street. Paul was able to find a great parking spot right on main in Jerome. 

 

We wandered in and out of the stores looking at all the wonderful craftsmanship. It's really good that I live in an RV because I have no place to put anything which keeps my spending under control. 

 

Now this is interesting

I fell in love with a telephone wire plate. However, I could not think of one place that I could put it where anyone who came to visit could enjoy it. I wish I would have taken a picture of it, but I didn't. This picture is taken from Borrego Outfitters web page and it gives you an idea of what telephone wire plates look like.

So many places to eat so we decided on The Miner's Cafe. Good choice. I only took one picture which doesn't do it justice, but it's down the hill off of main and then down a few steps to the outdoor patio which has two tables that each sit two people. I had the Jerome Street Tacos and Paul had the Caprese Sandwich. 

 

After the delicious lunch, we headed back to the car. Time for some pictures of the scenery in this beautiful part of Arizona.

Tuzigoot National Monument - we did not stop here. It sits up the hill just east of Clarkdale. The pueblo has 110 rooms built by the Sinagua people. 

 

Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon

 

Aren't you glad that when we are sight seeing, I often forget to take more pictures. 

We had a full day and it was time to go to Camp Verde to the Day's Inn. The guy at the front desk recommended we go to La Casita for dinner. Dinner was fabulous. We would definitely return if we're in the area. 

We return to Apache Junction in the morning and Paul will get ready to head north to Minnesota for the summer. (He's already there so you can tell how far behind I am in posting the blog.)