Three Weeks...Three Seasons

It seems as if we've been rolling through summer, autumn and winter at a fast rate lately.  Faster for us, as we've been doing some rolling on of our own these past three weeks.

We left Lethbridge a few weeks ago on a beautiful autumn day - cool but sunny weather, brightly colored leaves on the trees, and that lovely nip of fall in the air.

Autumn in our neighbourhood - October 2013

Three hours later we were in sunny Arizona the Arizonans thought it was cool fall weather, but to us northerners it was a balmy sunny summertime...hot days and cool evenings with lots of desert greenery to cheer us.

In our pool, Surprise, AZ, October 25, 2013

Then ten days later we were back in Lethbridge again...but not the nice autumn Lethbridge we left.  Oh no, in the time we were away winter had come to Alberta.  It was enough to make us want to hop back on the plane and head back to Arizona for a few more weeks.

Out our front door - Lethbridge - Oct 29, 2013

It was a lovely vacation though and we do plan to go back in a couple months, in the dead of winter when we'll really appreciate a break from the snow and cold.

While in Arizona we celebrated Lloyd's 64th birthday.  Instead of singing Happy
Birthday, the Beatle's song When I'm 64 was sung, several times through the day.

The Saguaro is a protected cactus, only growing in Arizona,
so when one grows into your roof, there's no question
but that the roof needs to be adjusted to accommodate it.

Our Edmonton Oilers were playing the Phoenix Coyotes at the Jobing
Arena in Glendale, so we had to go cheer our team on in a closely fought
game which our second favorite team, the Coyotes, won by one pont.

A face off - Coyotes in red and Oilers in white and blue.

And we enjoyed the magnificent sunset over the White Tank Mountains
just west of Surprise.

We also 'discovered' historic downtown Glendale, where the
original houses, now over a hundred years old, have been restored
and are now gift stores, museums, cafes and restaurants to
cater to the tourist crowd.  I know a hundred years doesn't seem like
old to our friends in Europe and Great Britain, but in a state that has only
been part of the USA for 101 years, it's about as old as it gets.

And that, in a nutshell, was our vacation in the sun.  It was mostly a time for rest and relaxation, and that goal was met.

Enjoy the advancing winter!