18 July 2008

Now in Sierra Vista, Arizona - south of Tucson, near the Mexican border. It is not all that hot here, despite the scorching highs in Phoenix. Sierra Vista is at a higher altitude and now the rainy afternoon monsoon season has started, keeping the area comparatively cool. I'm visiting my daughter, Alisa, and her family here. We've taken the dogs to the community dog park, seen "Kit Kittredge, American Girl' and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" at the theaters, taken the dogs to the San Pedro River to walk and play in the stream, done some shopping and eaten out for daughter, Alisa's, birthday dinner.

After a big birthday pool party July 19th, Saturday, we will leave Sunday for a week at the Sprucedale Guest Ranch in the Eastern part of Arizona in the White Mountains. Horse back riding, fishing, cow milking and campfire entertainment are on the agenda. Plus we're going to take along some board games to play in our cabins in the evening. With three kids and three adults we're sure to keep entertained.

I had to buy a new camera yesterday, my trusty Sony cybershot using convenient rechargeable AA batteries has been dropped too many times. I thought I'd have to buy one while in Guatemala, but I found that a few knocks and squeezes usually restored it's connections so I could use it OK. But it's just not reliable for the quick photo. So, I bought the Sony Cybershot W150. It's small, and I think it does about everything my old camera did, and more. I'll add a couple new photos here later.