A Weekend With Our Cousins

We wanted to visit Peg's cousins Cathy and Marshall last week, but Peg and I were feeling under the weather so we waited until this weekend to drive down to Tubac, Arizona for a visit. It took us about two hours from Casa Grande south, down I-10 and then transferring to I-19 in Tucson.

Cathy and Marshall own a touring company, Fiesta Tours International, and they take folks into Mexico, Central America, South America and several other destinations. They were off this weekend so it was perfect timing.

They live in an adobe style home that they built themselves. It is a really unique house that reminds me of a castle. It is a large home with several rooms. So many things carry the southwest theme as well as some Mexican influence in the house. It is not completed as yet, so I look forward to visiting to see what new portion of the house has been finished since our last meeting. Here is a picture of the kitchen, as an example, to show some of the style.

They have two very large dogs. Luna, who has been with them for several years now and a new comer, Flynn who has been there just a few months. When you drive into the parking area and the dogs run out to meet you, their size will startle you at first. I was used to Luna, but I did not know about Flynn. I thought Flynn was Luna when we arrived and I guess he did not take well to me calling him by the wrong name! I realized what I had done when I went inside and saw Luna. I think they both forgave me!

Saturday evening we got together with several of Cathy and Marshall's friends. It was an evening of food, drink and conversation. There were eight of us there and fortunately, the kitchen table was up to the task. As a matter of fact, we could have fit four to six more people around that huge table, seen in this picture.

After dinner a round of dominoes was started. Little did we know that we would be playing until the late evening hours. I started out doing great and I even won a hand. Let me tell you, it was all down hill after the 5th or 6th round! Peg started out losing with high numbers until about the 5th or 6th round and my luck must have reverted to her, since she began to win. I guess when it was all over, we both came in in the middle of the pack. I think everyone was ready to quit by the time we hit the 12th round and that included me! It was a lot of fun and we got our domino "fix" for a while.

Since we combined two sets of dominoes, we now had to separate the sets and here is a picture of that fiasco. I think it took almost as long to separate the pieces as it did to play the entire game. Well, maybe not quite as long! We said goodnight to our new friends Gwynn and Gunther and Russell and Barbara. We hope we see them again sometime.

On Sunday after a southwestern breakfast, Peg headed out with Cathy, in Cathy's relatively new (to her) Miata (which I got to drive the day before), to the 39th annual La Fiesta de Tumacácori being held on the grounds of the local mission. They had dancers, food, and a Mariachi Band (see photo) playing for the crowds. As Peg and Cathy enjoyed the festival, Marshall and I worked on getting their e-mail program set-up and working for several e-mail accounts. About three hours later when the wives returned, we had just finished the process! At least they brought us back some food.

We had a fun weekend and I even got to watch some TV shows on their new Sony 46" flat screen with surround sound. That was a treat! We'll see them again at Christmas time...