Birthday Times Two

1 Sept 2011: On our birthday, Ed turned 51 and Mary turned 57.

Who would have thought it would be so much fun to share a birthday with your spouse?  We've enjoyed that pleasure twice now since we got married, and it has been great! 

This year our birthdays fell on a Thursday, so I had to work, but we enjoyed dinner out with son Dylan and new son-in-law Chris (daughter Sarah had rehearsal with White Mountain Symphony Orchestra that evening).  We had Mexican food at El Rancho, the restaurant where our family has celebrated our birthdays for close to 20 years now.  They put a sombrero on your head, sing "Happy Birthday," take your picture, and bring you a free dish of deep-fried ice cream.

3 Sept 2011: The building to the left is our condo.  That's our front door straight ahead.

The next day was Friday, though!  Ed and I wanted to get away and spend a romantic weekend together, so we made a reservation at the WorldMark Rancho Vistoso resort in Oro Valley, 14 miles from Tucson, AZ.  Ed had never been to Tucson before, so we decided to check it out despite the heat we knew we'd experience there.  (The high each day has been around 104 degrees.  Could be worse!)

2 Sept 2011: The living room of our condo.

When it's just the two of us, we're able to spend fewer of our vacation club credits by reserving a studio unit instead of the 2-bedroom, 2 bathroom units we used to reserve when traveling with 3 children.  The 2-bedroom condos are as big as my whole house!  The studios are smaller, but still very nice and quite roomy for two people.  And they still have a full kitchen and laundry room in each unit, as well as a patio complete with grill.

2 Sept 2011: The kitchen/dining area of our condo.

We spent Saturday at Old Tucson, the movie lot where more than 300 Western movies and TV shows have been filmed.  I've lived in Arizona for 31 years, but I'd never been there before.  We had a good time!

When we return home, I will post the photos of our little vacation on Facebook, but meanwhile here's a taste of how we spent our day at Old Tucson:

A stagecoach arrives at the coach depot.

Ed prepares to board the stagecoach.

Mary smiles despite the jolting ride inside the stagecoach.

We shared the coach with 3 people from Denmark (who loved the heat!).

Ed poses in a casket.  Kinda creepy, eh?

Here's Ed, still hale and hearty, at the cafe where we ate lunch.

I never expected to run into family at Old Tucson!  Cole and Bob Younger, standing behind Frank and Jesse James in this old Wanted poster, are cousins of mine!  My Great Grandfather Sam Haley, their first cousin, remembered them riding into town to visit family (and maybe hide out) at the height of their notoriety when he was a child.

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! 

Ed and I find ourselves in lock-up just like my infamous cousins!

We end the day in search of souvenirs for family!

Tomorrow (Monday) we'll be exploring Tucson's "Pima Air and Space Museum"!