IYA, roller skating, and truck stops

This being Int'l Year of Astronomy, Friday evening I headed over to the local park at dusk to see what the local amateur astronomy night was like. There were three large telescopes set up for viewing, focused on Jupiter. I was able to watch it go from bright white to an orange shade in about half an hour's time. Interesting stuff :) The local Astronomy club (EVAC) sets up out there once a month and shares their interest in the stars with the local public. Sadly, as evening rolled into dark, the clouds rolled in as well.


Saturday was get up and drive to Tucson, normally about 2 hours away; I decided to take the back road dubbed the Pinal Pioneer Parkway. Added about 30 minutes to the drive, but it was scenic. We saw the Tom Mix monument and gorgeous mountain scenery (pix). Lucky for me, it was a semi cloudy day, and I got to take a LOT of pictures.



My granddaughter's 7th birthday was a roller skating party. So,,, I donned a pair of skates and spent most of the time skating with Bree and friends. It was a lot of fun, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy a turn around the track! ((But ... my thigh muscles let me know I did something out of ordinary when I creaked my way out of bed this morning--- and headed straight into the hot tub with a book and a diet coke to wake myself up! A verrrrrrry nice thing to do in the wee Sunday morning hours!))

Leaving at 9pm, in the dark, wasn't optimum, but ... that's how it worked out. We drove straight toward a thunderstorm, caught in two different showers, but the lightning part had blown away from the freeway by the time we reached it. After intense driving like that at night, I needed a break and pulled into a truckstop. When I got out of the car, I felt something bump my leg, and looked down and around the car, and saw nothing. We pulled out and headed up the road. Not more than a minute into it, I realized it was my cell phone I'd felt; we turned around and went back with no luck, it was gone. Called the service, suspended my phone, and had to get up and go get a new one this morning. I was able to "upgrade" to a new phone, for a total of only $60. Ok, would have been nice NOT to have to spend that. :/ ahh well, trials and tribulations of technological life. I drive alone too often not to have one. :(

After all that, I've still got the usual chores I'm dashing to get done: laundry, housecleaning, and the general stuff of getting organized for the week. But, I've busied myself right out of a nap, so I should sleep very well tonight! Hope everyone else's weekend was fab!

HUGS to everyone!