Granada

We arrived in Granada early this afternoon and went on a long walk from our hotel, a former monastery, around the Alhambra and back through the city.  Along the way we met two young American women living in Seville and teaching English.  They walked with us to Plaza de San Nicolas, to enjoy the view of the Alhambra with the Sierra Nevada Mountain backdrop. The experience was particularly enjoyable as there was a flamenco guitarist playing on the wall.

We had lunch at an outside cafe below the Alhambra, then visited the Cathedral of Granada, 

and various plazas along the way, enjoying local music and flamenco dancers.  

It seemed that everyone in Granada was out enjoying the day.

Cordoba

We are spending two nights in Cordoba and are enjoying every moment!  The layout of the city is superb for living and touring, with big plazas, river walks on both sides of the river (crossed by a Roman bridge), wide and lush shaded parks, flowing fountains.  We spent a couple of hours in the Mezquita, stunning with over 850 columns, constructed as a mosque in the 700's and 

converted to a Catholic cathedral in 1236 and following. 

We enjoyed paella for lunch at a cafe on Plaza de las Tendillas.  We toured the Alcazar, which had beautiful gardens landscaped with multiple water featuress.  The Alcazar was built over many centuries with the first fortress built by the Visigoths.  Alfonso XI of Castile began building the current structure on the site in 1328.  It was later the home of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand and is the location of their meeting with Christopher Columbus in 1492 before his first voyage to the Americas.  We joined everyone else in Cordoba at dusk for a stroll.  Multi-generation families and couples walk arm in arm every evening before dinner.  We had a very good day in Cordoba!

Madrid

Papa and I spent yesterday in Madrid, an unexpected development!  All trains to Cordoba were full, so we enjoyed seeing Madrid and went to Cordoba in the evening.  The weather was perfect for walking.  We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe a block from the Prado.  We saw the Palacio Real, the Plaza Mayor, and had a wonderful day, enjoying sidewalk music along the way.

Last Ranch Hike for a Few Weeks

My hike this afternoon was beautiful, under a cloudy sky.  Papa and I leave the ranch tomorrow on a trip to Spain and Portugal.  Another adventure!

Saturday Hike

Beautiful Days

We had Carly and Colter for dinner on Tuesday night to celebrate their ranch purchase/our ranch sale.  The best hours of this week have been spent outside hiking.  The weather has been perfect, with sunny skies, temps ranging from high 50's at night to low 70's during the day.  There are cows near our house and the horses are staying close too.

We Sold the Ranch

We closed on the sale of the ranch to Carly and Colter today.  We've had an amazing 13+ years on Winchester Ranch.  We've gotten to know the ranch, from east to west, north to south, mountains to canyons.  We've hiked many miles on the ranch over 13 years.  We've put in miles of fence, miles of water pipeline, new water storage and drinkers.  We built a new house and updated the Rock House and bunkhouse.  Two corrals have been upgraded, roads graded, dirt tanks cleaned, and so much more.   We've completed all our projects!

We aren't sure what comes next for us, so we are staying on the ranch awhile longer, thanks to Carly and Colter's generosity.  We will enjoy every sunrise and sunset and our magnificent view over the coming months.  Living on Winchester Ranch has been an amazing life changing experience! 

Tucson Classics Car Show

We checked out the cars at the Tucson Classics Car Show yesterday.  My favorite was a Jaguar XKE.  There were plenty of impressive vehicles, from trucks to hot rods to sports cars. 

Party

Papa and I hosted a party for large donors to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson on Thursday, October 13.  We had a Mediterranean menu with spanakopita, baklava, cheese board with fruit, nuts, and lots more.  We met several people for the first time and were happy to catch up with others we had not seen in months.  Guitarist Misael Barraza Diaz played the first 45 minutes of the party.  There was a short program to introduce the donors and then Carla Dirlikov Canales sang for us.  Carla was in Tucson to work with a group of BGC kids for three days on the Finding Your Voice program.  Her accompanist was from Sarasota and Carla will be performing in Sarasota at the Hermitage Artist Retreat in November.  My friend, Joy, is on the Hermitage Board of Trustees.  My conversation with Carla felt like a "6 degrees of Bacon" moment.

We invited our BGC kids now in college or soon to go to college, to come for an "after party."  They arrived around 7:30 and stayed until after 10, with one staying until almost 1.  We loved every minute of hearing about their college experiences and plans for the future.  They helped with party cleanup by taking home some of the leftover food.  They are a great bunch of young people!

Yesterday's Hike

Double Rainbow

With all the clouds and sprinkles over the past few days, we had big rainbows between our house and the mountains on three different days.  This double rainbow was particularly beautiful.

Cloudy Day at Sunset

The sky filled with clouds late yesterday afternoon and we had a magnificent show for a couple of hours, as rain moved across the valley toward us.  The sunset was spectacular!

October Sunset

This sunset graced the sky last night.

Horny Toad

I came upon this horny toad as I hiked yesterday.  He was about 5" long.

Fall is in the Air

We are waking up to temps in the high 50's/low 60's, and daytime temps in the high 60's/low 70's.  The air is crisp and clear, grass seed heads are blowing in the wind, deer grazing in the house yard, and the last flowers of fall are in bloom.

Return to Ranch

Papa came to Tucson on Saturday afternoon.  We had friends over for cheese and wine tasting in the evening.  We attended the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson Steak and Burger Dinner on Sundaynight.   We came back to the ranch this morning.  Its nice to come home!  I hiked this afternoon.  The rain of the last few weeks has been generous to the ranch, with tall grasses waving in the breeze, full of seed heads.