43 Cousins, 1 Aunt Peg, and a Whole Lot of Fun
March 13, 14, and 15, Tim and I hosted the Rooneys on the Road Cousins Reunion. We had 43 first cousins and 93-year-old Aunt Peg, who was the life of the party, gather in Tucson for fun, memories, food, and libations. We had so much fun. So sad that there were a few who couldn’t make it, but being able to get 42 to commit and follow the road to Tucson was amazing.
It was record-breaking temperatures, but we had reserved a nice air-conditioned room at the resort to gather in the afternoons and evenings. Friday, when everyone arrived, we had pizza and wing night at Fat Willie’s Bar and Grill, located on the property. We reserved the patio and had a great first-night greeting party.
Cousins Mike and Gail Urbanski, who live in Tucson, arranged dinner to be catered on Saturday. Amelia’s Mexican Kitchen brought an excellent variety of delicious food. Jodi Rooney Lair brought seven awesome pies from one of Casey’s go-to diners between Prescott Valley and Phoenix, Rock City Diner. He and I ate there a couple of different times on trips to his doctors in Phoenix.
On Sunday night we had brats and burgers cooked in the courtyard. Every evening, for those who liked to keep partying, Mike and Janice had libations at their RV site. They also prepared several breakfasts for whoever showed up the next morning.
The three Rooney sisters, Cindy, Amy, and Kim, taught a few how to play Mahjong at a shaded area by the pools. Those girls are addicted. They spent hours playing Mahjong and sometimes pickle-ball. We intrigued several to learn our favorite pastime, shuffleboard. I think we have a few that liked it as much as we do. An amazing weekend full of fun, laughter, and love.
Enjoy the slide show!
Chris and Debbie stayed for St. Patrick’s Day. I made my traditional Irish stew and beer bread. Chris, Debbie, and a few neighbors joined us for stew and cards.
We drove to Scottsdale for three days on the 18th to visit with Tim’s high school buddy, Brian Sykora, and his wife, Barb. It was 109 degrees out. We stayed inside most of the time and played Five Crowns and worked on a crazy hard puzzle. Chris and Jane Dysinger came over to visit one afternoon. Chris and I try to get together each year. It’s always great to see my friend since fifth grade. Jane, Tim, and Brian graduated together, and it had been years since Brian had seen Jane.
We got back to Tucson and went to the last Wednesday night concert series for the season. An Eagles tribute band played. It was amazingly good. The next night was 8th Street cocktails at Bill and Lois’s. We have spent lots of afternoons this last week playing cards with our friends here.
Saturday was the No Kings rally, and Sunday we left for boondocking at our site at Imperial Dam.
Dick and Dawn Gogin, neighbors at the resort, were headed to Yuma for Howl at the Moon on Wednesday night. We were looking for someone who could tow our guest house to Imperial Dam. The dam is 20 miles north of Yuma. They were leaving on the 29th, so we packed up and they followed us to our site at the dam. We are here until the 8th.
It is pretty hot here, and I worried I’d miss air conditioning and the pool at the RV resort. There is a reservoir one mile from our site here, and we can spend the afternoons sitting in the shade on the beach and swimming. It is so refreshing.
We have our site in Tucson until April 15. We left the trailer there, so we will return on the 8th and stay until the 15th, starting our adventure back to Ohio. Our ETA to Findlay is May 10. Praying gas prices don’t go much higher.
Appreciate all of you who follow our adventures. Peace out!
