Summer Plans

Summer has arrived.  At least in Arizona, though the weather has been about 20 degrees cooler than average. I'm loving that!  It should be around 98 degrees by now. And in another week or so it will most likely be over 100 every day.  Ugh.  Remember, I'm a California girl, and northern Cal at that and still have not adjusted to AZ's heat.

My son, sister and friends are in San Francisco and Marin County and are not happy about the weather there, as they too, are experiencing cooler than normal weather.  However, they want it to warm up, not stay cool as I want it to do here.

We have made a few travel plans for the summer and I'm looking forward to them.

We leave next Saturday for New Jersey and New York for a 7 day visit.  I have a sister in New York about 40 minutes north of Manhattan and my hubby's family are in the town he grew up in in N.J. about 20 minutes from the George Washington Bridge.

Bill and I were high school sweethearts so I know his sisters and brother very well.  They were almost like siblings to me back then and are once again.  I'm so looking forward to seeing them, and of course, my biological sister, as well.

Bill's sisters, his two cousins and I are planning on seeing "Kiss Me Kate" on Broadway; a revival of the musical from the '40's. We always plan at least one day in Manhattan when we visit.  Often we go to the World Trade Center/Ground Zero Memorial, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art or another museum.  I just love New York City.  There's no other city like it.

At the end of the month we will drive from AZ to CA.  Since I spend about 5-10% of the year in CA these days, we only keep a small apartment there.  That fills my needs when I visit - a one bedroom, one bath. It's a bit too small for Bill's liking so he keeps his visits down to 2-3 times a year at the most.  Plus, we put our dog, Merlin, into overnight boarding and we don't like to leave him for too long.  Bill will stay a few days in CA with me to see a few friends and I'll stay on for several more days to catch up with my son, sister and friends.

The only other trip we have this summer is a short trek to San Diego in August.  I love any and all cities by the ocean and San Diego fills the bill.  Of course, my beloved Marin County is surrounded on 3 sides by water, so I have that need filled every time I'm there.  Still, I like to get out of Arizona's sweltering summer heat any chance I get.

I hope to plan one more trip (besides another summer visit to Marin) during the hot months, perhaps to the cooler areas of AZ;  Sedona perhaps or Jerome, a former historic copper mining town.

Having travel plans gives me a little something special to look forward to though I must say, my life is rather wonderful and I feel very blessed even staying home!

I'd love to hear about any plans you may have for your summer.

xo