With today being our anniversary, it officially marks the end of
Love Week 2012.
We celebrated the event with another special dinner out.
Before that however we took a drive up Mt. Lemmon.
Mt Lemmon is the summertime escape venue for the residents of the
Tucson Metro.
Rising to almost 9,157' it represents almost a 7,000' elevation
increase so in the summertime this can provide a welcome respite from
from the sizzling daytime temps in the valley.
Driving up the Catalina highway you immediately begin to climb
and as you do you pass thru numerous botanical life zones.
Around 3,900 we notice the end of the Saguaro Cactus.
By 4,000 most of the lower valley cacti had been replaced with the dry
scrublands you would see further north.
Around 5,000 we began to enter into pine forests and started to see snow
in the shadows and on the north facing slopes.
Unfortunately our timing (or lack thereof),
combined with our need to make our 4:30 reservations...
(yes us geezers actually ate dinner at 4:30)
We only could make it up to windy point - about the 1/2 way point on the road,
and the 6,000' mark, before we had to turn around.
Luckily for us, the view at Windy Point of the Tucson Metro,
is one of the highlights of the road.
You can see that with a view like this timing is everything...
the right light and clearer skies and you would have quite an amazing shot.
We still had not make it far enough up the mountain to get into the deep snow,
(Mt Lemmon Ski Area has 20")
But I did get a few "Snow Pictures" for you.
Windy Point was also the scene for todays Self Portrait.
Soon we had to rush down the Mountain for dinner.
Tonights venue was the Amber Polish Restaurant & Gallery.
It is a small but picturesque place with a lovely garden off of
the dining room. Our table was located so as to overlook it.
We started off with some wine for Kate, &
a Hofbrau Heffewiessen Draught for me.
Some Potato Pancakes with apple sauce and
sour cream for a warm up.
When it was time for the main course, there was so much to choose from
and it all sounded so good that we decided to go with some sampler
dinners for a wider cross section.
For a main course Kate had a Pierogi Sampler.
The varieties were Potato & Cheese, Mushroom & Sauerkraut,
and Beef.
I went for the Polish Sampler.
It consisted of a Goblaki, which is a pork & rice stuffed cabbage roll, covered with
a sweet and sour tomato sauce.
It also had a Polish Sausage, One each of the Pierogi's,
plus Sauerkraut and Red Cabbage.
When it was time for desert, we both decided to pass.
We've been eating rather well the past week and while neither of
us have put on any poundage we decided not to push our luck.
With such delectable sweets as German Chocolate Cake, numerous types of
Crepes, European Cheese Cake, Creme Brûlée etc it was a lot
harder to pass than it sounds.... so score one for willpower.
So tomorrow we start year 23 of our marriage and it just keeps getting better.
Happy Anniversary to us!
Stay Thirsty my Friends.
Happy Anniversary!!!! I would have loved the potato and cheese pierogi, yum!!! Kim
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary - our is the 31st of Dec (32 years) - will toast yours and ours!
ReplyDeleteDinner looks great - we are going out to a special Indian place tonight for dinner. Plan to stay home (boat) for News Years Eve.
I remember when I used to take sick leave whenever it snowed on Mt Lemmon. Was really surprised the first time I did as all of my coworkers who skied were also there as was my boss.
Happy anniversary to you 2 as well.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny about everyone being up on Mt. Lemmon. When the first warm summer day would appear in Long Island when Kate worked for Northwest Airlines - she'd call in sick and go to the beach.... and run into her co-workers and boss too!
Happy New Year Mon.