So those of you that know Chucklebutt are probably thinking — Hey!  Isn’t his birthday in March?  You are absolutely correct.  However, I surprised him with a trip the last part of April, first part of May and am only now getting around to blogging it.  Actually, my mother has been blogging like a fiend and she’s been putting me to shame.  Be sure to check out  Mama Puff and see all the adventures she’s been up to.  She’s been having a ball.

Back to Chuck’s surprise birthday weekend.  I gave him absolutely no clues and said that he simply better be available to hit the road by 11am.  We, as a family, have a super hard time getting out the door to go just about anywhere.  But miracles of miracles, we were out the door on time!

Where are we going Jiggle Puff?

Bwahahahaha!  You’ll just have to wait and see.

And we’re off!

Now, before I tell you where we went, let it be known that we made a pit stop at the good ‘ole In -N – Out for some burgers and fries.  Chuck overindulged a bit and two hours later,  just about the time we’re pulling into where we need to be, he starts complaining about feeling queasy.  Then he proceeds to tell me he hopes we’re not going to be doing anything physical.

Hmmm…no such luck.  For his 37th birthday, I had bought him indoor sky diving flight time with a private instructor.  Imagine if you will, the kid next to him is his subconscious — that’s how bad he felt.  I called mama and we chatted for a few minutes and she suggested postponing the birthday festivities.  She’s so smart!  Luckily, the folks were super sweet and understanding, so we rescheduled for the following day.  We loaded back up in the car and got ready for part two of the surprise.

Where are we?

Back in 2006, I surprised my girlfriend Christine with a trip to Tuscon and we stayed at the oh-so-amazing Cactus Cove B & B.  It was an incredible experience and I vowed to get Chuck back here.  It took five years, but better late than never.

Sally Gunderson is the owner and she surprised Chuck with a homemade brownie.  Too sweet.

We even stayed in the same room that Christine and I had.  It’s called the Barrel Cactus Suite and it is awesome!  FYI — these colors have not been Photoshopped.

I loved the whirlpool bathtub.  I wish we had one at home!

We were only there one night, but I took two baths!  I had to take advantage of it while I could.  I love lots of bubbles — I feel a bit like a chicken parboiling.  😀

He is too darn cute!

I had to take a picture of this crewel piece.  My mother did one exactly like it and it was hanging in our apartment – and later house – for many years.  I asked Sally about it and she said it was a Woman’s Day kit from 1969.  Ahh the swinging 60’s and 70’s.  Seeing this just puts a smile on my face.

Breakfasts at the Cactus Cove are dee-licious!

Now that’s the way to eat grapefruit!  Slathered in brown sugar and butter.  I love Sally’s dinnerware.  It’s King’s Crown and my mother has the same pattern.

Huevos rancheros — my favorite!  They are to die for and I love the all the cilantro.  I think that might be my favorite herb — right behind basil … and oregano ….rosemary …thyme — oh you get the idea!

So as we go down memory lane — notice the gigantic copper medallion behind Chucklebutt.  In the 70’s, my parents used one as their coffee table.

Sally’s porch area is gorgeous.  It was perfect weather for sitting outside and drinking a hot cup of tea.  The rest of the grounds were beautiful.

Despite the fact that it’s hotter than hell now in AZ, when we were in Tuscon, the water was super chilly!

I love those big pots.  I want some for our yard.  I bet the rabbits couldn’t get into our plants then.

Chucklebutt took some beautiful HDR shots.  Be sure to click on them so you can see them enlarged.

Sally’s flowers were gorgeous.

She has inspired me to grow some roses.  I have a “black thumb,” so we’ll see if I’m successful growing anything.

This cactus is so unusual looking — I love it!

This was our own private back porch.  It was darling.  My favorite part?

An outdoor shower!!!  How cool is that?  There is just something special about bathing in your birthday suit outside.  😀

As most of you know, Chuck and I are avid geocachers.  Wherever we go, we try to pick up a few caches along the way.  One of the things I love most about this hobby is that it shows you things you would otherwise not see.  This was one of our more somber discoveries.

Once we left the B & B on Sunday, we headed further south to Kartchner Caverns.

If you live in Arizona, and never been to this “living” cave — you must!  All the tours are guided and you are not allowed to touch anything or take pictures.  I swiped these pics from google.

We had to walk through three different doors in order to maintain the humidity levels.  We also had to go through misters so that we wouldn’t inadvertently leave any lint behind.

This is Kubla Khan and it’s 58 feet.  When you are underground in the dark, it’s super hard to figure out perspective.  We discovered later that one day a year, The Friends of Kartchner invite the public to come and take photos.  Of course there is a hefty price tag, but all the money is donated to the state park.  Chuck is already saving his money so he can participate.

While we couldn’t take any pictures inside, Chuck took some nice shots outside.

The raven was HUGE!  It was the size of a small dog.

Sweet hummingbird.

This cute little yellow bird was not cooperating and driving Chucklebutt crazy.  He tried and tried to get a decent shot of it.

Nice tail feathers!

It wasn’t until we were leaving and sitting in the car that he decided to show us his better side.

Hello little yellow bird!

The two above shots were taken in through our windshield.  Silly bird!

Chuck finally found a bird we could easily take photos of…

Now I bet you’re wondering — did Chuck ever make it back to Sky Venture?

Yes he did!  Doesn’t he look a lot happier than before?  We did have a small incident with sunburn, but I swung in to Wallyworld and slathered him with aloe.  There was no way I was going to let him postpone the experience again.

He had a super nice instructor and had 10 minutes flight time in the tunnel.  Now while that doesn’t sound like a lot of time, that’s the equivalent to 5 jumps 10 skydives!  [ edited by Chucklebutt — one skydive == one minute of freefall… if you’re falling much longer than 60 seconds, you’ve either jumped from a LOT higher than normal, or you are about to make friends with that big flat thing beneath you… ]  He was exhausted afterwards.

By the time we got home, we were pooped.