Gwen Grace

Recently, four of us from Sun Lakes took a trip on Spirit Travel to Apple Annie’s in Wilcox, Ariz. We were apple pie hunting! Lois Valleau and Toni Corrigan are from Cottonwood. Jackie Mahoney, new to Sun Lakes, and Gwen Grace, are from Sun Lakes Country Club. At Apple Annie’s, there is an orchard with Granny Smith apples and Asian pears for the picking. Down the road, there is a vegetable garden with pumpkins, cucumbers, winter squash, watermelons, cantaloupe, green beans, and corn—a great getaway after months of lock down.

Best of all, there is apple pie, apple bread, apple butter, apple cider donuts, and a lot more not on a Weight Watchers list! After lunch, Apple Annie herself came to serve the pie and asked if we were from Sun Lakes. Seems her sister, Nancy Patterson, just moved to Sun Lakes. Annie said her sister was busy remodeling her house. “Wait,” said Lois, “is she in Cottonwood near the clubhouse?” It turns out that Nancy, Apple Annie’s sister, is Lois’ new neighbor! And Nancy and Gwen have been birding at Gilbert Water Ranch. It is a small world. The apple pie is wonderful!