Page 75 - November Sun Rays_Flip book LR

Top right: Terry and Doug Lytton on the PHOTOS COURTESY OF TERRY AND DOUG LYTTON
beach in California. The Lyttons moved N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 6 SUNRAYS | 73
to Sun City Texas from California only
two years ago and on their visit were
surprised by how much had changed
in that time.

Bottom right: Walking toward the
Loretto Chapel in downtown Santa Fe,
New Mexico.

In anticipation of our stay, we invited
several of our former neighbors to a get-
together at a local pub. We couldn’t help
but be a little disappointed when only 15
people showed up. Evidently, after we had
moved, a number of our Encinitas neigh-
bors followed suit. Several couples had also
turned their homes into rental properties,
which had impacted the overall lifestyle
and feel of the community.

Going back home after two and a half years
made us appreciate what we have in Sun
City Texas. As we told the former neighbors
who showed up for our pub party, if you
can’t find something that interests you in
Sun City, it’s your own fault. I would not be
surprised to see some of these folks visiting
us in the coming months. As we said our
goodbyes, knowing how memories of past
events can sometime seem so perfect, it
was good for us to get a reality check by
taking that last visit to the way we were.

Leaving California behind, we were east-
ward bound - Santa Fe beckoned ahead.
It had been 49 years since Terry had last
been there and I had never been. Recent
rains had made the deserts of the south-
west cool and green. We would be stay-
ing at the La Fonda Hotel, located on the
historic Santa Fe Plaza. The site of the
hotel was once a lodge dating back to the
Spaniards in the 1600s. The hotel was built
in 1922, when rooms rented for $10 per
night. Boy, have times changed!

Wandering the Plaza, we spotted a town
festival in full swing. Vendors had set up
booths to display their product or service.
Even the local police department proudly
spread out the latest and greatest arma-
ments – a SWAT armored vehicle, high
tech weaponry, night vision goggles, water
cannons – all of which seemed a little out
of character for this population of tourists,
musicians, artists and artisans.

Continued on the next page

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