Comfort Suites Airport Tempe

I'm getting ready for this trip that will happen in about a month. I got a new canon camera which is a RebelT1i degital 15 pix with two lenes. They sure put me back a good many dollors.
I just hope I'm able to take great pictures. I'm making two dresses to ware and will take very
few clothes. I ...

... at each other, "Where in the world are we?"

The show was rollicking and the food, great, but you know what was the very best? During the before show entertainment we noticed this Down Syndrome girl sitting under the window writing in her workbook, grinning at nobody, singing along to herself...

Well, the singer introduced her to us. Her name is Melissa and she's the singer's sister. She had written a song and been to Nashville to record it about this ...

... in the world. IN THE WORLD. It's still the 3rd largest--that's what they claim. That's really big, isn't it?

During the summer so much water is taken out of the lake for irrigation, and to supply the lakes further down, that it can be a half mile from the campground to the water. But they let you camp on the beaches that surface, so in places you can still get near the water--if you can find a flat place that isn't muddy. After all, this is desert and water can't be wasted on ...

... to Ethiopia's religious history and many Ethiopians believe that the Ark of the Covenant is housed in a church in Axum, the ancient capital of Ethiopia. Tabot, which are replicas of the original stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai (The Ten Commandents), and believed to be housed in the Ark, are used widely in Orthodox Christian religious ceremonies and observances.
- Time is GMT +3
- Currency is the Birr

Mesa, Arizona, United States carolerich

... was a sudden and unexpected mass exodus to grab these huge boxes off the pallet (the security guard was yelling that you couldn't take the bikes off the pallet off until 5am – but nobody listened to him) so I managed to manhandle one in the trolley, andthen put my hand on another until the security guard had calmed down and I could wheel it away from his watchful eye. By then 100's and 100's of people had flooded the aisles of Walmart and I was ...

... to see some Saguaro cactus (the ones you see in cartoons and Westerns that are tall with arms sticking upright like a bank teller in a holdup) and the closer we got to the Saguaro National Park the more we saw – fields of them and covering the rocky hills too. Took a few photos of them and with the kids posing beside them, and then onwards to Phoenix, and the Oliver family!

... in 1998. After feeling the intense heat, we went to find our hotel and escape the sauna. Once we got in our place and turned on the weather channel, we realized it wasn’t just our imagination; it was 110 degrees outside in downtown Phoenix and surrounding areas! I couldn’t believe it. It was so hot, you couldn’t do anything except stay inside and wait for nighttime ...

... the airport in my van, getting there with a couple of hours to wait, but better than being late. Cheneys will use my van if they need it while we are gone. We used Southwest computer hookups for a while and then they announced that our departure had been moved from gate 9 to gate 4, so picked up and moved. Charlie met a cute gal who is in Phoenix for a dance convention. She is a dance teacher for a dance place in Columbus, OH. We ended up with a seat over the wing ...

... dressed up- long causal skirt- grabbed our food contribution, our exchange presents, a bottle of wine and walked to the clubhouse to a private party with friends, both old and new. There were 26 of us, lots of food, but we didn't pig out as usual. Later a gift exchange where I ended up with a cute Christmas 'tin' containing 9 lotto tickets. Charlie has a big box with 2 Snowman mugs, and all kinds of things to eat and drink, all chocolate! Perfect. They said I had to ...

... pictures and readied myself for the next leg of my trip. David, Daniel and Jenni all want me to live down here... at dinner tonight, we talked about Chip's job and how their hiring. The boys want me to return here after Utah, and I've told them that if I have time, I will come back to visit for awhile before returning to Pennsylvania. I truly love it here... although Tempe is a whole lot hotter that I'd like it to be, and no matter if it's a dry or wet heat, 110 degrees is 110 ...