Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Mesa

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 ...

... there are dams on the Gila that remove ALL the water from the river and divert it into canals so the river bed below is completely dry. Of course, when they did that, all the Mesquite trees died. Died. Their roots run 75' deep and they died.

In the beginning of the 20th century the water table here in the Phoenix/Tuscon area was 15-20' deep; now in some places it's over 700' deep.

But when the Hohokam grew their crops here there was water ...

... any pictures as evidence, though, do you. No no, we were incognito cute.

Here's a tip for anyone coming to Phoenix: get signed up on the Internet for Groupon and get email alerts for special deals in the valley. We saved a bunch of money by getting half price tickets for tonight. It works like this, you have 24 hours to purchase and if they get enough buyers the deals on, if not, you're not charged. So you either buy or ignore with a new deal coming out every day.

... 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 ...

... discovered, even older skeleton, were discovered and also is the home of the 4th highest mountain in Africa - Das Rashem at over 14,000 feet. Contrary to the images of drought and mass starvation that most westerners remember about Ethiopia, the country is also home to the most extensive indigenous rainforest to be found anywhere in Eastern Africa. The Central highlands are openly vegetated, green fertile and densely cultivated. The ...

We leave for Ethiopia on December 15th and are getting very excited. This is one of the first steps
towards keeping friends and family updated while we are gone.
This is our first trip to an African country so we are extra excited for a completely different experience.

... as I was meeting Don, Anita, her brother Don and wife JoAnne for breakfast. We went to Eggingtons in Mesa and it is great for all things egg! Lots of people waiting but we went in after about 5 minutes! Good meal and fun. I had French toast and it came as 3 slices of bread that, put together, would equal almost a half loaf of French bread!! I could only eat one so rest are waiting for me in the freezer! After that a trip to Sam’s Club and back to their home to talk a ...

... Russian military maps from the 1960s & 70s on our laptop that interfaced with the GPS unit. I'll tell you how I got these maps in another post - in the meantime, just think OO? I want to try and go back to the same area, hopefully the same village, show people the photographs and see if I can find the people I photographed 10 yrs ago. Wouldn't that be the dogs-bollocks eh ...

... we sat and picked at the pizzas still while trying to figure out how on earth that man played that organ and Jen and Caitlin displayed their excellent taste in organ themed dance.  On our way out we JUST made it to Albertson's before close to pick up some bleach for our white load, a block of cheese and a bottle of wine for "National Park Themed Monopoly," which we delved into immediately upon our return to Carriage Manor.  We all thought we had a strategy, we all thought we ...

... stuff for her apartment. I would have been more fun, except we were all ready to drop on the mattresses and take a nap. We also ate lunch at IKEA, very yummy. I had a buffalo chicken wrap. We did a bunch of people watching as well. Seriously people watching is one of the best free activities you can do. People are just funny. Then we went back to the apartment to relax ...