Radisson Hotel Phoenix-Chandler

... 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 ...

... 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 ...

... a poor salmon swimming upstream – an extremely bulky salmon who couldn't see too well because of the piled high trolly – trying to collect a few other goodies, but just amazing how quickly the specials were stripped off the shelf. Spent ages in a line to the checkout, so didn't actually get to leave Walmart to the sun was rising at 6.30! After a couple more shops we staggered home at about 8am.

Hopefully today we'll get a Nana-nap in!

... it'... after following some yellow footprints through two big sheds out the back with some weird ,
quirky, interesting and just plain odd exhibits (like life-sized carved wooden people in a torture chamber...) we finally found it...an old mummy/skeleton (not sure if genuine, ewww) in a glass box.
Still, right up our alley and glad we stopped.

Once nearing Tuscan we ...

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.

... I was sorting stuff in the outside bays on the shady side-can do other side tomorrow morning. I was looking for my Halloween stuff but not found it yet. Tonight was a magnificent sunset—brilliant colors and lasted what seemed like a long time.

Oct 27 Wed – Up early again. When it warmed up went out to do some more sorting and looking for Biehn stuff that I should not have to send back to them. Not much here and a lot they prob don’t want either but will ...

They don't have a car you can borrow at the test centre, you have to bring your own so I borrowed my Step Brothers to take the practical test. I sat down waiting for my name to be called and it was probably the most nervous I had been about driving since I passed my UK test 10 years ago. It's never bothered me having people in my car back home regardless of if I them or not. But this was a test and it was a little nerve racking. A ...

Wow! I can't believe it's been a month and a half since I posted an update here...I think there's a couple of reasons for that - (1) Since we're not traveling like we have in the past, there doesn't seem to be as much to share that would be of interest; and (2) There are many of you on our TravelPod List who are also on Facebook, where it's easier and quicker to upload pictures and to post a daily "here's what we're up to" note...but, in reality, there are more of ...

... village, so there are a lot of trees and grass and not a cactus in sight. It really feels like it could be anywhere except Arizona. The only give away is the heat. The kids have throughly enjoyed hanging out with Kuba and Zuzanna. They have really been made comfortable and we really feel like welcome visitors. Spending time just playing at the pool and hanging out has been great for them. Chris Samantha and Zack went to watch Phoenix ...

... and son-in-law Jess and Tom are coming out from Denver to join us for the races! There's a really nice swimming pool here, so we'll probably get in an hour or so of swimming (or splashing, at the very least!) every day! Beautiful sunset here tonight, and we went out for a fabulous Mexican meal at a local restaurant!