Red Roof Inn Phoenix Airport Tempe

... 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 ...

... you know--or FISHERs for crying out loud. It's needed downstream for golf courses n' stuff. Important stuff. Oh, don't get me started.

But that's Roosevelt lake--more of that on another day.

Anytime I'm by water I'm happy, but today, with my toes in the riffles, I'm truly in heaven. I haven't sprung for an Arizona fishing license since we're only here two months, but today just watching the fly fishermen was enough.

It truly is another world down by the water.

... 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 ...

Happy Thanksgiving from the Alvrez's in Phoenix, Arizona. Only a quick trip to the grocery store with Janine & the kids today, otherwise a cruisy day at home. Bruce deep fried a turkey – yes, that's right, he put this huge bird into a deep frier – but it was really, really yummy and not at all oily as you would think. Thanksgiving Dinner was lovely thanks to the Olivers and what a delicious spread of turkey, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes ...

... 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!

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.

... got to 55 today and was 43 last night - not typical AZ weather. They had over 12 inches of snow in Flagstaff overnight! We hung around here again today and just didn't do much. Charlie had a 1½ hour phone conference with the plant-they are going to lay off several more people. Too bad, but until they can get more work things will be lean. Feb 11th-I was up early again and Charlie at 10-We didn't do much today-I cleaned house and did floors while Charlie went for a 'test ...

... a good time at has been a victim of the hard times, so we'll miss that annual dress-up event this year. : ( We also took a little jaunt this past weekend, driving the car back up to Cottonwood (where we were about three weeks ago) to visit my old friend Sherry, and to do a few odd jobs around the house for her. Greg likes nothing better than to have an opportunity to fire up his cordless drill and tackle a project or two ...

... There is no way that I can make it to Florida in the 23 days that I gave myself. I originally figured I would ride about 8 hours a day and cover 125-130 miles. Based that on my Ironman bike experience of going 112. I way underestimated the effect of the heat, hills, and the fact that this bike weighs 50 more pounds and is a lot less aero than my racing bike. Plus, less comfortable to boot, with an ability to make my knees hurt. So what to do? Quit and ...

... to drive to California. They wanted to fly. I HATE, repeat, HATE flying. It's not that I get airsick, I don't. It's really two things: 1) I'm not in control of the airplane and I'm a control freak and B) I feel every motion of the plane and I don't know what it means. I always think we're about two seconds from free falling into the planet below. Still, they talked me into it and tickets were booked - their treat. Yay! Stay tuned for the first major roadblock on Plan Disney.