Birthday-Palooza

I started my 36th year looking pretty rough. I felt okay, just looked really haggard.

I forced myself to go to kick boxing class. I forced myself to do lots of things. I say forced because in my mind I had some sort of set that I didn't HAVE to do anything because it was my birthday. But we all know that's not right.

So then we had a dinner at the sushi place, to celebrate all the January birthdays. It was Birthday-Palooza.








It was fun. We stayed out way too late. And this morning I woke up not only LOOKING haggard, but FEELING haggard....

My New Friend, Pioneer Woman

Walking thru Hastings, you'll find books by all the big authors, including this one:



But mine is a little special....



Who gets a cook book autographed? I do.

Sunset Flight

Steve recently rebuilt the engine in his Cessna, and since its completion over the weekend he's had Cessna Fever. We flew for two hours on Sunday, he flew for a little on Monday, then texted me on Tuesday asking if I wanted to go.
We took off about an hour before sunset, and explored the desert east of Havasu.



That's Cap'n Steve, who's a lot like Cap'n Crunch, but younger.



Almost immediately the sky began turning colors, as the sun began to make its descent. The photo above is from the plane, facing east.

But then we landed on a dirt strip out in the desert so I could get some photos of the sky to the west:



And it kept getting prettier...




We lifted off from the dirt strip to head towards the lake...



And it was getting darker by the minute! Here's the city as all the lights were slowly coming on.



Can you see the London Bridge? It's down there.



The shoreline, getting darker...



This picture, I cannot believe it turned out. There's a tiny bit of reflection from the glass in the plane, but a very nice view for the most part....



We landed and pulled the plane into the hangar. Right next to the Cobra and the lear. Looks a little out of place.

Jackapalooza

I had Jackapalooza scheduled for January of 2011, because I thought Jack turned 50 then. I was wrong. He turned 50 yesterday. Oops. So we had a nice little dinner and evil dessert, and we sat around the table laughing and talking. Or, talking and laughing.
Have no fear, Jackapalooza is still on the horizon. I just need some time to put it together.
But until then, the pictures of the birthday celebration will have to do...

Prescott is Cold Right Now!

We visited Prescott, Arizona last summer in July, when it couldn't have been hotter. It was over 120 degrees at home but Prescott was a tolerable 88 degrees. It was beautiful, green, and the nights were chilly.
Well I returned to Prescott last week for my latest training session, and the weather has changed a bit.
It was cold. Now, you girls in Colorado, Nebraska, and Iowa already know what REAL cold is. Yes I know this. But this was "Arizona Cold."
Like, just below freezing.
This is my car, giving me a dirty look because it's been running in the hotel parking lot with the defrosters going for 15 minutes. And there's still ice on the windshield.
Well guess what, we in Arizona don't have ice scrapers.

The courthouse that's flanked by big wonderful green trees in the summer, is sadly hidden behind the stark, bare trees of January.



And the weird guy who would probably be sporting a ballet ensemble while doing his interpretation of Thai Chi in the Courthouse grassy area, had to instead wear his yuppie cowboy collection:





I feel like such an adult when I go off into the different areas of the state by myself, for these training sessions. Mostly because I know I am COMPLETELY responsible for myself, and I am following my own schedule, my own agenda....
and I'm using money from my own bank account for the gas money. That last one was a joke, mostly.
But really it's a strange feeling. I can go looking around in the art gallery if I want to. I can stop at the junky roadside swap mart if I want to. I can go to the hip little coffee shop for a latte....which I always do....



This place was so hip it had artwork and a fancy old painted concrete floor.



Prescott is clearly too hip for me, but I still love it because it's so different. It's a very old town, with a lot of history, and you can walk into any little quirky shop or coffee house and ask about ghosts. And they will very seriously answer you. Because they truly believe the whole town is haunted.

I did my own little investigation. I found nothing.

Driving out of town that evening, I admired the rocks on the way...



And two and a half hours later (still driving of course) I noted the beautiful sunset when I was just East of Kingman....



I stayed in Kingman that night with some friends, as I had a meeting the next morning up there. A thirty minute meeting. Sheesh.

It was nice to get home finally, after being on the road for a few days. Very nice to get back to seventy degrees!!