My niece Kristal lives in Phoenix. We had lunch last Saturday morning at Thefarmatsouthmountain.com, an organic farm with three restaurants, including a breakfast cafe, where we ate al fresco. It was conveniently located between her place and where I was staying with friends in Laveen.
Then, on Monday, we drove up to see Uncle Danny Stief (of Sedonatalkradio.com). He gave us a great tour of that stunning area, explaining to us about the vortexes and other metaphysical anomalies in the area (making Kristal’s name quite appropriate). We had lunch and then Kristal and I drove back to Phoenix in time for me to catch my flight back to San Francisco. On the way to Sedona, however, Kristal and I were talking so much that I forgot to get gas, and so to be sure we didn’t have to walk in the desert heat, I let the car coast down a mountainside for about eight miles to get to the next town to fill up!
Sedona is magnificent everywhere you look, with it’s vortexes and it’s manmade and natural monuments. It was great to see my uncle, who is a talented singer, and touched Kristal and me with a few live performances of Elvis songs. It was the first time Kristal and he met each other, so I was glad to facilitate their meeting and for us all to learn more about other parts of our family.
I’m also glad to have a nice base tan from Arizona last week for the two weekends in NYC I’m going to enjoy later this month!
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- I think that is Cathedral Rock behind us.
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- An eagle head carving viewed from the temple.
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- Somebody’s amazing house as viewed from the temple.
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- Documenting where we went to take some pictures on the cliffside.
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- From a spot near Sedona Airport
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- See the Teapot mountain on the right?
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- Kristal took this of me at Farm By South Mountain, where we had breakfast.
Some of us did the Dining for Life at Alexi’s Grill in downtown Phoenix Thursday night.
I got a nice tan at the pool parties at the hotel, saw a lot of old friends and made some new ones. I got to speak a little Italian, Spanish and ASL (something I’m definitely an extreme amateur in). I really like the dry heat and climate of Phoenix, not to mention the wonderful topography that is visible from almost every horizon.
The luau they we had was amazing with authentic dancers and a fire/sword tosser. The music gave me chills and the dancers were stunning. Unfortunately it started to get dark toward the end of the video, but I’m so glad I got the video footage that I got. The (authentic?) and exotic buffet was awesome and I got to wear my barely ever-used Hawaiian shirt.
Also see my blog on going to Sedona with my niece to see my uncle.
I hope I have enough documentation to cross the border into the Draconian state of Arizona for the first time in my life next week.
As a 15/16ths Caucasian-American, if I get arrested for looking too ethnic in AZ, can I pay my fine in Sue Lowden chickens, or do I go right to directly to jail without passing go?
I’m traveling to Phurfest and hoping to see friends and family in Arizona in late April/early May. It’s a state I’ve never stepped foot in, to my knowledge, but which my family has a long history in, apparently. I’ve seen a lot of relatives going back generations move and return to Arizona, and I know my dad lived there for a time as a kid. Ancestry.com has helped prove the links I have to the area, but I’m also looking forward to some pool parties and dry heat, which is one of the reasons I moved back to the West Coast.