The Sunny South...not
Sunday
February 24, 2008
Hi,
We arrived home last night around 11:30 and flopped into bed. The plane ride seems so long, yet so short. Hard to describe, I guess.
Our flight to AZ had one stop/plane change at Midway in Chicago. We were taking off at 6:35 a.m. from Manchester (little more than an hr from home), so had to get up at 3:30 a.m. Yowza...that hurt. We were lucky to have Mike driving us to and from the airport so we didn't have to worry about leaving a car there.
We arrive at the airport around 5:00 a.m. Tammy checked in her large suitcase, then we looked for our gate. Found a Dunkin' Donuts right near our seats, so grabbed a quick bite before we boarded. We left on time and arrived in Chicago about 2 hrs later (or 9:30 their time). The delay was about an hour, so we shopped for magazines and drinks, then headed to the next gate.
Finally arrived in Phoenix around 1:30. A long day, to say the least, but The ZenYard (check it out!) was bright and inviting. Many changes since I was last there in June 2007. Even the website has new stuff on it. We were fortunate to witness some love from the universe and wonderful networking/bartering with others. I am envisioning a full house, dollars flowing for the improvements and renovations they want to make, and all of the workshops filled to capacity.
On Monday and most of Tuesday we had sunny, warmish weather. Then the clouds arrived and early evening brought a rather impressive thunderstorm. Bright lightening, loud booms and heavy rain that the wind pushed to an angle. Gave everything a good soaking.
We visited Den's places of business while we were there too. Well, his main business is The ZenYard, but he also teaches yoga at one gym and does personal training at another, as well as the private clients he has.
We went out to eat on Wednesday evening with Darenna. A wonderful Italian restaurant who's name escapes me, but not the meal. I had sauteed chicken and onions in a rosata sauce with bowtie pasta. Holy yummy! Saved half for lunch when we returned from Sedona.
On Thursday morning, we headed for Sedona. What an amazing view as you are driving in! We were lucky to have clear skies right then because it clouded up, cooled off and began getting misty soon after arrival.
Our first stop was The 7 Centers, the place where Denny spent 30 days earning his 200 hour yoga certification. We meet Sydney, the woman who runs the place, and got a little tour since there was nothing going on at the moment. Then we headed next door to our casita at A Sunset Chateau, a very nice place, by the way.
Once we were checked in, we walked the main streets, did a little souvenir shopping. I bought a Red Dirt t-shirt and Tammy picked up some t-shirts for the kids. Then we hit The Alien Diner for lunch. Not a very healthy one for 3 of us, but it was quite delicious. :)
It began to rain and get chilly, so we headed back to our casita and got take out food (salads and pizza) for a late dinner, which we ate while watching "Don't Forget the Lyrics", a game show I could actually win money at. We picked up a couple of movies at Red Box and settled in with License to Wed, then turned in for the night.
On Friday, it was reeeally raining. We ran down to the main lobby for breakfast and had the opportunity to have a nice chat with the owner. They've spent about 5 years getting their property up and running, but it's lovely now.
We drove home to Phoenix in a heavy rain but made it in time for the new guests to check in. Although we didn't have good weather and didn't spend a lot of time doing "touristy" stuff, I had a good time. I really enjoyed just hanging out at The Zenyard and lending a hand with cooking, cleaning up and helping to get the rooms ready for guests. Maybe they'll hire me when I retire. :)
Friday evening, we ordered Thai food to go. Darenna came over and after we ate, we played Scattergories with a couple of the guests. That was fun... Twice this week they had guests with birthdays and surprised them both with a small, chocolate covered cheesecake with a candle! It's the little things, right? :)
Too soon it was time for us to leave. Tammy braved the Phoenix traffic and following Denny's handwritten directions, we went to drop off the rental car and make our way through the airport to our gate. I had a bit of a scare when Tammy went off in search of chocolate and reading material and we were called to board! I grabbed her bags and both of our boarding passes and prayed for a airline employee with some compassion. He let me check us both in and I headed down the ramp, constantly checking behind me to see if I could see Tammy. Finally spotted her talking to the same guy who let me check us both in and I waved her down to where I was waiting. After all we went through to get our boarding passes printed off early enough to be at the head of the line, I didn't want to end up separated on the plane! :)
We had a lovely young college girl from New Hampshire with us from Phoenix to Chicago, then a business man from a town spitting distance from me from Chicago to Manchester. He was a little hung over from his trip to Lost Wages, NV, but a healthy salad, a bottle of water and a quick nap seemed to help. He chatted with us the rest of the way home.
Our flight from Chicago to Manchester was delayed due to a light being out on the plane somewhere, so we were about a half hour late landing.
At any rate, I was happy to be able to spend time with Den and to be in AZ again. I hope to go back in the fall/early winter. We'll see...
As for this blog, well...I don't know if I'm going to keep it up. I can't seem to get motivated to write here and I'm sure that whoever was reading have moved on by now. We'll see.
Back to the salt mines tomorrow. Yeehaw...
Peace,
Kay
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