Zion National Park!

Last Wednesday I finally escaped the Phoenix heat and headed Northwest, to Zion National Park, and met up with my best friend from high school, Nicole, and her family. It was a beautiful trip there, through Flagstaff and Page, AZ, and then through the absolute middle of nowhere. I kept myself entertained for a while by listening to NPR- and then for a good 2 hours enjoyed the sounds of the Navajo Public Radio, which was interesting and a definite slice of native american life.

After reaching Springdale, UT and the CliffsRose Lodge where the Watkins/Brown family were staying, we went out for a walk inside Zion park- on a beautiful evening, where it was definitely NOT over 95degrees Fahrenheit, and I was able to remember what life is like when you are not being baked in the 100+ temperatures of Phoenix.


On Thursday we all took a day trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and on our way saw an amazing array of animal life! Longhorned sheep, wild turkey and babies, a porcupine running wild across a field, deer of all sizes, some chipmunks, big birds of prey and a few other things I have forgotten.

Ticket insanity

I got two tickets last week: one for speeding and one for not having renewed my registration. I
blame the fact that I haven't been in the States for more than 6 months straight since 2004... So annoying. I could accept the speeding ticket, although I have bones to pick about that one, being German I think I should be allowed to drive faster than those who don't know how to drive (aka Arizonans) but the registration one- I promise is only because I get my country rules mixed up!! I even checked my plate a few months ago thinking that renewal should be coming up soon, and saw the "09" in the corner of the license plate and thought that meant September (which made sense to me, as I bought the car in September) Who knew that you have to renew your registration in the month that you were born in?!

The policeman really couldn't believe that my only excuse was that I had gotten confused and because I kept going in & out of the US, so I still got a ticket, and a court date to appeal it. It will be my first time in a court for ANY reason (except for that time that two friends got married a few months ago), so this should be interesting.

I have decided since then that I have to make a spreadsheet for each country- In USA do the following things... In Germany, do these things... etc. I suspect that this is the only way I won't be continuously getting tickets for forgetting the laws!

months later...

I am obviously the lamest blogger there is. All of my plans to blog about my travels from the past and about my times in B-school went down the drain when I got back to Thunderbird and to the craziness of being in school again.

So- months later, here I am again. Thought I might use this to keep up with my friends and keep you all up with me!

Here is the latest: I am interning for a brand management consultant in the Valley (Phoenix, Mesa etc); just finished my last classes and exams for B-school last Thursday, and have spent the last couple of days adjusting to the idea of not being a student anymore.

Phoenix now has temperatures hitting 100 every day by 10AM-- which is almost unbearable, and makes it very hard to go outside. To get by, those of us left here spend time in the pools, drifting down Salt River (about 40 minutes outside of town) and escaping to the mountains in the north. And enjoying the most beautiful sunsets there are.

New Orleans- Texas- Inauguration Day- Colorado!

Night One of the road trip back to Thunderbird was a stop in New Orleans- where I got to meet some of Elizabeth's friends, and met up with old Peace Corps & Tally friends.

James my best bud from the B7s! our FIRST reunion since I left 'Desh in 2005! (3.5 years, but who is counting...)

Miranda (B5) and Heather (Mozambique and from high school) and I introduced them to each other per email when Heather and her husband Tyree moved to N'Awlins.

Liz and her friend Matty.




After spending the night in New Orleans, we headed on: as far as we could get into Texas, which meant we ended up spending the night in the middle of nowhere (aka Childress).
Welcome to Texas! "Don't Mess With Texas!" (also seen in parts)








The wide open spaces.








The train that kept up with us for a while before it finally stopped in some tiny town.







After spending the night in Childress, we headed on: to Amarillo. Our goal was to watch the Inaguration and find the Cadillac Ranch- somewhere outside of or near Amarillo.
We ended up watching Obama's Inaguration at an Applebees in Amarillo. All our attempts to find a cute little cafe with like-minded folk had failed. Most everyone inside of the Applebees were all totally into the Inaguration and were as glued to the TV as we were.

As it was pretty much the most random place ever to watch the Inauguration, we had to take a picture.

And we actually found the Cadillac Ranch!!! Definitely worth driving around circles for a while.







The most amazing tail-fins ever.

A caddy seen through a hole in another caddy.







We finally escaped from Never Ending Texas and got into Colorado: all the way to Denver (1 Night), Vail, where we spent two nights, went skiing (my first time in a decade!), and then Aspen (1 night) where we got to go to the X Games in style, with VIP Passes.
The road on our way to Aspen- the day it started dumping snow- not great for us nor the X Games!...







...But waking up in the morning to this view was unbelievable.

Floridaaaaa!

Having finally gotten back to Tallahassee after leaving Munich mid-December, I was only there for about a day and a half- and those were some completely jet-lagged hours! I went to a high school friend's wedding, drinking coffee and sweat tea the whole time.

Then I took a trip down south- stopping in Tampa to celebrate my brother's 23rd birthday, and then continuing onto Ft.Myers to visit my grandparents.
Chester, my family's African Gray.








It was only a week later that I was back in Tally, for Addison's 2nd birthday- accompanied with an astonishing realization that children grow really quickly!

It was wonderful to be able to visit all the friends and family who I hadn't seen in so long. Thanks for a great time! :)

Road trip part 1: Alabama

Last Sunday I started the drive from Tallahassee, FL to Phoenix, AZ. My parents were so kind as to drive me to Mobile, AL, where we toured the USS Alabama/Battleship Park, and then met up with Elizabeth for lunch at the most amazing restaurant ever: Felix's Seafood Shack!


Please note the wonderful sign next to my parents...


The U.S.S Alabama in all her glory, at port.







Dad & I pretending to be gunners on the submarine deck.








View from the submarine of the USS Alabama.








This was the view from Felix's restaurant.

New York City!

I am spending two weeks in NYC with Thunderbird- taking a Brand Management class, attending lectures and hearing some amazing speakers: yesterday our line-up was Goldman Sachs, Proctor&Gamble, GE, and MINI!!! Not bad at all!

In addition to attending classes, I have been hanging out with the other Tbirds in the area, and reunionizing with more friends from past lives. ...






Thunderbirds at an Irish Pub after our first day of lectures.









Andre, Sharif & I--- meeting up after a decade!










Alex B (another Thunderbird) and I in front of the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. (sooooo cold!)