December 8, 2007

Hello there!

The drive from Show Low, AZ to Globe, AZ is
listed as one of the most scenic drives in
America. Now I know why!

The drive is 87 miles long and it goes from the
forested mountains of the Colorado Plateau -
where there is the largest contiguous stand of
Ponderosa Pines in the US - to the arid desert
lands. You descend almost 3000 feet on a very
twisty and curvy road, going through the Salt
River Canyon and up the Mogollan Rim at the edge
of the White Mountains. Much of the road goes
through or runs next to the San Carlos Apache
Reservation, once home to Geronimo. I was
surprised at just how gorgeous it was!

We arrived in Tempe at about noontime on
Thanksgiving - good thing because Dinner was at
1pm!

Tempe AZ is where my son Zach goes to Arizona
State College. Zach is a senior and he will
graduate in May, with a degree in Finance (go
figure)And, he just accepted an offer from JP
Morgan Chase for a job starting in July! Naomi is
in college in Ashland, Oregon, and she flew to
Tempe so we could all have Thanksgiving together.

Dinner was at Zach's girlfriend, Courtney's,
house. Courtneys roommate, Crystal, is a cook, so
she made the turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans
and gravy, for which I was very grateful
(-: Naomi made the squash and trays of
cheese and crackers and pickles and olives.
Courtney made her very first pumpkin and apple
pies! It was really yummy!

Allie got to meet Zach and Courtneys puppy,
Sienna. She is a golden retriever. She was
leaping in the air and jumping over the top of
Allie, trying to play. Allie wanted nothing to
do with that, so she went and laid down
with Naomi..

Here are some pictures of Naomi, Zach, Courtney,
Allie and Sienna.

Later that day we walked from the apartment to
Arizona State's football stadium. It took about
an hour to walk there, but there was no way to
drive there, because there is soo little parking!
There was a big football game between ASU and
University of Southern California. Zach got us
all tickets! It was a pretty good game, even if I
dont understand football! We were sitting in
front of USC fans which ,of course, caused Zach
and Naomi both to get irritated...years ago we
all went to a Cornell hockey game. I swore then I
would never go to another college game. I forgot.
I forgot how the air is thick with anger, and
pointing fingers and hurling insults! USC won the
game, 44 to 24. Then we all went home to bed!
Here are some pictures of the game.

We stayed in Tempe fron Thursday until Tuesday,
Nov 27th. We were parked at the Apache Palms RV
Park. We were parked right next to this big
saguaro cactus that was covered in Christmas
lights. But they were never lit up. Finally on
the last night we were there, Ken walked over
to the cactus and found the outlet and plugged it
in! Dont you think it looks cute?

More soon!

Love from Mindy, Ken and Allie