Thanksgiving - Desert Style!

In what is turning out to be quite the annual tradition, I headed south last week to celebrate the American Thanksgiving holiday at my Sister's house in Phoenix. What a riot!

The festivities kicked off with Heather and I running in the Mesa Turkey Trot, followed by getting together with several friends for a feast of turkey and all the fixins. And of course we drank waaayyy too much - or at least I did! Oy. We went to an exciting Flames/Coyotes game, and the trip was rounded out by spending a day hiking in the fabulous Sonora Desert. I essentially had to come home to get some rest! LOL!

A little sisterly competition! Heather beat me by one second. D'oh!

I survived! Ran the whole darn way - 10km.

Let the giving of thanks begin!

Can you guess which 'grateful feather' is mine? LOL!

Pretending it was my birthday again.....  I tried this
in Vegas last month, remember? Haha!
(Excuse the language by the way!)

Gila River Arena - super cool!

These two just kept getting me into trouble!



Flames vs Coyotes

Behaving ourselves at the game.

Ready to get some fresh desert air!



Monkey came hiking too!



Lovin' some outside time!



Beautiful desert landscape - what a day!

These neat pools were tucked away in a canyon - pretty!



What a great vista!

Wicked cool saguaros!

I had a fabulous time - thanks so much to Heather and Court for their usual fantastic hospitality! I am so lucky to have very important peeps who live in such a beauty location. Miss you guys!! Look forward to seeing you again soon!!

Cheers!

Love my baby Sista!



Another 72 hours....

Two goggle tans, four semi-trashed skiis, and one crushed thumb.... 72 hours in the mountains yielded very different results than the last 72 hours that I spent away from home! Hee hee!

This weekend, Chris and I got in our first couple of ski days of the season, enjoying far better than expected conditions at Sunshine. The snow was lovely and the temperatures were on our side. A small mishap sidetracked us (and by us, I mean Chris!) for a short time on Sunday morning, but it was nothing that a bag of ice, a few beers and some Trappers' nachos couldn't fix.

Two beauty days of THIS!

Getting ready to take the next picture....

.....at the top of my fave run.....

 

Tee Pee Chutes! Yeeee-haw!

Somebody followed me into a closed, rocky area,
and he wiped out and didn't fare so well.....
The Medics called it 'skiers thumb'. LOL!

After a break (which may have included a beer or two!),
everything was thumbs up - haha!

Rosy cheeks at the end of a stellar two days!

We had so many laughs - ask Chris to tell you about waiting in the lift line at Strawberry Chair - and were pleasantly surprised by the snow that has accumulated at the hill thus far. There were of course, lots of darn rocks, but hey, it is only November, and both of us can't wait to get back out! Here's hoping Mother Nature cooperates, and dumps a ton of the beautiful white stuff where we want it the most!!

Cheers!

Seventy Two Hours

Viva Las Vegas! Last weekend, I joined several friends in Sin City for a birthday celebration. And what a weekend it was! The fun began about an hour after we got off the plane, and it didn't let up until we hit the airport for the return trip. Good times!



This... was like no place I've ever been... Google it! LOL!

After the Rhino, we made a stop at the 'Big Apple'.

One of us was lost, but then she was found.... Eulah had a few hours
straight out of "The Hangover", but by breakfast the next day, it was all good!

NHRA! We watched the funny cars and dragsters - too cool!

And did I mention it was LOUD! The sound was crazy!

Lucky us! Rubbing shoulders and hanging out in
the pits with the SynOil Racing crew.

 

Of course the shows in Vegas are always amazing!
We saw La Reve - I highly recommend it!

And then.... there's the Grand Canyon.

We went to the SkyWalk, at the west end
of the Grand Canyon - well worth the trip!

Yippee!

View from the Stratosphere.

Insane ride on the TOP of the Stratosphere!

Sky Jump.... 855 feet of pure lunacy!
That's Dwayne, by the way!!

The birthday boy is in the bunny hat.
In case you're wondering, it was Hallowe'en!

 

We took in the Hallowe'en festivities on
the ridiculously busy Freemont Street....
Check out my drink jug! 

Last but not least, we toured through the beautiful
Red Rocks National Conservation Area.

The getaway was a blast - I had soooooo much fun! And I apologize for not elaborating a bit more on the events of the 72-hour whirlwind, but you know what they say about what happens in Vegas.... LOL!

Cheers!