Arizona / California trip - Day 5

Day of Rest....

Heh, today was the day that reminded us that we're not getting any younger. We all needed some rest after spending the entire day and evening at the Zoo the previous day. We had a great time but it did tire us out. So we decided we needed to take it a little slower today and foregoe the idea of going to the Heard Museum. (Check it out by going to this link http://www.heard.org/Page.aspx?pid=214&srcid=214 )

We went to ASU campus to visit the bookstore and the library. Unfortunately the bookstore was closed for the holidays but Jen was successful in securing the books at the library she needed for her upcoming paper. Afterwards we decided to try a new restaurant, Z'Tejas http://www.ztejas.com/ Believe it or not, we haven't tried a southwestern grille style place before. Not only was the food great but we met up with one of Jen's friends, Heather and her husband Dan and had a great time.

Click HERE to see our photo album of the ASU campus.

Tired and now fed, we wandered back to the apartment for some rest. The girls got a nap in while Tom did some web searching for airline tickets for Jen's trip back east for the holidays.

By early evening we were recharged and headed back into Tempe to see their Christmas parade and then have our 'last supper' with Jen before heading to California to meet Dave and Linda. The parade was fun (loved the decorated tank) and the meal at P.F. Changs. http://www.pfchangs.com/

Let us be the first to wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

Click HERE to see photo album of the Christmas Parade in Tempe.

Arizona / California trip - Day 04

YEAR of the FROG ...

Although the tradition of a lot of people is to go shopping on this day, the day after Thanksgiving known as Black Friday, we chose not to observe this tradition. We decided to avoid the crowds and visit the Phoenix Zoo. http://www.phoenixzoo.org/ heh. little did we know that lots of families with little children would decide to visit the zoo too. I suppose it's been a little while since we had a little one in our family. Over all we saw everything we set out to see and then some. Did you know that according to the folks at the zoo, this is the year of the frog? We saw pretty many frogs and then some. Here is just a sample of all of the animals we saw at the zoo.

Bamboons, Cheetahs andRhinos . . .


Big horn sheep, Oryxs and a Tiger in a tree.....

long horn cattle, birds and giraffes....

Antelopes, wolves and mountain lions....

and let's not forget the little praire dogs....

These were some of the animals we saw during our visit. We left near closing time and ran home for a fresh battery and a coat so we could go back later in the day to see the new attraction titled "zoo lights" where the park is decorated in lots of lights for the holiday season . This is their 17th season and according to the website, it keeps growing every year. http://www.phoenixzoo.org/events/zoolights/

Click HERE to see our photo album of the Phoenix Zoo in the day time.

Before we went back though we decided to have dinner at Rula Bula. http://www.rulabula.com/ It's a great Irish Pub located in downtown Tempe. It was starting to ge a bit chilly but we were assured that if we wanted a table right away, we had to take a table outside. Of course, they had patio heaters so we ate outside. While we were waiting for our food, we decided to call Deebs. They were home so we left a spirited message for them. (We'll be meeting up with them on Sunday in CA). The food was great. Afterwards we headed back to the Phoenix Zoo to see Zoo Lights. If you checked out the link to Zoo Lights, you know that Jengo the talking giraffe is their official mascot if you were of this event. We tried to take pictures during this event but you know if you want to see better pictures, you should really visit their website.

Jengo the talking giraffe at ...

There were various animal shapes outlined in lights.....


as well as dancing lights in the trees set to music.....


It was a great time for everyone at the Phoenix Zoo Lites....!

Gotcha! Until next year....!

Click HERE to see our photo album of the Phoenix Zoo at night ....

Arizona / California trip - day 3

Happy Thanksgiving from Arizona!

Yes, here it is. Just one of the reasons we came cross country to Arizona so we can be with Jen. Everyone knows that the Thanksgiving holiday is meant to be spent with family. No matter what kind of characters make up a family, this is the day that was meant for families to get together, talk, eat and get to know one another. We knew we wanted to spend this holiday together but no plans were made for the traditional turkey dinner. This is especially difficult to do with this family as one member is not only a vegetarian but the kitchen here is a tad tiny to cook in. But one of Jen's colleagues had invited Jen (and her parents) to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. Valerie is married and lives in Paradise Valley with her husband and three college age children. Paradise Valley is north of Scottsdale, AZ (see http://www.ci.paradise-valley.az.us/ for more information on Paradise Valley.) According to Wikipedia, "Paradise Valley is a small town with a population of about 14,500 people. Although small, it's home to 12 resorts, making it one of Arizona's premiere tourist destinations. It has exclusive real estate, with a median home price at $1.74 million, with many exceeding $5 million and some over $20 million." Hmmm, what did we agree to? Jen assured us that Val and a few of the other ASU grad students who were invited, are very nice, down to earth folks. Besides Val is the one who adopted Zoe (go http://www.project-cat.blogspot.com/ for more kitty info).

As we were heading toward Val's house,we realized that we were actually early (not the norm for us). So we pulled over to park at town hall and post office. We decided to use this time wisely

and checked in on folks back home. While Jen and Tom were on the phone, Pam grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. Here are a few....

<--The one on the left is Jen walking and talking to her grandparents.

The photo on the right is Tom ----> waiting for Jen to finish as she's talking with Nanny and Poppop Steigerwalt.

These next few photos are of the area where we parked....

The first picture on the right is the entrance to the parking area and by the entrance to the post office. Nice indian, no? ------->

<---This sculpture, photo on the left, is further back in the parking area. Pretty picture below.

The dinner in Val's home was tasty (complete with two kinds of turkey - roasted and deep fat fried) and the people were delightful. We met one person who moved here from NY and had grandchildren attending Lehigh University. Jen ate with colleagues and we chatted with Val's family and friends. It was a day that truly meant a lot to us. Thank you Val for the invitation to be a part of your family's holiday. It was a lovely afternoon.

After we left our host and hostess for the afternoon, we stopped in Tempe at one of Jen's friend's place to look in on Baby B. Baby B is another one of those special kittens that Jen rescued this past summer. Again, more information on this and other kitties can be found at http://www.project-cat.blogspot.com/

Click HERE to see pictures from our stop at Paradise Valley's town hall area....

At any rate, here is a picture too of Baby B ----->

Here is Jen and Baby B. Seems the kitty likes the attention Jen is giving her.

After we left Baby B, we came home were Jen did some spinning of yarn, Tom fell asleep in front of the television and Pam, well, she's the one who updated this blog. Over all it was a great Holiday.

Arizona / California trip - day 2

We awoke the next day to a beautiful sunrise. This picture is from the balcony from Jen's apartment. But this scene didn't last very long as soon afterwards it started to, of all things, rain. Yes, it doesn't rain often out here but did it have to while we're here? oh well.

Soon afterwards the area that holds run off water in the apartment complex became very much pond like. During the normal dry season, the tunnels that you see in the picture usually is the hang out for the ferrel cat colony that lives here. Where they go when the area suddenly becomes a retention pond is still a mystery.

Maybe it's the fact that it doesn't rain often here but seeing rain drops on the trees was actually very pretty.

Jen had to work this morning so we hung out in the apartment until she came home. We decided to go out for lunch, then do some shopping at Arizona Mills, a huge outlet mall. heh. It was decided to go to a great little place called "House of Tricks" located in Tempe, AZ http://www.houseoftricks.com/

After enjoying a great light lunch we headed to Arizona Mills for some shopping and a movie. We enjoyed the latest James Bond flick titled "Quantum of Solace". The shopping wasn't complete success but Jen did manage to buy some very nice shoes. :) It was getting late and we were hungry. It had stopped raining so we decided to go to one of our favorite little places, Four Peaks Brewery in Tempe. http://www.fourpeaks.com/ This place is a great little micro brewery that has good beer and food. Because it had stopped raining, we were able to enjoy our meal sitting outside but under a patio heater. Afterwards we bought a six pack of their Kiltlifter brew and went home to crash.

Click HERE to see the photo album

Arizona/California Trip! - Day 1

Arizona....

As much as some of us like to travel, we haven't been able to get away since the spring trip to Hawaii (great trip!) Things have been a little hectic in our lives. Some of the older family members needing attention, a few other family members living in other states, coordinating travel plans difficult to make. As some of you know, our daughter Jen lives in AZ and we live in PA. Since the Thanksgiving holiday is about family, we knew we couldn't leave her in AZ alone. So we packed our bags, took our four legged girls to the kennel, contacted folks, coordinated plans and headed to AZ.

With PA being a tad wet and chilly, Tom and I were looking forward to warmth and plenty of sunshine that AZ is noted for. Our flight was broken into two parts. The first part took us from the Allentown, PA area to Washington, DC. What we didn't realize was that this first stretch was done courtesy of a small turbo prop plane. Oh dear.... but as you can imagine, we survived. The rest of the flight from Washington, DC to Phoenix, AZ was long but thankfully uneventful.

We landed in AZ after 9 pm AZ time (after 11 p.m PA time). As we were landing, the pilot noted that the tempurature was a nice 76 degrees. People cheered at that news. We were greeted by our wonderful daughter, Jen. As we walked to her car, it was great to shed the winter coats and enjoy the warm night air. Tired, we talked a bit with Jen and then crashed on her futon for the night.

Hawaii- Day Thirteen - Departure Day

Remember our theme for this vacation was “Get as much in as possible” and that included today as well. After all our flight wasn’t until 11:00 p.m. anyway so we tried to make the most of it.

After we pack and store our luggage at the resort for pickup later that day, we pile in the car and head back to Kona. We had decided at earlier over breakfast to see a coffee plantation and to get shopping done before heading home. The person at the concierge desk highly recommended a stop at the Greenwell Coffee Plantation. They told us it was the best. So we decide to make that our first stop.

I don’t know what others were expecting but when I hear the term Plantation; it conjures up visions of what you might see in the Deep South back on the main land. You know, huge houses, big properties, etc. But that’s not exactly what you see when you stop here. Should have known for two reasons: one, you’re on an island. And two: we were high in altitude and not level but on a hillside.

It was the smallest ‘plantation’ I’ve ever seen but the information we received, the taste test of the Kona coffee and the friendly people at this small establishment were all top notch. We also came across this fellow…. A Jackson chameleon. See, we even had entertainment! Before leaving, we purchased their wonderful Kona coffee.

Next stop was Kona Joe’s. What a difference! This place was huge and he was marketing the fact that his coffee was ‘trellis’ grown. "where Kona coffe is grown like wine grapes."

Hawaii Day Twelve – Last full day and evening on the Big Island.

After having a long drive the day before, Tom and Pam decide to relax a bit and enjoy the comforts of Mauna Lani Bay Resort for the morning with hopes of shopping in nearby Kona in the afternoon.

Dave and Linda, on the other hand, decide to go to Kona for an outing on the Atlantis. Instead of snorkeling to view coral and marine life up close and personal, you actually go in a submarine that goes about 100 feet down in the water. Having only one car for the four of us, they assure us they will be back in time to pick us up to go shopping.


Tom and Pam head to the beach, get a cabana and of course a few pictures are taken. While talking on the cell phone to the kid who is stuck in AZ, a waitress walks along the beach asking guests if they want anything from the bar and/or grill. Yes! This is the life! Mimosa anyone? :)
But like any sunny day on the beach, the sun becomes intense. Since our drinks are gone and we want to be ready for shopping, we head back to our room.


At the same time Pam and Tom are on the beach, Dave and Linda drove down to Kona for their underwater adventure. They call afterwards and learn that Pam & Tom are still interested in shopping in town. Dave and Linda say they will be there in about a ½ hour. As Tom and Pam wait, they decide to work on the blog. But it took Dave and Linda longer than the estimated 30 minutes and in the end no one went back to Kona for shopping that day.


Since no one had lunch that day, early dinner reservations were made at the restaurant here at the resort.

THIS JUST IN! A PINEAPPLE UPDATE!!! One of the pineapples is ‘sacrificed’ as a snack before the early dinner reservations. Pictures are taken to capture this special event. The pineapple is apparently accompanied by ‘pineapple wine’. Total number of pineapples planning to attempt to leave Hawaii is now 3! Stay tuned for more on this story….. We now return you to the original story…


We enjoyed dinner at the Canoe House. This restaurant is at the resort and offers an Asian influenced cuisine served on the beach. Both the food and service were excellent! Of course with any fine dining experience, especially in Hawaii, there is a price to pay. We anticipated, especially since this was our last night in Hawaii, a rather large bill for the four of us. Imagine our surprise when we opened the folder to find a check totaling no more than half of what we expected. As we looked around for our waiter, we noticed the stunned faces of the young couple at the next table. They are staring in disbelief at their check. Without speaking to each other, we are now looking for the same waiter. When the waiter realized what happened, he quickly swaps checks between the tables. The look of relief that came over the young couples face was priceless. The comment by Dave, “Now that’s more like it” caused both tables to break out in laughter.


We ended the night at the Honu Bar where we played a few games of pool (it’s something none of us have done for about 30 years – and it showed…ouch!) and enjoyed 20 year old tawny port.