Troy!!

One of my very dear friends from college, named Troy lives in Phoenix.   The funny thing is that he was Jedd's (my older brother) friend first.  We all went to the same college.  Troy and Jedd went to college their first year in Florida and then transferred to Virginia.  They played tennis together in both places.  Once I got to school, Troy and I became friendly as well.  Originally from Trinidad, he's lived in many places since college in the US but surprisingly, we've stayed in touch quite well, (apart from this past year where we lost touch a bit mostly due to him living in AZ and us living in Qatar = big time difference...and of course, laziness/busyness on both of our parts).   So, when we found out we were coming to Phoenix, I called him and told him we must get together.  Of course, while we were supposed to be in Phoenix, he was going to be in Vegas, go figure!  Luckily, one of our days overlapped and he drove an hour to our hotel to have brunch with me and Eric.  I cannot say how wonderful it was to see him again...last time was summer 2008.  It is true what they say, with good friends, time and distance can keep us apart, but we were able to pick up right where we left off like we'd just seen each other last week.  It was great.   So wonderful to see you Troy and let's try not to let 3 years pass again!!

Trip to the Sonoran Desert

One of the activities I got to take part in while we were in Arizona was a jeep trip to the Sonoran Desert. 

One of our guides

Some sights on the way...

Oh yes, our jeep drove over this

Another one of our guides 

Explaining us the dangers of the desert 

 This type of cactus was interesting and also scary.  The cowboy and indian (our guides) were telling and showing us how dangerous they can be.  Basically, if you get pricked with one of the quills, it burrows into your skin, or whatever it's attached to and continues to do so until it can't go any further.  

 Do you see that?  He literally touched his skin with the little quill and it is stuck

Now it's stuck on his boots.  He explained to us that if he let it stay there, it would eventually reach his skin!

 Rare cactus

Loved all the cacti

 Our guides told us that the cactus takes many years to grow and the reason they do not get blown over in the wind is because they are aerodynamic even though they wobble a lot if you touch them. 

 Burnt

 Our ride

 Our friend Kim and the cowboy

Group shot

After this, we were on our way back (and fast) to listen to Frank Abagnale (subject of the movie, Catch Me if You Can).  His story was unbelievable (the delivery was key) and so interesting.  He left us with a powerful message.  It was definitely the highlight of the conference.

Arizona - Sept 2011

Right after Labor Day weekend, Eric had a conference for the week in Phoenix that spouses were encouraged to attend.  You don't have to ask me twice, I booked my ticket in no time.  We left early Tuesday morning and flew directly into Phoenix.  We rented a car and planned to head to Sedona about 2 hours away.  We heard it was beautiful, we read it was beautiful, but nothing compared to how it was  in person... just breathtaking.  I wish I had brought my other lenses to take some better, closer shots.  It was just so different from anything we've seen.  

We ate at Red Rock Cafe, then we ventured to Slide Rock State Park which was essentially a natural water slide...at a cool 64 degree temperature.  

At the entrance of Slide Rock State Park

Below is a video of Eric going down the natural water slide...hilarious!

We spent a bit more time there and then it was time to head back to Phoenix and check in to our hotel before we had a cocktail reception to attend that evening.