Even though we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving back in Oregon, we didn't hesitate to celebrate it again here in the states a few days ago. For those Canadian folks who don't know, American Thanksgiving is a big deal....huge. I would say it is on par with Christmas, if not bigger. It's a four day weekend starting on Thursday (Thanksgiving day). It is the official beginning of the holiday season. We spent a good part of Thursday over at the church that our friends Stacey and Joey work at. They're organization (Masters Commission) had thrown together a huge meal for hundreds of foster kids from around Phoenix. So Christine and I took some pies and met up with Ron and Cathy to help out in any way we could. It was a pretty amazing event to pull off. They were insistent on creating an environment for the kids that felt like a family meal around the table (there were many many tables). That meant no buffet lines. Everything was passed around on nice serving plates and we ate with the fanciest plastic knives and forks that you have ever seen. It was such a wonderful event and it was an absolute honour to be there to experience it. Sitting at the table with strangers and seeing all of the kids laughing and having fun was priceless....truly what Thanksgiving is all about.
The day after Thanksgiving is called "Black Friday" here. Historically it marks the day that business' would get out of "the red" and into "the black". Over time it has become the biggest and craziest shopping day of the year. There are many amazing deals to be had if you are willing to wait in lines outside of box stores for hours on end. Most stores open at around 5am, but the lineups outside would've started long before then. So in the true spirit of us embracing our time here in America, we got up early and went out to see what it was like. We were at Circuit City by a few minutes after 5am...just in time for the doors to open. There were a few hundred people lined up outside but once the doors opened we were all able to get in. Once in the store people form even more lines depending on what they are buying (TV's, Cameras, computers, etc). We only grabbed a few small things and then waited in the checkout line for about an hour. It was crazy for sure, but kinda fun to experience at least one time in our lives. It was just a really strange feeling to wake up at 4:30am and head out to see parking lots full and people lined up outside of these huge stores. It was cold for Phoenix standards, the moon was bright, and the people were out by the thousands. We hit up a few more stores and then we were back in bed by 7am for a few more hours of sleep. What a day!
Anyways, we are doing great here. Still enjoying the sunshine even though it has cooled off a bit. I am off to the Leafs/Coyotes game tonight with Ron and Cathy. Go Coyotes!
Stay Classy.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Grand Canyon
So we finally got out of Phoenix and headed to one of the seven wonders of the world. It was great to be back driving on roads we have never been on before. It was truly amazing to see the landscape change as we drove. We got to drive through Flagstaff which is a couple of hours north of Phoenix. This is a very cool little city...it felt more like Oregon than Arizona to us. It was amazing that within a few hours we felt like we were out of the desert and into ski country. The rest of the drive to the Canyon was equally beautiful. The total driving time was under 3.5 hours which was shorter than we had expected...a pleasant surprise.
No amount of pictures or reading can prepare you for the vastness of the upside mountain that is the Canyon. It is no less deep from any angle or lookout you choose. The donkey's that take people to the bottom of the canyon look smaller than ants and the hiking trails that switchback down the sides of the canyon wall look like thin lines of dental floss that eventually disappear the closer they get to the bottom. Often the canyon only seemed like a painting or a backdrop, most likely a testament to how little our brains can comprehend what we are seeing.
One really interesting aspect of being inside the Canyon park is to see how it operates, partly like a small city, but often has the feeling of an amusement park or tourist trap. Tour buses can pick you up and drop you off anywhere around the rim. There is a fully working grocery store, bank, library, and post office. And there is also no shortage of grand canyon trinkets and collectibles that you can get with your name printed on them. Still, even though the commercialization exists, it can't take away from the sheer beauty of such an amazing natural wonder. We will post pictures here, but like I said, nothing can compare to seeing it in person.
We stayed at one of the lodges within the park, only about a 10 minute walk to the rim. It was a nice change from the hotel chains that Christine and I are so used to staying in at this point on our travels. We took a different route on the way home so that we could stop at a few different lookouts that we didn't get to see the day before. We still can't get over the difference in landscape and wildlife that a few thousand feet in elevation can make. While on our way out of the park we saw 6 or 7 Elk (those things are huge), as well as lots of deer. By the time we had driven about 30 minutes out of the park we had dropped about 2000 feet in elevation and found ourselves in the Navajo reservation where signs warned us about snakes and lizards. Pine trees had turned into desert shrubs again, and eventually into the cacti we see in Phoenix all the time. It was like travelling through the forests of Oregon to the desert of Arizona, all within a few hours.
It was a wonderful trip and definitely gave us a new appreciation for Arizona as a state. Here are a few pictures. Hope you like. Stay Classy til next time.
Oh! one more thing! We almost saw rain last week. Supposedly it spit a bit in the morning...but we didn't see it. So we have still only seen it rain a few times in the past 4 months. oh well.
No amount of pictures or reading can prepare you for the vastness of the upside mountain that is the Canyon. It is no less deep from any angle or lookout you choose. The donkey's that take people to the bottom of the canyon look smaller than ants and the hiking trails that switchback down the sides of the canyon wall look like thin lines of dental floss that eventually disappear the closer they get to the bottom. Often the canyon only seemed like a painting or a backdrop, most likely a testament to how little our brains can comprehend what we are seeing.
One really interesting aspect of being inside the Canyon park is to see how it operates, partly like a small city, but often has the feeling of an amusement park or tourist trap. Tour buses can pick you up and drop you off anywhere around the rim. There is a fully working grocery store, bank, library, and post office. And there is also no shortage of grand canyon trinkets and collectibles that you can get with your name printed on them. Still, even though the commercialization exists, it can't take away from the sheer beauty of such an amazing natural wonder. We will post pictures here, but like I said, nothing can compare to seeing it in person.
We stayed at one of the lodges within the park, only about a 10 minute walk to the rim. It was a nice change from the hotel chains that Christine and I are so used to staying in at this point on our travels. We took a different route on the way home so that we could stop at a few different lookouts that we didn't get to see the day before. We still can't get over the difference in landscape and wildlife that a few thousand feet in elevation can make. While on our way out of the park we saw 6 or 7 Elk (those things are huge), as well as lots of deer. By the time we had driven about 30 minutes out of the park we had dropped about 2000 feet in elevation and found ourselves in the Navajo reservation where signs warned us about snakes and lizards. Pine trees had turned into desert shrubs again, and eventually into the cacti we see in Phoenix all the time. It was like travelling through the forests of Oregon to the desert of Arizona, all within a few hours.
It was a wonderful trip and definitely gave us a new appreciation for Arizona as a state. Here are a few pictures. Hope you like. Stay Classy til next time.
Oh! one more thing! We almost saw rain last week. Supposedly it spit a bit in the morning...but we didn't see it. So we have still only seen it rain a few times in the past 4 months. oh well.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
checking in...
just wanted to write a little message to let you know we haven't dropped off the face of the earth. We haven't been out on any major excursions but we hope to hit up the Grand Canyon and some other places over the next while...we are just trying to look at Christine's schedule and see when we can do it.
Things are pretty good here. I know that most people back home in Ontario like knowing the weather in other places...so for those of you who fall under that category, the weather for the next week is 88 degrees and sunny...every single day. I know that I should never complain about weather like that and believe me, I'm not, but I must say that we do miss the odd rainy or gloomy day. It is very possible that we might not see a drop of rain the entire time we are here which would be crazy for us. It's not really sinking in to us that it is November and Christmas is around the corner. We are going to try to do a few "Christmasy" things over the next month and a bit, so hopefully that will help get us in the Christmas spirit.
One of my new daily routines is checking on the value of the Canadian dollar at least twice a day. Today it traded at almost 1.09 US...unbelievable!!! We never could've predicted that.
anyways. We love you all and hope you are enduring the beginnings of winter with a smile on your face. stay classy til next time.
Things are pretty good here. I know that most people back home in Ontario like knowing the weather in other places...so for those of you who fall under that category, the weather for the next week is 88 degrees and sunny...every single day. I know that I should never complain about weather like that and believe me, I'm not, but I must say that we do miss the odd rainy or gloomy day. It is very possible that we might not see a drop of rain the entire time we are here which would be crazy for us. It's not really sinking in to us that it is November and Christmas is around the corner. We are going to try to do a few "Christmasy" things over the next month and a bit, so hopefully that will help get us in the Christmas spirit.
One of my new daily routines is checking on the value of the Canadian dollar at least twice a day. Today it traded at almost 1.09 US...unbelievable!!! We never could've predicted that.
anyways. We love you all and hope you are enduring the beginnings of winter with a smile on your face. stay classy til next time.
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