WILD WEST UPDATE, MAY 2003Hi All,
OK...it's been a REALLY long time since you've gotten a wild-west update...and I've had a few requests.
So first, apologies for being so out of touch. It's been a roller-coaster for me since last April, so I know communications have been spotty.
But now, I bring you a mega update, complete with links to a page of photographic accompanyment. Perhaps unfortunatly, I will work chronologically. But I'll make each time-capsule "fun" size. They're mostly about the activities I enjoyed with my friends and family, both near and visiting from afar (I'm so lucky so many have been able to come out!!) and there's also some good-news in here about many of you ...It makes me happy that y'all are doing so well, so I'm sharing it.
I hope there's something in all this rambling that brings you a smile.
-------------- Think back a few months to that crisp 75-degree Halloween weekend... Me and my friends Sarah and Paul drove to San Diego for the weekend ...stopping first in Joshua tree park to camp and rock-scramble among the Seussian trees and sandstone monoliths. The Doors must have written all their songs to be the soundtrack for driving through that park. Then we continued on to stay in a hostel in San Diego, and go to the biggest Halloween party in Ocean Beach. It was like being in college (and not working on the newspaper). Then I got to drive through the thickest fog ever at 5am. But we made it back in one piece. -------------- I take you now to November, when my 2-month stint as tour guide began, and inspired me to want to become a vacation-planner at some point in the future. First, there was a brief visit from Marty who managed to record a few songs with John while I was working. (CDs available, let me know if you're interested.) Then he and I took a weekend visit up to the Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture camp/school/estate...Taliesen West. It's really a neat place to visit. -------------- Then my mom visited for Thanksgiving week. She held up remarkably well to the vigorous itinerary... We saw a fire-ceremony at a pow-wow, gallery-vanted through an artist-outpost town, hiked among the animals and cactus at the desert museum, gorged on a Thanksgiving Salmon with Sarah and friends, and strolled atop cliffs in the Catalina Mountains. She also got a day of spa-treatment before having to go back to the brisk NY winter. We had a truly great time. Sidenote: at the artist town I bought a hummingbird feeder made of test-tubes that now draws the fluttering wonders to my balcony. The cats love that. -------------- Shortly thereafter, my old buddy George visited for a mere 4 days, but he had no less to do. First while I worked he rode his bike 10-miles to a canyon north of town (I brought him back in the car). Then we made a day trip to the Grand Canyon (7-hours north of here), where we hiked a few hours down, then back up. Then I took him rock climbing on the aformentioned cliffs overlooking Tucson. (He really tested his testosterone that day.) His last day was more relaxing...Did you know Tucson used to be SURROUNDED with missle silos! Only one is left intact (although the missle is decommisioned). It's the only tourable missle silo anywhere, so he visited. Then of course we found him a nice sunset to watch for a grand finale. -------------- Then it was my turn, so I came home for Christmas. My flight was delayed by a day, but Marty and I still managed to visit our old favorite place upstate...Keene Valley. We hiked in ice-snow for a day, had some of the best pie in the universe (Noonmark diner), and came home in time for Christmas as it should be....with the family. Fun fun fun. I also squoze in some quality dinners and drinks with good friends whom I miss, and missed others as time in NY seems so short. For New Year I had to be back in Tucson, but I spent New Year's day hiking a trail that I could see from my apartment, but had never hiked. It's really beautiful, and I got some amazing cactus-at-sunset pictures there. January also brought the arrival of my dear friends' Derek and Debra's new baby, Zoe Caney. According to her pictures (and all who've met her), she's a cutie, and I hear she's being primed as a daddy's girl. :-) I look forward to meeting her soon. -------------- Then my wonderful Sneester visited with her newly announced fiancee Rob! (She's graduating NYU this month, and they plan to marry in Sept. 2004. News news news.) I put them on the most stringent schedule ever (Arizona's such a great vacation state!) First we did the Western-geek thing: Watched the movie Tombstone, visited the town of Tombstone (cowboy-hats and reenactments), then toured Tucson's desert-studio where parts of Tombstone and tons of classic westerns were filmed. Then they toured an outdoor airplane museum/graveyard, a local cave, a spanish-mission, and Kitt Peak observatory with the solar telescope (Tucson has at least 3 visitable observatories on the surrounding mountains). Then they drove North, and things got really crazy. While they spent the weekend visiting the Crater where Starman was filmed, and then re-proposing at the Grand Canyon (awwwww), I picked up my NY friends Judy and Joanie from the airport and drove up to the Grand Canyon area too. But we visited the Native-ruins and hiked around a volcano instead, and then met back with Annette and Rob for a farewell dinner in Flagstaff. For the rest of Judy and her sister's 3-day stay we hiked a couple of amazing full-day trails around Tucson. Whew! -------------- In the spirit of being completest, and perhaps envious, I'll share some Judy news --- she's fashionably late at becoming unemployed, but she has done so, with a vengence. Girl after my own heart but with more guts and a penchant for networking, she's hit the sky running...taking up full-force travel-writing freelance to squeeze in travel while she has the time. I think in 3 months she's been to Kilamanjaro, an African Safari, Adventureing in New Zealand, fising in Alabama, a random Bermuda trip and some other stuff I can't track. And she's also trying to work a book-deal for her travelogue. You go girl!. -------------- I think I rested in February. I recall doing a bunch of paperwork related to Dad, and taking a business trip to Connecticut to train a newspaper on our software. Really mild month. -------------- Then more good news... my best-friend-since-teen-years Caroline and her new husband Russ had a baby too! Lisa Rae Greenspan, and she's really cute too...and got her mom's awsome hair already. Happiness abounds. I got to see her in my 2-day whirlwind Long-Island Easter visit, and I also got to see my whole dang family (cousins and all!) -------------- OK...I'll bring in the final round with what for me is some sad news ... my best outdoorsy-friend, climbing and hiking partner here, Sarah, is moving to North Carolina for a new job. She'll be sorely missed. But we're still planning to hike Yosemite together in August. My job continues to be awsome though, which is really the biggest key for being here right now. My boss rules, and I'm building the database, website and listings exports for a chain of alternaive newspapers in Connecticut. It's a lot more fun than it probably sounds (www.valleyadvocate.com). I also built the online dining-guide for a chain of papers in the south (http://Atlantahappenings.creativeloafing.com/gbase/GoodEats/index). My friend John is also doing well, as are my very cute cats. I've been biking and hiking and climbing sporadically, as one may expect. I managed to capture some really awsome sunset and cactus pictures this spring too. Upcoming plans: I'll be visiting my Aunt in Iowa for Memorial day, and then, an unexpected surprise for me... my childhood friend Franny and her husband and kids will be coming to California at the end of May, so I'll be driving-out to meet up with them for 2 days. I haven't seen her in over a year! Then I'll be back in NY at the end of June to scatter my dad's ashes in a stealthy-caper at Shea Stadium (shhh). Well, as you may have noticed, I'm truly glad and lucky to be able to visit with so many of you. It may not sound like it, but I miss you all, and think of you often. I really wish I could somehow get Arizona closer to NY... I don't know what the next year or so will hold, but I'm glad you're all doing well.
Thank you all for your continued friendship, support and general wonderfulness.
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