Blogs from Prescott, Arizona, United States, North America - page 2

I'm back in Arizona visiting my parents for three weeks. Within two days of my arrival, my best friend from high school, who I haven't seen since 2009, came down to visit for five days. We didn't do as much as I suspect we would have liked; but then, we were both more tired than we'd planned. Friday and Saturday were spent chatting and shopping, and evenings were spent watching Harry Potter movies with my parents. Sunday my parents went to a concert downtown and Minerva and I went to the Sharlot Hall Museum. Sharlot Hall was a pioneer woman who took it upon herself to make all the town's historical landmarks into a museum. Since Prescott was the original capital of Arizona, these sites include former governors mansions, an old school house, cars and wagons, ... read more

We have arrived and Sue is trying to type this on a computer in the lobby of the courtyard marriot near the Phoenix airport. Sarah, originally from Belfast Ireland, is telling us all about what we need to see on our way to Sedona and back. I know it is the funny little keyboard I am using, not the Blue Moon beer we are drining that makes typing difficult. It is over 100 degrees F or 40 degrees C in Phoenix...hot, hot, hot. Gail knows how to travel and knowing we would be tired when we got here, she had wheelchair service from the plane to the luggage carousel to the taxi that brought us to the hotel. I don't know where Gail's wheelchair had been stored but the metal sides of her wheelchair were 150 ... read more

I can't believe I board the plane in 36 hours. I'll arrive in Hong Kong at about 3am PDT, which is when I normall go to bed. So that will work out well. It's odd to realize that this is my second to last night on the continent. I feel like I should be out whooping it up, going crazy, making a little trouble (and not getting caught, of course). But I'm here, packing, sipping a beer, and contemplating what the meaning of it all is and how I should feel about this last night at "home." Bittersweet? I'm currently somewhere between giddy and scared to death. I think that's a good thing. It's still hard to believe that the day I've dreamed about for a year and a half is here. It always seemed so ... read more

Well, after much tweaking, the previous entry is now up in its entirety. I had problems with the pics, and then there was a huge lightning storm (sorry, no pics this time), so thank you loyal subscribers for your patience. And I'm most pleased to see that I have more than one! I feel wildly popular! I'm in the process of adjusting my sleep schedule. Since I essentially need to move it back 9 hours from AZ time, it seemed like a good idea to lob off about half of that so that I'm only moving it 4-5 when I get there. I figure that there will be enough other things throwing me off (food, culture, illiteracy...) that if I can reduce the stress of one thing, it will make it that much easier. So last ... read more

It's official: I have no keys. These past few weeks have been nothing short of a whirlwind. I deliberately pushed it off as long as I could. I knew once things started, it would be one long string of dominoes, and I really wanted to enjoy life as it was for as long as I could. Finally, it hit me: I move out and pack the POD in 2 weeks. I have company coming in the middle. The clock is ticking... One by one, friends came over to help me empty out my fridge and closets. Without them, there's no way I would have been ready when POD day came. It was really hard to stay on task and not just chat and enjoy what could inevitably be our last one-on-one together. After a friend's brutal ... read more