Under the Chocolate Weather

My mom started feeling ill last night and went to bed very early. I could hear her coughing during the night and knew that she was going to miss out on the awesome chocolate festival in Glendale today! My grandpa's wife had the great idea to visit the Chocolate Affaire of Glendale this weekend. There was a preview on the news last night, so we knew it was for us. My mom did make it out of bed long enough to wish us well and then we were off.

Before filling our stomachs with sugary goodness we needed to make an important stop at Der Weinersnitzel. This fast-food institution, celebrating their 50th birthday, is a favorite of my aunt's. A round of chili-cheese dogs for everyone!

Now, on to chocolate...

It was your basic people's fair with craft booths and bands playing in the street. There were not as many chocolate vendors as I had thought there would be. At least four booths came into my eyeline, but there could have been others. Each booth had huge lines and we were reluctant to stand in one. Eventually we found a short one that had such things as coconut haystacks, turtles, and bon bons, so we stood in line. But our eyes were looking for something more, i.e. chocolate dipped strawberries and bananas! We gave in to our cravings and stood in line for these most sought after treats. We even splurged on some chocolate dipped marshmallows.

After fighting crowds and standing in line we decided to get out of there and head home for dinner. Chocolate in hand we were back on the road again. As we pulled into the driveway we could see some plastic grocery bags laying by the front door. There were 3 bags filled full with more oranges and tangerines from the neighbor. So, tomorrow we have to look forward to more fresh squeezed juice - awesome!

The chocolate was a great treat after dinner and everyone was able to partake, even mom! Yummy!!!!

We sat around a bit after dinner and let grandpa talk stories, but soon we realized that it was bedtime. Renting a car from Advantage Rent-a-Car turned out to be not the best choice. Our reservation is for 4 days, so if we are not back precisely 96 hours after our check-out then we will be charged $18.99 per hour. This is causing us to be at the airport 3 hours before our flight takes off - what a pain! I do admit that we are adding to this ourselves by making an all important stop at In-N-Out Burger by the airport. By my calculations we need an extra half-hour to make it work. In order to make a 2 pm flight we are leaving my grandpa's house at 9:30 am!!! Silly us :)

Desert Phoenix

Well, here I go, it's been awhile since I've written! Hailing today from Phoenix, Arizona. It's supposed to be dry desert country, just like the UAE, but when we arrived on Wednesday morning it was 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Unbelievable! Arizonians were experiencing a cold snap, and quite a big one. My aunt, my mom, and I were coming from a frigid -17 degrees Fahrenheit, so we were glad for warmer weather that didn't necessitate mittens and fluffy coats. Our mission was to arrive safe and sound at Grandpa Evans' house in Glendale, just north of Phoenix.

Upon our arrival breakfast was waiting, even though it was noon. We ate heartily! Who can deny home cooked goodness? It included fresh squeezed orange/tangerine juice, the citrus being acquired from a neighbor. Afterwards, we sat around the kitchen table and let grandpa talk stories to us all day. Stories about buying his first horse for $60 (including "a 300 year old saddle") and being so proud, then having his uncle comment on how big the horse's feet were, and having his heart sink. Others about trying to slide across a type of zip line but falling and having the pulley land right on his head and splitting it open. Grandpa had us in tears because we were laughing so hard! Boy, can he tell a story! Around 7:30 pm, my aunt, mom, and I wandered off to bed as we had been up since 4:30 am (or earlier!). Out for the night.

On Thursday all the old folks decided to go gambling at the local Native American casinos. I, on the other hand, stayed at home to work on homework. It was a quiet day, and no one won any money, so it wasn't a lucky one :( Dinner at the Big Apple was delicious though - all you can eat beef ribs for just $12. Again, food I couldn't say no to!

IKEA was Friday's stop. My aunt had never been, but her daughter had been boasting about it for months, so she was excited to see what the fuss was all about. She spent most of the time exclaiming, "wow! The prices are so low! Look at this, it's only $30!" It was great fun! My whole intention was to buy another computer desk, similar to the one we bought in the UAE, but they didn't have the table top I wanted. I was disappointed, but IKEA will soon be gracing Colorado with it's presence so it's not out of my reach just yet!

Happy after a day of shopping, we arrived back at my grandpa's to find a home cooked Mexican meal! Oh yum! Beef enchiladas, home-made tortillas, tamales, rice, and fresh cooked beans. I shall be 800 pounds when I leave this state!!!!

While We Were Away

So I know we've been back for more than 6 months now, but I am discovering things that we missed out on....

For instance, sometime during our life in the UAE there was a peanut butter (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99341551) scare here in the US! My sister was telling me how she couldn't get her favorite peanut butter and cheese crackers. It sounds like the shelves were cleared out of PB - how sad and weird :(

Today as I was listening to the radio I realized the punkpop band blink-182 (http://www.blink182.com) are being talked about as a band again. I'm pretty sure that when I left here they were on an indefinite hiatus! According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink-182) they re-united in February 2009. Since they took their hiatus in 2005 I guess that wasn't an indefinite one!

Another one that I noticed right away upon our return is regarding Obama. We left the US for the UAE in August 2008, and it was nearing the presidential election. It seemed that everyone was very excited about Obama and what he could do for the country (of course at that point anyone was better than GW Bush!). He was elected while we were away and has been a busy little bee. Now though it seems that whatever he is doing is pissing everyone off! I have seen so many bumper stickers de-faming his name and wanting him to leave office! Wow, what a change from only a year and half of being gone... I'm sorry to see that someone that was elected to office a hero is now hated :(
(I will not put my personal views of Obama in this post, I just wanted to state the feel I get from the rest of society!) (Check out this popularity chart http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/popularity.php).

Now maybe these are only 3 things that I've noticed we missed and I'm sure there are more, but it does leave a bit of a hole in you. I certainly did live in a different world for a while and as these missing pieces start to fill up I get a weird feeling, but never do I have any regrets!

Few and Far Between

Well, now that we've been in the States for 6 months I can say that our adventures are few and far between :(

We may be selling the house and moving, but nowhere exciting just a few miles away... oh, well I guess it's still an adventure in it's own. All the boxes that were shipped from the UAE have been unpacked so now we get to pack them all up again - those boxes were sturdy (about the sturdiest things I've seen from that country anyway) so some of them will be re-used! It's a tough market, but here goes nothing...

Las Vegas BABY!!!

It's time for a summer vacation - to Las Vegas!!!! I was so excited that I could tag along. We had to drive 12 hours through a few different states before reaching our destination... Utah was the first.

We drove through Arizona but just a small corner of it so we were really only in this state for about an hour, maybe we'll be back someday to see the Grand Canyon!!!

Finally!!! We made it to Nevada, this meant that we were getting very close, at least we were in the right state!

It was a long and HOT drive, but we finally made it to Vegas. We spent the first night at a buffet - as everyone should do once arriving in Vegas hungry, and then we went swimming to cool ourselves.

The next day we drove the short way to the Hoover Dam. It's one of the most famous dams in the world and was built during America's Depression in the 1930's (which gave people much needed jobs at the time). It creates hyro-electricity for millions of people in the SouthWest United States.

On our way back to Las Vegas we stopped and ate at the yummy In-N-Out Burger. I don't know how they've managed it but they only sell hamburgers and cheeseburgers with fries and they continue to survive! It was super yummy though :)

That night we decided to visit Fremont Street. The casinos are lit to the tilt and it can be over-stimulating at times, but people watching can be the best.

The next day we headed WAY down the strip to the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. This pawn shop is most famous from the TV show "Pawn Stars" and since we are all fans we thought it would be fun! We had to wait outside in a line (only for 10 minutes), but I can't believe we waited in line at a pawn shop!!

Once we made it inside the shop there were so many ridiculous things for sale it was unbelievable! Here is one example of an outrageous watch - $49,999!!!! and you can't even try it on to make sure it fits!

That evening we ate at another buffet (what did I tell you? When in Vegas, eat at buffets!) at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. Afterwards, we walked through their beautiful indoor botanical garden. It contains a few of the world's only sculpted olive trees (once they are sculpted they no longer produce fruit) and various types of flowers. It was amazing to walk through!

Along the Las Vegas Strip at night the casinos are lit up, as we exited the Bellagio we could see the Paris and the Planet Hollywood. The Paris contains a 1/3 sized replica of the Eiffel Tower. You can ride to the top for a mere $20 or you can dine in the restaurant (which I'm sure costs a pretty penny!).

Inside the Plant Hollywood there is a huge mall (it reminded me of the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai -with painted ceilings and very Arabic looking faux architecture) filled with brand name stores. It also contains the V Theater where we saw a kid show called "Poppovich's Comedy Pet Show" and a Beatles concert. I really enjoyed the pet show even though there were no monkeys :(

Since we were already standing outside the Bellagio Hotel we felt that we should watch a fountain show. It was beautiful, as all water shows are, but I have to say that being in Dubai has tainted my view of any fountain!

We had such a great time in Las Vegas. Even though temperatures were reaching heights of 110 degrees Fahrenheit I reminded myself that I could be in 120 degree temps in the UAE and smiled at my fortune! What a great place!!!

Kansas - Happy Easter!

Pepe was thrilled to be heading out onto the road again. He had been stuck in a windowless basement since our return so this was his chance for some fresh air and freedom!

Kansas is a very windy state, therefore they have taken advantage and wind turbines are a common site. This is a great way to create clean energy for all!

It wouldn't be Kansas without the farms! I snapped this pic while riding in the car, so it's not as clear as I would like. This farmhouse was along a small road on the way to a town called Hamilton.

This pic was snapped along the mainstreet in Hamilton. I love the vintage Coke sign!

This time of year the farmers are burning the fields to renew the soil. As we drove we could see some burnt brush up against the road and along the horizon we could see the smoke from other fires.

We played some pool and drank some beers in a bar in a small out-of-the-way town (in fact i can't remember it's name!). I took a picture of the sign in the bar - notice that he can charge you by the 24 pk and the prices are pretty cheap!

This is an outside shot of the bar. The building stamp on the far left corner says 1912 (that's old for the US, especially for the West) - very cool!

By the end of our trip Pepe was glad to have been out, but he was exhausted! Time for a nap!!!

Happy Easter!

Today we are off to the great state of Kansas! Pepe is along for the ride... keep a look out for pictures and more information about the trip :)

Also, happy day of our Risen Lord and Savior!