And He's Gone.

After a crazy 3 days trying to get packed, buying needed things, packing some more, shopping some more, I dropped off Michael at the airport Monday night at 10:30pm. He arrived on Virgin Gorda Tuesday at 7pm EST (4pm our time). It was a long day, but he was greeted by friends (the two responsible for us ending up there in the first place and carryovers from our old days on St. Kitts).

They're cold?!

This is his current view from the housing he's sharing with another employee.

Hrmph. Well, I met up with my sister, and we went to the Japanese Friendship Garden down in Phoenix. It was quite pretty and serene.



It was good to see her, but people always think I'm her mom. The sad part is I'm old enough that if I'd started really early (18), I could be mom to someone her age. Hrmph.



The garden is not a very big place, so the $5 entry isn't worth it unless you're going in to hang out for awhile and feed the fish or something. We sat in the shade by the brook and caught up. Someone else was getting married there. It was quite pleasant.

Sunday, I hit the trail Michael & I had wanted to do last Monday before he flew off and didn't because time got away from us. I drove the half hour to Usery Park to do the 7-mile Pass Mountain Trail. The last time we were there, we climbed up to the Wind Cave (or alcove), but we'd heard this other trail was cool in wildflower season. There were a few wildflowers out there.

Mostly, though, the hedgehog cacti were putting out seriously beautiful pink flowers.



One prickly pear got into the act with a yellow one.

The ocotillos were doing a pretty bloomin' job too.



This time though the views were right up there too. Most people seemed to have gone counter clockwise, but I liked the way things unfolded for me going to the right.  The trail was pretty narrow, so if you encountered someone else, one of you had to get out of the way. Luckily, it wasn't a very active trail.



When you first start out, you want to turn backwards a few times so you can see the views of civilization. Those pics never come out all that great, but here's one.



Then as you walked around, you got beautiful shots of the mountains.



And cliffs.



It just got better and better. I love this shot.



Once on the backside, I saw Fountain Hills in the distance (and yes the fountain).



Once on the opposite side of the mountain, you get to listen to people at the shooting range.



The final half hour back to the lot was kind of boring, but the loop overall was worth it. It took me just under 3 hours. And no snakes! Back at the apartment, the palo verde's are in full bloom (glad I don't have allergies!).



Meanwhile, Michael was doing this:

It's really happening.

Things just became a little more real. Michael had his last day of work at the resort Friday, and we met up with anyone who wanted to stop by to say good-bye at Wicked Six at Sunridge Canyon Golf Club. We started at 5, hoping to get in an hour of happy hour, but they've changed it from ending at 6pm to ending at 5pm. Hrmph - why bother? (How about updating your website Wicked Six?) Anyway, the weather was perfect, especially considering it had rained the prior two days. That said, there was rain off in the distance. A rainbow appeared just as the Friday night bagpiper came out do his thing. Bravo!



We had a surprisingly large crowd show up. Everyone had such different backgrounds, and we knew them from so many different (strange) situations, it made for a great party.



I even sold a few books!

From our Fearless Kitty Rescue group, Michael got a nice big bag of goodies. One item which gave us a good laugh was the adoption photo of me and two of our kitties. If he starts to miss me (or the furry kids), this should cure him - ha!

Perfect card too.

As the sun set, the sky turned orange and got rather ominous.

It just got more and more dramatic. I ended up using 3 different cameras just to be sure I captured some of the craziness.



...and then this happened.

Photo by: Steven Klein

Even if you weren't facing the storm, you knew when there was a strike because the whole crowd would go "oooooh!" Lightning shot across the sky sideways and would sometimes flicker for quite a few seconds. I love desert storms. Nothing but the best for Mikey - ha! And then the rain came. Luckily there's a large covered area, so we simply moved under it and kept on going. Once again, we were the last ones there (until 9:30pm).

We really couldn't have had a nicer time. Thanks everyone who came.

This weekend, we pack.