Antelope Canyon

We went with our group of friends to Page last weekend, to hike through Antelope Canyon. It was a fantastic trip!

sign of the times

from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/cartoons.html

The Date

We’ve been waiting for months to go on a special date. Mostly we were waiting for the weather to cool down. Yesterday’s high was in the 80s and it cooled down into the 70s in the evening – a perfect night. Miriam, Lauren & Aaron had given us some gift certificates for Christmas, and we used them all in one evening.

Our date began at the Phoenix Art Museum. We enjoyed the Asian exhibit, with some contemporary Chinese scrolls. I was fascinated by a piece called Mass (Colder Darker Matter) 1997. It was made with wire and the burnt wood from a Texas church which had been struck by lightening.

We also enjoyed walking through a small dark mirrored room which had (computer controlled) LED lights suspended from the ceiling. It gave the feeling of looking through space to infinity. Very cool.

Pizzaria Bianco is a restaurant located in the historic Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix. We were warned that we’d need to wait for a table, so we arrived a little after 5:00. The hostess told us there was a 2 hour wait. Nothing new for this restaurant. People arriving after us had to wait 3-4 hours. So we sat on a bench outside, nursing a glass of wine and enjoying the parade of people at the “rainbow” event going on in the pedestrian streets in front of the restaurant. A little light rain didn’t even spoil the fun, and the double rainbow after the rain seemed to fit the night. The wait was worth it. The antipasto was so good and the pizza is incredible.
After dinner, we took a walk and toured the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown – a beautiful new Starwood hotel.

We used our last gift certificate for dessert at the Compass Room, a rooftop-revolving restaurant in the Hyatt Regency. The floor does a complete circle in 55 minutes. It was so pleasant to enjoy coffee, tiramisu and flan while viewing the night lights of downtown.

Even if you’ve been married for 33 years, a date is still a great idea. Thanks, kids!