An Arizonian Thanksgiving

On the first day of my visit, Kate took me to a little town on a hill called Bisbee. We walked around with her dog, Supai, and I checked out a few stores. You can still see the reminiscence of an old Western town given the style of the buildings. It was a very relaxing morning. After that, we went to the military base to meet Stef, who I've only met one other time (and he didn't remember the first time). He apparently likes to mix drinks, and he graciously made me a Pink Paradise before we all took a dip in their hot tub that night.

On Wednesday, Kate typically goes into Tucson early for her massage therapy classes, but she was not feeling well, so we decided to spend a day relaxing at home. In the process, she got me hooked on Vampire Diaries. It's great! But I so did not need another show to be addicted to. So the day wasn't completely lazy, she took me to a store called Whetstones. From the outside, you would think they just had things to decorate the outside of your home, but on the inside, they had south western style pottery and artwork to decorate any room in the house. So of the pieces were gorgeous, and there is such a huge range of different kinds of art in Arizona: sand art, horse hair, pottery, turquoise, copper. It ranges from vibrant and colorful to intricate patterns and tan colors, but it is all beautiful. I picked up some things at the store to bring home.

Thursday was Thanksgiving day, and Kate was nice enough to make me a wonderful and delicious meal despite the fact that they don't technically celebrate American Thanksgiving. We had a pork roast, cranberry and sweet potatoes, and pumpkin custard, all gluten and dairy free because of Kate's dietary issues. It was a lovely meal. Kate is definitely a better cook than I am, but she's trying to teach me to use flavors, so I appreciate any help I can get. During the day, Stef took me to the Dragoons. We walked around and climbed around on the rock formations while Supai did his own thing, sometimes following us sometimes too scared to climb up. The mountains in Arizona are really cool. LA was the first place I have ever been where the landscape is mountainous, and Arizona takes this to a whole other level. It's beautiful.

The last day of my trip was Saturday, and Stef took me hiking at the Chiricahua National Monument. We chose the Heart of Rocks loop, and our hike was about 7 miles, so it was pretty substantial. The rock formations are gorgeous, and some were named based on their shape. It was really amazing looking out from on top of the mountain to see all the rocks piled on one another. How that ever came to be is beyond me. We stopped to take a lot of pictures, and it was great hiking weather. I got to rock climb a bit up, which was really fun.

On Sunday, Kate drove me to Tucson for my afternoon bus back to LA. We arrived really early for my bus, so we wasted time by looking at the Old Artisan area of Tucson. We stumbled upon a really quaint little cafe/restaurant/Cantina where I got a Chai tea milkshake! The patio of the restaurant was located within an L-shaped block of art shops, which we took a peak in before I had to go back to the station. The stores were all lovely, selling a ton of different South Western and Native American pieces. Unfortunately, I had to leave Arizona and go back to LA for the last two weeks of the semester. I caught the bus to Phoenix first, and I had to wait for about 3 hours before my bus to LA finally took off from there. They had overbooked the bus and had no idea what to do with everyone, so instead of leaving at 4:15 for LA, we left at 5:15 once they got their shit together. It was a packed bus, and I had to put all my breakables that I got in Arizona on a seat next to a woman who promised to watch them for me. Meanwhile, I went to sit in another seat with my backpack. For the entire 7 hour trip, I could not put my feet down. I was also sitting next to a man who only spoke Spanish who kept pushing me closer and closer into the side of the bus. I was ridiculously cramped. He also talked and moved in his sleep, and a few times tried to move his jacket onto me like a blanket, touching my leg a bit (I think he was dreaming about being in bed with his wife or something...I don't know), so that was really creepy. Worst bus trip I've ever been on. Shelly was nice enough to come get me at the bus station at 11:30pm, so that made things easier. I'm so proud of myself for not breaking a single piece that I bought! I was really concerned about it...Now the next step is getting it all home on the plane.

It was an amazing trip, and I miss Kate already, but who knows, maybe I'll be back sooner rather than later. Now the goal is to finish this last semester and get a job!