April 2 -3 (2 nights, Williams, Arizona USA)
Williams AZ is about an hour south of the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It is the town where the train to Grand Canyon starts. We arrived late in the afternoon and grabbed a cheap motel room. We have determined that paying less than $60 for a motel room is not going to get you much. This motel was run down and sadly needed an upgrade. There are four options to enjoy the scenery at Grand Canyon: riding a train, a mule, a helicopter, and your own feet. We had no chance of riding the train because we didn't reserve a head of time. We tried to book a mule ride, but we were put on the waiting list, and the chance was slim to none. Riding a helicopter, well, Sim said if she won the lottery, then we would do it. Yep! it came to our last option “on our own feet with no cost.” In the morning we headed out for the Canyon. Entrance was free for us with my senior pass that I purchased while we were at the Carlsbad Caverns. The scenery at Grand Canyon is pretty dramatic. Sim was speechless when seeing the beauty of mother nature's creation. Ooh! Ahhh! We spent the entire day walking the south rim. Before lunch we also tried to walk down the mule trail into the canyon. Na! we gave up after a few hundred feet and a few hundred drops of sweat. Besides it was time for us to recharge our energy banks, Yep, lunch time. At about 4 pm we were back to the viewpoint where we started in the morning and waited for sunset pictures.
It was a popular viewpoint because it is convenient for people who come to Grand Canyon only one hour just for the picture. Sim and I sat there at the center of the viewpoint, and I became the guy who took the picture of the tourist groups. At first, Sim told me to volunteer to a family of mom, dad, son and daughter that needed their family photo taken. Then came six other groups of people that asked me for the same service. Sim had fun telling people to say “Queso” when I took pictures of them. Sim learned this word in Mexico. It means cheese in Spanish. One group of three young English men, said Queso with their smile when posing for their pictures. They asked Sim what it meant, afterwards. So, they learned one Spanish word from a Thai girl at Grand Canyon.
April 7-8 (2 nights, Litchfield Park, Arizona USA)
We checked into the Wigwam Resort today. Wow, this place is really neat. We have a cute little bungalow for the next two nights. Sylvia, Michael's mother, got a good deal on room rent for us. Wigwam has every thing; three golf courses, tennis courts, a spa, three restaurants, etc; to make their guests' stay memorable.
Easter morning we headed over to Sylvia and Mike's house, Michael's parents, for Greek Easter. This party has been a tradition at this house for the last 15 years. We offered to help as there will be 50 to 60 people attending.
I was assigned to turn the two whole spring lambs on a spit a quarter turn every 15 minutes and add charcoal as required to keep the fire hot and the lamb from burning.
Sim helped making punch, peeling potatoes for Greek fries, and with the set up of tables and chairs. There were more than fifteen items served on that day. One thing that could not be missed for a Greek Easter is red eggs. All the eggs are colored red and one was displayed in the middle of round bread. I guess red eggs and round bread are a must have element. The party was a big success, the lamb delicious and a good time was had by all.
April 9 – 10 (2 nights, Apple Valley, California USA)
We headed off for Apple Valley to see my Granddaughter and Son. Angelina is more animated now. She laughs and laughs and is getting cuter and cuter. We picked up mail and a couple of packages. No work to be done on the coach this time so Joel was off the hook.
April 11 (1 night, Anaheim, California USA)
On the way to brother Bill's house, we stopped at the Foot Solutions store to see my son Jeff, who is the store Manager. Jeff gave us all the information about his products. His store carries MBT shoes, which stands for Masai Barefoot Technology. The shoes are designed to simulate walking in sand. It's a multi-layered, curved sole that accomplishes this by creating a natural but uneven walking surface. This technology is meant to make the core strengthening muscles more active, creating better posture and increasing shock absorption for all of the joints. I bought one pair of shoes and like them so far. Of course, Jeff gave me a discount.
Spending one night here in Anaheim at Brother Bill's house. We went out to dinner at the Claim Jumper, Bill's favorite restaurant. Bill is getting anxious to retire and become a full time Harley rider. He is already planning several trips across the U.S.
April 12 – May 4 (23 nights, Sunnyvale, California USA)
The reason we came back to California was three fold. One, we needed to ship our personal household goods to Thailand. That means we needed to rent a truck and unload storage, load the truck and haul it to Oakland. Two, we told our friend Na that we would attend her wedding.
Three, we had appointment to see our doctors for an annual physical check up. And as long as we were going to be here for at least a week, we thought we would get the Jeep in the body shop and get it fixed. Well one week turned into two weeks and then to three weeks. But we enjoyed our stay at Ying and Michael's house. I had a lot of fun with their son Theo and daughter Adena. It was fun to see Theo, who is fifteen months, learning to make sounds and say words. The first week we were there Theo could say only a few words, but by the time we were leaving he added twenty more words to his dictionary.
Adena, who is four, is also cute. Every night before going to bed, she always came to say good night to us, and her favorite line was “Good night and don't let the bed bugs bite.”
Michael was away on his business trip for two weeks while we were there. Ying was such a good host, and she never tried of cooking for us every day. Ying's apple pie with vanilla ice cream is to die for.
Ying and Sim have the same group of Thai friends whom they met when organizing the Thailand Tsunami Relief Fund. She invited their Thai friends over for dinner two weekends in a row so Sim could spend time with them before going away again. When Thais gather together, they cook real authentic Thai dishes, and the main ingredient is always shrimp paste and fish sauce. I like fish sauce, but do not like the shrimp paste. Man! I was the only non-Thai, and I wish Michael were home. However, the Thais I know are nice, kind, and considerate. They cooked me an American-Thai dish.
We also went to visit Sim's long time friends; Thao and Homa. Sim had them as friends when she first came here in 1997 ten years ago. Thao now has two sons and Homa has one son. When we had dinner with Ba and Thao at their house, I could not stop eating the fresh Vietnamese spring roll that looked a lot like a Thai roll called “Nam Nuong.” I think the ingredients were three different fresh Asian greens, crisp pastry shell, and aged pork. They were wrapped in spring roll wrap and you ate them dipped in an orange colored sauce.
When visiting Homa and Farshad, as usual we were served a delicate Persian tea along with Baklava, dates, chocolate, and gourmet nuts. The tea was cooked with a double tea pot, so it didn't boil in direct heat. I showed my interest in Farshad's entertainment equipment, so he popped in John Paul II movie in his player and fired up the projector. The movie was three hours long, so we ended up staying overnight with them as it was close to 1 am by the time the movie ended.
The Breakfast meal was lovely and delicious. Homa set up the breakfast meal in her back yard. Traditional Iranians drink tea with sugar in the morning, said Homa. We had tea, Persian bread, cheese, cucumber, mint, something that looked like a mix between a hot dog and sausages, and mixed fruit. We finished breakfast at 9:30 am and left their home at 10 am. Sim also met up with her other international friends; Filipino, Japanese, Indian, Chinese, and you name it.
We went to see my friends, Kent and Stephanie who live in Bolder Creek, near Santa Cruz. We went out to have dinner at an Italian restaurant where the food was cooked by an Italian chef in an open kitchen. While we were waiting to be seated, Sim, Stephanie and her friend went to sit at the bar adjacent to the kitchen and inquired about different dishes from the Italian chef. Sim said it was like she was watching a Cooking Show. The chef had an outgoing personality, which made it even more entertaining. Food was excellent. Sim had calamari and prawn salad, and I ordered Chef's creation fish. We ordered three different kinds of dessert to share and they were all worth the money.
Last night of our stay with Ying and the kids, Michael returned home with a big box of Baklava. We tried three different kinds; a birds nest look alike, layer and layer of thin pastry, and a fisherman's net wrap. They were all delicious.
Williams AZ is about an hour south of the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It is the town where the train to Grand Canyon starts. We arrived late in the afternoon and grabbed a cheap motel room. We have determined that paying less than $60 for a motel room is not going to get you much. This motel was run down and sadly needed an upgrade. There are four options to enjoy the scenery at Grand Canyon: riding a train, a mule, a helicopter, and your own feet. We had no chance of riding the train because we didn't reserve a head of time. We tried to book a mule ride, but we were put on the waiting list, and the chance was slim to none. Riding a helicopter, well, Sim said if she won the lottery, then we would do it. Yep! it came to our last option “on our own feet with no cost.” In the morning we headed out for the Canyon. Entrance was free for us with my senior pass that I purchased while we were at the Carlsbad Caverns. The scenery at Grand Canyon is pretty dramatic. Sim was speechless when seeing the beauty of mother nature's creation. Ooh! Ahhh! We spent the entire day walking the south rim. Before lunch we also tried to walk down the mule trail into the canyon. Na! we gave up after a few hundred feet and a few hundred drops of sweat. Besides it was time for us to recharge our energy banks, Yep, lunch time. At about 4 pm we were back to the viewpoint where we started in the morning and waited for sunset pictures.
It was a popular viewpoint because it is convenient for people who come to Grand Canyon only one hour just for the picture. Sim and I sat there at the center of the viewpoint, and I became the guy who took the picture of the tourist groups. At first, Sim told me to volunteer to a family of mom, dad, son and daughter that needed their family photo taken. Then came six other groups of people that asked me for the same service. Sim had fun telling people to say “Queso” when I took pictures of them. Sim learned this word in Mexico. It means cheese in Spanish. One group of three young English men, said Queso with their smile when posing for their pictures. They asked Sim what it meant, afterwards. So, they learned one Spanish word from a Thai girl at Grand Canyon.
We checked into the Wigwam Resort today. Wow, this place is really neat. We have a cute little bungalow for the next two nights. Sylvia, Michael's mother, got a good deal on room rent for us. Wigwam has every thing; three golf courses, tennis courts, a spa, three restaurants, etc; to make their guests' stay memorable.
Easter morning we headed over to Sylvia and Mike's house, Michael's parents, for Greek Easter. This party has been a tradition at this house for the last 15 years. We offered to help as there will be 50 to 60 people attending.
I was assigned to turn the two whole spring lambs on a spit a quarter turn every 15 minutes and add charcoal as required to keep the fire hot and the lamb from burning.
Sim helped making punch, peeling potatoes for Greek fries, and with the set up of tables and chairs. There were more than fifteen items served on that day. One thing that could not be missed for a Greek Easter is red eggs. All the eggs are colored red and one was displayed in the middle of round bread. I guess red eggs and round bread are a must have element. The party was a big success, the lamb delicious and a good time was had by all.
The reason we came back to California was three fold. One, we needed to ship our personal household goods to Thailand. That means we needed to rent a truck and unload storage, load the truck and haul it to Oakland. Two, we told our friend Na that we would attend her wedding.
Three, we had appointment to see our doctors for an annual physical check up. And as long as we were going to be here for at least a week, we thought we would get the Jeep in the body shop and get it fixed. Well one week turned into two weeks and then to three weeks. But we enjoyed our stay at Ying and Michael's house. I had a lot of fun with their son Theo and daughter Adena. It was fun to see Theo, who is fifteen months, learning to make sounds and say words. The first week we were there Theo could say only a few words, but by the time we were leaving he added twenty more words to his dictionary.
Adena, who is four, is also cute. Every night before going to bed, she always came to say good night to us, and her favorite line was “Good night and don't let the bed bugs bite.”