January 2005
January started out to be a nice quiet month following our December trip to Seattle. But then we got a phone call from my long time friend John from Anchorage. He was going to be in Scottsdale Arizona, and had noticed on a map that it really wasn't too far from Las Vegas - only about a five hour drive. So sure, we'll drive down and meet them there. And where better to stay than at cousin Mickey's in El Mirage AZ - about a 45 minute drive to Scottsdale. So we did some sightseeing with Mickey, and visited with John and family.
That motley crew is me, Lovedy (now known as Dee), John, their daughter Janet, and Bonnie. John and Janet were there to run a marathon in support of the Breast Cancer fund raising - John is a coach for the Anchorage team. They go to several marathons around the country as part of a fund raising effort.
And to enhance our cultural horizons, one night we went to dinner at "Pizza and Pipes". It's a large pizza hall, and the owner performs on the ppe organ. The organ has many accessories besides pipes including several drum sets and a set of "birds". The owner's use of the accessories made for a very entertaining performance - and then ended with the traditional Tocota and Fugue in D minor. Then our "short" drive back to Las Vegas (hey, we're at Kingman, we're almost home, its only 90 more miles!).