Ode or O De

I have spent the last few says with De (Dee) in Gold Canyon. We met briefly while hiking in the Grand Canyon. When I called Mike C about joining the Thursday hikers, he put me in touch with De who was happy to have me visit.

De is a fabulous lady and I really love her. She is mostly Native American (her card says 3/8 Cheyenne, but it is more) and has amazing things in her home like beaded moccasins her grandmother made for her growing feet, pots, baskets, dolls, all kinds of things. The cradleboard made for her as a baby by her grandmother was accepted the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. So me peering around her house at all the shelves and surfaces reminded me of being a little kid at Granny Boo's house.

I had the BEST time staying with De. We talked all the time about everything we could think of and I loved every minute of it. We went out for the best broasted chicken (tasted like fried chicken, but healthier). We hiked on Thursday. The others rag on De all the time about all kinds of things, but she just laughs it off saying, when they stop ragging on her, she will be worried. After hiking and cleaning up, we went to Tortilla Flats bc I had heard there was a bumper sticker that said "Where the H*** is Tortilla Flats?" and that they had prickly pear ice cream. Tortilla Flats is maybe three buildings in the middle of nowhere. De said it was a hilarious place to take photos - and I forgot my camera. I have had my camera in my pocket everyday since September 18th and I forgot it on a day I knew I was going to take photos. I bought a disposable and we sat on the saddles and drank a beer at the bar, lost track of time bc we were talking, and missed out on the ice cream sold next door bc the store closed before it's posted time of 6pm. We also took a lot of funny photos in the ladies room, the men's room (De's first time), and on the porch. I even got a cactus cowboy to put on my car antenna. We finished the evening with a margarita, mexican soup, and the worst tasting water i have ever had (thank goodness for the margarita).

The next morning we went out for breakfast and visited the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, one of De's favorite places, to see more cactus and more cactus. I love cactus (and good thing bc there are plenty here). It was raining, but we still had an enjoyable time walking around. I might not have mentioned it, but I killed Spike in the Grand Canyon by allowing him to freeze to death (I did not know this could happen and it is unfortunate bc Andy said his cactus is flowering). De and I spent probably half an hour trying to decide what my new cactus should look like and there were so many interesting choices at the arboretum. It is a brainwave cactus and I have named it De Brain. :)

Then we headed back to Tres(Dos?) Hermanos for lunch - a mexican soup called Posole that is delicious. The ladies working there laughed at us for coming back. After lunch I said goodbye for now to De and headed into the mountains and Apache territory on my way to Aunt (or cousin?) Shirley's - into a winter blizzard.

I don't even have any pics of me and De :( unless the ones from the disposable turn out really well. I hope that we will be able to stay in good contact (I am sure she will read this and tell me it was all so nice and so unnecessary, but it is all true)and that I will see her again when she is on the east coast.