Thanksgiving 2011

We did something a bit out of the ordinary this year.  Not that we haven't ever done anything like it in our 18 year history, but we went and had a Thanksgiving buffet at one of the local high-end resorts not far from here.  I anticipated some traffic and there wasn't any and I anticipated a few minutes to walk from the parking structure to the interior of the property but we walked right up.  So our table wasn't ready yet.  There was a jazz combo playing and they asked if I had a request.  Since they were a jazz combo, I asked for an obvious song that a jazz combo might play.  Dave Brubeck's "Take Five"  They fired it up without hesitation and did a great job with it.  That song is so well crafted and accessible that most people don't even know that they are having their melon tweaked with the 5/4 time signature.  We all applauded afterwards and I shouted facetiously to "Play some 'Skynrd'!  Without missing a beat, they played Sweet Home Alabama!   Being a DJ, I could feel the energy  level of the room change immediately with lots of bobbing heads, tapping feet and a few couples dancing.  

Sensing that I was a bit of a rabble-rouser, they went right into Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" with a Soca beat.  Lesa asked me to dance!  I barely got my arm around her and they called our table.   

 

Lesa and Shaw played a round of that hand slapping game that apparently doesn't have a name. 

Lesa looking beautiful out by one of the fountains on the property.

Here we are seated at our table. 

We drove to South Mountain to watch the sunset over the city.  It was a hazy day with some rain on the way.  You can make out Downtown Phoenix on the left of the shot. 

Somebody was nice enough to take a pic of us on the ledge.   You'd have to turn the camera to the right to find Mesa in the distance. Even by Arizona standards, it was rather chilly and Lesa was wearing my jacket. It was a great ending to a great day!