This weekend I went to Phoenix to console my friend who lost her gramma. Actually, let's be real. Julia lives in DC and I live in LV, so we don't get to see each other very much. So when she let me know she was coming to Phx for the weekend to be with her family I saw an opportunity. Luckily, Julia was amenable to the idear. Also, it would give me a chance to see my folks, so all the way around it was completely selfish on my part.

Julia and I decided we needed a night out, and I found this restaurant review for Digestif in Scottsdale. As soon as I got to the part about absinthe being served, I was sold. Luckily Julia was up for an adventure too. The menu looked intriguing, but really I was drawn by the green fairy.

Apparently absinthe is legal in the US again after a 95 year ban. The particular brand of favor at Digestif is Lucid Absinthe. This link to the Lucid site has a lot of history and background about the drink. This site has a lot of good info and I give it the Peacock Marketing Review Stamp of Approval^® because the design is good and is chock full of good content.

So Julia and I show up for our reservation with our curiosity piqued and hunger a brewin'. We promptly order up two Lusid Absinthes prepared in the traditional fashion.

The manager came over to help us with the fountain and gave us an ABSY-101 lecture about the history, the prohibition, the distilling and blending, and how to drink it. It was very informative.

This is an image showing the cool fountain, the water dripping on the sugar cube, and the green liquor itself.

It was finally time to imbibe. I loved it. MMMM...potent alchohol swallow followed by a warm, round liquorice flavor that filled my mouth.

We sipped and ordered some tasty morsels while waiting for the full absinthe effect to set in. The manager had explained that absinthe's herbs and the thujone create an upper, while the alcoholo content (62% !!!! No wonder you dilute it with sugar and 4-5 oz. of water) acts like a typical downer, so the effect is unique and can be potent.

Julia, who started to get some sort of trail-like vision, was definitely affected by it. She was opening her eyes wide and blinking slowly. The description she gave was that she could move her head at normal speed but all images moved in slow motion, but inside she didn't get that typical drunk sappy smiley feel. You want to know what I felt? Nothing. I got nothing! Okay, so maybe I drank it slowly, and maybe I didn't finish the last 10th of my portion, but still. You'd think I would have some kind of reaction. Nada. Tostada.

Oh well, it was still great to eat a fine meal and be with my best friend. We ate several courses including 2 appetizer courses, a shared entree, dessert, and a few more tasty beverages. The drink menu was an odyssey. Julia ordered her new favorite, campari and soda, while I experimented with the Corpse Reviver mixed drink that contains Hendricks gin (never heard of it before), Cointrau, Lillet (que?), Lucid Absinthe, and fresh lemon. MMMMMM...lemony liquorice. Still, aftert this, I was fine to drive.

Okay, so maybe we were there for 3.5 hours, and maybe I drink at a snail's pace, but still!

We had a great time and got this classic hold-the-camera-at arm's-length-and-take-your-own-picture shot. We had to do it twice because I was just a head in the first one.

Please appreciate this document chronicling our escapade. You know it is a good dinner when

• The drink total is more than the food total
• The whole bill only comes to $102.56 with tax
• That bought you drinks and good eats for 3.5 hours of girl time

Logy has moved into some prime real estate. This is his Vegas condo.

We bought a 100 gallon ice chest for our camping trip. The box it came in was prime Logy real estate. No sooner had I tossed it to the side and it fell over than Logy ran over and got it. Squatter.

We were messing around and put this on Logy's head. He sat like this for several minutes. Normally he swats at things or turns over to knowck it off, but he didn't care about this at all. I think he might have liked it.

Here are some photos of the fauna we get in the backyard. I love the ground squirrels. They are so comical and happy. They're way better than the stupid doves -glorified pidgeons.

One day Joe looked out and saw we had a strange visitor. This red-winged black bird does live in this territory, but you never see them.

So I have been a slacker in posting on my blog, and now I am trying to make up for lost time.

Back in March we went hiking in Red Rock canyon. It is right here in town and has so many trails to explore. We picked Ice Box Canyon for our first time out. The trail goes from the center of the canyon back into the narrows, ending at a water fall that flows in early spring from the melting run off from Mt. Charleston.

Here we are getting started on the trail.

There are a lot of areas on the trail that cross over the creek. At one point I looked down and found this rock. The pattern reminds me of Indian pottery you see in museums, and at the same time it also reminds me of the markings on tropical fish.

Here's Joe on a rock in the creek....or is it a crick?

We were fascinated by the juniper bushes with these light pink berries.

I got some good close ups. I love the light.

This is one of the natives we met along the way.

The hike followed the creek and involved a lot of rock hopping and jumping in puddles.

We made it to the end of the line and got to see the end of the season for the falls. Those are some other hikers who got in my shot.

I love this shot because you can see the spray lit up by the light.

On the hike out I got some shots of more plants.

I loooooove this close up. Either my photography skills have significantly improved or I was just very lucky with the lighting that day. Gee, wonder which it was. ;)

Before we headed for home we hid a geocache among those rocks. Right on the other side of this is a steep drop to a creek below, so we named the cache Stream Overlook.

It was a great hike and we have some good photos to remember it by. I made the tropical fish rock my new desktop background.

Hhhhhho-Kay. So remember when TT got evicted at then end of May? It was a Thursday and we thought that was the end of it. Then on that Sunday afternoon she returned.

Joe and I came home and when we drove up to the house we saw Crazy riding around the cul de sac on a bike. Let me paint you a picture. She was riding a bike while wearing a teddy (as in lingerie) with parachute-style pants. We know it was a teddy because sometimes she would stop riding, get off the bike, and take off her pants. Her big, floppy, hangy boobs were rockin' and a rollin' all over the place.

She was yelling at the neighbor across the street and kept taunting them. But she was like a broken record. She was riding around the 'sac in circles yelling the same thing over and over. I would tell you what she was yelling, but all I got was, "You cain't git rid a me!"

TT made friends with the people who lived in the house in the back corner of the 'sac and apparently decided their house would be a good base from which to wage her torture campaign on the rest of the street.

We decided not to pay any attention and went about our business. An hour later I heard louder yelling outside, so Joe and I crowded into the upstairs bathroom with the video camera to watch the spectacle. Apparently someone had finally called the cops. They arrived and we got the following vid.

Soon after this clip they did. in fact. take. her. away.

She has not been back.

Yet.

I do have an uncontrollable reaction to any older black Mercedes card that I see on the road. I fear she is following me.