Do you LOVE Avalon? or are you curious? Come see us perform tomorrow, Sunday, December 16th, at Lotus Dance Studio, 9117 Taft Street, Pembroke Pines, FL. Holiday Party and Show. We will also be performing with Lotus Dancers and there will be many other beautiful dancers performing as well. Fun for all! For more information, go to www.lotusdancestudio.com, or on Tribe, Lotus Dance Studio. Visit Avalon at www.avalondance.ning.com

Okay, I said I would give a full report on my experience performing at a 10 year old girl's birthday, so here it is... I went into this very apprehensive. You see, I was hired by a teacher at my daughter's elementary school (where I volunteer on a daily basis). I have never entertained at a birthday party before ( let alone a child's birthday) and this was a paid gig so my reputation was on the line. Girls that age can be a tough group to please, so I knew I HAD to be on my game. When I first arrived, I applied applied makeup (tribal markings, bindis and all) and did hair for about 15 girls. Next, the mom of the guest of honor took individual photos of each girl. She had set up a beautiful backdrop to complement the theme of the party. They all looked adorable! I then performed for the guests, children and adults alike. The first choreography I did was an oldie but goodie (La La). They loved it, and, although I had originally planned to perform one dance at the beginning and one at the end, they insisted on another. So I went ahead and did the second choreography, Jammin' In London (we did this one at Spirit of the Tribes 7). I think the performance really got them into the spirit because next I gave them a mini class and they did great. They tried very hard to pick up the moves I was teaching. It was as much (or more) fun for me as it was for them! After the lesson we danced together. I had taught them a couple of visual and vocal cues so we were able to do a little ATS, WHAT FUN!!! It was time for me to leave, but they wanted to see another performance. I decided to try out a new choreography that my troupe, Avalon, had been working on. We would be making our troupe debut at our studio party a week from then and even though it was originally created for three, I thought, "what the heck". They were a great audience to try it out on. All in all, It was a very positive experience. The mom (teacher) who hired me, suggested I think about considering this (kid's birthdays) as a new niche for me since I had such a good rapport with the girls. What a great first solo paying gig! I have run into several of the guests (children and adults) since then and have had only complements and positive remarks. It was a really great day and I will remember it always. I hope the future holds more experiences like this.

As I said before, Danielle and I were overcome with emotion as we viewed the beauty of the American Southwest, but I haven't yet told you of the events that led to our arrival there... We took off in our tiny little rental car on our way to...who knows, anywhere but downtown Phoenix. I'm sure that the city has its charms, but we had grown weary of searching for something, anything, to engage and entertain us in the city. Also, without going on a rant, let me just say that the Hyatt Regency Hotel was not at all up to our expectations. As I was saying, we were looking for fun, beauty and whatever advenutes or oddities that we might encounter along the way. We found it in a little known ghost town called Goldfield. We had seen it online and in a brochure that we picked up in the hotel lobby. We debated going anywhere because of time constraints (the Grand Canyon) and wildfires (Sedona) but despite our concern over the potential "cheese" factor, Goldfield was only about a 45 minute drive so we thought, "what the hell?" and we were soon on our way. As we drove through the desert and saw nothing but construction of freeways and housing developments that went on forever, we wondered why anyone would live or could live here year round. The summer heat averaged about 115-120 degrees and the landscape was being systematically raped by developers. Progress...Yeah, okay. But then, in the distance, we saw it. Mountains, or were those hills? It was hard to tell at first, then we realized just how far away they were. Oh yes, those were mountains alright. The closer we got, the bigger they got, ultimately removing any doubt from our minds that this was the real thing. We were like a couple of kids in a candy store, squealing with delight. We turned onto a road that was not on our map to get a better shot. When the asphalt ran out and we found ourselves on a dirt road, we pulled over to take some photos. I'm sure we looked like fools to the few locals who slowed down to see what we were so excited about. I thought , "yes, were tourists, go ahead and laugh". From this point on we took photos of everything. Thank God my digital camera has a huge memory card. After we resumed our route to Goldfield, we couldn't contain ourselves. On more than one occasion, Danielle asked "are you sure this is the way?" I wasn't, but I didn't dare tell her. I guess I figured that at this point, anywhere we might end up would be okay. The only concern was that we were so hungry and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a hungry Danielle! And then we saw the sign,"Goldfield Ghost Town". Hurray! We made it. I was worried that it might be just some crummy tourist trap, but it was really very cool. The first thing Danielle wanted to do was tour the old, abandoned mine. Sounds like fun, huh? Well, if you're like me, an extreme claustrophobe, it sounds more terrifying than anything else. I could see how much she was looking forward to it, so I decided to suck it up (that's what you do for a friend, right?) and take the mine tour. Our guide provided these sticks, they looked like 10 inch pieces of broomhandle. These were our tickets. Okay, I thought, quaint but a little odd considering there was no one to take our "tickets" and the only other people on the tour was a family of four. Anyway, in we went. Into what seemed like a VERY old freight elevator. The doors closed and we began our descent. I almost panicked as I watched the rock wall (visible through a wire mesh opening at tho top of the wall) speed past us upward. It was hard to tell if we were going down or if the wall was going up. Finally, we stopped. The doors creaked open and we were in the mine. It was a bit cooler than it had been on the surface, but our guide explained that this was only because they had forced cool air from up top into the underground tunnel for our benefit. Apparently, when it was still being mined, the heat down ther was stifling. The air smelled of dirt, musty, old and damp. Of course, there were some lights but still, the place was poorly lit. I had just begun to adjust to the dim light and to become a bit more comfortable with the whole being under ground thing when we were given a demonstration of how it looked when the miners would be working. The lights went off and a single candle was lit. The working conditions must have been dismal. I can't understand how they did not go insane. I won't give you all the details of the tour but near the end, we were told about how the mine was completely flooded and the sticks were so that we would have something to bang on the support beams in case of a cave-in. I was flooded with relief as I turned and saw the stairs, yes stairs, that led to the "surface". The original mine was still under water a few miles away. We had just toured a re-creation and had only been a few feet under ground (basement depth) all along. I've still much more to tell but have run out of time for now. More of Goldfield Ghost Town to come.

So, here I am, back from Arizona and the National PTA Convention in Phoenix. I've never been so exhausted and so excited at the same time. The convention was great. A lot of work, but very informative and inspiring. Who knew that Gordon and Maria from Sesame Street could be such moving speakers! I had a great time with my friends, Danielle and Katherine. You never know how things will go when you are traveling together, but I think we made for really good traveling buddies. We attended some workshops (some better than others) and we met some nice people from all over the U.S. I've had enough Mexican and Tex-Mex food to last me for a good long while. OMIGOD, almost every restaurant there is Mexican or Tex-Mex. We did enjoy one REALLY GOOD meal while we were there. We went to a place called Circa 1900 in Heretage Square. It was one of the most amazing culinary experiences of my life. It was so good that I had to call my husband (Tom) to give him a full report the minute I finished. Unfortunately, Katherine had to leave on Sunday so she was unable to join Danielle and I as we set out on our quest to experience the real Southwest outside of Phoenix. We rented a car drove just east of the city to a place called Superstition Mountains in the Tonto National Forest. I've learned that "forest" is a relative term and when applied to areas in the Southwest, has nothing to do with trees. Giant Saguaro cacti. The "trees" of the Tonto National Forest. I must say, I've never felt smaller or more insignificant as I did while in the presence of such grandeur. I drove our small rental car into the mountains on very narrow and curvy roads. The kind of roads never seen in a place like Florida. Danielle, who has only a few short years of driving experience (all in Florida) was scared to death that I would drive (or back) us off a cliff or that we would be creamed by a local speeding around a hairpin turn. Happy to report that none of those things happened and we reached the crest of the mountains to view the type of scenery that takes ones breath away. I absolutely gasped at the sheer beauty and vastness of the mountains, canyon and the canyon lake. I am always amazed at the diverse beauty of nature in our world. We should all be so fortunate to step out of our regular, day-to-day lives and experience something totally foreign no matter what it is . It gives us perspective on what a small role we play in the big picture. I've lots more to say but, sadly, not enough time at the present. Stay tuned for more Wild West Adventures to come.