Christchurch Pettys in July 2014

Oh the shame – it is now September, and I am only just beginning the post for July. Just as well I have a journal, and lots of photos from Arizona.

Sedona, Arizona

Much of July was spent for me either in Flagstaff, Arizona, or getting ready to go to Flagstaff or recovering.

Jonathan has been trying out some different braille input/output devices for his laptop. We may even manage to get one paid for as it is helping him with his schoolwork.

At the start of the school holidays Jonathan and Charlotte and I went for an outing to the Rolleston pool with the Greys, and had a very nice time.

I got my yellow hair refreshed, and the fringe tidied slightly and then on the 9th July set off on my adventure. I just want to say here how awful LAX airport is. As usual we had to wait forever at immigration in this ugly prison-like place. Then waiting for the US Airways flight to Phoenix was nothing great either.

Selfie at Sedona

Jeff McIntyre, a friend from long ago in Christchurch kindly picked me up at Phoenix Airport. (I had been a mule, carrying Edam cheese from his sister, Ruth Grey.) I went with him to his mutual night, before he brought me to the hotel in Chandler. I survived the ridiculous temperatures (about 40 degrees) the next day by getting to the mall at 10:00am and not leaving until 6:00 except for lunch with Jeff, and Penny, another person from Christchurch. At 9pm it was still very warm and I went for a swim. I did feel a little cold in my wet togs, but lay on the warm concrete to get warm.

The next morning, Penny took me to the airport and we had a good chat on the way. I caught a shuttle to Sedona and got there quite early. I hired a bicycle and had a great time zooming around the place. Sedona is an interesting and beautiful place. I could happily spend more time there. But I made good use of my 24 hours or so. I went on a trolley tour and visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross. For some reason it really touched me, and I found it most peaceful and spiritually rejuvenating. The architecture was so tasteful, and the surroundings are magnificent.

Sedona

Then the next morning I went for a ride and hike up to the airstrip, then came back for breakfast before catching a “taxi” to the shuttle and a shuttle to Flagstaff. And in Flagstaff I hired another bicycle. I had one night in a nice hotel before moving into the student dorm. It was a Hilton DoubleTree and I had a brief swim until an electrical storm started. The next day was Sunday, so I checked out of my hotel, but left all my stuff there to collect later, and walked to church. There were a young couple I “knew” from Facebook, so I sat with them in sacrament meeting. I met up with a nice woman called Paige, who looked a lot like Paula. She kindly ferried my gear to the dorm for me. It was about half the price of a hotel, and I shared a bathroom with the person in the next room. The pillow was so thick that I got a sore neck, so I bought a thinner one at Target the next day, along with a mattress protector so that I didn’t keep sliding off the mattress.

The really REALLY big canyon

Then the conference that I had come for started. People did know me from my blog and my videos, which was rather nice. I made friends with a nice young woman called Laura, from Vancouver, and another woman called Cheryl from Winnipeg. I learned heaps and made some good contacts.

On the Wednesday afternoon we had excursions, and Laura and I went to the Grand Canyon – with lots of other people. It’s really big. Really, really big. It’s not something I ever thought, “Oh I must see the Grand Canyon one day”, but I’m glad I took the opportunity. There will be some photos here.

On the way back through Phoenix I had a few hours to spare and went for lunch with Jeff McIntyre and Liz and Pete Cammock, who were on their way around the world, and happened to be in Phoenix at that time. It was quite surreal to be having lunch with them on the other side of the Pacific. Liz was my counsellor in Stake Relief Society presidency. A nice part of my journey home was I got to hang out in the Koru lounges in LA and in Auckland.

William and I have finished some more videos, which have been well received.


The next weekend Mark and I travelled over to Gloriavale for their biennial concert. We had been invited through Barbara Clendon, who is training to be a midwife, along with Harmony, who is from the Gloriavale community. It was a very interesting experience, as they are a very separate religious community, with a strong belief in the submissive role of women. I was also talking with the maths teacher and the pilot who also helps out as a maths teacher. They have enormous families, and the school is growing fast. The concert itself included a three course meal, and was very well done, if rather longer than I was able to stay comfortable for. They had some great effects and animatronics, and it was all rather Disney. There was one scene about war that was really touching where men were coming back from war, and the children went to meet them, and some of the children didn’t have anyone to meet. The women didn’t speak in the concert, as far as I could see, though they were allowed to sing and play instruments.

A classic West Coast view at Gloriavale on a frosty morning

Our lodgings at Gloriavale

We stayed overnight at Gloriavale, and they gave us breakfast, and a lunch to take with us. Very kind people, that make us seem positively worldly. The women wear truly awful dresses, for which the original material about twenty years ago was supplied by my father!

The next day we visited three schools, in Greymouth and Hokitika, before driving back over the mountains to home. We stopped for dinner at the Bealey pub, which was very nice. The trip altogether was wonderful, especially to be back on the scenically awe-inspiring West Coast. We couldn’t stop talking about our Gloriavale experience for many days.

William stayed with Jonathan, for which we are very grateful.

That's it for us in July.
Love from Nicola, Mark, Jonathan, and William, Jessica and Seth.

On the beach looking south at Hokitika. We think that is Mt Cook.

Seth is very cute and starting to walk a little. Here is a video of him "eating" grapes.