Jim Hampshire picked me up at the Phoenix Airport in his space shuttle and delivered me safely to the hotel. The hospitality room was open by the time I checked in and unpacked for the weekend. It was great to see so many of my Friends as they began to arrive and gather for dinner at the San Diego Mexican Restaurant. Not what you usually expect of a Mexican Restaurant as the menu had primarily seafood dishes but all were excellent. There were over a dozen Senators and guests there for dinner around a large table where we could easily enjoy each others company.
We returned to the hotel where we were joined by some late comers in the hospi
tality room. Jim left to pick up First Lady Wendy Bell at the Airport and she joined the party. Surprise! A game of Screw Your Neighbor beamed in and the dollar bills magically appeared in front of each player. The first person to get screwed was yours truly but I had to remind everyone that they should be kind to the "President"! Well, Lady Luck did smile upon me because the players were trying very hard NOT to be nice to the president and I won the next two games before we called it a night.Saturday, December 12, 2009
We all had breakfast at the hotel and were planning to go out to a local botanical gardens a bit later. We gathered in the hospitality room and many more folks began to arrive including Pat and Santa Bob Holbert with gifts to present.Mine was a very cute White Tiger pussy that was quickly confiscated by Arizona president Cindy Naylor. By this time it was a bit late to get out to the garden so we stayed in the Hospitality room and shared memories and stories (imagine that).
Soon it was t
ime to load up and beam over to the Phoenix Opry for dinner and a show. What a grand time we had as we were joined by many more Arizona Senators. Past US JCI Senate President Jim Ashley joined us as well and we had some time to reminisce (I was his Chief of Staff some years ago). I was presented with a beautiful Kachina Doll which will have a prominent place in my home.
This is a family business and the wait staff were all seating folks and waiting tables before giving a great musical performance. During dinner I did notice that there were a great number of musical instruments all around the stage. I did not count but it looked close to a hundred - well, maybe nit quite that many but a gaggle of em. The entertainers were mostly an extended family group although there were some that were clearly not some form of relative. As the show progressed every one of the instruments were used by the musicians, even a pair of Alpine Horns during one of the musical tunes. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening.Many of us made it back to th
e Hospitality room and a few more games of Screw Your Neighbor. I again had to remind them not to piss off the president and it seemed to work this time as I won the last game, albeit by the skin of my teeth. It was then time to say a few goodbyes and off to bed for the night.Sunday, December 13, 2009
Wendy and I had coffee with the few remaining folks then met up with past first lady Debbie Steele and headed out for breakfast and a visit. She then dropped us off at the Airport for our SHORT flight home - almost as fast as it Scotty had beamed us home.
As always president Cindy and the entire Arizona Senate were wonderful and put on one hell of a party. Thanks you for a great time.
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