"Fresh From the Kitchen": End of 2006, The Beginning of 2007

Happy New Year to Everyone! 2006 was a great year for me and I ended the year the way most of it has gone....Me keeping BUSY. The last 12 days have been pretty crazy and enjoyable. I'm just doing what I can to live and enjoy life to the fullest.

It the past 12 days I have been in Five cities and Four time zones. Some how my mind and my body are in good shape. For Christmas I went to Florida to see the family. It was great to see the family. I hadn’t seen them in a year. That won’t happen this year. Everyone always asks what did you get for Christmas. This may sound corny, but the best gift from my family was a suitcase set for all my traveling and restaurant gift certificate for eating on the road.

After leaving Florida, I headed out west to see someone who puts a BIG smile on my face every time I see her (and talk to her). I had to stop in Houston for a little bit while I traveled to Arizona. I spent six days visiting Kelly to bring in the New Year. We spent time in Phoenix and a few days in San Diego to celebrate the New Year.

I’ve never been to Mexico before, so Kelly and I made a QUICK trip across the boarder in San Diego to visit Tijuana. We only made it 1/8 of mile into the country. We bought some vanilla for Kelly’s friends and got harassed by way too many vendors. Tijuana is definitely a “different” place. It took us no time to walk in to Mexico and about 40 minutes to get out. I wanted to get my passport stamped, but that didn’t happen. Be sure to look at the photos of our one-hour tour to the land south of the boarder.

To celebrate the New Year, Kelly and I went to "Old Town" San Diego. "Old Town" is the original area where San Diego was settled. It's full of historic and orignial buildings and a variety of shops and restaurants. We walked around the historic area and had a nice dinner at a local restaurant. After that we did what everyone else does for New Years....send and receive a ton texts messages wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

San Diego was a great city. I wish we had more time. The drive back to Arizona was very picturesque. The sand dunes outside of Yuma, Arizona were amazing. The dunes are where some of the desert scenes from “Return of the Jedi” was filmed. All I can say is, the area was Sand Buggy and RV Mecca of the world. I never knew so many RV’s existed.

One of my former students set us up with a good deal and a great room while we were in San Diego. If you’re ever looking for a nice hotel stay at, be sure to contact, Lori Smith with Woodfin Suites. Lori is the Sales Manager for the location in Columbus, Ohio. Thanks Lori! WoodfinSuites Tell Lori the Frank referred you and you can let you know about all the specials and packages.

I had a great time as usual with Kelly. I got to meet some of her friends and she toured me around the Phoenix area. We also took the time to a couple of holiday movies. We saw ”Night at the Museum” “Night at the Museum” and ”The Pursuit of Happyness” “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Both movies were very good. I recommend seeing or renting the movies.

The trip was a great time to be around good people and relax and prepare for 2007.

Here are more than a few pictures and captions from the trip: