The caravan stopped briefly at the Organ Pipe National Monument on our way to Casa Grande. One of the WINs had spent the night there, and he said that driving the loop was definitely worth it, so I will go back and do that some time.
I spent the week in Casa Grande, AZ, at the WIN Dance Rally. Casa Grande is just an hour south of Phoenix. During the day we took dance classes (line dances, two-step, waltz, cha-cha, etc.). The teacher, Judy, was great. She did a good job of including enough info for the beginners, as well as providing the experts with something new. Then there was a dance each evening. Steve, the guy I met on the sunset dinner cruise in Mexico, joined me for the weekend. The highlights were the luau on Saturday night and the Valentine's Dance on Sunday night. The catered Hawaiian luau food was very good. We laughed a lot at the "Best Hawaiian" costume contest at the luau (imagine men parading in grass skirts).
Several of us took some time on Sunday to attend the Native American Music Festival going on at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. We heard and saw some basket dancers, and heard some excellent Native American flute music, which I love. The highlight, though, was seeing Tony Duncan, the world's best hoop dancer (he had just won the contest in Phoenix - more info at this site:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/02/06/20110206mesa-man-wins-hoop-dancing.html
He said that most challenging dance is the one with one hoop, as it is the most difficult to dance creatively. He has danced with up to 32 hoops, but we saw him dance beautifully with eight. He also played a beautiful flute. The jewelry and other wares offered at the festival were reasonably-priced. I've never seen so many flutes in one place; there were many Native American flute vendors there. I was pleased that I was able to get a case for my flute. I look forward to going again next year.
Steve at Casa Grande →
