Kristin was able to find some information on the Web after my last update. The fire started in an area known as Oak Creek Canyon. One of the hotel workers told Kristin the fire was 8 miles away from us earlier this afternoon but now it is moving AWAY from the resort. Whew! It sure looked like it was really, really close.
Kristin says no one is sure what started the fire. She says the fire started just after Noon. So that means I first saw it not long after it started.
By late this afternoon, I could tell from where the smoke was in the sky that the fire was moving in a different direction. Here are two photos of the fire from late today. You can see the smoke cloud had moved left of the lone rock formation that was in the earlier photos Kristin took.
Tonight Kristin told me that I could go to dinner with her. But, I had to promise to be VERY quiet and good. That's because several really important people were at dinner. Kristin says some work at the United Nations in New York. Yes, they work in the same building I have visited in New York City. How cool!
The dinner tables were set up in a large field at one end of the resort. There was a place to have a campfire. But, we didn't have a real campfire. Instead, the hotel had a fake campfire. It was a machine that looks like a real fire but it is electric and isn't hot. Here I am near the "campfire."
I wasn't hungry because I had a big lunch so I basically listened to the adults talking from inside Kristin's purse. I have NO idea what they were talking about. I couldn't understand the words but they must have been talking about something very important because everyone was very serious.
Right after dinner, Kristin let me take a peek outside of her purse just in time to see a Native American dance. Did you know that Native Americans are also known as Indians? I had no idea! Anyway, I saw something called a "hoop dance." The dancer does stops his feet and jumps around while another man plays a traditional drum. While he is moving, the dancer picks up hoops with his feet and moves them all around until they finally form what looks like a big globe. It was very cool.
Here's a photo Kristin took of the dancer.
And here's the one I took (Kristin says this is a very "artistic" photo. I don't know what that means but I think it looks really cool!).
That's all for now. It is well past my bedtime and Kristin says I need to get to bed. I guess we are going to explore the area some more tomorrow so I need to get some rest.
Until next time....
