Photo Show

This last week, CFHS (Catalina Foothills High School) had our annual photo show. Every photography student had to submit five photographs. If you were voted on for "best overall portfolio" or "best photograph" you got a special place to show two photos at the U of A in a Tucson High School Show that includes judging and prizes. I'm one of those students who got picked! Next Thursday, I'm gonna miss school, spending the whole day at the U of A for the show. I'm SUPER excited! I'll post some of the photos after school on Monday 'cause I have to get the computer versions off my school account.

Sonoita: the "Tuscany" of AZ

What are two things that you never think would go together that do so perfectly in AZ? The answer: desert and vino.

Yes, Arizona has a wine country, mostly the south-eastern corner of the state. Patagonia is the wine capital of the state, but the area with the most wineries is a small town a few miles north, Sonoita. Boasting over nine wineries in its vicinity, Sonoita is the kind of place where there are only two great restaurants (one being a saloon joint called the Stake Out, the other Italian) and two gas stations, one at each end of the main road. The entire area is made up of nine streets (two of which are major highways), but the rolling hills and snow-capped mountains offer one of the most scenic drives in the entire state.



The center of Sonoita is only an hour and fifteen minutes south of Tucson and makes a wonderful day trip. Our first stop was the fairly new winery, Kief-Joshua. It is a small, family owned vineyard set on 20 acres of land. Their tasting room and shop are set in the first floor of their house, making it the perfect setting for a family buisness. The owner, Kief Manning, has a degree from the University of Melbourne in Viticulture and Enology (yes, that is an actual degree). He personally runs the tasting room, which is open every day except for Christmas. However, it is not just people who love this vineyard retreat set in the middle of nowhere. Petey, a local roadrunner, is a daily guest, followed Kief around the property as he does his work. This little friend has even made a point of greeting guests and he is a charming bird to be sure.

Our second vineyard that we stopped at was The Village of Elgin (named for the local area, which is Elgin). It is also called Four Monkeys Winery, but it goes by either name, if not both. Although the interior setting of the tasting room is not as romantic, it shows all of the different kinds of wine that Four Monkeys offers. Each wine is divided into three catagories: White, Rose, and Red. The names differ based on where the grapes could be from, the names of saints, or even the niece of the owner. Online ordering is possible for they sell their wines in local liquor stores across Arizona.

However, one of the greatest parts about our day trip was not just the wine, but the food. At Kief-Joshua, we picked up a jar of their Chardonay Artichoke Salsa. One bite leaves a burn in your mouth that won't even go away with a glass of milk. Viaggio Italiano, the local Italian restaurant, has views of mountains to dazzle anyone and the food is as authentic as it is delicious. On the walls hang retro Italian posters from various operas such as La Boheme, mixed in with a signed photo of Pavarotti and framed copies of the recipies that the owner's grandmother used for her Italian cuisine (which are now offered as meals on the menu).

If one is spending a week in Arizona and doesn't want a traditional touristy look at the state, the Sonoita-Elgin Wine Country is the place to be.

2009 State Meet Champions!

WE WON! This weekend we had the 2009 High School State Swim Meet and Catalina WON! For both the boys' and girls' teams! Its the tenth year in a row that the boys have won. The girls won eight years in a row, then we got second place last year. Now, we've won again. Our boys team actually won by over 200 points and the 400 freestyle relay was a second off the State Record. A few of our girls won their events, such as Brianna and Karima, who are both sprinters. Only a few of our kids didn't make it to the finals (the top 16 for each event) and two of those kids were a girl, Sarah, who is on our DD (Dominating Distance Team) and one of my closest friends, Nick. However, Sarah dropped a lot of time in her 500 freestyle and Nick now has a 24.4 in his 50 free. Thankfully, they both have next year to make it to finals since he is a junior and she is a freshman.

I got 14th for the 500 free and 14th I think for the 100 backstroke. After the meet was over, we followed our usual custom for the state meet and got into a huddle. The girls form a ring in the center with the guys around us. We all throw our arms over each others shoulders and rock back and forth, waiting for the announcer to tell us the results. It was girls' results first and when we found out that we won for our division, we were so excited. RJ, our coach, was so happy because the Arizona Daily Star (the state newspaper) said that our girls' team wouldn't even win at our Regional Meet. Well, we won Regionals and we also won at State! What also was awesome was that our rival, Sabino Canyon, got third in the division. CDO (Canyon del Oro), the next nearest high school to us, got second, which we were all surprised by because Sabino is the only team who got close to beating us in the dual meets.

So it was just an amazing weekend. We stayed at a Hyatt for two nights (Thursday and Friday), dressed up for Holloween night while we ate a pasta dinner, and I got to hang out with a bunch of my friends. I also got to meet new friends. Because of how our team is set up, the kids who practice with the high school team don't often interact with the kids who practice with their club team. This means that the high school kids and the club teams don't know each other very well. So this meet gave me a chance to meet a lot more of the swimmers and became even closer friend with the ones I already knew.

Regionals

This weekend we had our Regional meet where all of the Tucson high school swim teams compete to see which kids will qualify to make it to the state meet next week. I competed in the 500 freestyle, the longest event we have in the high school season, and the 100 backstroke. We weren't going to find out the results from the meet until Sunday because they had to compare the Tucson times with the times of the kids in Phoenix. Then on Sunday, Mum and I went out to walk Izzy. It was about six pm and when we were coming back up our street, we saw a sign in our yard. Mum thought it was a 'For Sale' sign or something until I saw the words 500 freestyle written on it. It was a sign that was congratulating me for making the state team in BOTH of my events. I'm super excited. A bunch of my friends, including the other three girls of the DD (Dominating Distance team as we call it) and one of my new guy friends, are also going. Its going to be SO much fun. The meet is this weekend in Mesa, which is a city about two hours north of here.