Phoenix Thanksgiving

November 23
Tim woke up and headed straight to Phoenix relatively early. Rudy and I were a little slower to get going. A nice drive as we started seeing bigger cactus and warmer temperatures! We met back up with Tim south of Phoenix for some biking at South Mountain. I just did an out and back on the 'Desert Classic' trail while Tim showed Rudy some of the funner trails. Desert Classic was mostly easy, but still plenty of shorter sections of steep rocky stuff that were challenging for me, and fun desert scenery. I neglected to take pictures until we returned a few days later...

Such a variety of cacti!

After the riding we headed to Los Taquitos to experience Tim's favorite burritos - pretty good stuff (I actually had 'street tacos' which I thoroughly enjoyed), then a little shopping for cheesecake ingredients :) After that, we got to experience some horrid big city traffic, but eventually arrived in Goodyear and got to meet Tim's sister, Emily (and her pups), and mom, Susan. A little visiting, my first real shower in about a month!!!! then some awesome pizza (takeout from 'Barrio', I think?) and beer, then Rudy made his cheesecake. Emily's husband Alex was home for work with just enough time for introductions before we headed for bed - big day tomorrow.

November 24
Happy Thanksgiving! I was thankful to endure a 20 mile run, mostly on pavement - plenty of decent shoulders and sidewalks in the area. Rudy and Tim got in a little biking on the Estrella Mountain trails before heading to the airport to pick up Tim's better half - Jackie! Our hosts did an awesome job of prepping the last few days, so pretty much only needed to get everything cooked, and us 'guests' mostly lazed around, consumed appetizers and visited - one of the neighbors joined us, so a good variety of friends and family at this gathering! I think this is the first time I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner outdoors - so nice.

Can't beat this for spontaneous Thanksgiving

We only got a short break from eating before dessert time - homemade pecan and pumpkin pies plus the cheesecake - I really did eat too much, everything was delicious. There was some TV/movie watching and chatting, but I think everyone was feeling food comatose since no late night reveling, well, aside from Rudy, Jackie, and Susan venturing to Walmart to check out the mayhem.

November 25
A nice relaxed morning, watch some TV, getting to know the hosts better. After everyone got whatever they felt like for  breakfast, including omelettes, leftovers, cereal, and smoothies, Rudy and I joined Tim and Jackie for biking at Skyline - not great trails, but still nice to get out. Everyone else was out exploring Phoenix when we returned, excited for leftovers for lunch. The rest of the day was hanging out, and I got in a little yoga session with Susan. Some simple spaghetti for dinner and movie watching and random chatting for the evening.

November 26
Slightly earlier getting up and at 'em - Susan had an early flight home. Rudy and I went out with Tim and Jackie for more biking at South Mountain - I opted for a run while the others rode - for the best, I don't think I would have enjoyed biking these jumbly-rock trails! Afterwards we looked around REI - I got a new pair of trail running shoes! Next we found a Mexican butcher store/lunch counter Rudy had discovered on a past work trip - more awesome tacos and burritos. Then, back to Goodyear, more hanging out before getting Mediterranean food for dinner and checking out 8-Bit microbrewery. This place has a gaming theme, pretty fun, good beer and we played a couple card games.

Fond memories of Super Mario

Oregon Trail was interesting, not convinced we played correctly, but our group made it to the end with only one death (Rudy fell to Dysentery). We also played 'Joking Hazard' - similar to Cards Against Humanity and pretty fun - Jackie and I tied for the win. By the time we headed for 'home' we were wanting more deserts, but time was past 11, and we had to resort to Walmart for a pumpkin roll and chocolate cake. After all the indulgence, the new Ghostbusters was started, but I don't think anyone finished it...

November 27
Everyone was still up fairly early despite the later night. I got in a little jog in the new shoes, then we all checked out the Air Force base (main purpose is for training) and got a tour from Alex. Afterwards, we had to make a stop at Express Doughnuts - Rudy and I shared a buttermilk bar, apple fritter and blueberry cake doughnut - all pretty good! Just a little more hanging out in Goodyear before Tim and Jackie had to head to the airport, and Rudy and I started toward Las Vegas. On the way out of Phoenix we spotted a WinCo - in AZ! So we had to stop and fill up on some bulk goods. The drive was interesting, lots of rain, but we got to drive through a 'forest' of Joshua trees (my picture attempts failed - I think there will be more!) and started seeing some snowy mountains. We parked just outside Kingman as it was getting dark, and it was already down in the 30s! Dinner was Lentils and rice. We played a round of Trivial Pursuit - Leslie win! Then we started Thor - The Dark World, but didn't even make it halfway before giving up and going to bed.