Albuquerque

January 26
A cold morning, but the sun came up just a little after 7 and quickly made the van comfortable. We got back on the road for a longish day of driving, making a stop in Hatch, New Mexico to pick up some chile salsas at a kitschy place recommended by Dave. His restaurant recommendation was not to be found however, and we ended up having lunch at Pepper Pot after checking out another spot for huevos rancheros - guess you can only get those for breakfast! Rudy's chimichanga, and my combination of chile relleno, enchiladas, and taco smothered in red and green chile was acceptable. After the meal, it was straight to Albuquerque to see my college friend Margot! She recently moved and was pretty busy with work, so we mostly tried to stay out of the way and enjoy some good chatting time with her between career and life stuff. Chill evening, with just some leftovers and a little visiting.

January 27
A quiet day with some good yoga and a little run around the neighborhood for me while Rudy worked on his bike, followed by lots of hanging out and reading and probably too much internet time. For dinner, we met Margot and a work colleague of hers at Two Fools Tavern - an Irish pub. Good Irish stew, and fish and chips - and instead of an Irish import, I tried the local La Cumbre IPA - it was fantastic. The place was busy, but still managed some good conversation, with only a little work stuff popping up from the employed :) A quick stroll around downtown, then nothing too exciting for the evening.

January 28
I practiced restraint or laziness, can't decide which, and didn't join Margot for the weekend long run. We saw her a little between that and another social function she had for the remainder of the day, then headed to Sandia Foothills where Rudy biked and I hiked in the nice afternoon sun.



Next, we spent an excessive amount of time grocery shopping - a few good Sprouts deals were had! Then I made a blueberry pie, stir fry for dinner - accompanied by another local beer: Marble red ale - surprisingly hoppy - and I enjoyed it! Another mellow evening.

January 29
I baked a little loaf of bread in the morning, using some whole wheat flour Margot got from a friend in Bayfield! The flour was a bit coarse, didn't rise much, but the bread turned out edible. Another short run for me - nice and sunny! We were able to meet another college friend of mine that just moved to Albuquerque, Karl, at The Grove for brunch - decent food, and a couple hours of good chatting - yeah!

Later in the afternoon, we got in a hike with Margot on the Embudito Trail, finding some trees and snow - a very cool area to see, and pretty chilly when not in the sun! We ended up racing the dark in - barely made it without resorting to our lights - all in all a great outing. For dinner we made pizza and big salads - all good, then got in some final visiting, as we plan to depart in the morning and will probably miss Margot before she heads to work. Also enjoyed a little more blueberry pie!

Tucson

January 19
One more nice, relaxed morning in Prescott before Katie and Eric head out for Minnesota and we finally depart!! Nasty weather in the forecast for the area, so a good time to get further south, and lower elevation. We encountered nothing bad to drive through, and ended up making an unplanned stop at Casa Grande trails, where Rudy got in a little biking and I had a nice hike. There were lots of unmarked intersections, but you could pretty well see where you wanted to go.

Reminds me of a hug

Don't get too close to the cholla

SEE!

It was fun to be back in more deserty desert, and have a little warmer weather. We found a spot to camp on some BLM land just north of Tucson. Dinner was simple pasta, and then Trivial Pursuit - two wins for Rudy!

January 20
The morning was overcast with scattered rain. We pretty much just listened to the presidential inauguration on the radio before heading to Saguaro National Park. We stayed dry during the warmish and windy hike/run on Hugh Norris trail - it was cool hearing the gusts 'swoosh' through the big cacti.



Post-outing we still had time to stop by the visitor center. I particularly liked the plant walk, learn some of the pokey things we've come to recognize.

Ocotillo, formerly known as Murder Sticks

We headed to a camping area south of Tucson Mountain Park - pretty busy, we found a spot though. Made burritos, played a game of Trivial Pursuit, Leslie win! Then watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, inspired by a couple of Joan of Arc questions from the trivia game.

January 21
Still breezy, but abundant sunshine! We had expected a rainy morning, but with the change in weather, headed into Tucson Mountain Park, Starr Pass area - beautiful, but again, very little signing.



After Rudy's bike and my run, we had dinner with my Great Aunt Trudy, her daughter Marie, and Marie's boys Tyler and Jayden at a local chain Mexican restaurant - La Parilla Suiza. I hadn't seen them (or ever met the boys!) in 20 years, so it was pretty cool to catch up/get to know them. We spent the later afternoon with some scenic driving up toward Mica Mountain - a lot of water running over the roads with recent rains - and Rudy found a nice little waterfall a short walk from our spot for the night.



He also harvested some cactus fruit - they're all edible apparently - tastes OK, faint citrusy flavor.

Barrel cactus - the fruit looks like little pineapples

Barrel cactus fruit above, chain cholla below

We cleaned up some leftovers before watching Mr. Peabody and Sherman - a little cheesy/cutesy, but entertaining.

January 22
A sunny and warm morning! Rudy had to complete some repairs on the sliding door - some parts getting worn out I guess. Early afternoon we met a friend from Minnesota, Dave, up in Oro Valley and went on a cool bike ride around Honeybee Canyon - mellow trails through some scenic desert bottom.

Dave's wife Di was recovering from a nasty cold, but at least we got to chat a little (while keeping a safe distance) before and after the ride. After cleaning up, we tried to get to a Mexican restaurant Dave hadn't been to, but it was closed, so checked out another place he had been to once, but in a different location - Guadalajara. It was decent, the highlight being tableside salsa made to order in a mocajete.

I got a big mocajete of veggies, including cactus on the left

We were reasonably full after the meal, despite taking leftovers, but managed to stop by Frosty's and enjoy some gelato. Just a little visiting after that, no night owls with this crew.

January 23
I joined Di in walking the pup on nearby trails for about an hour - weather was windy, but warm, and it was nice to get out and just stroll around in the desert. Later, Rudy and I headed to Dove Mountain to hike the Wild Burro and Alamo Springs trail - lots of steppy rock, but also flat washes - Rudy was a little putsy, but it was fine! He needed to save energy for a bigger ride the next day. I really liked all the burly granite and marble we were hiking through.



We all went out to Flavor of Indian and enjoyed naan and samosas with yummy entrees. No leftovers this time, but we still picked up some Ben and Jerry's and whoopie pies for a later dessert.

January 24
A cooler morning - and fairly cloudy, so a little bundling up to head to Honeybee again - Rudy, Di, and I met Tiffany, from Duluth out there. Di and I went on a slightly more involved ride than a few days ago, just out and back, while Rudy and Tiff went on a longer technical loop - sounds like some good trails. After that was lots of hanging out, we cooked some awesome pasta, watch lots of Family Guy, and killed more B&J's and whoopie pies.

January 25
I got in another nice stroll with Di and the dog while Rudy worked on documenting his bike rides on the trip. Our destination for the day was the Mount Lemmon area - the top was snowed in, but still desert at the bottom! A run on the La Milagrosa trail, out and back, for me - a couple significant creek crossings and some hikey stuff, but I had fun, and the weather was sunny and wonderful.

Canyony stuff along the way

Looking back toward Tucson

Rudy had a more extensive ride, guess he was kind of tired though, and didn't enjoy it as much as some other rides. Next, we drove a couple hours toward New Mexico, and were fairly late getting to a spot near Bowie AZ. No moon or city lights, there were some amazing stars! It was nice that we had hot water and leftovers from out friends to make for easy cleanup and eating!

Not too many cow pies around

Entertainment was Trivial Pursuit - Leslie win.

Just a little more Prescott...

January 9
So we're sticking around Prescott for a little while...Trevor's brother (and our friend from Duluth) Eric will be here next week, so Rudy is looking forward to getting in some biking with him. This was a rainy day, the guys did some random stuff around the house and with bikes, and I mostly hung out, 'recovering', but did manage to get a little stroll during a break in the weather. We made some delightful shrimp and pasta for dinner, and got to enjoy some homemade turtles Karlene and Trevor brought back from Christmas, pretty delightful! Early to bed, with the big travelers still adjusting to regular life :)

January 10
A nice little run in for me, nothing seems too affected from last week's long runs, and that's always a happy thing. In the afternoon, we went to the Constellation trails again, where the guys biked and I hiked down through the Dells. A cool afternoon made for a fantastic sauna before Rudy created one of his childhood favorites, Chicken a la King for dinner - on biscuits, with honey. After that, a regular old mellow evening.

January 11
A longer run for me - felt pretty good! More bike activities for the guys while I made more biscuits for leftover chicken stuff. We went on separate biking excursions on the North Thumb Butte trails again - pretty fantastic for me - helped to have some sunshine! Following that, Trevor and Rudy went to the bike club meeting - Rudy was recruited to talk to some people on how mountain biking has become so successful in Duluth. I opted out and made a Mexican pizza, which turned out good...yeah, gorging on baking...post meeting, we had some nice chit chat with popcorn before bedtime.

January 12
Overcast, but the rain that was supposed to happen did not! I woke up early and got to do my yoga to the sunrise! Trevor was out on work stuff and errands in the morning. Meanwhile, Rudy did some bike work, I hiked the Thumb Butte loop, and there was plenty of hanging out. Later in the afternoon Trevor and Rudy went out on the local Thursday guys group ride, while I hung out. The guys went out for dinner after with the group and I made lentils and rice for Karlene and myself. Then, just some good old fashioned visiting in the evening.

January 13
Again cool and overcast. I went out on a longish run that went well. The guys spent many hours looking at investment/retirement stuff, followed by shopping for trail building equipment. Post money-spending, I got to make a blueberry pie while the guys got a ride in. Stir fry for dinner, then nothing else too exciting aside from pie consumption.

January 14
Trevor whipped up blueberry pancakes for breakfast - pretty fantastic! All four of us went down to the Black Canyon Trail for some warmer weather and drier trails. There was a little drizzle to start, but it ended up being a beautiful day for 3+ hour 22+ mile ride. After returning to town, we celebrated a little Serbian New Year with borscht, pierogies, and cabbage rolls - I don't think any of us are Serbian, but tradition for Karlene and Trevor that we were happy to oblige with!

January 15
The guys headed to South Mountain in Phoenix for a group ride while I tagged along with Karlene and her friend Michelle for some mellower riding in Cottonwood. We had fun, enjoyed the trails, and had a nice day there - stopped for some pizza and beer afterwards and did a little strolling around in Cottonwood and Jerome, mainly antique shops - glad I joined them! Karlene and I got in a little sauna and cleaned up some leftovers and were already done for the day by the time the guys got back. The Phoenix group was big with lots of socializing, they covered something like 17 miles in 5 hours, and spent a few more hours refueling at some bike themed bar and grill afterwards.

Some green in Arizona January!

January 16
A pretty mellow day, highlights included: a nice little run and stroll before we helped with cleanup for more company. Some bread and yogurt making happened - yeah! guys did some shopping while I got in some yoga. Finally, burritos for dinner - doesn't get old.

January 17
I embarked on probably the last long run for me - went fine - 20 miles, mostly on the Thumb Butte trails. The guys did some random stuff around the house, I think a lot of driveway repair, before Katie and Eric arrived late afternoon. There was lots of visiting and sharing of recent Mexico vacation adventures before we made some fantastic grilled salmon and veggies. The guys and Katie took in a sauna, four is about all that fits in there, so Karlene and I were OK to opt out this one time :)

January 18
Pancakes! The group took a day trip to Sedona for a beautiful sunny day of good biking - the guys did the 'H's and Katie and I did a few mellow hours on some easier and less technical stuff. Back in Prescott, the guys and I got in a sauna, and then burgers!! More visiting....always good.

Start of 2017

I'm forgoing the daily summary format for this post and will just relay that we spent the first nine days of the year continuing house sitting in Prescott. Weather was cool, but some nice, sunny days in the 50s and even 60s. Not as much trail exploring as hoped with the wetter conditions, but we still got out. Rudy made another trip to Sedona with a Prescott group (and also a random guy from Austin, who should be able to show us some good trails when we get to that area), which I opted out of since I managed 20+ mile runs the two previous days!!! As long as nothing gets hurt, I should be able to get through my third hundred-mile run, happening in a few weeks. Most of the photos are from the first run, on the rail trails of Peavine and Iron King. More baking happened while we had the oven, mostly pizzas, potatoes, and rye bread...and more peanut butter blossoms. We also enjoyed the sauna quite a few evenings, and played some of our hosts games that we don't have in the van - namely Phase Ten, Dominoes, and Sequence. Its been nice having the comforts of a home, but we are certainly ready to continue with the trip, see new places and warmer temps!

View of Thumb Butte from the sauna

Find the roadrunner!

Find the heron! Saw lots of waterfowl, and also a hawk

Iron King Trail - find the pronghorns!

Lots of old rail cars along Iron King

Interesting terminus of the Peavine

Peavine Trail

Fun decorated trees along quite a few trails in the area

End of 2016

December 23
A soggy morning, but no major precipitating, so I strolled to the grocery store for some random baking ingredients - unreasonable excitement for spending a day in the kitchen! Rudy checked out the Constellation trails while I did some ridiculous baking: rye bread, sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms- also no bake cookies.  Early afternoon, Trevor and Karlene departed on their vacation, leaving us in charge of the place and cats! My domestic fun was completed early enough to get in a little run - some trails, some road - misty, but great to get out and burn off some cookie dough! During my run, Rudy took in Star Wars Episode I. Kept it simple with spaghetti for dinner, then finished The Godfather Part II. After dinner, my stomach was unhappy - not sure if I caught something, or just something I ate, but it didn't stop me from consuming a few cookies during the movie, which I'm sure didn't help...

December 24
My tummy was definitely not good and I stayed in bed until afternoon. Should probably be grateful we weren't living in the van this week! After evacuating the stomach I felt a little better and was able to eat a little, including a bean burrito - which sat OK - no cookies though :( By the time I looked outside, most of the winter storm was done, totaling 8" of snow!

Desert plants in the snow amuse me

 


A good day to lay around and march on the Star Wars marathon - I partially, and Rudy fully watched  Episodes II, II, and IV.

December 25
A cold, Merry Christmas! I was still not feeling awesome, but managed a little yoga in the morning, and endured the smell of bacon and eggs Rudy made for himself. I was sticking to small, mild meals. We watched Star Wars Episode V to allow the temperature to get above freezing before hiking the Thumb Butte Loop - it was actually a nice day to be out!

The place we are staying is off some steep neighborhood roads, so might be a couple days before the van goes anywhere. After the hike, I was able to make and enjoy some Christmas Dinner!

Ham, green beans, smashed potatoes and baked sweet potatoes - good stuff. After eating, we watched Star Wars Episode VI, with cookies, and called it a night.

December 26
A quiet day around the house. Rudy did a little shoveling, there was a longer yoga session for me and a run/jog Thumb Butte Loop again - feeling a little better yet. Then the first use of leftover ham - Split Pea Soup! We also tackled Star Wars - The Force Awakens.

December 27
The van made it out of the neighborhood and we headed down to the Black Canyon Trail and meet up with friends Adam and Micah from Grand Marais. We all did some biking on the Kay Mine and Skyline Sections - Micah and I pretty much did little out and backs between river crossings. The guys took on the river crossings and got in a longer ride, while us girls took advantage of the warm, sunny day to just hang out and chat. Even the guys had a relatively shorter ride so our friends could continue their journey south. Rudy and I had time to catch a matinee of Rogue One in Prescott Valley - I didn't enjoy the movie much early on, but by the end, I decided I did like it! Just some leftovers for dinner, then we played some Phase 10 - 2 games, Leslie won both.

December 28
Another good yoga session for me, except a sore neck/shoulder at end - not sure what triggered it - ick. I also got in a little run - just on the road, feeling better, but still not quite 100%. Rudy's big activities for the day were splitting fire wood and assembling his new bike. I make simple dough for pizza - first time without whole wheat flour. More ham use with a pineapple ham pizza - crust is just so-so, but pizza is always awesome. We took more advantage of games we don't have in the van and tried Dominoes - Leslie won 4/5, with the version we were playing - not convinced we had all the rules straight!

December 29
I woke up strangely early, but I like waking up early :) I tried some easy yoga - neck/shoulder isn't getting worse at least. Also got out to Thumb Butte trails for a little run. We both went out for a few errands around town, including hanging out at the bike shop for about an hour, and made our way to the Constellation trails - a bit much for me for biking, especially with wet conditions and patches of snow - a cool area though, and only one little crash.

Chunky granite everywhere!

The trail goes through there....

This marked Rudy's first ride on his new bike - he really likes it. After the riding, bean burritos, then a start on The Godfather Part III.

December 30
With the wintry weather and reading about other people's winter fun, I'm feeling like we need to get some where warmer, I'll be missing snow...OK, probably not. We headed to Sedona for the day before the next round of cold and wet moved in. Such a good choice, it got up in the 60s and sunshiny - so nice! I planned a longish run and felt unexpectedly good, so tacked on almost another hour to make 16 miles for my final run of 2016. Rudy got in a good long ride and managed to sell his old bike - yay for more space! We got back a little late and it was nice to have plenty of leftovers for dinner. More gaming - Scattergories - Rudy 1, Leslie 2, and 3 ties.

December 31
Yoga again - I think I can attribute the damp cool weather and being relatively inactive a few days to my sudden consistency with it, I guess I need to get some movement in the morning! The forecast had been for an icky weather day, but the chance of precipitation disappeared, so we headed to the Constellation trails again. I got in some great hiking and Rudy had fun biking around in the Granite Dells.

The Red Bridge Loop on Willow Lake

Rudy lovin' it

Headed up the Apex Trail

View from the top of Apex Trail

Still a bit chilly though, and a great afternoon to enjoy a sauna! Made some bean soup, including the last of the Christmas ham, and collard greens. Then got in more Scattergories (didn't keep track of wins, seemed pretty even) and a game of Phase 10 to bring us to the New Year - Happy 2017!