Timeshares.
If anyone ever calls and offers you a free night stay and other assorted gifts for sitting through a timeshare pitch, go for it. The place we toured put us up in a nice, dog-friendly hotel and we had to endure a 90 min sales pitch, not bad...
It was a great excuse to head to Sedona for the weekend. From Tucson the drive was just shy of four hours and we left right from work on Friday evening.
Sedona is breathtaking. I'm lucky enough to have visited a few times prior, but for Sarah and Burren this was an initiation.
Friday evening the hotel we booked wasn't for dogs, so we had a bit of a time sneaking her about. Of course our goal was complete silence from the pup, but she seems to be in a bit of a rebellious phase these days. Our goal was soon shattered with a low WOOF! That was our cue, and from there we set out on a nice, longer-than-usual, evening walk. We headed into town early on Saturday morning and with only one additional WOOF after our walk on Friday, no one seemed the wiser.
Before we left Tucson I researched a few hikes that would allow us to trek along Oak Creek, the creator of this stunning canyon. Saturday was perfect, Burren followed her retrieving instincts right into the Creek. At first her wet leaps were accidental, but as the weekend wore on she grew a bit more courageous and determined to follow us through water over her head. Even so, we could tell she wasn't too sure that it was a good idea :)
Sarah and I relaxed and allowed the lush, peaceful scenery to work its magic. We found some great eateries in town, and refreshing pools within the deep walls of the Creek.
If you haven't been yet, make sure that Sedona is on your list to visit someday!
Siblings Visit
This Memorial Day weekend we were blessed to have my brother Jon, his wife, Nancy, and their daughter, Ruth come to stay with us! In addition, my sister, Elka, was here visiting her boyfriend, Craig, and preaching at the Tucson UU church. It was great weekend of family and fun!
Friday night Paul treated us to a delicious feast of grilled pork AND chicken. We also utilized some of our fresh/local/organic CSA ingredients in our grilled vegetables and salad.
Saturday morning we got up early (Nancy got up at 3am Tucson time with Miss Ruth who was still on East coast time) to go check out the Sonoran Desert Museum. We saw many local animals like javelinas, lizards, and mountain lions. Ruth enjoyed pushing her own stroller and getting plenty of grown up attention. After the outdoor museum we went to El Guero Canelo to enjoy some tasty Sonoran hot dogs (hot dog wrapped in bacon with beans, cheese and lots of condiments). In the afternoon, we all donned our bathing suits for relaxation in the pool. We went to dinner at El Charro, one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in Tucson.
On Sunday, Jon, Nancy, Ruth, Paul and I walked to our farmers market to pick up our CSA share and enjoy the morning. Next we all went to see Miss Elka Cartmell Ladd guest preach at the UU church here. She did a great job and had a large cheering section. Sunday afternoon we watched Ruth and Burren play for a while before heading to 4th Ave to walk around and check out the interesting shops. We enjoyed yummy salads at home and chatted into the evening.
It was really great being all together even if just for a few days. We cant wait to be all together again in August!
Wedding In Boston = Springbreak For Us!
One of my good friends from Hobart was married near Boston this past weekend. Dan & Nadia's wedding was gorgeous. Set in a pastoral New England town and blessed with perfect weather, the ceremony was a great escape with friends we miss. We used every moment of the weekend to catch up with our friends and Sarah's family. 3 days is never enough and we're looking forward to a longer return trip in August. Save me some chowda till then!
CrossFit SW Regionals
I don't know how, but somehow I made the team. The gym Sarah and I belong to, Crossfit Works, put together a team of trainers and members to compete in the Affiliate Cup of the 2010 CrossFit Games. This Regional competition would determine which individuals and teams will go on to compete in the Games.
Our region includes Arizona and Southern California. If you know 1 thing about CrossFit, know that SoCal is the birthplace of CrossFit and there are some powerhouses that come out of there.
The teams had to be 4-6 people and have at least 2 men and 2 women. Our team consisted of 4 of the CF Works trainers (Jenny, Kate, Andres, & Mateo) and 2 members (Summer and I). We didn't have a lot of time to train together, but we all were excited to go hard and have fun.
The event was held at UC Irvine, a palmtree covered campus in Orange County. There were more Crossfitters in that athletic complex than I've ever seen before and it was awesome!
We competed in 3 workouts. We had fun, held our own, and finished midway in the field of 80 teams there to compete. Not bad considering some of the teams have been competeing together for years!
Here are some photos of the weekend.
Our region includes Arizona and Southern California. If you know 1 thing about CrossFit, know that SoCal is the birthplace of CrossFit and there are some powerhouses that come out of there.
The teams had to be 4-6 people and have at least 2 men and 2 women. Our team consisted of 4 of the CF Works trainers (Jenny, Kate, Andres, & Mateo) and 2 members (Summer and I). We didn't have a lot of time to train together, but we all were excited to go hard and have fun.
The event was held at UC Irvine, a palmtree covered campus in Orange County. There were more Crossfitters in that athletic complex than I've ever seen before and it was awesome!
We competed in 3 workouts. We had fun, held our own, and finished midway in the field of 80 teams there to compete. Not bad considering some of the teams have been competeing together for years!
Here are some photos of the weekend.
Trevor's Excellent Adventure Visit
My former college roomie, former post-college roomie, fraternity bro, beer-brewer, avid builder of all things, and good ol'buddy Trevor came out to visit. He even brought some home-brew beer with him. What a pal!
We had a blast hangin out. Burren loved him. She even left teeth marks as a sign of her affection (shes a puppy, its ok) How those healing by-the-way Tev?
Well first off, there is a massive rock promontory between Tucson and Phoenix. We had to climb that. Couple of hours, no problem. Here are some photos.
Next up we headed Southeast to the Dragoon Mts and Cochise Stronghold. The rocky outcrop served as the 15 year hide-out of Apache chief Cochise and his tribe. Today the area is a fantastic camping and rock climbing mecca. So thats what we did. Burren loved it too.
I never saw the Pauly Shore movie "Biodome", but now I've been to biodome, or in this case the Biosphere. Its run by the U of A for science experiments in climate change, agriculture, and terra farming. I think Trev and I agree that it is an engineering marvel.
When Sarah and I were planning our move to Tucson, Grandpa told me that there is a huge airplane graveyard here. Boy, is he right! There are over 4,000 planes in the "boneyard". Some are repurposed, some are dismantled and sold for parts or scrap metal. There are even more in the Pima Air & Space Museum that have been restored. For Trev and I, it was like meeting some of the characters from Top Gun.
Finger Rock is a familiar skyline feature of the Catalina Mts north of Tucson. The "finger" is around 6,500' in elevation and it's about an 8 mile roundtrip. We started at 3,000', and finished somewhere over 7,000'. It's a big steep climb that took our breath and gave us some great views.
The last outdoor adventure session of Trev's visit was an afternoon of sport climbing at hairpin turn.
Last but not least, we had fun taking Trevor out to some of Tucson's best Mexican eateries and more interesting watering holes! It was a great visit and I miss hanging out with my buddy. Till next time amigo!
We had a blast hangin out. Burren loved him. She even left teeth marks as a sign of her affection (shes a puppy, its ok) How those healing by-the-way Tev?
Well first off, there is a massive rock promontory between Tucson and Phoenix. We had to climb that. Couple of hours, no problem. Here are some photos.
Next up we headed Southeast to the Dragoon Mts and Cochise Stronghold. The rocky outcrop served as the 15 year hide-out of Apache chief Cochise and his tribe. Today the area is a fantastic camping and rock climbing mecca. So thats what we did. Burren loved it too.
I never saw the Pauly Shore movie "Biodome", but now I've been to biodome, or in this case the Biosphere. Its run by the U of A for science experiments in climate change, agriculture, and terra farming. I think Trev and I agree that it is an engineering marvel.
When Sarah and I were planning our move to Tucson, Grandpa told me that there is a huge airplane graveyard here. Boy, is he right! There are over 4,000 planes in the "boneyard". Some are repurposed, some are dismantled and sold for parts or scrap metal. There are even more in the Pima Air & Space Museum that have been restored. For Trev and I, it was like meeting some of the characters from Top Gun.
Finger Rock is a familiar skyline feature of the Catalina Mts north of Tucson. The "finger" is around 6,500' in elevation and it's about an 8 mile roundtrip. We started at 3,000', and finished somewhere over 7,000'. It's a big steep climb that took our breath and gave us some great views.
The last outdoor adventure session of Trev's visit was an afternoon of sport climbing at hairpin turn.
Last but not least, we had fun taking Trevor out to some of Tucson's best Mexican eateries and more interesting watering holes! It was a great visit and I miss hanging out with my buddy. Till next time amigo!
Posts
