Tucson – Arizona – Part 2 – Catching up with Friends

Instead of buying Christmas gifts for eachother this year, we decided to buy a gift we could share — an inflatable double kayak. We decided to do a test-run at Kennedy Lake — a little urban fishing lake. It was a big pain in the ass to set up the kayak 🙂 Once on the water, it was fun. After finally figuring out how the inflation valves work, and how the seats attach, I think things will go alot more smoothly the next time out. Hopefully 🙂

Our good friend, Andy, was kind enough to make the drive from Phoenix for a day trip visit. We had a great day of hiking at Saguaro National Park. We did the Wasson Peak Loop. Amazing 360 views from the summit. Back at the park, I cooked up salmon burgers using my secret recipe 🙂 A perfect day to eat outside. While setting the table, Emi got too close to the infamous Jumping Cholla. I don’t think it actually jumps, but just a little brush against this cactus will result in a piece of the plant coming loose and attaching itself to the unlucky victim 🙂 She wasn’t injured too badly, just a bruised pride 🙂

We really like Desert Trails RV Park. They even have food trucks that come three days a week, a different one each day. Monday is cheesecake day featuring Sarge’s Cheesecakes 🙂 Emi’s favorite day 🙂

The coolest thing that has happened thus far during our travels is…wait for it…I won a fantasy championship!! I’m serious 🙂 I won a title last year, but this year was extra special because it was in my premier league which I haven’t won in 10 years. Time to celebrate!!

Tucson has lots of great cycling routes. I rode Gates Pass which is a nice climb with some amazing views of the city, Tucson Mountain Park, and Saguaro National Park. Alot of pro riders use it for hill training. They passed me like I was going the other direction 🙂 During the first part of the ride, the road is rough and my top tube bag which is only held shut with velcro came open and my snack bars and wallet flew out on to the road. Not the first time this has happened, but the first time there was a car behind me and they of course somehow managed to run over the snack bars, wallet, everything. Ugh. My credit cards all broke into multiple pieces, even my driver’s license has a nice cut in it. Oh well. I picked everything up out of the road, threw it all in my jersey pocket, and kept on riding and completed the ride. And then that top tube bag went right into the trash. I ordered a new one with a zipper which keeps things much more secure 🙂

We made a weekend trip up to Phoenix to visit friends. Our good friends Nate and Martha, let us park the trailer along side their house which worked out great. We had alot of fun catching up with them and hanging out with their kids Lucca and Enzo. We did a dinner parties with friends all weekend — some of which we hadn’t seen in years. For me, true friends are the ones that even if you haven’t seen them in a few years, it feels only like a week has gone by. A really enjoyable weekend.