Time well wasted

Saturday, March 22, 2008
The Desert
First day hike:

This is Superstition Mountain. It was a 6 or 7 mi hike round trip with an elevation change of about 1100ft.



It was one of the bluest skies I've ever seen.



Arizona was a lot greener than I expected.




It was a good sky day.



This was the view from as far up as we got. We were probably about 1/3 the way up the mountain when it started getting steep, Ron was getting tired, and the sun was starting to go down, so we left the rest for another day.




On our way back to the car. Sun starting to set over the desert.

Second day run:



Still not used to the time adjustment I woke up earlier than I needed to and went for a jog. There was a river/stream nearby with a path along it.



Palm trees in the desert - who knew?

Day 4 hike:



Camelback mountain is basically in the middle of Phoenix. There's city on both sides of the mountain. 3 mi round trip hike, 1000ft elevation change - it was steep at parts.



We made it to the top of this one. Glorious view.
posted by Brian @ 8:11 PM   3 comments
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Opener
Arizona is pretty sweet. It's my first trip to the SW of the country and I've got to say I like it. Weather is fantastic. People are fun. My first night I did my usual routine in a new city. Took some pictures around where I'm staying - this at my hotel.



I then proceeded to Village Inn for my conference-opening late night coffee and pie. Google maps once again let me down in their directions to the nearest Village Inn, it was actually a mere 1/2 mi from my hotel. I took a bus to northern Mesa before realizing this. However my bus ride was quite fun. I was the only person at first. Then entered Sam and Lily. They were obviously not acquainted. Lily sat the row behind me on the other side, noticed the hog on the back of my hat and started a conversation about AR (where her daughter lives). She is a nurse in Mesa, has lived here for most of her life and loves the weather.

At some point the driver of the bus jumped in and started talking, found out he's from Springfield, MO which is very close to where I grew up. He was a little scary. But very nice considering the bus was apparently on a different route than I thought due to construction of a light rail. He drove a block out of his way to get me closer to where I wanted to go (which still happened to be no where near where I actually wanted to go). I'd put Sam around my age.

I would have taken pictures of my new friends as I had my camera out but Sam is the kinda guy that is about the size where people start to stare. He was a very big guy. And I did not want to offend/embarrass him. Our conversation was short. He asked me if I knew a flower that started with a C that was red. Carnation came to mind, but I think they're pink. And then calla lily came to mind - I was only about 50% sure that was even a flower. This was right before I got off, so I told Sam my only ideas and wished him luck on his inquiry.

I walked 4 or 5 blocks to find no Village Inn. I started walking back to my hotel and was almost there when I found it (it was actually right across the street from where Sam and Lily got on but I was not paying attention). My waitress brought me an entire hobble of coffee, which meant one of three things, either:



a) I looked like I needed a cup of coffee like Kiera Knightly needs a sandwich
b) I look way too awesome to be coffee/pieing it on my own (spell check did not disagree with my spelling of pieing so I'm assuming there's an alternate definition, but I am referring to the eating of pie)
c) Bitch did not want to get me a refill

The pie was, as usual, fantastic.

I then went to the liquor store next door and grabbed a 4 pack of Dogfish Head IPA. According to Esquire it's the best IPA in America (according to it's own label). It's not that great.


Yesterday we had a meeting from 9:30-10:30am. The rest of the day was Ron and Brian's most excellent desert adventure. Here's a teaser. More (and better) to follow.

posted by Brian @ 10:40 PM   3 comments
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Just when you thought it was spring...
Saturday and Sunday I wore shorts and a t-shirt because it got up to the mid 70's both days. 2 days later we missed school due to snow. Yesterday it warmed up to the 50's and looks like we've got more snow coming today and tomorrow. In the words of Relient K "Lately the weather has been so bipolar and consequently so have I."

Probably what it's going to look like here tomorrow


As much as I love snow days I'm really just ready for spring. The warm weather makes me happy. I'm ready for bbq's, baseball games, having a beer on the balcony of Hog Haus, and nights spent hanging out on the porch. It's been cold, dreary and gray for far too long. And due to this picture



I've realized I seriously need a tan. Thanks Shehan.
posted by Brian @ 8:55 AM   2 comments
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