Happy New Years Eve Eve!

After a noisy night, Tim and I woke up in the Scottsdale desert surrounded by rain puddles.  The storms that soaked California  yesterday tore through Arizona.  We were both woken up last night by a blinding flash of lightening that was followed within milliseconds by a loud crack of thunder.  Judging by the time between light and sound, we figure the lightening touched down approximately 4 feet from the van.

Red Sky in the morning. A warning of things to come.

We jumped out of bed, disconnected the computers from the outlets,  lowered the top and hunkered down.   It was a cozy night in Frank’s “downstairs”.   There we had a surprisingly restful night despite the racket outside.  We were tired after our last few days.

After a wonderful Christmas weekend with Ann and Scott, Tim and I left to explore Scottsdale desert camping on Monday.   A few miles out of town, we discovered the Tonto National Forest where we could camp for 14 days with a $20 permit, access miles of bike riding and work with 4 bars of 3G cell service.   We found our new home.

Surrounded by Saguaro cactus, we settled into desert living.  Our first bike ride was a brutal reminder that it had been 2 months since we’d been on a saddle, but it was so good to ride again.   Riding in the desert takes practice and you don’t want to go off trail.  I was glad that the dozen cactus spikes I picked up on the way didn’t completely pop my tire.  I was able to make it back to the van before the tube was 100% flat.

By Wednesday, we had some errands to run so we drove down to Tempe and discovered a hip little coffee shop, The Cartel Coffee Lab.  Every cup of coffee is brewed by hand as the barista slowly pours hot water through the grounds.  The service isn’t fast, but the coffee is delicious.  Even during Christmas break in a college town, this place was packed.

One 5 Guys Burger later, we were back in the desert at our traditional camp spot for the night.  That was when the storm hit.   After our loud night, we woke up to cold temperatures and dark skies.  Mountain bike rides were canceled.  We cranked up the heat in Frank as rain turned to snow outside.

Desert??

The snow didn’t last, but we decided it was time for a change of scenery.  We drove to Scottsdale on another coffee shop hunt.  During our search, we asked some locals for a recommendation.  They didn’t have a good coffee shop for us (we wound up at Starbucks) but they did tell us about another Scottsdale secret – Z Pizza.  From 2-4 this organic pizza shop sells $1 slices and $2 draft beers.   Tim and I know where we’ll be having lunch this week.

A Motto We Can Live By

We worked all afternoon and then returned to Ann and Scott’s.  Jeff, Mary Lou, Jason and Kyle Bourne are in town for New Years and we were excited to see them.  We’ll ring in the New Year here surrounded by great food, friends and stories.  Let it snow!