John and Jo Visit - November 2016

Kicking Off the Weekend at Cornish Pasty

John and JoAnna had spent the previous weekend with us and had been to Las Vegas during the week for a conference Jo was attending.  Keith was on the west coast for budget reviews while Shawna had to make a trip to Hartford for meetings.  We both returned to Phoenix on Thursday night at the same time - we were able to Uber home together. 

Keith was off the Friday for Veterans Day and Shawna took a half day.  John and Jo's flight arrived at 11am so we picked them up and went straight to the Cornish Pasty Company for lunch where we had salads, pasties, and beer to kick off the weekend.  The next stop of the day was Top Golf.  Keith had played at the one in Las Vegas a few weeks earlier.  There was a 20 minute wait for a bay so we grabbed a beer at the bar before being escorted to where we'd play.  The concept is really cool: 3 stories of golf bays with a huge driving range, with all balls tracked by RFID.  Plus, waiter service to bring food and drinks - hard to beat!  We stopped by the grocery store on the way home to buy stuff for the Saturday night dinner, then had a nap.  We cancelled the formal dinner reservation and instead just bar hopped in Old Town Scottsdale, hitting Craft 64 (where we had pizza), Old Town Tortilla Factory (chips and queso), and finally The Beverly.

Lovely Pic at Craft 64

On Saturday morning, we all went on the Pink Jeep Tour, Scottsdale Edition, in the McDowell Mountains where we did the Sidewinder Ridge route.  It was just the four of us on the tour so it became a private tour.  It took about 30 minutes to drive to meet the jeep and then another 20 minutes in the jeep until we got to the trailhead.  It was quite different scenery than the Sedona edition but interesting none the less.  The tour was three hours.  On the way back, we stopped by Salt and Lime for lunch on the way home.  We had queso for the table and we split three tacos.  Lunch was OK but not worth a re-visit.

Pink Jeep Tour - Sidewinder Ridge

We grabbed some beer at the store on the way home to re-load for the evening.  It was a quick nap before getting up for a swim to wake us up - the pool was nice and warm from the new heater - though now the outside temperature was a bit too chilly!  JoAnna invited Lesley over for dinner, a woman who had once dated Jo's dad.  We stayed at the house and grilled: homemade tuna poke for an appetizer and then sausages, flank steak, corn, and sweet potato stacks for dinner - all finished off with some delicious ice cream.

Relaxing at Chez Dodds

We had to get John and JoAnna to the airport on Sunday morning for their 10am flight, then the rest of the day was filled by catching up with work as well as chores!