Monday, November 13, 2017

Rak and Sim Visit - November 2017

Keith, Rak and Ria - Camelback
We were excited to have Rakesh, Simran and Ria visit us in Scottsdale - we are too often the ones freeloading off them in San Francisco!

They arrived on the Friday night at 8pm.  Keith picked them up at the airport so that Shawna could cook and have dinner on the table when we got to the house - that way we only ate late, not crazy-late!  Shawna had prepared Moroccan meatball tagine with couscous which was delicious.  After dinner and three bottles of wine, we all headed to bed.

Saturday was a busy day.  After breakfast on the patio, we all drove to Camelback where Rakesh, Keith, and Ria jumped out for their trip of the morning.  It took 1.25 hours to get to the top of Camelback, and for the first time the trip, we hiked down Cholla Trail, taking the usual 2.5 hours for the full trip.  Shawna and Simran drove over to the Desert Botanic Gardens to walk around there - there was a chili and chocolate festival so they tasted a few things and bought some salsa.  They stopped by The Sanctuary after the gardens and then picked up the hikers - with perfect timing.

Shawna and Simran - Botanic Gardens
Lunch was at the Cornish Pasty Company because...well, that's what we always do!  It was delicious as always, and got us revved up for the next stop - Top Golf.  Rakesh and Simran were reticent to do the golf thing, but once they started playing they saw the light!  It was a fun 1.5 hours of play time, with Rakesh winning, Shawna second, Simran third, and Keith and Ria bringing up the end.  That said, no one made themselves proud.... With Simran coming in third, she proclaimed herself as being 'really good at golf - only hindered by her golf shoulder'!  Needless to say, we had a lot of laughs critiquing each of our golf swings!

Botanic Gardens
After golf, we went home and jumped in the pool for a swim.  Following that, we all had a nap before showering and getting ready for dinner.  Dinner was at Barrio Café Gran Reserva.  It was a tasting menu which 4 of us had (including wine).  The food was very tasty, but the service was super-slow and the waiter did not bother to tell us that one of the dishes was being substituted.  That said, it was still really enjoyable.

Decorated Palm Tree outside of Barrio Cafe
Sunday was a really lazy day.  Shawna made tostadas for brunch, which was accompanied by mimosas.  We had cheese and crackers with gin & tonics and Moscow mules in the afternoon and played a game of Pictionary (boys against girls and we ended up tied in two games) - we determined that some of us had better golf swings than drawing which is not saying much!  We went to Pizzeria Bianco for dinner and then dropped them off at the airport - we were in bed, wrecked, before 8pm!

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Artin and Margaret Visit - Oct 2017

ATV Tour: Kelly, Margaret, Keith, Shawna, Kate and Keith
Kate was planning on attending a conference in Scottsdale and since the conference was close to our house, she decided to stay at our house for the week.  Keith was also able to come out for the weekend thanks to JoAnna who offered to watch their kids for a few days.  Separately, Margaret had planned a hiking trip to the Grand Canyon with her friend Kelly and thus they stayed at our house for one night as well overlapping with the Artins.

McDowell Preserve: Shawna and Kate
Kate arrived on Monday. Keith picked her up at the airport and we had dinner at home - Shawna had made some Indian food.  Since Kate was still on East Coast time, we did not stay up late.  Kate's conference ran from Tuesday to Friday mid-day.  She had activities in the evenings except for Thursday evening when she and Shawna went out to dinner at Herb Box, sharing a yummy vegetarian sampler and salmon dish.

Camelback: Keith, Kate and Keith
On Friday, Shawna and Kate went for a two hour hike in the afternoon at McDowell Preserve.  It was quite hot but still a nice hike.  Once home, they took a quick dip into the pool to cool off before getting ready.  They picked up Keith A at the airport while Keith D went over to Barrio Cafe straight from work to put our names in so that we would not have too long of a wait once we arrived (Barrio does not take reservations).  Once we arrived, they seated us right away!  We shared several dishes - guacamole, stuffed pepper, pork, filet and chicken mole.  While they were all tasty, we thought the filet was the best!  After dinner, we returned home and went to bed as we had an early and long day the next day.

Cornish Pasty: Keith, Shawna, Kate and Keith
On Saturday, we had a quick breakfast at home and then went to Camelback to do our usual hike.  Everyone made it to the top except for Shawna who turned around about 3/4 of the way.  After the hike, we had lunch at our usual spot - Cornish Pasty!  We then drove straight to the ATV tour with Desert Wolf Tours where Margaret and Kelly met us.  This was our fourth time doing the tour so Shawna did not drive, letting the others do all of the driving.  We had a great time and got some good photos!

After the tour, we returned home, swam for a while to wash off all of the dust from the tour and then got ready for the evening.  Keith A wanted to catch up with a high school friend of his who lives in the area, so we invited him and his wife (Scott and Liza) to join us for dinner at our house - since Margaret and Kelly were also joining us for the evening, we thought it would be more social to host everyone.  We grilled flank steak and sausage and then also made Mexican corn, sweet potato stackers and roasted cauliflower.  Liza brought dessert which was a very tasty cream cheese sopapilla.  We stayed up quite late chatting (until about 11:30) when Kate had to finally say it was time to call it a night!

ATV Tour: Keith and Margaret
On Sunday, Shawna made chorizo, egg and corn/bean tostadas for breakfast.  Margaret and Kelly left around 8:30 to drop Margaret off at the airport and for Kelly to drive back to Denver.  We hung out on the back patio with Keith and Kate until 10:30 when Keith drove them to the airport.

It was so nice to have the Artins visit and to see Margaret and Kelly (even though their visit was short)!
ATV Tour: Keith, Kate and Keith

Monday, April 24, 2017

Ginger and Michael Visit - April 2017

On top of Camelback
We were excited that Shawna's childhood friend Ginger and her husband Michael decided to visit us and make a tour of the area.  We were shocked that for their 10 day trip they decided to DRIVE!  After leaving Louisiana Thursday evening, they arrived at our house on Friday night at 9pm!

Hiking Up Camelback
We were both traveling the week prior, with Keith landing at 5:30pm and Shawna at 8:30pm.  Keith mad it home on time - with enough room to spare to head to the store and also tidy up the house a bit.  Ginger and Michael arrived as planned, so they all had a couple of beers waiting for Shawna to land.  Unfortunately her plane was delayed - though the upside was that we had a couple more beers as we waited up for her!  Once Shawna arrive, we chatted a bit more and then went to bed.

Pinnacle Peak Hike
The next morning was a relaxing start - we decided to hike Pinnacle Peak to ease the guests into AZ hiking.  Because we started late, it was a bit blazing hot while we hiked.  On the way home, we stopped by Toms Thumb Fresh Market for BBQ.  This place is known for amazing BBQ and is actually a gas station as well.  Keith went in with a lot of skepticism, but his snobbery was shown up by it being really good food and a great environment.  The BBQ took a while so we had a couple of beers and then ate lunch there.  After a quick swim back at the house, we showered and then headed out to Four Peaks for the brewery tour (the same one we did with Martin and Michelle).  We ended up having a private tour, and then had the obligatory 2 free beers after with several small tastings of different beers.  From there, we went to Culinary Dropout for what ended up being a very early dinner.  We started with the pretzel and cheese dip for an appetizer and then shared the roasted salmon for an entree.  The food was tasty and while we were early, it was still quite lively at the restaurant.

Four Peaks Brewery
On Sunday, we were up at 5:30am so we could leave at 6:30am to hike Camelback - we wanted an early start to beat the heat.  Yet again, we lucked out and got a parking spot right at the trail which saved us from driving to Keith's work, parking there and taking an Uber to the hike.  We all made it to the top - Ginger in particular liked it because of the climbing component.  From there, we went straight to the Cornish Pasty Shop for our lunch (our go to place after hiking Camelback) - our Louisiana guests loved it as much as we do!  We had the usual - split the greek salad and a pasty.  We then went home, swam, cleaned up again, and went to Top Golf for our 2pm "tee time".  Michael is a great golfer and thought the concept of beer and a sofa for between shots was pretty good.  Shawna ended up doing pretty good as well - beating Keith on the second round.  We returned home for more pool time (while Keith took a nap).  Shawna made guacamole and chips for an appetizer and then we made dinner at home - grilled flank steak and sausage, Mexican corn and sweet potato stackers.  We had plans to compete in a few rounds of karaoke following dinner but we were all exhausted from the day's activities that we went to bed shortly after dinner.

Cornish Pasty
Enjoying the Pool
On Monday, Keith had to go to work and then fly out to Montana that afternoon, but Shawna took the day off to spend one more day with Ginger and Michael.  We got up early again and went to hike Tom's Thumb.  We made it most of the way to the top but turned around at the saddle as everyone was getting hungry.  We picked up a salad for lunch at Mad Greens and ate it at home followed by a quick swim.  In the afternoon, we did the ATV tour with Desert Wolf Tours - it was great because we ended up with a private tour.  The three of us were in one vehicle with the guide in another vehicle.  Michael drove most of the time with Ginger driving the last leg of the tour.  They really enjoyed it!  We were quite dusty from the ride so we returned home for another shower and then had dinner at Blanco Tacos - sharing guacamole and chips for an appetizer and then tacos for dinner.  The food was very good and the restaurant has a nice open and light decor.  We were in bed as soon as we got home as we all had an early morning the next day.

Tom's Thumb
ATV Tour
Ginger and Michael left early on Tuesday morning around 6am and drove up to Sedona for the day and then on to the Grand Canyon for three nights.  They planned to camp there and do some more hiking - Michael joked that he his hike in the Grand Canyon would be more relaxing than the hikes we did in Scottsdale!  We really enjoyed having them visit - they are already talking about a return trip and we look forward to hosting them again soon!

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Bob and Ginny Visit - March 2017

Pinnacle Peak Hike
This weekend was Part Three of Team Phoenix visiting: Peter in January, Jordan last week, and now Bob and Ginny.  Not to mention Jim and Maryann last fall!  Bob and Ginny were in Sedona for a week at the Hyatt as part of their timeshare - they had visited a decade earlier and loved the place.  So they tacked on a couple of extra days and stayed with us at the end of their trip.

They did not arrive until Saturday afternoon, which actually enabled us to get a heap of work stuff done before they came.  Since Shawna was cooking that night, we never actually left the house: just chatted until dinner time and then called it a night at about 9pm.

Sunday was a bit more active.  After breakfast we went to Pinnacle Peak for a walk.  We were able to make about 1.25 miles out, then turned around so we got a decent hike in.  It was already getting warmer, but the desert flower colors were gorgeous.  We went back to the house for lunch (a simple salad on the patio), then Bob and Ginny went to Taliesin West themselves since we have already been.  They came back in time for a shower before we left for an early dinner at Talavera, the restaurant at the Four Seasons.  It was a delicious dinner. 

Keith had a flight out very early Monday morning, then Bob and Ginny left shortly after that.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Jordan Visit - March 2017

At the Botanic Gardens
Jordan was the first or our godkid/niece/nephew visits last year (in Baltimore).  Since none of the other kids were turning 12 this year, Jordan told us she was going to visit us in Phoenix.  How can we argue with that?  So, we worked with Peter and Jen on a weekend that would work for both them and us - which ended up being the tail end of Jordan's spring break. 


Camelback
Keith had some important meetings so Shawna was able to pick up Jordan from her 1:30pm flight.  They then went straight to Keith's office to pick him up so we could all head over to the Desert Botanic Gardens.  This was the third time we have visited, but first time in the spring so it was at its most colorful - just gorgeous.  It was a couple of hours to walk around there.  We had planned dinner at Pizzeria Bianco, which is listed at one of the top 5 pizza places in the US, and is also in central Phoenix.  The restaurant does not take reservations so we headed over at 4:30pm.  There was not a table inside, so we went to the bar next door for a beer as we waited for the next available table.  It was not too long a wait.  Dinner was delicious - we started with the Spiedini (fontina cheese wrapped in prosciutto on a bed of arugula), then shared two 12-inch pizzas: the Rosa with Prosciutto (red onion, parm, rosemary, and pistachios) as well as the Margherita.  The desserts were not inspiring so we decided to grab an ice cream at Sweet Republic on Shea before heading to the house.  We tried to get tickets to the new Beauty and the Beast but it was sold out, so we instead watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on demand at home.

Top Golf
Saturday was a pretty booked day.  The first stop was Camelback, with a 9am start time.  We were lucky to find a space in the parking lot so were able to start as planned.  It was a pretty hot day so Shawna turned back about 1/2 way.  Keith and Jordan kept going and made it to the top in record time - less than 60 minutes.  Of course the next stop was the Cornish Pasty Shop, with lunch on the outdoor bar stools.  Since we were done earlier than planned, we bought some dressing to go and went back to the house for a swim, with Keith taking a nap after his two beers over lunch!  We left the house again at 2:15 for our 2:30pm slot at Top Golf.  Thank goodness we bought the slot - it was a 2.5 hour wait if we had not.  We played 3 rounds in a couple of hours - it was a lot of fun.  Shawna and Jordan got some good shots in, and Keith had his best day golfing ever.  We had an early dinner reservation so we changed in the parking lot before driving to La Hacienda in the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort.  The food was incredibly tasty - we started out with a trio of guacamole, then shared the Carnitas Hacienda and the Tampiquena.  Like Friday night, we skipped dessert at the restaurant and instead went to Menchie's in Kierland.  Back at home, we got comfortable and then rented Nerve on demand.

Dinner at La Hacienda
Jordan needed to get home at a reasonable time on Sunday, so we had booked a 10:30am flight - so after breakfast and chatting on the patio, Shawna drove Jordan to the airport.  It was a fun weekend!


Monday, February 27, 2017

Kim and Tom Visit - Feb 2017

Snarrs and Dodds on top of Camelback
Kim, Tom, and the kids had two spring breaks this year (Feb and April) so decided to use one of them to come to Scottsdale to see Tom's brother as well as us.  Of course, with the swimming commitments of the kids, there were a few complications in the logistics.

They all flew in at about midnight on Saturday.  With 5 of them we both had to take both cars to pick up the whole gang.  Oddly, it was raining as they arrived, and the week they were here ended up being one of the coolest on record.  We went straight to our house to put the kids to bed while we had a few beers with Kim and Tom.  The next morning we all got up, packed up, and immediately headed out to meet Tom's brother so we could drive up to John's cabin in Happy Jack.  It took about 2 hours door to door - and we got to drive through some reasonably heavy snow as we went over the pass to get to the cabin.  The cabin is in a subdivision designed for log cabin houses.  When we arrived, Alicia was there waiting for us, along with their three girls Tori, Cassie, and Maddie as well as Alicia's brother-in-law.  For lunch, we had burgers and hot dogs. We went for a walk in the afternoon, and then played some games before dinner.  For dinner, we had fajitas and guacamole.  The Sunday was just relaxing over breakfast, then we had to head home so Keith could get Shawna to the airport for a flight to Chicago.

Opening Day of Spring Training
Kim and Tom and the kids took the 4Runner and did a trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon until Thursday night - including a helicopter flight over the canyon that was a surprise for the kids.  On Thursday night, Keith met them at Macayo's on Scottsdale Ave for Tom's birthday dinner.   We then came back to our house - where Shawna arrived after her trip to both Chicago and Florida.

Friday was a pretty packed day.  We started by hiking Camelback - all the kids made it no problem at all.  We even got parking spaces at the trail head to Shawna's happiness!  We wanted to have lunch at the Pasty Shop but there was not really enough time before we needed to be at the next stop: Opening Day of Spring Training for the Giants vs Reds at Scottsdale Stadium.  There are 15 teams that hold their spring training in the Cactus League, and it was pretty cool to go to such a small stadium to see the game.  There was plenty of food and drinks - and we had tickets in the outfield on the grass.  We left the game a bit early to stop by the store and start getting dinner ready. 

Riley and Ryan Horseback Riding
Dinner was a cookout at our house - we grilled steaks and sausage for Kim, Tom, and kids as well as John, Alicia, and their three kids.  We started with guac/chips as well as tuna poke by the pool, then ate dinner inside (including the grilled meats, mexican quinoa and mexican corn), and wrapped up the evening with the inaugural use of our cobbled-together karaoke machine.  John's kids were really good, and while Riley was shy to start, she was owning the microphone by the end of the evening!

On Saturday, Tom had to leave to take Kaley to a swim meet, so Keith took them to the airport early in the morning.  Sadly, Shawna started feeling really poorly, which ended up being the beginning of her being sick for 7 days.  So the rest of the weekend was mostly Keith, Kim, Ryan, and Riley.  On Saturday, we hiked Tom's Thumb and then had pizza at 1000 Degrees pizza before going back to the house for a swim.  We ordered in dinner, watched a movie with the kids, and then headed out for a 9:30pm flight at iFly.  It was all of our first time to do it - really cool! 

Kim Horseback Riding
On Sunday, Kim decided we'd go horseback riding at Macdonalds Ranch.  It was a pretty cool hour ride - we ended up as a private group since no one else was scheduled at the same time.  The rest of the day was relaxing - with dinner ordered in with a movie again.  On Monday morning, Keith had a flight out for work and Kim and the kids left at 6am so we all Ubered to the airport together.



Sunday, February 5, 2017

Martin and Michelle Visit - February 2017

Keith, Michelle and Martin on the Flight to Scottsdale
Martin and Michelle came to visit us in Scottsdale (Keith and Martin used to work together at Aimco).  While it was a quick 36 hour whirlwind visit, we were excited to host them.

Keith was in Denver the week before so was able to get on the same flight from Denver to Phoenix on the Friday afternoon as Martin and Michelle.  He saw them as they were sharing a drink at Root Down, and all sat together on the plane - helping burn Keith's Southwest drink coupons.  We Ubered to the house in time for a bottle of wine before heading out to meet Tim and Jodi for dinner at Spiga.  Dinner was delicious - the baratta appetizer was great and we shared the the caprese salad and short ribs over polenta.  After returning home, we shared another couple of bottles of wine, with Keith bailing out and going to bed before the others!

On Top of Camelback
Saturday was a busy day.  The first stop was the traditional trip up Camelback.  Like the previous weekend, we dropped the car at Keith's work and Ubered back and forth to the Echo Canyon start.  After the hike, we (of course!) headed over to the Cornish Pasty Company for lunch.  The waitress knew our order before we could even tell her - a tell tale sign that we are becoming regulars there!  The next stop of the day was Four Peaks Brewery in Tempe.  We shared a couple of beers before we started the 2:30pm brewery tour which was led by a guy who ran the operations.  It was probably the most informative brewery tour we have been on.  The tour was only $10 each and comes with 2 free beers afterward.  We were able to sit on the outdoor patio enjoying the beers before driving back to the house.

Brewery Tour at Four Peaks
We had only a bit off time to shower and get ready for dinner - but enough time to share a final bottle of wine and show them our Uganda/Rwanda gorilla photos.  Dinner was at Ocotillo - while the food was delicious, the service that evening was spotty - they had run out of the wine that Michelle wanted and one of the entrees we had ordered so we quickly had to place another order.  We shared a vegetable dish and crudo for appetizers and then Keith and Shawna shared the pork tenderloin for an entree and also tasted some of the pasta that Martin had ordered.  The restaurant is very lively with seating options both inside and out.

Shelly had to be back in Denver for work Sunday morning so they left the house by Uber at 6:30 am.  We used the rest of the day to catch up both personal items and work. 

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Cara and Chad Visit - January 2017

ATV Tour of the Desert: Keith, Shawna, Cara, Chad
We were excited to host Cara and Chad for a weekend.  They arrived at 5:30 pm on Friday from Denver, so Shawna Ubered to Keith's work so we could go straight to the airport to pick them up.  Jodi and Tim wanted to meet early for dinner (we joked that we would get the senior citizen's special) so we drove straight to Citizen Public House for dinner where Tim and Jodi had arrived just a few minutes before us.  Dinner was delicious - we started with burrata for the table and we split the yellowfin crudo and short ribs for our dinner.  Rather than calling it a night totally early, we walked over to the Kazimierz wine bar which is hidden in an alley with no sign really showing the way.  We had a couple of glasses of wine there while Cara had her second dinner of the evening - cheese fondue!  Shawna regretted this stop the next day when we climbed Camelback.

On top of Camelback
It was early to rise on Saturday as we had a packed day in front of us.  The first stop was Camelback.  The parking lot was full when we arrived so we had to drive to Keith's office, drop off the car, and then get an Uber back to the trail head.  It was only in the 40s as we started the hike but we heated up as we hiked and as the sun came out.  We made the round trip in about 2.5 hours.  As is the new tradition, we then went to the Cornish Pasty Shop for lunch for a beer, salad, and pasty.  It was then a 45 minute drive to Desert Wolf Tours for the ATV ride through the desert.  It is a cool way to see the AZ desert driving along hilly, rocky back roads.  Cara, Chad and Keith all took turns at the wheel but Shawna was too chicken to give it a try.  We drove back to the house for a shower before getting an Uber to Barrio Café for dinner.  We had not eaten there before but it was on our list to try.  They don't take reservations so we had about an hour wait or so - we were able to kill the time easily in the bar over margaritas and beer.  For dinner, we started with the Esquites and Queso Fundido, and then shared the Chiles en Nogada.  The food was delicious - definitely worth the wait.

Who are those bandits?
Sunday morning was a tight schedule but it all worked perfectly.  We left the house at 8am so we could meet Jodi at the Toms Thumb trail head at 8:30.  The walk to the top and back was a perfect 2.5 hours with gorgeous views of huge granite boulders along the way.  On the way back to the house, we grabbed lunch to go at Mad Greens, then back to the house to shower and pack.  The Uber picked us all up at 12:45pm since our flights were at the same time as Cara and Chad's.  Even better - Keith was going to Denver and Shawna arranged it so she was on the same Denver flight as she went on to Hartford.

Tom's Thumb Hike: Keith, Shawna, Jodi, Cara, Chad

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Peter Visit - January 2017


Keith and Peter - Pinnacle Peak Hike
Keith's high school friend Peter was the first official guest for the '17 tourist season!  Peter was to arrive late on the Friday night, and with the flight 30 mins late Keith did not get him to the house from the airport until almost midnight.  It was immediately to bed since the weekend was fully booked.

ATV Tour
We were to climb Camelback on Saturday morning but the weather was cold with the chance of a bit of rain (which was terrible since Peter had come to the desert from Texas!).  So we changed the hike to Pinnacle Peak, with just Keith and Peter doing this one so that Shawna could catch up on some work.  After that 1.5 hour hike we returned home for lunch - Shawna had a delicious salad at the ready for us.  Then Keith and Peter headed back out to Desert Wolff Tours - ATVs based on the Israeli Defense Force machines.  The fun part was that these are self-drive cars - so though we were on a tour of 8 cars, we had control over our own.  The starting point was 30 minutes from the house and the tour was 3 hours.  It was then back to the house for a shower and a glass of wine/cheese before we ate dinner at Barrio Queen in Old Town.  The restaurant does not take reservations so we had a drink at the bar as we waited the 45 minutes for the table.  The food was delicious - we started with the Queso Fundido and then had the Cochinita Pibil for our entrée - just fantastic.

Dinner at Barrio Queen
Sunday was a better day so we all hiked Camelback - Shawna had wrapped up her work so was able to join.  The parking lot was full and the cop up front was only letting a car in as one left - but we lucked out that just as we arrived a car was leaving.  We made it up and back in 2:20.  It was certainly easier this time at 50 degrees vs our first time at almost 100 degrees with Kerstin the previous September!  The next stop was the Cornish Pasty Company, which we have decided will be our standard place to go after a trip up Camelback.  The beer was extra good after the hike.  Not wanting to go back to the house immediately, we dropped by McFate Brewing for another beer which was a really cool place.  We all showered before Keith and Peter headed back out - first stopping by Octane Raceway for 3 laps before going to the airport.  

Atop Camelback
It was a great weekend - and we used it to lock in Jordan's visit in March.  With her, Jim and Maryanne already visiting, and Bob and Ginny coming in March, Chez Dodds is becoming Chez Phoenix!

View on ATV Tour