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!