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!