Sorry for the major delay in posting. The house we stayed in down in the valley had no internet service.
On Thursday, Christy and I headed down to Phoenix to pick up some friends flying in from Virginia. They had never been out west so it was quite the adventure. Things that are so normal for us, ie cactus, Native Americans etc, they found very interesting.
Being that I had to be back in Pinetop first thing Saturday morning for Little League Tryouts, we drove down separately. Arriving in Mesa, we parked my car, then Christy and I headed over to Sky Harbor to pick them up. I could not believe how hot it was. It was probably even more shocking to our friends flying in. When they left Virginia, it was 35 degrees and blowing snow and rain. When they landed in Phoenix, it was 91 degrees. :)
Jenny is a long time friend of Christys. They grew up together in Georgia until Christy moved to Flagstaff as an 8th grader. Jenny still has the Southern twang and could have her own comedy act. Things just seem to be funnier when they have that Southern redneck sound attached to them. :) Her husband Greg is a Chiropractor and own's two clinics, his private clinic plus one at Virginia Tech (yes he was there during the shooting).
I had never met Greg before and wasn't sure what to expect when they arrived. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about how it would go. As it usually goes, the worry was for nothing. We had a great time together. Everyone seemed very laid back and the conversations just moved right along. Jenny homeschools her 3 kids so it was interesting to hear how that goes. Greg's stories of some of his patients were nothing short of hilarious. He wasn't able to use names of course (as if I would know anyone on the East coast) but in 16 years of practicing, he has seen a wide range of people. The one I couldn't stop laughing about was when he said it was nothing out of the ordinary to have a "hooker"(not sure if there is a more professional title that they use now a days) walk in to be treated. For some reason, I just couldn't get this one out of my head. If your "turning tricks" to make ends meet, you must be doing pretty well if your making regular trips to the chiropractor. Oh and then there was the pole dancer............are you kidding me?I guess being a college town, there are going to be all types. I gotta say though, in all my years at NAU, I never saw one hooker or one pole dancer:) . Maybe I was hanging out at all the wrong places.............the library:) .
We didn't have much time to do a whole lot on Thursday, so after dropping off their baggage we decided to go eat. Ever eat at TQLA's? I never had before, but it was delicious. Greg and Jenny wanted TexMex and this was the best we could do. Yummmmm!!
Our original plans for Friday were to drive them up to Sedona. We thought they would love the Red Rocks and a little shopping. In then end though, we agreed that none of us wanted to spend that much time in the car. They wanted to see someplace with a "desert" setting, so we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens over by the Phoenix Zoo. The have the Spring Butterfly Exhibit going on so we thought that would be fun to see.
Being from Arizona, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy the Gardens but it was actually very interesting. The Butterfly Exhibit was very cool. My cellphone sucks at pictures but here's a few. It's much better in person and Greg took some great pictures that I'll post if I can get him to send me some copies.
I guess I'm a little naive to how many people enjoy this kind of stuff because I wasn't expecting much of a crowd, but surprisingly the place was packed. Mostly older people.....I thought to myself, the traffic must be good in Pinetop because all the seniors are down here.:) There were a few kids there, but unless your kid has a real love for the desert I wouldn't suggest taking them. They would be bored within the hour, but for us old people, it was interesting.
It was pretty warm so we stayed for about 2 hours then decided to go for lunch. The Wildflower Bread Factory..............if you get a chance to try out, you won't be disappointed. If you're a coffee drinker, I highly recommend the Wildflower Cappuccino. If they weren't so full of calories, I'd drink them all day long.
I won't bore you with the entire day, but to kill some time we decided to go drive to the top of South Mountain. As many times as I've ridden my bike up this, I had never driven it. I can see why,,,,that many switchbacks will make all your passengers car sick. I drove slow in hopes of easing the curves, so it seemed like it took forever to get to the top. As always though, it was beautiful at the top. It just never ceases to amaze me at how much you can see from up there.
The rest of the evening was spent with a little shopping at Arizona Mills and some good conversation. I had to leave at 5:30 the next morning so I called it a night about 10:00.
It was a bit sad to leave the beautiful weather. Upon leaving I stopped at Starbucks on the way out of town. At 6am there were people outside enjoying their coffee. I was so jealous. I got back to Pinetop around 9am and it was 51 degrees. Ugh!!!! I gotta say though, typically it's snowing during tryouts so I'm not complaining.
On Thursday, Christy and I headed down to Phoenix to pick up some friends flying in from Virginia. They had never been out west so it was quite the adventure. Things that are so normal for us, ie cactus, Native Americans etc, they found very interesting.
Being that I had to be back in Pinetop first thing Saturday morning for Little League Tryouts, we drove down separately. Arriving in Mesa, we parked my car, then Christy and I headed over to Sky Harbor to pick them up. I could not believe how hot it was. It was probably even more shocking to our friends flying in. When they left Virginia, it was 35 degrees and blowing snow and rain. When they landed in Phoenix, it was 91 degrees. :)
Jenny is a long time friend of Christys. They grew up together in Georgia until Christy moved to Flagstaff as an 8th grader. Jenny still has the Southern twang and could have her own comedy act. Things just seem to be funnier when they have that Southern redneck sound attached to them. :) Her husband Greg is a Chiropractor and own's two clinics, his private clinic plus one at Virginia Tech (yes he was there during the shooting).
I had never met Greg before and wasn't sure what to expect when they arrived. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about how it would go. As it usually goes, the worry was for nothing. We had a great time together. Everyone seemed very laid back and the conversations just moved right along. Jenny homeschools her 3 kids so it was interesting to hear how that goes. Greg's stories of some of his patients were nothing short of hilarious. He wasn't able to use names of course (as if I would know anyone on the East coast) but in 16 years of practicing, he has seen a wide range of people. The one I couldn't stop laughing about was when he said it was nothing out of the ordinary to have a "hooker"(not sure if there is a more professional title that they use now a days) walk in to be treated. For some reason, I just couldn't get this one out of my head. If your "turning tricks" to make ends meet, you must be doing pretty well if your making regular trips to the chiropractor. Oh and then there was the pole dancer............are you kidding me?I guess being a college town, there are going to be all types. I gotta say though, in all my years at NAU, I never saw one hooker or one pole dancer:) . Maybe I was hanging out at all the wrong places.............the library:) .
We didn't have much time to do a whole lot on Thursday, so after dropping off their baggage we decided to go eat. Ever eat at TQLA's? I never had before, but it was delicious. Greg and Jenny wanted TexMex and this was the best we could do. Yummmmm!!
Our original plans for Friday were to drive them up to Sedona. We thought they would love the Red Rocks and a little shopping. In then end though, we agreed that none of us wanted to spend that much time in the car. They wanted to see someplace with a "desert" setting, so we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens over by the Phoenix Zoo. The have the Spring Butterfly Exhibit going on so we thought that would be fun to see.
Being from Arizona, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy the Gardens but it was actually very interesting. The Butterfly Exhibit was very cool. My cellphone sucks at pictures but here's a few. It's much better in person and Greg took some great pictures that I'll post if I can get him to send me some copies.
Yes, I'm a guy, but the Butterflies were beautiful. What an amazing little creature.
This little guy was the star of the show. He was just cruising around, almost posing for the camera. Then suddenly he just sprawled out on the ground and just laid there enjoying the sun.
I guess I'm a little naive to how many people enjoy this kind of stuff because I wasn't expecting much of a crowd, but surprisingly the place was packed. Mostly older people.....I thought to myself, the traffic must be good in Pinetop because all the seniors are down here.:) There were a few kids there, but unless your kid has a real love for the desert I wouldn't suggest taking them. They would be bored within the hour, but for us old people, it was interesting.
It was pretty warm so we stayed for about 2 hours then decided to go for lunch. The Wildflower Bread Factory..............if you get a chance to try out, you won't be disappointed. If you're a coffee drinker, I highly recommend the Wildflower Cappuccino. If they weren't so full of calories, I'd drink them all day long.
I won't bore you with the entire day, but to kill some time we decided to go drive to the top of South Mountain. As many times as I've ridden my bike up this, I had never driven it. I can see why,,,,that many switchbacks will make all your passengers car sick. I drove slow in hopes of easing the curves, so it seemed like it took forever to get to the top. As always though, it was beautiful at the top. It just never ceases to amaze me at how much you can see from up there.
The rest of the evening was spent with a little shopping at Arizona Mills and some good conversation. I had to leave at 5:30 the next morning so I called it a night about 10:00.
It was a bit sad to leave the beautiful weather. Upon leaving I stopped at Starbucks on the way out of town. At 6am there were people outside enjoying their coffee. I was so jealous. I got back to Pinetop around 9am and it was 51 degrees. Ugh!!!! I gotta say though, typically it's snowing during tryouts so I'm not complaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment