Missing home

Well it was a pretty lonely fathers day out here, the girls all called but i was still alone for dinner and missing Florida. So I'm posting some pics of my favorite places and wishing for cool water to escape the heat. It's 109 now, and the bike riding is good going in at 7:00am it's only in the low 80s. Coming home, the pavement is 150 plus, so everything is hot to the touch and add in the hot car exhaust it's a challenge. I've gotten a long sleeve sun shirt to ride with, and that helps keep the sun off. No cloud cover, ever! The sun is blazing hot and dry heat or not, 110 is 110, you broil under the intense sun. I've purchased insulate bottles the past week and can keep water cool almost an hour, though it's always gone by that time. Jump the bus when I start feeling overheated, it's great that they have such good transit here.

Looking forward to going home for 4th of July weekend, after that only 3 weeks til the big move. Looking at houses to rent sunday in the ahwatukee area, that's where the best high schools are. Not much luck selling the house, lots of lookers but no offer afters 35 days. We just dropped the price and if it doesn't sell in July we'll rent it out for a year or two. Ruth is going to ride out with me and the pets, towing the car about July 26 (my birthday) to 29th. We should move in that weekend. Ahwatukee is only 5-9 miles to my job with a bus a good bit of the way so that should work out and enable me to keep riding every day.

Gracie is visiting this weekend with her friend Mitchell. We are going to the Grand Canyon Saturday to hike a bit and goof around, it's about 225 miles from here and with 110+ heat, the high 85 at the rim will be welcome. It's at 7,000 feet elevation so should be cool early and late, lows get to the 40s still this time of year while we fry out here in the desert.

 Oh Ahwatukee is right the other side of South Mountains from Phoenix, there's a big preserve with lots of mountain bike trails. I'm looking forward to getting my mountain bike out and getting back in the shape required to do some serious off road riding.

Please log in and comment if you want, I always like to hear from others.
geoff

June in Phoenix

64th st n camelback mountain

rio salado bike path from tempe to my apt

catchin the light rail at priest dr n washington

papago park

I'm getting used to the weather here. It's different from Orlando. Both are hot, but in Orlando you bake, and the humidity and cloud cover make you sweat a lot more. The heat presses down on you, even in the shade. Here, you sear, like in a frying pan. The ground and everything gets so hot because there's never any clouds, it's just hot strong sun all the time. I ride home about 4-5pm, usually the heat of the day, and it's been around 100 lately (they tell me it will be 115 pretty soon). Everything is so bloomin hot, though there is a steady breeze all the time that helps, but the sun is sharp hot and you can only take so much. I rode 35 miles for about 3 hours Saturday looking around at Ahwatukee, that's the area on the other side of the South Mountains we're going to live in, because of the schools and it's less than 7 miles to my work location. Luckily I got in about 2:30 just as I was starting to get dizzy from the heat. Jumped in the pool and cooled off right away. Also made a trip up north to Indian School road to a place called Sprouts, a grocery w organic vegs and lots of bulk things. I started eating quinoa and like it better than rice or noodles, so I usually stir fry once a week and make enough for 3-4 servings, which I freeze. Living alone and cooking for one is not the most fun all the time, so that's what I do then nuke frozen leftovers for a couple days before I cook again. Make a big bowl of salad for 4 days and that makes for a quick start when I get home from work.

2 months already! But still about 46 days till we're all here in a new place. I enjoy the quiet and getting to bed early most nights, no tv, reading lots of books and getting movies from the excellent library downtown (that's another Saturday morning trip, and they have a big farmers market a block or two away). I likegoing downtown because it's on the rail and if it get's hot or I get all loaded up with bags I just hop the train it's only a mile from the apt. I've been to the Heard Museum of Native American Culture, it's really good, and the art museum looks pretty big, that should be a nice trip when I get around to it. Also the Pueblo Grande museum is near by it's on the site of a 800 yrs ago indian settlement, right next to Sky Harbor Airport, which is about a mile from here to the southwest. Try to be more regular, see you soon!