AZ –– Phoenix, 8-22 March 2012

 

We went to Phoenix for baseball spring training.  Though this travel log focuses on our baseball experience, there are a few other interesting tid bits…read on!

We’ve talked to many people that have been to spring training and all of them loved it.  Sitting in the warm Arizona spring sun, and cheering for our Seattle Mariners sounded like a great way to spend two weeks.

My parents live in Castle Rock, CO, just south of Denver.  They are Rockies fans.  Arleen’s mom, Ellen, also cheers for the Rockies and Mariners, though she would much rather watch those stinky Yankees  .  Everybody was happy to be in Phoenix to see each other and the games.

The campground was a good deal, but was just ok.  Everything worked as it should.  It was fairly quiet and secure and in a decent location in North Phoenix that allowed us to get to the  games easily.  Our parents stayed at a decent hotel just a few blocks away.  We were so busy, we didn’t spend much time in the campground.  And though a friend from my last duty station got a hold of me, we weren’t able to hook up.  Sorry Jim!

Check out the weather our first week in Phoenix:

[03/11]  Sunny, with a high near 80. East wind around 7 mph becoming south.

[03/11]  Mostly clear, with a low around 52. West southwest wind between 4 and 7 mph.

[03/12]  Sunny, with a high near 82. East wind around 7 mph becoming south.

[03/12]  Mostly clear, with a low around 51. Light and variable wind.

[03/13]  Sunny, with a high near 82. East southeast wind between 5 and 7 mph.

[03/13]  Mostly clear, with a low around 54.

[03/14]  Sunny, with a high near 82.

[03/14]  Mostly clear, with a low around 52.

[03/15]  Sunny, with a high near 82.

[03/15]  Partly cloudy, with a low around 52.

[03/16]  Mostly sunny, with a high near 82.

[03/16]  Partly cloudy, with a low around 53.

[03/17]  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81.

PERFECT!

We settled into a routine:  Up at 0630.  Hike roughly 0800-1000.  Meet the parents around 1130 and head to the game.  Eat dinner after the game.  Play cards (pinochle) each evening until we got tired…Which is usually between 9:00pm and 10:00pm.  That’s a busy schedule for us!  After a few days, we were pooped. 

Here are the results of the games we went to:

- 9 March at Peoria Sports Complex…Seattle Mariners 5 – Arizona Diamondbacks 8 – BOOOO

- 10 March at Surprise Stadium…Colorado Rockies 2 – Kansas City Royals 5 – BOOOO

- 11 March at Scottsdale Stadium…Seattle Mariners 5 – San Francisco Giants 7 – BOOOO

- 12 March at Talking Stick Stadium…Colorado Rockies 11 – San Diego Padres 2 – YAY!

- 13 March at Camelback Ranch Stadium…Colorado Rockies 5 – Los Angeles Dodgers 2 – YAY!

- 14 March at Peoria Sports Complex…Seattle Mariners 6 – Kansas City Royals 2 – YAY!

- 15 March at Peoria Sports Complex…Seattle Mariners 5 – San Francisco Giants 7 – BOOOO

- 17 March at Camelback Ranch Stadium…Seattle Mariners 0 – Chicago White Sox 5 – BOOOO

- 19 March at Peoria Sports Complex…Seattle Mariners 7 – Chicago Cubs 12 – BOOOO

- 21 March at Peoria Sports Complex…Seattle Mariners 8 – Chicago White Sox 13 – BOOOO

A few notes about the games…

- Tickets averaged $15-$20, with the following exception…

- It was $49 at Scottsdale Stadium (San Francisco Giants)…These are pre-season games for goodness sakes!  Sadly there were about 11,000 other people who paid this ridiculous price…Good ole “supply and demand”.

- We bought tickets online in February and we also bought them at ticket windows on game day.  Some games had plenty of seats and others nearly sold out.  If you want specific seats, buy them early.

- Parking was plentiful and usually free or $5, with the following exception…

- Scottsdale Stadium had minimal parking.  There was a relatively small, multi-level garage that was full an hour before game time.  Enterprising folks charged anywhere from $20 to $5 to park in private and business lots within roughly 5 blocks of the stadium.  Reminder to the clowns running things at Scottsdale…THESE ARE PRESEASON GAMES!

- We arrived at each game roughly 45-60 minutes before the start which worked out well.

- Attendance varied from 7,000 to 11,000.  Near the stadiums, traffic got congested before and after the games, and flowed slowly, but smoothly.

- The players were quite accessible.  Many of them spent time before and after each game signing autographs and posing for pictures.

-  We enjoyed all of the games, but in the future we will skip games at Scottsdale Stadium.  The crazy San Francisco Giants fans can pay those prices, but we won’t.

A few baseball pictures…

    

   

       

Arleen’s favorite player, Brendan Ryan, with a triple!

   

    

   

With our goal to hike 155 miles in March, we found a place nearby that had 20 miles of trails:  Thunderbird Conservation Area in Glendale.  It was a convenient 10-minute drive from our home base.  We tried to walk 5-6 miles every day and Thunderbird had multiple loops and trails to keep it interesting.  There were even three decent hills to tackle which made each hike a good workout…perfect!  We were surprised to see so many other people on the trails.  During the weekend, it was hard to find parking and there were hundreds of people getting exercise and enjoying the perfect weather.  People were friendly and there were lots of smiles.  We really liked the various cacti and the graceful hot air balloons that dotted the sky.  So, how are we doing on the 155 mile goal?  Maybe we set our sites too low…As of 21 March, we have hiked 140 miles!  At this pace, we will finish the month with over 200 miles.  

 Here are a few hiking routes:

   

Thunderbird Conservation Area

    

                     Two loops, two hills #1                                                      Two loops, two hills #2

   

      Three loops, three hills…climbed 1,600 feet!                         Laps around the Peoria Stadium

    

                   Neighborhood Walk                                                               Lake Pleasant

Here are few more pictures from our hikes…

   

     

   

   

 

Pinochle summary:  Team Shawn and Arleen won all but one game!

   

                                             Victorious!                                                             Double Aces…unstoppable!

 

And lots of good food…

   

                   My first time at a Cracker Barrel!                                Cheesecake Factory

The gang at “5 and Diner”

 

It sure was great spending time with our parents.  We made some good memories!

Phoenix was fun, but metropolises with millions of people are not for us.  Besides, buying baseball tickets and eating out a bunch was hard on our pocket books and our waists!  It’s time to move on.

Next we will spend two weeks exploring the picturesque Sedona area.  Not only will we detox our bodies of too much restaurant food and spend much less money, but It will be real easy to wrack up hiking miles among the amazing red cliffs. 

AZ -– Prescott, 25 Feb–8 March 2012

 

Prescott, pronounced locally as Prescit, is about 90 miles north-northwest of Phoenix.  At just over 5,000 feet elevation, it actually has four seasons, though winter is a breeze with average temperatures ranging from 21F to 50F and 26 inches of snowfall.  Prescott is outdoorsy and takes pride in its 400+ miles of trails and fishing, kayaking, and canoeing on the various high-country lakes.  We didn’t feel like we were in the desert.  We felt like we were in the mountains.  It’s our kind of place!

We were comfortable in the campground with all amenities except wi-fi.  However, with a strong and reliable 3G cell phone signal, that’s no problem!  Our campsite was on a hill with a great view over a valley to the west.  Each evening we had front row seats to pretty desert sunsets.  Watson Lake, surrounded by amazing rock formations, was just an easy half mile hike.  In less than 10 minutes we could be floating on the serene lake, stocked with trout, and inhabited by numerous kinds of birds: bald eagles, grebes, hawks, ducks, cormorants, great blue herons, Canada Geese, etc. 

Watson Lake and The Dells

   

             Exploring Watson Lake                                                        Great Blue Herron

Speaking of winter, we finally got a dose!  After a day of 40mph winds, increasing clouds, and dropping temps, we woke up to an inch of snow and 25 degree temperature….brrrr.  Though we have experienced below freezing temps a few times this winter, most memorably in Petaluma and Three Rivers CA, our route and good luck helped us avoid it.  We welcomed the snow as a treat!  It was cool to see the surrounding mountains coated in a dusting of snow.  Additionally, as this is our first winter living in our new home, we like to see what it and we can handle.  A few days later we had a low near 20 degrees.  We also had 55mph winds.  It’s good to ease into these things and we handled it great!  The real test will come next winter in Colorado.

   

                 Storm clouds on the horizon                                            Our first snow in our new home!

Wrapped up in my snuggie.  Thanks Ellen and Arleen for making it!

Fitness goals….Because we let the Vegas area buffets get the best of us, we had a brief setback.  So after our last disappointing weigh-in at Lake Mead, we resolved to get back on track.  For March, we set a goal to hike 155 miles, or average 5 miles a day.  As of 8 March, we’ve hiked 60 miles!  That’s 20 miles ahead of schedule.  At this point, we can take 4 days off and still be on track!  We’ll need those days off to ease the aches, pains, and blisters.  Our renewed vigor has had great results.  Our most recent weigh-ins were a success…we each lost over 2 pounds in a week!  I am happy to report that I have lost a total of 18 pounds and am right where I want to be!  Arleen has lost 13 pounds and is nearing her goal! 

With our focus to walk 155 miles, we hiked a lot in Prescott.  Here are a few of the routes….

   

Lynx Lake and Salida Gulch loops

Lynx Lake

   

Thumb Butte

   

                       Watson Lake (three times)                                                       Willow Lake

Looking for critters in “The Dells” near Watson Lake

Wolverton Peak…a 10 mile day.  The temperature was in the mid-30s and winds were 30+mph…brrrr!

   

Granite Mountain.  2,000 feet of climbing on a tough, rocky trail

A great place for a break on Granite Mountain

I have a soft spot for small mountain lakes and Prescott has 3 or 4 nearby.  We explored two:  Lynx Lake and Granite Basin Lake. 

I made a half-hearted attempt to fish little Granite Basin.  It’s a shallow lake and was tough to fish from the bank.  I didn’t get any bites, but I really enjoyed watching the numerous, colorful ducks. 

We dedicated a few hours one afternoon to kayak and fish Lynx Lake.  It was a warm, sunny Sunday and a bunch of other folks were playing around the lake too.  The bird life was impressive and we really enjoyed watching a young eagle perched in a tree with sunny blue skies and a bright moon backdrop.  I even managed to catch a nice, fat rainbow trout!

   

We also fished Watson Lake twice and didn’t get any bites. 

I wanted to fish the Prescott lakes more, but the wind was too strong 5 or 6 days out of our 12-day stay.  We never checked out Goldwater Lake and we could have spent a whole bunch more time floating around Watson and Lynx Lakes.  Oh well.  Hopefully I will satisfy my lust for small mountain lakes this summer in Colorado.

We have added another plant to our growing list of favorites…the agave.  Though they look like cousins of aloe and yucca, they are not closely related.  There are roughly 200 kinds of agave.  They are nicknamed the “century plant” because it takes them many years to flower.  The flower stock rises 10-20 feet and are covered in flowers.  After they put all of their energy and nutrients into flowering, they die.  Most parts of the plant are edible.  The blue agave is used to make tequila.  Among many other uses, some people use agave to treat constipation and arthritis.  It’s a pretty plant that caught our eye all along the Granite Mountain trail.  We continue to learn so much as we trek through this great country!

   

NOTE:  I “borrowed” these pictures from Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave )

Next we head to Phoenix for two weeks.  The t-shirts have been moved to the front of the closet…our winter is over!  We will bask in the warm Arizona desert sun, enjoy baseball spring training, and continue our quest to hike 155 miles this month.  Hopefully I can hook up with a couple of high school friends.  Our parents will even visit…YAY!! 

Expect another update in about two weeks…