Arizona=Happy

Sunshine, mountains, warm weather; must be Arizona!

In 1961 my Uncle Al was transferred for work to Phoenix, Arizona.  Back in the '60's Phoenix was nothing like it is today as a sprawling city, but it always had the nice hot weather.  Al loved living in Phoenix, loved the weather and always thought at that time that the West was the place to be for growth.  Sadly only a few years later he was transferred again and this time to Cleveland, of all places.  Often referred to as the plumber's crack of America, I don't know anyone that would be excited to live there.  So in February of 1964 with all his possessions on a moving truck, he loaded up his station wagon and family and started heading east.  A little ways out of Phoenix in the wide open desert hinterlands he was profoundly speeding and got pulled over by cop.

Cop:  You know you were speeding quite a bit back there.  Where are you heading?

Al:  Moving to Cleveland.

Cop:  (With exasperated look on his face) Let me get this straight, you're moving from Phoenix to Cleveland?!?!? In February?!?!?!

Al:  Yeah, job transfer

Cop:  Just go ahead, you have enough trouble.

And with that he was on his way.  I am sure you won't find this story on any Visit Cleveland brochures.  But Al always vowed to move back to Arizona and upon retirement he and my Aunt Rae did so in the early 1990's and have been there ever since. 

Good times in Cleveland, certainly earning their reputation as the mistake on the lake.

When I lived in Arizona previously, I fell in love with it as well. I had a number of great weekends with Al, gambling on football, something we have in common, and I thoroughly enjoyed the warm weather, hiking and outdoor recreation.  Certainly the desert isn't for everyone, but it was for him and I quickly found out it was for me too.  Work then took me to Seattle, but when the opportunity arose to move back recently, I jumped on it and now I find myself, HAPPILY, back in the town originally founded as Orangedale, my favorite place, Scottsdale, Arizona.  I mean I certainly wouldn't be moving to Cleveland. Or Portland for that matter.

Don't worry Portland, I may not be in Seattle anymore, but I'll still continue to make fun of you.
Stay weird, as though that's a good thing.

I got back to Arizona just last week with a stop at Al and Rae's on the way down to the Valley.  The drive from Seattle to Phoenix takes about 20+ hours of driving and if you've ever wondered what it's like driving through Nevada from top to bottom, I can save you trouble, it's desolate.   There is a reason the US Military uses most of  Nevada for proving grounds; outside of Las Vegas there is virtually nothing.  For two stretches, one of 136 miles and another of 114 miles they have signs warning you that there is basically no sign of life so you better load up on gas and anything else when you get the chance.  I did stop in Vegas briefly but finally made to Phoenix. 

136 mile stretch in northern Nevada.  Pretty cool huh?

114 mile stretch.  Seriously, this is not the same picture.  Now you never have to drive through Nevada,
you're welcome.

After living in Seattle I wondered how the re-adjustment would be to the Arizona heat, especially  now that it's summer time.  But despite record temps and heat advisories, it has been much easier then I expected. Don't get me wrong 110 is hot, but the mornings are fantastic and so are the evenings and even during the day, if you are in the shade or at a restaurant outside on a covered patio with misters, it's delightful.  I like to think that I am fairly upbeat guy more often than not, but the constant gray skies and sporadic sun of Washington had an effect on me and  the second I got back to Arizona, things just felt better.  Even friends of mine noticed, whether it was by phone or in person, they could tell I was happier and said so. 

My first week back my old running friend Gregg and I did our usual Wednesday night group run at Papago Park by the zoo and once again the Rams lined up and watched us all run by.  I also met up with another friend of mine, Dan and we did a group run around Tempe Town Lake that finished at the Gordon Biersch Brewery.  It was 107 degrees that night and for some reason we decided to run all out, like a race.  Not smart I guess, then Dan proceeded to destroy me. Ugh.  However afterwards the group meets in the brewery where all food and drink is 1/2 price for runners. Thanks for the invite to the group Dan, but at some point, I will out run you!

After a Tempe Town Lake Run with Dan P., certainly I wouldn't pass up a chance to promote CMU,
 I'm Fired Up in the back.

Over the weekend Gregg asked if I wanted to join him on a kayak trip down the Salt River.  I have never kayaked before but I was up for it.  So we got an early start, about 7:00 am to beat the heat, and headed out just northeast of Mesa and no more than probably 25 miles from Scottsdale to a part of the Salt River and dropped in for a 12 mile trek.  After about 15 minutes I had full control of kayak, it was much easier than I thought.  The river was much bigger than I imagined and the scenery was fantastic.  It was a beautiful day and we saw dozens of wild horses, eagles, hawks, turtles and lots of great mountain views and even navigated through some small rapids.  Definitely something that needs to be done again as it rivaled any of the rivers I've canoed in Michigan.

Gregg and I getting ready for a kayaking adventure.

Beautiful mesa views in every direction.

We saw well over a dozen wild horses.

I've been to a few of my favorite restaurants, met up with my Friday morning St. Pat's group, had another great night of watching sports at the All American in Fountain Hills with Doug and Kristin and have basically been able to seamlessly reconnect in every way and it's been far better than even I imagined.  Everything just feels right to me here.  I don't know how to explain it, but the last few years have been challenging for sure but ever since I arrived back in Arizona, I just feel happy, something that has certainly been missing in my life.  I did like Seattle, I met some great people, I'll certainy miss the Green Lake Running Group, and it is a scenically beautiful city, however, I guess I am just a desert rat after all.  Not sure how or why that happened, but Arizona definitely is for me and I hope, beyond hope, to never move again.  I am sure there will undoubtedbly be new challenges ahead, that's life, but I know for me, I will be much happier tackling them all with the sun shining every day.

For all my friends in the Midwest and elsewhere, feel free to visit any time, especially in those lousy winter months because the weather is always better here, thus so is life. I'll always have room for you.  Michigan will always be my home state, but going forward Arizona will forever be my home. The Cactus is now back in Cactus Chip and it feels great.  Fire Up!



No better place to be than in sunny AZ!