Arizona

Warning: This is long even though I left out many, many, many stories, comments and descriptions. Sorry. :) I even went back over it and trimmed some things out. Jilian will hopefully be posting some pictures.

Jilian, Robert and I went out to Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon where we stayed with our good friends Rob & Kris. Here is some of our story....

I want to start by saying I am a little surprised that the US Government has not yet passed a law stating that the three of us should not be allowed to travel together. It’s not that we break other laws or disturb the peace, although the second one might be debatable, it’s just that we have so much fun together that it might not be safe for ourselves and those around us. This entry will barely scratch the surface of the barbs, comments and general ruckus raised by the three of us over the course of four days. I can honestly say that I don’t think more than five minutes go by with out one of us making the other two laugh at something. Sometimes the laughs are not intentional but rather by embarrassing comment or unplanned physical comedy.

The entertainment for our trip started immediately when in the Roanoke airport we encountered what could possibly be the dumbest women any of us has ever met. And sadly true to the stereotype she was blond. She was very attractive in her tight t-shirt, very short jeans skirt and turquoise underwear. Trust me when I tell you that I was not being a voyeur to learn that. We suspected she was stupid before she boarded the flight, then Jilian and I were able to confirm it when she sat in the seat in front of us talking incessantly to the poor woman next to her. At one point I had a personal growth experience when I told Robert I did not care how hot she is I apparently I do have minimum intelligence requirement and therefore would never date someone like her. At this point Robert lost all respect for me.

Jilian informed Robert and me that we should not make her mad since we had to spend four days with her. Yeah, like that is going to work. That is more like a issuing a declaration of challenge. Robert and I immediately went to work on her.

The trip out was pretty routine with the obligatory sprint from gate to gate in Atlanta. When we landed Rob met us with the Mini Cooper which is the larger of their two cars. So we put Jilian’s suitcase in the trunk and Robert and I squeezed in with our luggage on our laps. This would set the tone for the rest of the weekend as we took both the Mini and the Miata everywhere we went.

I love the whole Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale area. The weather is awesome, the palm trees and cactuses are beautiful. The architecture of the buildings is interesting to look at. Just about all the infrastructure has pictures and images on them. Even the walls along the highway are decorated with engaging images and decorations. I think that if/when I leave the Burg it will be to move out there. But it might be to Flagstaff since they get snow in the winter. (Sorry DCers, I know you want me up there. We’ll see.) I just can not say enough about how much I like that area. And Kris and Rob help make it even better.

We ate at several wonderful restaurants and Rob cooked us some very delicious food. It was all southwestern style except for one trip into a Cajun joint and In & Out burgers.

At one point we also drove by what must be corporate headquarters, or a division of, Cold Stone Creamery. Go figure, an ice cream company headquartered in the desert. Well I guess if anyone needs ice cream it is people living in a desert. We of course made our obligatory stop and one of their branches.

Friday night we went drinking in downtown Scottsdale which has very upscale clubs as well as my kind of dive. At our second, and last, bar of the night we met a lovely, friendly, engaging waitress whose name I forgot immediately. At this point Robert was drunk and I was tipsy. Robert took the unusual tactic of trying to hook me up with the waitress by telling her that he thought Jilian and I should date since we are both single. (Drunken logic is always interesting and I suspect the source of many great scientific and cultural advances.) I think he was trying to hook me up with the waitress or maybe he really was trying to hook me up with Jilian. Either way the attempt lead to some good conversation but neither seems to have worked out. :(

Saturday we played a fantastic PS2 game called Katamari Damaci where you roll a ball around. Things get stuck to the ball and it gets bigger. Things like tacks, bottles, people, animals, buildings, etc..., the usual stuff. It is a great game.

Sunday we got up way to early and ran the race. (see my other blog entry) Afterwards we hung out with Erin and her friend for a bit. Then it was home for good grillin and nap time. We went back into Tempe for the race concert and drinking.

Ok, almost done……

Monday we had breakfast and then took a stroll around the neighborhood where Jilian almost got into a fight with an 80+ year old woman because she (Jilian) took a picture of a cactus in the woman’s yard. This upset the old woman very much.

The trip home started out as usual but they overbooked our flight to Roanoke from Atlanta. They were asking for volunteers to take the next flight and offering the usual $400 towards a purchase of a Delta flight. We discussed it and decided to do it so Jilian and I went up to the counter. After they gave us all the paperwork and I signed Robert's life away they gave us our tickets for the next flight. The conversation went something like this.

Delta: Your seats are not together but you may be able to change that when you come back to the gate.
Jilian: That’s fine we just spent four days together. I don’t want to sit with them anyway.
Delta: nervous laughter

So we now had five hours to kill in the Atlanta airport. We decided to drink and play cards so we found a bar and settled in. Robert offered to go buy a deck of cards and Jilian insisted on helping because as she said herself, ‘I like to shop’. At some point we had to switch bars because the waitress was ignoring Robert and thus he was forced to steal Jilian’s beer when she was away at the bathroom. The waitress immediately offered to bring Jilian another beer. The new location, Chili’s, was excellent and Jilian decided to drink these huge margaritas which she really liked. This was the best five hours I have ever spent in an airport. In fact the experience rivals times I have spent outside an airport. We laughed about so many things. So approximately twelve beers and four huge margaritas later we stumble onto our flight home. I was a little surprised they let us on the plane but we kept our giggling down. They did change Robert and Jilians’ seats to be next to each other in the front row while they left mine all the way in the last row. Stupid Delta.

It was a most excellent trip.

Rob & Kris - thank you for having us.

Robert & Jilian - how many momths do I have to recover before we do this again?