Ilanarama!

As I mentioned in my post about our spring trip, pretty much as soon as we came back we made plans to return to the Scottsdale area with friends for Thanksgiving. Rolfe and Kristin are a couple we've done many vacations with, and Frank and June are also good friends we like to do things with; all are mountain bikers, though none are crazy expert lunatic riders, and so we felt they'd all enjoy the easy-moderate riding of the McDowell Sonoran preserve. In addition, Frank and Rolfe are Britt's occasional golfing partners, and Scottsdale is a popular winter golfing destination. (Also we are all vaccinated and boosted, and careful about activities among people.) So we rented a big house, divvied up the Thanksgiving feast responsibilities, and headed south for a four-day Arizona adventure.



( Pictures and words )

Flickr album (photos, no words)

Our original Thanksgiving plans had us moving into our new house, but if you've been reading this journal, you know that our move-in has been delayed until sometime in January. This left us with both a hole in our schedule, and some frustration, since we've been putting off vacationing in order to keep an eye on the building process. Because of this, Britt suggested we - go on vacation. And I had the perfect idea. During last year's Thanksgiving trip to Arizona, during which Britt and a couple of our friends rode a hard point-to-point trail while I car shuttled for them and did easier day rides, a real highlight was my solo day at the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. I had told Britt that someday we had to take a trip there together, so he could experience it as well - and so we decided to go to Scottsdale, Arizona, and stay in a hotel near the Preserve, and ride there and in other nearby areas. (Of which there are many. We rode and hiked in the two large connected areas on the east of this map, and also on the "Sonoran Loop" which is the furthest south part of the large area at the top-center of the map.) Spoiler alert: excellent decision.

I'd actually been up for camping, but Britt wanted to go full-vacation-mode and stay in a fancy resort. As it happens, Thanksgiving is still low season in Scottsdale - one of the waiters I spoke with said that it's really not that busy until Christmas - so we were able to get a decent deal at The Boulders. This is a lovely resort with two golf courses, but for us the main attraction was that it is only a few miles from a connector trail to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. (Well, that and the hot tub. And the four restaurants!) Also, the name is not a lie:



( Lots of photos! And me blathering on! )

In conclusion:



(40 photos - and I might add more - and no blah blah blah at Flickr. I haven't put captions on the photos yet, though, and...I might not get to it, be warned.)