First off, let me just say that Greg and Becky are the most gracious, hospitable hosts! The kids were very cool too and I felt very much at home. Being that I haven't had a full week of vacation since 2009 (I broke up a lot of it in 2010); it was really relaxing and peaceful.
I left Friday morning and it snowed 3". Bwahaha. SEE YOU SUCCERS:
Over the mountains:
Greg met me at Skyharbor with the 'Vette and a older woman remarked: "Wow! You're getting picked up in style! I wish I was getting picked up in a car like that!"
Right away Greg was educating me about Phoenix; the road system; the muncipal water; crops-- lots of stuff. I had a lot of questions. There was a gorgeous sunset on the way to NICO HQ:
The next day Becky and I took the Vette to the historic town of Prescott. Lots of cool shops and architecture. Apparently everyone has a dog in this town--seemed like it. Just like Greg, Becky was telling me everything about Prescott, the plant life, the history of places we passed by, etc. I soaked it all up.
POMERANIANS IN JACKETS:
The best part was going into The Palace Saloon that was one of the few saloons to survive some of the fires Prescott had in its early days. I really loved the archtectiture of this time period and lo and behold there were some guys in reenactment clothing that were knocking back some beers at the bar. As soon as they heard Bex's accent they shuffled over and asked her a bunch of questions:
Not this guy:
I got to drive the Vette back on the 2nd leg on way back. Fun car. I was tickled that I could start from a standstill in 2nd gear. DISPLACEMENT. HELL YEAH!! Also, a surprisingly comfortable car for roadtrips!
Saturday night we all got in the Cube and checked out a car meet/show in the Glendale (I think?) area. Interesting group of cars..there were the Z cars, drag racers, etc. Nothing that looked like it *actually *raced though :
Hmm..dunno know what class this would fit in at an autocross:
AMUUURICA HELL YEAH (Truck-nuts missing?):
Then we went to the 'Glendale Glitters' holiday-light-carnival thing:
This girl had leds in her mouth:
Wackyinflatablearmflailingtubeman wouldn't hold still for a photo:
Decisions:
Sunday I got to drive the Datsun Fairlady 1600 roadster (ftw) and visit Greg's buddy's shop:
Classic VW floorpan recently powdercoated:
Sunbeam Imp (very rare!) with junk in the trunk:
Sunday night I met Christian aka AZ89two4Tsx on the formus. Becky made a delicious dinner and Christian let me take his E34 540i with a 6spd out for a spin. Fuuuun car. Doesn't do u-turns very well though.
I don't have photos of this, I'm hoping Becky took some, he was only over for a little bit.
Monday. Bex took me to THE ZOO!
Had lunch with the sharks. We had seafood. It was awesome. We both kept firing away with our cameras hoping for some good shots:
The zoo was deceptively large. They seemed to specialize in birds. There were a lot of f*** birds (I want a pet duck now). Lots of cool animals. Best part was since it was a weekday it was fairly deserted.
Cute duck gets treats!
Cute giraffe gets treats from Bex!
Thompson's gazelles:
Meerkat:
New Guinea Singing Dog:
Bex petting the sting rays. They were like friendly puppies (expecting food):
I rescued a hamster (yes, I'm 12 yrs old. Want to fight about it? Eff off!) No idea what I'll call it. Suggestions wanted:
Tuesday: Greg had off work and drove Becky and I to Sedona. Super richie area, lots of tourists, lots of shops. I really enjoyed the bronze sculptures all over the town (there ..were.. A LOT). The chapel on the hillside was really cool; but my favorite place was Cathedral Rock where Becky and Greg actually had their wedding. Really pretty light for photography at that the time we arrived.
Badass Beetle:
The Nico truck with the chapel in the background:
Soooo much money:
The town (taken with my dumb ipod):
Statue:
Cathedral Rock:
Sunset on the way back:
Wednesday. Bex and I went on a 2hr jaunt to Tucson's Pima Aircraft Museum.
It was SO BADASS. I'm a dorky kid when it comes to planes and I was very happy to find out they had a B-24 Liberator on site; it was the type of plane my late Grandfather co-piloted in WW ll so I took lots of photos of it. One of the volunteers (which are awesome and have lots to share..so much better than reading plaques), told us that only 2 are operational and either 4-6 are left out of 19,000. They were plagued with a lot of problems and a lot were shot down/crashed-landed.
SR-71 FTW (although the one in Dulles Airport, D.C. is the nicest I've seen so far):
P-51 Mustang FTW:
F-14a:
Another one of my faves, the Corsair:
They have 3 hangars and many more planes parked outside!
My favorite, the god damn Super Guppy. Guppy. SUPER Guppy. NASA plane used to carry space station components:
Later that night they took me to Westgate which is a swanky fine-dining/shopping mall-courtyard type place. I just took a lot of photos of the fountains:
I ain't 'fraid of no ghost:
That night I tried to take a photo of the moon with no tripod on the Cube's roof. Fail:
Thursday. I had to leave.
Sunrise from their yard:
There was a hipster wearing a Chewbacca backpack that got on my Philly-bound plane at Skyharbor.
I made a composite drawing of him:
Conclusion:
--Greg and Becky are good people. Lots of deep conversations, lot of edu-ma-cation, lot of goofing off.
--They drive fast in AZ but not aggressively as they do in Philly. I'm used to a cut-throat stupid aggressiveness on the roads in my area (I live 25min south of Philly). There's still boneheads for sure (and a lot of retired people..
) but it was definitely different. Motorsports events every weekend. --People say "Hello" to you and are approachable...not so in my area. Which is a welcome surprise.
--The weather was "cold" by AZ standards.. it was 60's most of the time I was there and started creeping into the 70's right before I left. Figures. Still warm as hell to me.
--The roads are perfect, I was fascinated by AZ's crops and water conservation efforts and the wildlife (although most are hibernating). I heard coyotes howling a few nights.
--The sky is amazing..especially at night!
--Despite the heat in the summer, a couple hours north puts you in cooler temps and San Diego is a 4-5hr drive away. Not bad IMHO.
--Flickr uploader can't handle a batch upload of 240 photos very well. Make dinner and come back later.
Thanks again guys for letting me into your home and showing me around! I had a great time!
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I'll post up my pics soon. 
