6:45am: Get up, go downstairs, get 2 coffees, slam them down
7:00am: Rearrange my stuff into my carry on and my checked baggage.
7:30am: Drive the car to the dropoff point. I had offered to drop the car off for my host.
8:00am: Clean the car windshield at a QT
8:10am: Drop off the car. No human interaction, just pictures and leave the key in it. (Tesla’s can be locked remotely very easily). Call Lyft.
8:35am: Back at the hotel.
9:00am: Shuttle to airport.
9:30am: At our gate, with two hours to go before our flight.
There was a final round of buying cool socks, a final visit to Cartel Coffee, and then we board the flight and head back to Louisville.
My wife had a daring plan that involved sitting far enough back that MAYBE nobody would claim the middle seat between us. It worked! We had space! (pic)
And touchdown Louisville, and home to grandchildren and cats and unpacking and dissemination of cactus candy.
Saturday morning, I woke up super early (5am?) to get my time lapse set up. I had a rig involving an ironing board, and Molly reinforced it with some tape.
Here’s the result. Its actually two timelapses, and I stitched them together. What happened is my alarm starting going off on the phone, and that killed the first one, so we had to restart:
While that was going, I went up the hill to get another coffee. While up there, I chatted with an interesting local named Gabriel. 71 years old.. lived around Phoenix most his life, possibly sleeping in a tent on a hillside by choice. He said something about starting to walk down the mountain at about 3am .. I saw him at 6am. I asked him if he had stories he would like to share. He invited me to sit with him. He asked me my opinions on the Bill of Rights. We had a brief discussion about many things video editing, and I gave him some of my opinions on economic polarization. He took my email. He may send me one of his stories. It is a story about a search and rescue he was involved in, and it spotlights the resilience of some of the younger generations.
Then it was time to go. We checked out of the resort early, and headed up Canyon Rd SR89A to Flagstaff, where I needed to charge up to 90% or more. As our guide the day before warned us: It was super beautiful. There was a scenic viewplace towards the end of the drive:
But don’t ask about the sanitation smell at the bathrooms there. We did what we had to.
Now, let me load up the ABRP Trip Profile I was working with for reference:
This is a Recreation, not the original
In Flagstaff, I needed to get the car all the way up to 95%, 100%, in order to make the trip east to Winslow and then south to Payson. It was going to take an hour.
We walked over to the Walmart while the car was charging, and then walked over to “Over Easy”, a breakfast place. There was a 40 minute wait. No problem, we hung out there, I went back to get the car at the right time..
The car was only at 90%! Food was ready. I stopped charging and took the car back to the restaurant. Delicious food. But inconvenient charging.
Then across the desert on I40, which is part of Route 66 there. At a nice slow 60mph to conserve charge. I easily made it at like 85% charge. Meteor Crater!
And then it was time to go.
Winslow AZ. We chatted with several couples there – one set from Bakersfield CA (who turned out owned a Model Y), and another couple from Altoona IA (where I used to live!)
We stopped at small café to get some coffee, and turns out they had the same Safe that my wife has at her office! There was some safe geeking out there.
(resume ornamentation here)
Then down Hwy ___ back towards Phoenix. Our next stop to charge was Payson AZ. We drove through desert, and then there was a forest, and then there were hills and then (after Payson) mountain descent and rolling hills. We had no service for a while. There was a beautiful sunset. We drove through some really cute towns that we would like to go back to .. Strawberry and ___. We stopped at a small gas station with broken potties, they had portapotties instead. The gas station’s business: A sanitation company. Hmm. Molly remarked: 10 years avoiding a PortaPotty, and today we had two of them. But that place did have the good tea: ____. We got two cans.
We ended up back in Phoenix at the In-n-Out, where I tried Animal Style for the first time. I’ll do that again. And then drop Molly at the Aloft, and then time for a small Sunny adventure.<
I went to visit my long time friend Steve Ekholm whom I hadn’t hung out with in.. something like 20 years? We did a facetime with his kid, who is responsible for introducing me to Harry Potter when they were 7. They are 30 now.
And then the other yawny long charging session. I needed to get the car, turns out I should have aimed for 100% so that I could return it over 85%, but I only had the patience to get it up to 85%. I had 45 minutes at that charger. I tried to nap, but that didn’t happen. It was weird.. there were at least 5 chargers there that lit up but didn’t work. Lots of disgusted Tesla owners who didn’t look for the blue tape X in the corner, and thew the chargers to the ground in disgust.. then the next person would pick up the charger, try it, and get disgusted.. nobody talked to anybody. I tried to tell people, but they were too absorbed in their world to hear me. I guess it’s a polite “I will ignore you” protocol at a charger. Very different from what my friend Dan says that he experiences.
I guess I could have gone in to Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers, and I eventually did, to get my wife a Tea and use the restroom. I tried to pay for the drink, the lady said “no need!” and bid me on my way. Bless her heart.
And then back to the room, final night of vacation.
The day started off with attempt to eat at one place: Sunrise, but actually ending up at another place that was mediocre at best, and shall remain un-named.
There was a round of packing, and then a bunch of waiting, because our car rental pickup wasn’t until 11 or 12.
Chaotic Turo Car Pickup: “We’re here!” which lead to a mad dash with our stuff down to .. a ½ block ride in a BMW to .. our rental Model S! We were blocking traffic, so we did a very fast transaction to start the rental (I have only done Turo once before) and then we were off! Driving a Model S P85D in Chill mode towards ..
Nostalgia: Where Molly Met Good Olives. Romanelli’s Italian Deli. There was an Italian Deli with olives that Molly used to go to. It was still there. It was still delicious. And a really good tea: Just Peachy Peace Tea.
Nowadays, whole foods at home has such an Olive Buffet.
Nostalgia: Where Molly used to work. Vacant now. Molly has the story. People say it was becoming a bad neighborhood, but .. it didn’t look too bad to us.
Nostalgia: Molly’s commute back home from the office.
Nostalgia: Where Molly used to live. Populated now.
First Charging Stop on the way to Sedona: Take pictures of Cactii for Mom. Got some really horrible tasting candy or drink or something (honeydew?). The fun memory is our adventuring to discover and our horror at the taste. Thumbs up for adventure!
On the way up I got to test out the previous version of Autopilot in a Model S from 2015. More about the Tesla in a separate post.
Montezuma and Fry Bread: On the way up we stopped at Montezuma’s Castle And on the way there, we got some Fry Bread. I want more Fry Bread in my life. Plain even.
I loved the white trees at Montezuma – they are Arizona Sycamore. They cannot grow in KY.
The Drive To Sedona: Rounding a corner and seeing the buttes.. took my breath away. I need to tell you about the jigsaw puzzle I had when I was a kid.
Arrival at Cedars Resort: It was straddling the roundabout! I didn’t see the sign and had to double back. Heck of a time parking with no lines .. turns out the lines were denoted by different pavers used on the ground.
Wildflower Bread Co: For Dinner we walked across the street and found a little restaurant. It was fricking amazing, I had a Salmon Chowder. It was so good that we went back a second time, which is unheard of with our adventuring souls.
This is continuing my practice of gratitude, all the good things in a day. This happens to be while we’re on vacation.
My intention when I wrote these posts (in Word, local, on the airplane in airplane mode) was to add all the links later. I may not get that time, now that I’m back at busy life, but what I’ll try to do is post these first, and then go back and edit them if I can, one cool picture at a time.
Coffee: No special coffee today. Instead, Molly and I went to Breakfast Bitch and had some delicious foods. I chose to skip coffee due to my overdose the night before. Their location is in the Cambria hotel. This hotel seemed to be a very cool artsy place. Reference an artist whose work was shown: Antoinette Cauley.
Bless a driver: Trip to next location, Justin, he wants to buy an acre out east and build a house there. Bless him, may his dream come true.
Taliesin: Then we were off to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, architecture house tour. Molly loved it. Best thing there for me might have been the room with all the sitting chairs, but also just a feel of how those folks lived, their feeling of hard work and community.
Water Side adventure: we didn’t bring any water. They don’t sell water, but they sold a collapsible water bottle. Bought it, used it, loved it.
Lyft side adventure: We had a driver with specific opinions that we possibly disagreed with, so we stopped talking, and he kept on talking. Bless him.
Adventure to a Thrift Store: The adventure was fun, the store was bleah. Thai restaurant nearby, yum. Moving on.
Sugarbowl & Shopping: The we headed south a bit to Sugar Bowl, famous from Family Circus comics. where we met Tom and Jami S .. they were stuck around their waiting for their AirBNB to open.
Followed by some shoppy-ing.. found a really nice little day bag that won’t pull my pants down .. and then we found dinner:
Barrio Queen: Fricking amazing. I remember the Elote and the Table-Side Guacamole. There was a Mexican Chocolate Mousse in there somewhere too.
Then back to the hotel, driving through looming hulks of hills in twilight. It got pretty dark. Driver was very quiet. We went back roads to avoid the traffic on the interstate, it was neat. Van Buren almost all the way back to the hotel.
Coffee: Cartel Roasting Co, probably the most coffee-passionate coffee shop of this trip. Drip coffee, “Raw process”. Learned that there’s another method called “Honey Process”, but they haven’t had one of those for 3 months, very rare. This was also a day of a lot of caffeine.
On the way back, I got Molly’s Tea at Press, but: turns out they change flavors every day. Today was Hibiscus-Black. Did not go well. I believe I also tried a Cortado there (coffee #2).
Then, there was a trip out to the grocery store to get gallons of good-tasting water and some Think! bars. Mission accomplished. Btw, Fry’s is part of Kroger so our phone number worked there.
Scooter: I wanted to at least try it. After Molly left for her conference, I got a $10 pass for Lime Scooters (also available: Bird, Spin. Specific parking zones which are the only places you can start and end rides) for 60 minutes (I used 55 of them to go 5.3 miles over 28(!) trips), and I used it to travel north to the Roosevelt Arts district, wanting to get her some stuff for her birthday. Scootering was fun! but, I got there way too soon, so I killed some time hunting down.. a coffee #3 at another coffee shop, Kahvi. It was located in a co-business space where a bunch of businesses all shared the same building, building possibly made from shipping containers. Wandered around, found a hat shop, and then found a treasure trove at MADE arts center. Scootered back, prepped her gift for her return, and then checked in with my guys…
… and they were scootering too! Scooted up to visit them near The Churchill (which is another container place). Today, Matt H joined us as well (yesterday he was helping his daughter who is local). They had just gotten done eating wings at ATL and then possibly a beverage at (something else). We went on an adventure up to a Safeway (just outside the scooter zone!), to see if they had fancy Bourbon at MSRP. (They didn’t).
On the way back, had some unplanned adventure: Matt H stopped to ask Hey where are we going. I slowed Way Down. Matt LP didn’t slow down. Boom. Timber. Nobody was disabled. Matt LP got a scrape.
We then ended up at Churchill at a Bar there. I was still recovering from the Spicy Margarita drinks from last night, so I went for a pitaya/something bowl from Foxy Fruit. A bit later, I felt the nap calling my name, so back to the room I went.
Coffee #4: I woke up from my nap at about 3:30pm, and knowing that coffee shops shut down by 4 or 4:30, I scooted to the edge of the scooter zone to visit Xanadu. recommended by the Cartel folks. Good coffee.
Tempe Trip – When Molly got back, we took off via Lyft to Tempe to visit the Blick Arts Materials store – one of Molly’s favorite things to do, is visit art supply stores. Then we visited a Taco shop splat in the midst of student town (where it felt we were the oldest people there for a while) and then Lyft back to the room.
Lyft side adventure: While driving, our ride got a rock smashing into the front windshield. Sounded horrible. Circular crack. While we were all looking at that, slam on the brakes due to stopped traffic. Most eventful Lyft I’ve been in so far.
This night, btw, I couldn’t sleep (I wonder why!) and I ended up looking at some code that I wrote a while back for a Space Mud game, and I thought about what I wanted the game to be like now if I were to resume working on it. I think i got 2-3 hours of sleep. Its okay, i was already charged up on sleep from the nights previous.
Coffee. I always start a vacation day with some kind of coffee adventure. This day, I got to Press EVB (East Van Buren) right as they opened at 6:30am (the other places opened at 7am .. Macki went to Cartel, which is where I went on Tuesday). I got Molly a Peach Tea and an Empanada.. found out later they switch their flavors around daily. I myself had an Americano, and it was okay, but kinda .. i don’t know, bright? Not my favorite. 2 blocks from the Hotel.
I bid farewell to my beauty as she went on her conference thing, and then an adventure started with the other spouses of conference go-ers. It started with a quick walk with Matt (LP), where we marveled at an outdoor sculpture which looks like a jelly fish but is called something way different, and then we picked up Tom (S), and we .. started walking.
Japanese Friendship Garden. We didn’t go. But we walked up to it, intending on going. And then there was construction. And walking through an underpass. And then .. we saw the Garden, it was underwhelming. So we got a Lyft up to Squaw Peak (also named Piestewa, but that’s what the locals called it), so that we could go for a moderate hike.
Stages:
A: Surely we will find the turnoff here soon. Followed by: Come on guys we can do this!
B: Realization that we were probably not going to make it to this summit, so plan B: Go around, it seemed downhill.
C: This is fun! … but we’re running low on water. Maybe we should deviate down this other trail marked on Tom’s hiking map.
D: We were talking so much, we missed the turn off and had to backtrack. Goal: Not to hurt the rest of the trip.
E: Descent on an almost unmarked trail, which turns out had been made private. We crossed _____ 50 feet to get to a cul-de-sac. We didn’t get arrested, we got back to pavement, and then hiked our way out the subdivision.
It was an adventure. We cooled down with some beer and some Cornish Pasty‘s which are like giant Empanada’s.
Nap. Personally, I love a Nap. I was on vacation. I had a Nap. And it was Good. There was Room on the Agenda for a Nap Like That.
Group Dinner. Then all the conference attenders got back, and we chilled, and then we went out for a Group Dinner.
Molly, Macki and I rode in a Tesla Model X up to the location (Culinary Misfits)
The Venue was Great. Food was amazing. I had some Meatloaf and some Ribs and … a gazillion other tasty things.
I didn’t like the Margarita (too strong), but the spicy margarita that Molly was drinking was perfect
Sat with some of the agents from the Central office, and it was good talkings.
I’m supposed to give a talk on Gratitude sometime in November.
I’ve fallen out of the habit of doing a gratitude list daily (well, twice daily).
I found myself on vacation, yet grumping about. True, there were some emotions to process.. but for my sense of positive-ness (some people seem to think I’m never sad, always upbeat .. this is not true) .. I decided to backtrack and make a list of good things for each day of vacation.
As a single post, that would be overwhelming, so I’m breaking it up by day. No promise on when I’ll post them, this is from current me to honor past me and represent for future me. Here is Good things from Sunday, in no particular order.
Easy Flight. We forgot to check in early, we got C-something in line, so we were lucky to get aisle seats across from each other. 4 hours in the air. Cute family with little ones nearby, little ones slept almost the entire time with no crying.
Train Ride. Rather than get an Uber, 9 of us went on an adventure to ride the light metro rail. (Later, 2 of them got chewed out by local relatives who are in law enforcement). I looked around and there were at least 4 or 5 conversations between us as a group and some locals going on. I love taking public transit, if its safe.
Our Room was awesome. Corner view, 3 windows, downtown.
In-N-Out. We took a Lyft to the nearest one (and back). Macki & Matt joined us .. I think it was their first time. Macki liked it. I re-discovered their french fries. I found out much to my surprise that Waymo is a thing in Phoenix (I had forgotten / not associated), but I found out that it was nowhere near where we were going to be, and you have to be a local resident to participate in the downtown testing.
So there we go, that’s Sunday .. first day of vacation. Molly was going to Gen Blue, and I tagged along for the fun. I’m glad Molly’s is a family owned company and spouses are included in things like this.
