Bob and Ginny Visit - March 2017

 

Pinnacle Peak Hike

This weekend was Part Three of Team Phoenix visiting: Peter in January, Jordan last week, and now Bob and Ginny.  Not to mention Jim and Maryann last fall!  Bob and Ginny were in Sedona for a week at the Hyatt as part of their timeshare - they had visited a decade earlier and loved the place.  So they tacked on a couple of extra days and stayed with us at the end of their trip.

They did not arrive until Saturday afternoon, which actually enabled us to get a heap of work stuff done before they came.  Since Shawna was cooking that night, we never actually left the house: just chatted until dinner time and then called it a night at about 9pm.

Sunday was a bit more active.  After breakfast we went to Pinnacle Peak for a walk.  We were able to make about 1.25 miles out, then turned around so we got a decent hike in.  It was already getting warmer, but the desert flower colors were gorgeous.  We went back to the house for lunch (a simple salad on the patio), then Bob and Ginny went to Taliesin West themselves since we have already been.  They came back in time for a shower before we left for an early dinner at Talavera, the restaurant at the Four Seasons.  It was a delicious dinner.  

Keith had a flight out very early Monday morning, then Bob and Ginny left shortly after that.

Cabo - March 2017

Hacienda Encantada

For our annual beach trip with John and JoAnna, we decided to return to our time share in Cabo San Lucas.  We had not been there since we bought into the time share four years ago.  Of course, we knew what this meant - sign up for an 'upgrade' pitch and hope to hell we say no this time!

View from Hotel

Since the flight was rather long for John and Jo coming from NC, they opted to break up the trip by flying into Phoenix and staying with us the Friday night before the trip and the Saturday night when we returned.  On both of these nights, we opted to eat at our house rather than go out.

Accommodations:
Hacienda Encantada - We upgraded to a two bedroom suite which turned out to cost us about double our normal rate.  We were able to get a room in Phase 1 which overlooks the ocean and the infinity pool - great views.  Since we had last been here, the resort added a Phase 3 building (which consisted of two bedroom suites), some villas and several new restaurants.  They had not yet built out the new spa/gym as we were told they would do four years ago.

Pool at Hacienda Encantada

Activities:
We got into Cabo on Saturday - both arriving within an hour from one another.  As usual, the immigration and customs line was very long - took close to two hours to get through it.  However, once we got through, it was not hard to find John and JoAnna who were enjoying a beer at the one and only airport bar!  John had prearranged a cab so we hopped in together and got to the resort around 4pm.  The cab stopped at a grocery store for us so we can load up on beer and breakfast items!

Daily Activity

John had signed us up to listen to the 'upgrade' pitch on Sunday - we all had to go to get the $100 resort credit they were offering so reluctantly JoAnna and I joined.  We were glad we went as we got a free lunch out of it, the $100 credit which we used for dinner one night and a funny story to go through the pitch - this time we said no but it was hard to pass it up as they made it sound like an offer we could not refuse.  The pitch involved them telling us that 'time shares' are a thing of the past and they were now offering a 'private residence club' - the only difference that appeared to us is that it cost more money and we get discounts on golf and a yacht!  Somehow if we paid more money now, we could turn in our weeks and get money back each year, making double our investment in 10 years.  If it weren't for the Lloyds bond that we signed up for when we first purchased the time share, we may have caved in but we were concerned that this upgrade would somehow 'null and void' the bond so we in fact declined.  So I guess now we can say that we are able to say 'no' to these pitches!

Dinner at Barolo

For most of the trip, we hardly left the resort and opted to enjoy the amenities - our days consisted of: going for a walk around 7am, sitting at the pool (either the infinity pool outside our building which was often tough to get chairs or the Phase 3 pool which had more comfortable chairs), eating lunch at the pool, enjoying happy hour in the pool, and returning to our room to clean up and play cards before dinner.  It was very relaxing and we had great weather the entire time - albeit it was a bit chilly at times when the wind was blowing!

View from Beach Chairs

For the few times we did leave the resort, we did the following activities:

Swimming with Whale Sharks with Cabo Adventures - They picked us up at the hotel in the morning and transported us to the office in downtown Cabo where we boarded another bus to La Paz where the activity was held.  When we got to La Paz, we suited up in wet suits (a sign for the cold to come) and then boarded a small boat that held 8 guests plus the guide and driver.  We then sought out to find the whale sharks - we found one and were able to hop in and swim with it twice!  Both times, the swim went by quickly (probably less than 5 minutes) and it was awesome - we were right next to the whale shark and could have touched it if we tried!  While the water was not too cold, it was cold sitting in the boat as we drove around.  Back at shore, we had a buffet lunch which consisted of salads, fish tacos and quesadillas and of course beer.  On the way back, we stopped in Todos Santos for about 30 minutes where we walked around the Hotel California (loosely associated with the song) and a few of the shops in town.

Swimming with Whale Sharks

Food Walking Tour in Cabo with Juan More Tacos - This is a great three hour walking tour of downtown Cabo where you learn a bit about the history of Mexico and Cabo and get to taste yummy tacos from various local stands.  We went to 8 different places trying tacos, tequila, churros and Mexican ice cream.  We were quite stuffed at the end and enjoyed every stop. Our guide was Issi who is the owner's father - he was quite entertaining and informative.  We ended the tour with a beer at Baja Brewing before heading back to the hotel.

Shawna Making Tacos

Restaurants:
With the exception of two lunches during the activities mentioned above, we had all of our meals at the resort.  We had breakfast in our room most mornings, eating yogurt and trying to save our calories for later in the day.

Las Marias - Had the breakfast buffet here two mornings. Great omelettes!

La Trajinera - Had dinner here once.  Shared the queso fundido for the table (very yummy) and then the corn sopes for an appetizer and the flank steak for an entree.

El Patio - Ordered lunch here once and ate it at the pool - got some sushi and ceviche which was OK but not great.

Los Riscos Mesquite Grill - Had dinner here the first night.  Great views.  Shared a shrimp appetizer and red snapper fillet for entree - food was yummy.

El Eden - Had dinner here twice - it's the tacos and tequila bar.  We shared the queso fundido and the El Hacendado (a mixed grill that we ate with tortillas) both times - very tasty!

Barolo Cucina Italiano - We had dinner here twice as well.  Food was quite good.  We shared the tomato/mozz salad and sea bass one night and the arugula salad and lasagna the next night.

Il Forno - Ordered pizza here twice for lunch and ate at the pool - both times we shared the arugula and prosciutto pizza.  Very good!

Jordan Visit - March 2017

 

At the Botanic Gardens

Jordan was the first or our godkid/niece/nephew visits last year (in Baltimore).  Since none of the other kids were turning 12 this year, Jordan told us she was going to visit us in Phoenix.  How can we argue with that?  So, we worked with Peter and Jen on a weekend that would work for both them and us - which ended up being the tail end of Jordan's spring break.  

Camelback

Keith had some important meetings so Shawna was able to pick up Jordan from her 1:30pm flight.  They then went straight to Keith's office to pick him up so we could all head over to the Desert Botanic Gardens.  This was the third time we have visited, but first time in the spring so it was at its most colorful - just gorgeous.  It was a couple of hours to walk around there.  We had planned dinner at Pizzeria Bianco, which is listed at one of the top 5 pizza places in the US, and is also in central Phoenix.  The restaurant does not take reservations so we headed over at 4:30pm.  There was not a table inside, so we went to the bar next door for a beer as we waited for the next available table.  It was not too long a wait.  Dinner was delicious - we started with the Spiedini (fontina cheese wrapped in prosciutto on a bed of arugula), then shared two 12-inch pizzas: the Rosa with Prosciutto (red onion, parm, rosemary, and pistachios) as well as the Margherita.  The desserts were not inspiring so we decided to grab an ice cream at Sweet Republic on Shea before heading to the house.  We tried to get tickets to the new Beauty and the Beast but it was sold out, so we instead watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on demand at home.

Top Golf

Saturday was a pretty booked day.  The first stop was Camelback, with a 9am start time.  We were lucky to find a space in the parking lot so were able to start as planned.  It was a pretty hot day so Shawna turned back about 1/2 way.  Keith and Jordan kept going and made it to the top in record time - less than 60 minutes.  Of course the next stop was the Cornish Pasty Shop, with lunch on the outdoor bar stools.  Since we were done earlier than planned, we bought some dressing to go and went back to the house for a swim, with Keith taking a nap after his two beers over lunch!  We left the house again at 2:15 for our 2:30pm slot at Top Golf.  Thank goodness we bought the slot - it was a 2.5 hour wait if we had not.  We played 3 rounds in a couple of hours - it was a lot of fun.  Shawna and Jordan got some good shots in, and Keith had his best day golfing ever.  We had an early dinner reservation so we changed in the parking lot before driving to La Hacienda in the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort.  The food was incredibly tasty - we started out with a trio of guacamole, then shared the Carnitas Hacienda and the Tampiquena.  Like Friday night, we skipped dessert at the restaurant and instead went to Menchie's in Kierland.  Back at home, we got comfortable and then rented Nerve on demand.

Dinner at La Hacienda

Jordan needed to get home at a reasonable time on Sunday, so we had booked a 10:30am flight - so after breakfast and chatting on the patio, Shawna drove Jordan to the airport.  It was a fun weekend!