Arizona - October 2019

Singh/Mehta/Dodds Clan at Phoenix Botanic Gardens

We debated over whether this blog post was to go in our local or travel folder....we chose travel as we were no longer in our house!  After the weekend in Sedona, we checked in to an AirBnB for a week, with Simran joining us for the week and Rakesh/Ria joining us the last weekend to celebrate our last hoorah in Scottsdale before we officially moved to Chicago! 

Stylish!

Keith picked up Simran at the airport on the Monday and met Shawna at the house - she had arrived just a few minutes earlier.  The house was near the intersection of Chaparral and North Granite Reef.  It was a nice three bedroom with a big living/family room and a nice outdoor fire pit.  Shawna and Sim headed out for some grocery shopping while Keith Ubered back to the JW Marriott Desert Ridge for his conference. 

Butterflies at the Botanic Garden

We used the house as a base for work and fun, but while we were there we:

• Had dinner out at Fat Ox (so yummy) and Cornish Pasty (our favorite in Scottsdale)
• Had takeout from Soi 4 Bankok Eatery, Cornish Pasty (again), and Diego Pops
• Ate dinner at home cooked by Rakesh (yummy fish, steak, potatoes and greens)
• Had lunch at Ghost Ranch and finally made it to the southern part of  Tempe
• Walked around the Desert Botanic Gardens and went to the butterfly garden
• Made coffee runs to Cartel Coffee Lab (a new favorite of Ria's!)
• Walked around the neighborhood, Chaparral Park, Camelback Park, and Old Town/Waterfront
• Lots of hanging out and chatting

Ria at Botanic Gardens

It was a nice relaxing farewell to Arizona, and the departure on Sunday was bittersweet.  But...we are now Illinois locals!

Sedona - October 2019

Broken Arrow Trail

As part of the last hurrah in Arizona, we opted to have a final weekend getaway in Sedona.  The movers had loaded up the truck and driven away on Wednesday so Shawna was staying at the Courtyard Marriott when Keith arrived from NYC on the Friday night.

Mariposa

On Saturday, we left the hotel at about 9 to drive to Sedona.  On the way, we stopped by the house and saw that the person who bought it was moving in already! While the room at the Arabella was not yet ready, we left our luggage there so that the wine would not get hot and the laptops not stolen!  We did the 2.25 hour Soldier Pass / Brins Mesa loop hike and then went back to the hotel for a nap but we never quite got to sleep. Instead, we went to Mariposa for dinner early and had a few drinks on the patio, which meant we were able to see the sun on the rocks which, as always, was stunning.  Dinner was delicious: tuna tartar, chopped salad, meat trio, mushrooms, and roasted cauliflower.  It was a perfect dinner. 

Soldier Pass / Brins Mesa Hike

On Sunday, we had breakfast at the hotel and then walked the Broken Arrow trail to Chicken Point and then back via Submarine Rock before having lunch at The Hudson where we had our favorite steak and blue salad - one each.  It was then a couple of hour drive back to Scottsdale where we checked in to the JW Marriott Desert Ridge, where Keith's conference was to be held the following three days. 

Texas - October 2019

Outstanding in the Field

Keith's brother was selected to host another Outstanding in the Field so of course we decided to make a weekend of it.  Keith was flying in from Chicago - he arrived the Thursday night late and stayed at the Hyatt Place in The Colony as he arrived late and was up early to tour properties in Dallas.  Shawna arrived at DFW airport just after 5pm on the Friday from San Francisco where she had a meeting and then spent a couple of days with Simran.  Keith Ubered to Colleyville after wrapping up the property tours so we both were at the house at about 6pm.  After a couple of glasses of wine we headed to Nanglo Indian with Keith's parents for dinner.

We both slept in Saturday morning.  After breakfast at the house and some clearing of work emails we went to see Jenn, Jordan, and Michael for an hour or so (Peter was not home).  It was a brief visit but good to see them.  We had to go back to the house as we needed to shower and head to the event at 1:30pm to be there by 3 as the event was north of McKinney at Pure Land Farm.  We picked up Margaret along the way.  There was a couple of hour reception followed by 220 people at a single table for dinner.  It was a fun night - lots of great food and wine.

Keith and Graham

On Sunday, we got up a bit earlier and had enough time to go for a walk.  Margaret dropped off her kids at the house so we got to see them for an hour or so - before we drove to Dallas to pick up Lily who was visiting for a couple of days.  We then went to the Arboretum, but traffic was so bad that as soon as we arrived Shawna jumped in an Uber to head back to Love Field for her flight.  Graham met us at the gardens so we were able to walk around for an hour to see the pumpkin festival.  On the way home we dropped Lily off at Margaret's so she could spend the night at their house.  Dinner was at Bonefish Grill, and then an early night for Keith so he could get up early to fly to Houston Monday morning.