Friday, February 1, 2013

Tucson, AZ

Tucson has been my go to winter training grounds for the past 3 years now - except for last year, I was in Australia - and it has grown on me every year.  This year I stayed with Kathryn Bertine and her husband George Varhola and their 5 cats(Jalabert, Taz, Polar bear, Panda bear, Grizzly bear).  When I called her, I asked if she knew of a place where I could stay and bring Miller - she suggested I stay with them.....are you sure??? Dogs and cats??? OK! Here we come!

After a week, the cats somewhat accepted Miller's presence, after sneaking around him while he was sleeping - it was so funny.  Miller would wake up and the cats would dissappear, like nothing ever happened:)  It was a fun first week.  Then things settled down and everyone was happy in the same room together - life was good then on.

Training was great, lots of pros are in Tucson in the winter and the cycling community is very welcoming and has a huge presence in the city and surrounding areas.  I had a lot of fun riding with my buddies, Alisha and Kathryn.  Michael made a quick trip as well, according to Alisha, he can live off of coffee and Cliff Bars - no wonder he is so skinny!

On my last day in Tucson, Kathryn, her dad, George, Alisha, her husband - Dave and myself went to the Pima Air and Space Museum.  We had so much fun! Here are the pictures and maybe a couple of randoms from the month.....enjoy!

Busted Taz eating Miller's food;)

I love his big ole paws....

In Tucson, after training, a big bowl of fruit was a must :)

The day we got caught in the rain.....yeah, the rain jacket didn't help AT ALL!

George called this the 'creamsicle' Jalabert and Polar bear....

2013 product found me in Tucson! yay!

This took a long time....congrats you two!

Walking into the museum...

The crew!

Wait, which button do I push?

Figures, MS would be the Rebel....

Looking out at the hangar from one of the planes...



George giving us the run down on the planes, I think he was actually in this one when it was in service...

Looking towards another hangar....

 They made a spot for the ashtray.....

Kathryn and I stole one of the planes and took it for a joy ride..... who knew I could fly so well?

This was pretty dang interesting to me....

Here is the plane I stole!

I would've hated to be this guy....really....



Planes outside the hangars, there were a bunch!





Hey! Air Force One!!! Obama, dropped by to say hello.....



Just for size reference:)


Then the fun began in the Space Hangar.....this room is normally for kids, but the guy could really tell we were looking for something to play with....

I'm pretty sure we could've stayed on the moon all afternoon, playing...

The girls!

It's an alien!!!
Booty poke out picture!

I am back in Dolores, just for a couple of days.  Team camp is about to start and I'll be getting ready for it this weekend in between cyclocross worlds(in the US) and the SuperBowl.

Reading: Folks this ain't Normal by Joel Salatin
Listening: Fuzzy by Randy Rogers Band
Watching: the weather, I wanna go for a ride....
Eating: Chicken Mole from Pepperheads
Website: http://www.womensbiketalk.com











2 comments:

  1. I drank coffee in the shadow of the humongous Lauren Hall poster/Billboard in Kokopellis yesterday. Made me smile. Thanks for the blog, keep it coming.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, when Michael stayed with us, he and Michele drank coffee, but he didn't eat! Crazy.. Looks like things are off to a great start!!

    ReplyDelete