annual Corona party

A fairly quiet weekend, which is nice with Labor Day upcoming. The highlight was yesterday as my friend Patrick hosted his annual Corona pool party. I had not been able to attend for the last couple of years, so it was nice to spend the afternoon 'chillaxin', even if the monsoon did drive us inside for a while with a quick afternoon storm. Still a good time was had by all!

D-Backs game

Well, a little late, but a week or so ago, I took Caryl to the Diamondback vs. Reds game as her birthday present. I had purchased some sweet seats right behind home plate in a charity auction, so we went to enjoy the night's game. Too bad the team stinks so bad this year, but it was still nice to sit in great seats, and we even got a close-up from the 'Racing Legends' as they made their way up through the stands.

A little bonus as former pitcher 'Papa Grande' - Jose Valverde, now with Detroit was in the stands down from us cheering the team (and heckling the Reds)- woo woo!

Crown King

Last Saturday was my only day off for the weekend, so I organized a quick day trip out of the heat to Crown King, a former mining town (if you can call it that) 2 hrs. north of Phoenix. So up I-17 we went to the exit, which is followed by 28 miles of graded gravel road to an elevation of 5911'. As we got on the gravel, we made our "must" stop at Cleator, AZ, which includes a store, a bar, and some ramshackle housing. It is a favorite for locals and tourists alike, though, and not to be missed, as it is the last bathroom until Crown King. It started a light rain, but that gave way to cool temps & perfect weather to sit, shop, and drink when we rolled into CK (at a VERY pleasant 68 degrees!).

So we spent the afternoon doing just these things, and then headed back down to Phoenix. Luckily for us, all the days rain had gone around us, and through Phoenix, so when we got back home, it was only 83 degrees here - woo hoo! Then Caryl and I set out to Kierland to hear some live music in the courtyard as it was the last of these events for the summer. An excellent way to spend the day!

As usual, more complete pics in the my photos section of this blog - enjoy!