Hunkered down in Arizona

For the second night in a row temperatures in the Valley of the Sun will be a frosty -3C (27F).  The forecast is for this cold snap to last until Wednesday.  Daytime temperatures hover around 8C (47F).  Best I can offer is lots of sunshine.  Please, shed no tears for us.  Despite the unseasonable weather we are still doing almost everything we want to do.

This week, our second here in Mesa is all but done.  3 bike rides (174kms), 1 trail run, 2 birding outings (Usery Park and Gilbert Water Ranch), Bocce Ball league match, tennis, various walks, some great dinners and, oh right, Elvis' birthday.  Funny, it seems like a quiet week.

Birding has been a bit quiet.  We added a few birds to our list this week.  They are:

American Kestrel
Merlin Hawk
Say's-Phoebe
Black Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Bald Eagle
Red Tail Hawk
Several disputed species hawks

We are starting to stretch out our mileage on the bikes.  Nothing significant yet but this week we will ramp it up to between 70 and 80k per trip.  We will do this by riding an extra loop of the Bush Hwy/Usery Loop.  Cold weather will factor into our decisions.  We find that our muscles are not as efficient in cooler weather.  We know warm/hot weather is coming so another week of shorter rides will be fine.

On the tennis front, 3 family members are active in the local tennis club.  Sis-in-law Donna finished her first week in 1.5 tennis lessons.  My brother Kelly performed very well in his rating session and ended up being rated at the 3.0 level.  I am very proud of his performance.  He will do very well at that level.  My brother Mike had his first 1.5 level league match.  Despite a spirited effort his doubles team lost in a match tie-breaker.  Me?  I'm taking things easy this year.  My knee is holding up well but complains a bit after an hour of practice.  Too many things I want to do outside of tennis to risk further injury to my knee.  I keep reminding myself that I have an MRI on May 6th.

Today Dana and I joined our friend Steve for a 5k desert trail run in the hills in north Mesa.  While only 40 minutes it was a great workout, cardio and legs.  The scenery with Red Mountain in the background was stunning!  (sorry, left my camera in the 4Runner...) We enjoyed it so much that we hope to get at least one trail run in each week.  Just have to figure out how to fit it into our busy calendar.

Tomorrow is the SeaHawks/Falcons game.  I hope it is good game.  Playoff games today have been exciting.  Go Hawks!

I have been a bit tardy in taking pictures this week.  I have included one of the few I took this week.  This pic was taken on the Cat's Peak trail at Usery Mountain park.  I'm sending this one out to Erica and Valerie.  Kinda speaks for itself.....  Enjoy!

Stay warm out there......

Ciao!