Monday, March 27, 2017

Arizona - Day One

This year's CLBA Pacific Region's Biennial Convention was in Phoenix this year. It was a great excuse to go back to Arizona for the first time in 15 years. And the perfect time of year!

When we arrived at 10:45pm on Monday night the flight attendant said it was 88 degrees. I was sure she had to be mistaken until we walked out on the gangplank. Nope it really was 88 degrees!

We stayed at Ronda and Brian Clark's house in Glendale. Ronda was on the servant team while we were working there. It was so fun to see her again and get to meet her husband and two daughters, Chloe and Hannah (or Snowy and Banana... LOL). 

But first we had to make a stop at Fry's (Kroger's version of Fred Meyers). The giant bank of solar panels worked well for shade as well as power...



The projected high was 92, so we decided to skip hiking for the first day and go to Chandler and check out all our old haunts. 

First we went to Arizona Mills, the mall we always went to during the hot weather. Just the place for letting little boys walk out some energy where it wasn't quite so hot. Like most malls in America, Arizona Mills was no longer in its former glory. Even our favorite Krispy Kreme was out of business. But at least the Rainforest Cafe was still there. :)




We went down town where YM and The Rock Church offices were...



After doing a bit of wandering, we were ready for a homemade mango chili pop. 


For a light lunch we went to The Perches Brewery. All the birds and the pretty patio were better than the food or the beer... :( 



Next we headed out of town to find our old house. That was a bit trickier than we thought it would be. Mostly because it was a lot further out of town than we thought it was. Turns out, Cooper Commons is still a little bit in the middle of nowhere thanks to butting right up to the reservation. But it hadn't changed a whole lot in 15 years...






The boys and I spent a whole lot of time in this library and the one downtown. It was just like going back in time to walk through the door...



The only place we probably spent more time was Chandler-Gilbert Community College: our meeting place for The Rock Church. Unlike the library, it had changed a whole lot!



By this time it had climbed up to 96 degrees! It was time to cool off with a much better beer at San Tam Brewing back in downtown Chandler...


We ended the day having dinner at Miles Kolman's house and getting to meet his wife Sarah and two daughters. How did we get so old in only 15 years??? ;)

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