Spring Weekend

With warmer weather here, we're getting active again. Friday night, we got invited to meet up with friends to see a free movie outdoors at the Biltmore Fashion Park. The movie was Hoosiers, a 1986 movie about basketball. The plaza isn't very big, but there was more than enough room for everyone.

The movie is on. Can you see it?

Yeah, us either. We listened more than we watched, but we got the gist. The temps were in the mid-60s, which wouldn't have been terrible (since I had a coat), but there was a chilly breeze. Every time it blew through, I wanted to yell at someone to turn off the air conditioner! We will be waiting for the temps to move into the 70s at night before we attempt that again, but it was a nice way to spend a Friday out. Next time, we bring popcorn.

Then Saturday, we had wanted to rent a small boat on Canyon Lake (about an hour from here), but a call ahead confirmed they were all taken. So then we thought we'd try to get a hike in, but slowly my companions starting backing out, and the next thing I knew I was the last one standing. I ended up hiking a trail we did a while ago, the Sonoran Trail in the McDowell's. I run the short trail by the Fountain a couple of times a week, but hiking for 3 hours by yourself is kind of spooky. Plus after our last run-in with 3 snakes on one trail, I had the heebie jeebies a little. I'm happy to say I didn't see any snakes this time. But I did see a huge rabbit. Huge (for a rabbit)! It turns out that it was a Black Tailed jackrabbit. Cool!

Because it had just rained, I expected to see a lot more wild flowers. Here's what I did see, for those of you needing a dose of spring, desert style.


It was pretty warm, so that same wind I had been cursing the night before felt great at noon. Here's a selfie at the turnaround point. I saw absolutely no one on my way back (it was about 2pm), so was jamming out to my mp3 - "Hey, sexy lady....whoop, whoop."

I hope no one saw me trying to get that photo.

It's kind of nice being by yourself every once in awhile, but Michael's now sulking because he's never seen a jackrabbit. Guess he shouldn't have ditched me...

Sunday, Michael & I ended up going to the Tempe Aloha Festival. The organizers of the Chinese Lantern Festival should take note. The Hawaiian event was free, it had several stages with all kinds of cultural activities (with mostly Hawaiian performers), and had lots of things to buy or eat - all Hawaiian. Look at the crowds!



Spam and flavored ice? Check.



Hula dancers? Check.



Warrior dancers? Check.

Girls in coconut bras and grass skirts? Check.



Ukelele lessons? Check.

Hawaiian reggae music? Check. Wait, what? Yep. These guys were great. It turns out this band, Kush County, was from the mainland (Casa Grande, AZ, to be exact), but they did bring up a bunch of guest Hawaiian singers to jam with them. It made us miss the islands (Caribbean). We had the same feeling we had when we got to hear Gramps Morgan in Nevis. One of the singers sang Let's Drink Beer, and we just had to laugh. For some reason it reminded us of a song we once heard in the Bahamas. A lot of island songs are pretty simple and are about the simplest things. This one had been about an onion and how it made the guy cry. Unsurprisingly I can't find the lyrics online, but trust me, it was funny.

Before we left, we checked out what was happening on Tempe Lake.



I love the name/logo of this rowing club. They are in Furnace Phoenix, after-all.

Not a bad weekend at all. I love warmth. I really do. If we could keep these 80-degree days forever, I'd be sooo happy.