Team Gritty spent Thanksgiving with friends and family, ensconced in the warmth of the greater Phoenix region, with distant views of its stunning, mountainous environs. To these New Englanders (well, most recently, anyway), the daytime temps of 80 degrees were preposterous, outlandish, devilish … and damn fine.
Ducky’s decked out for the holidays!
Highlights of this urban foray include early morning and late-night dips into the waters of the campground’s heated pool and hot tub. Then there was Dillon’s BBQ at Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium, where we sat out on the pink flamingo patio–and boy are they pretty … noisy. We saw an albino alligator and sharks galore in the 60,000-gallon tank…. Recommended? You bet. And yep, tasty BBQ.
We had a number of great home-cooked meals with family and friends, provisioned up at Trader Joe’s, dropped off a pile of stuff at Goodwill (we did what everyone who goes full-time says they did, too, which is bring along waaay too much), and even laid in a few twinkly items for the upcoming Christmas holiday. And speaking of said holiday, our mail caught up with us and included a package from Matt’s folks in Vermont—a genuine Vermont balsam Christmas wreath custom made for a certain roaming Airstream!
Though Phoenix was nice, we look forward to spending time in the more quiet surrounds of parkland with hiking trails, old gold mines, saguaro and ironwood trees. And I think we found it. Stay tuned!
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- Team Gritty ate too much BBQ….
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- Flamingoes galore at Dillon’s Family Barbeque Restaurant, Litchfield Park, Arizona
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- No Team Gritty members were harmed in the making of this photo
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- Team Gritty soaks up the heat in the hot tub
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- Palm trees over the hot tub
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- Heavy duty ag action in Phoenix, Arizona
