2023 Friends & Family Tour – Part 2

We will soon be setting off for round two of the friends and family tour.  This time we’ll be heading to the desert southwest to visit Cathy’s friend in Tucson, AZ.  As always, we will be taking the scenic route to Tucson and beyond.

We’ll wind our way through the foothills, over the Sierra Nevada mountains, and drop down into the Nevada desert.  We’ll head east to Utah before heading south into Arizona.  We will spend two nights with our dear friend Mary and enjoy her fantastic hospitality.  After a good visit, we will head north to Colorado.  We decided to push ourselves the first few days of the trip and then schedule a few two-day layovers.  Besides Tucson, we will stay two nights in Telluride, CO. We’ll then head west to Utah to spend two days exploring Capitol Reef National Park.  After that, we’ll resume the push home with an overnight stop in Eureka, NV.

Of course, we needed to change tires after our trip to southern California earlier this year and Tom’s trip to Pike’s Peak with his friends.  This ritual is challenging for the two of us – lots of cussing and grunting, but what better way to grow closer as a couple?  Cathy could think of several other ways. But after ten-plus years of doing it, we are getting better at it – tire changing that is. In fact, with the $85 per wheel we saved changing our own tires, Cathy will be treated to the wine bar and sushi tonight!

Tom is looking forward to the dark sky star gazing in Torrey near Capitol Reef. In addition, we’ll visit Meteor Crater, Canyonlands, Zion, the Devil’s Highway and of course we’ll be standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. Cathy is looking forward to seeing all of these as well but mostly looking forward to a change of pace and scenery.

Cathy has visited Tucson on several occasions and is looking forward to catching up with Mary and the several friends she’s met there in Tucson and while vacationing with Mary and Co. Tom will get to experience one of Mary’s legendary cocktail parties for the first time!

We feel like we’ve got the bike pretty well dialed-in and have all the accessories we need. Now we just have to decide on rain gear or cooling vests! We’re trying to decide how to pack because currently Tucson is 100 degrees Fahrenheit but Telluride has a high of 50 degrees Fahrenheit. We’re either going to be hot or cold. We’re leaning toward being hot for one day.

Until then… day trips!