Haynes several times (first in February, then back with me in April, then in July, and again at the beginning of August), Mom (she came through with Haynes at the beginning of August), Erin and Camden (they drove out with me in July moving all of my stuff to my new place downtown - Haynes followed in the truck with the stuff the next day), Joe Schafer (boy was that a good surprise - he called me randomly after being here visiting a friend for a few days), and Molly Brunkow (she was technically here for 5 weeks, but the Teach For America Institute she was here for kept her in a bat cave for most of it)...
I have yet to have the opportunity to actually string together the sites and experiences that Phoenix/Tempe and Arizona have to offer.
This chance came when my older brother Zachary and his good friend Jon Hayes decided to take a very extended Labor Day weekend earlier this month. They flew in on Wednesday night, I picked them up from the airport with Carolina's (the best Mexican in south Phoenix) already picked up. A quick stop at the house to eat and drop off the bags and off to my first indoor soccer game in north Phoenix. Zach played with us and we ended up with a 3-3 tie - playing soccer after eating Mexican is not the best idea. And after showering up we stopped in Lost Leaf for a beer.
The next morning, we had Matt's Big Breakfast, and then while I worked, they rode bikes around downtown. Then for lunch it was Cornish Pasty Co. (the best restaurant in Tempe) and
then coffee at Cartel (the best coffee in the world). Then back to work while they explored REI and Tempe. After work, I hopped in the car and off we drove to Flagstaff. We stopped in at Alpine Pizza, had a large and a pitcher, and then on to the Grand Canyon where we pulled up at Mather Point and with an almost full moon, had an eerie sight. We set up camp and went to bed, ready for the long hike ahead.In the morning, after checking in we parked at the Bright Angel Trailhead and took the bus to the South Kaibab Trailhead. Here we began what would be a 17-mile, 10-hour hike. Only Jon's stories can really describe the steps, the sweat, and the cramps. And only Jon's photos (see Facebook) can show the route from the rim, to the river, and back up to the rim - all in 10 hours.
We took breaks, ate energy bars, crossed the river twice, stopped at the river beach, and finally made it out of the canyon as the sunset was ending (actually, more or less after the sun had set). Our minds and eyes were ready for a big meal and some good beer, but our bodies were saying "sleep." So after snacking on some chips, having a beer, and eating my best-made bean and chicken burritos, we were off to bed.
We woke up the next morning after being rained on, cleaned up best we could, packed up, and headed to the east rim to see some of my favorite view points. From Desert View, to Lipan Point, to Moran Point, and then off and out of the park, passing miles of cars heading into the park. It was Saturday and our original plan was to camp that night at Joshua Tree. With our late start, we wouldn't be making it to Joshua Tree until later than expected, and this became even later as we ran into a rains
torm in the middle of the Mojave Desert (which gets 5 inches of percipitation a year, all of which seemed to be coming down right then). Slowed down by flash floods, we eventually made our way through all of them and into the park where we decided we would get dinner in town and head back to Phoenix. So we took the next two hours to find Skull Rock, jump around from rock pile 
to rock pile, and walk through the Joshua Tree forests. As the sun set, we headed into town to Crossroads Cafe where we had an amazing meal - one of Haynes' hosts from CalArts recommended this place during our first trip through - it was great then and it was great now.We decided to take the road through the park to cut down to I-10, and on the way through I was pulled over by a park ranger. I was speeding, but he let me go and we kept on toward Phoenix. After stopping for coffee, Zach took over for the last hour and we made it back at 1 a.m.
The next morning, we took it easy, then made our way to LoLo's Chicken and Waffles for lunch. There we ran into Marty Ingram who graduated high school with Zach and Jon. From there we took a tour around Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe, stopping at Four Peaks where we met up with Joel Hufford, then Casey Moore's, and finally back to Phoenix where we got our swimsuits and headed up to the Clarendon where we sat in the hot tub then headed to the roof top to see the sun set over Phoenix. After cleaning up back home, we had our final beer and meal at The Roosevelt.
The next morning I brought Zach and Jon to the airport.
