Memorial Day

We headed northeast for the three-day weekend to cool off in the pines. Us and the rest of Arizona, too. We got a late start, heading out late Saturday morning, so that I could work on my fitness in the early hours. The number of classes and activities that I can still do while extremely rotund are very limited, and I had to take advantage of the morning barre class. It worked out well because the traffic was minimal by this time.

Ronnie Ra Dog eager to take the position of shotgun.

Joe always feels a little apprehensive about car rides.

My parents had just finished their round of golf when we rolled up in the afternoon, so we hit up the clubhouse for happy hour, where I used every bit of restraint in my body to not order a Torreon chardonnay. It's getting to the point where it's tougher and tougher to pretend that my drink of choice is an actual real drink. After playing around on the golf course after hours, we rounded out the night with pizza and Butterfinger Blizzards, which sent me to bed feeling like I had swallowed a brick. I might dare say it was worth it. Few things make me happier than pizza and ice cream. So that almost made up for my lack of indulgence at happy hour.

Practicing putting and chipping before sunset.

No dogs allowed!

My big bump silhouetted in the sandtrap.

Sunday morning brought an early tee time for Dylan and Dad, and mom and I got an early start at the pool...where it was 60 degrees outside, and we sat poolside in our sweatshirt-jackets. I soaked up every second of it because I have a feeling that's the last time I'll need a jacket for many, many months. The guys finished up as the Memorial Day pool party was getting started, so we put in our order on the grill, then made a beeline out of there after lunch.

Breakfasting on the patio

We caught the guys teeing off on the third hole, in the front yard of the cabin

We drove into Pinetop for the afternoon to walk around the lake and have a picnic, then it was back home for dinner and a movie. On Monday morning we went on an almost 4-mile hike with the dogs, and it was perfectly cool and overcast. Then it was time to pack it up and head back to the valley. We were all pretty tuckered out by this point. Luck was on our side in that the traffic was as mild as it could possibly be for a holiday weekend, and we made it home in a normal amount of time. It's back to the grind tomorrow. I'm still packing in three days this week, so though I didn't get any additional days off for the holiday, it was incredibly nice to have three days off in a row. 

Picnic at the lake

Some people looked for geocaches on the hike. But not me.

And amidst all the outdoor fun, it was nice to see a big load of patriotism this holiday weekend. The reason for the day was not to kick-off summer or to have an excuse to light up the BBQ, but to honor our troops. I invite you to visit this post to see some heartwarming (and heartbreaking) photos and to find some avenues to support our armed forces if you so desire. 

I hope it was a good weekend for you, and I hope you're excited for the start of summer. I'm certainly not. I'm a curmudgeon during the summer, and this particular one will be more brutal for me than usual. But today I give thanks for the brave men and women serving our country and for air conditioning and swimming pools.