Arizona 2009 -- part 1

A little while ago I came back from my annual Arizona adventure and so it is time to blog the adventures. Early Friday morning, I caught my flight from Ottawa to Chicago and finally to Phoenix. JB and Raeanne met me at the airport and we headed to the race expo to pickup my race packet. I would be running in the first corral which was a intimidating and the same time exhilirating. We next heading over to REI to pickup some clothing that I had shipped to the Tempe store. I really like my new Muir Woods polar fleece jacket fitted. We headed across town, to the Bitlmore plaza home of Teavana and the Apple Store. It was my first time visiting Teavana and I had a fun experience. I bought some Early Grey and Dragon Pearl tea. To my regret I would have to wait until I was home before trying the teas. We went to the nearby Apple store and I checked my email and checked out the Time Capsule backup drives. We ate dinner at PF Changs which is a traditionally place where we have our pre-race dinner.
I was up early on Saturday by Arizona time and had a hearty breakfast at the Hampton Inn. Mid-morning JB picked me up and we headed over to the gun range to meet Pete. He is a former private investigator and has in excess of 300 firearms in his house. Canada has strict rule on firearms making it very difficult for me to check out handguns. For a long time I have wondered what it was like to shot a handgun. I also wanted to have a better understanding of the second amendment to the US constitution. Here was my opportunity to explore both and have some fun. Pete brought four guns of varying caliber including a 9mm and 45 calibre "John Wayne" gun. We bought $200 worth of bullets. After putting on eyeshield and ear protection we headed into our range slot. Pete and his son loaded up the gun cartridges while JB mounted the paper target. Pete gave me some firearms training and I emptyed my first cartridge consistently hitting around the same area. As Pete put as long as you are hitting "body matter" that is all that is important. During the experience I had sweay palms. I don't know whether it was my body reacting to the warmer conditions or the experience of firing a gun. Over the next two hours, the four of us cycled through successfully more powerful guns. Even with a double hand grip of a 45 calibre handgun, I found it had quite a kickf. Firing off these various guns will be a memorable experience for quite some time.

We stopped in a Qdoba's for lunch and watched Obama's Baltimore speech. It was a good speech and one which I think he wrote himself. We headed north of Phoenix to Lake Pleasant which is a source of drinking water for the Tempe-Phoenix-Scottsdale area. JB had done a triathlon in the area and the cycling hill looked brutal.Our next stop would be Glendale, where the last SuperBowl was played. JB, his parents and I had a pasta dinner at a Italian restaurant.