Thanksgiving at McDowell

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours could not have been better. After departing Mesa and the icky RV park there, we went out to McDowell Mountain Park. It's one of the best places on earth. This is the sunset from the first night we were there.

This was last night.

The campsite with the brown and cream Class A and the blue tent is Roger and Peggy's site. Roger is a camping legend. This year he brought multiple outdoor cooking surfaces, multiple propane lanterns and the blue tent. The tent was excellent for keeping the blazing sun and sporadic rain off of our heads.

Our friend Greg was out from the east coast. It's always a treat to see him. Greg's in excellent shape now; he's riding and running strong.

Roger and Steve. Steve and his wife Brenda were also down from Utah. Brenda is new to mountain biking and did an excellent job of riding the rocks. Steve's an ex-racer, and it shows. His bike handling skills are superb. Note the propane lantern behind Steve's shoulder. That's the cook line Roger had set up.

Roger and Peggy.

Are they not a lovely couple?

Roger made his signature Thanksgiving dish - seared ahi.

The group.

As with all parties, there is clean up. This morning we stopped by and helped fold the tent (literally) and take out the garbage. The Utah natives are on their way north and we headed south.

Here is our new truck with the new canopy, providing shelter for the road bikes. Note the front slide out, with the attached storage units below. Note the concrete blocks on the ground. During the years we lived in the 5th wheel, we looked up for possible objects to be hit by the slides. Now we must look down. We came so close to running that slide into the concrete barriers. But, we didn't and that lesson is now firmly imprinted on our brains.

With any luck, we'll get the gravel guard soon, get it installed, and I will no longer have to follow the RV, driving the truck. I hate driving! Just hate it.