Early Spring Road Trip to Scottsdale
We recently took our first road trip this spring. After the storm of the century in Texas, trying to ensure our house did not freeze, burst or leak, we were ready to get on the road again. Due to the storms we had to postpone the trip twice. Finally, 24 hours before we left we said, “Let’s go!” and booked hotels and dining.
Covid was still in full swing but since we’d taken a few road trips last year, we believed we’d figured out how to travel and stay safe. We each took a covid test before leaving just to be responsible travelers.
An old favorite
As we head west a favorite stop is always Albuquerque so we can have dinner at El Pinto. El Pinto will be 59 years old this year, serving great New Mexican food. (and delicious margaritas!)
We made a reservation on Open Table and requested outside seating. They have great gardens all around. Unfortunately, it was only 55 degrees out! So we sat in a covered outdoor patio with heaters where we stayed plenty warm. Worth a nights stop for sure!
For the first time we stayed at Mountain Shadows Resort. Check it out: HERE. We loved it! It was originally opened in 1959, and by the pictures that lined the hallways, we saw the resort was a favorite of Hollywood stars of the 60’s and 70’s. It was totally redone in 2017, but from what we saw, maintained the mid-century feeling throughout the resort.
We liked that it was smaller than some of the massive resorts in the area.
(Note the happy face back in the sunshine!)
So much adventure outdoors in Arizona
This is summer time in Arizona for sure. The temperatures are mild, the air clear and the sun just shines, shines, shines. Everyone is outside. It does make me wonder as we saw so many walkers, hikers, bikers, golfers and picnicners, would we have seen this 2 years ago, pre-pandemic? (Golfers and hikers for sure, I think)
We wanted to walk, hike or bike every day, to be able to eat like we wanted to at night! So we kicked off the first day with a moderate hike at McDowell Mountain. At first it was like a “hiking highway” and then as we got further out the people thinned out. We took the “Gateway loop” an almost 4 mile loop that gains about 400 ft in elevation. Easy, right? The trail itself is in it’s natural state, full of rocks and the elevation gain felt more like 4,000 ft at times. We were rewarded with beautiful views all along the way. Yes, we would do it again!
This is only about 100 ft up, where we looked back into Scottsdale.
Smiling face…we’re not that far up!
Check out the terrain!
After the big hike we stayed mostly in the flatlands for walks around the many walking trails inside parks in the area.
The other big activity we wanted to take on was renting e-bikes. We love bike riding, so we thought this would let us cover more ground while still getting some exercise. We rented Pedgo bikes in North Scottsdale. (This place: HERE) Jon is the franchise owner and we’d been emailing back and forth. With our crazy changes, I did not finalize the bikes until the morning we wanted to go. Jon responded right away and off we went to the bike store. This store is next to tons of bike trails, off the street but not in the mountains, perfect for our needs.
In all we went about 17 miles in 2 hours, through easy trails, not too crowded (it was a Monday). There was some road time , but not too much. We absolutely loved it! Of course, at the end they would have been more than happy to sell us one of these magnificent bikes. They really are great.
Part of the reason we selected this hotel is the room size, separation from other guests and this patio. We picked up a few goodies at the market and the hotel sent us this beautiful fruit plate. Oh and a couple of margaritas after a 17 mile bike ride. Lunch!
Why we go to Scottsdale in February!
88 degrees, playing cards by the pool, with a margarita. The perfect recipe for curing the winter blues. (Note the space between chairs and how few people. They were doing a great job socially distancing)
One last view from our patio of the beautiful Camelback sunset. Up next, some of the restaurants we tried in Scottsdale.
