Eric graduated from Arizona State University yesterday. His dad Tim, sister Erin, nephew Ethan, mom (me!), cousin Ulli and his wife Jasmine were all in attendance. I drove up Sunday morning and came back Tuesday evening. I enjoyed my time with the family. Even Tim was civil with me. This was my first trip away from the dogs for more than 36 hours.
There's a lot to do in the Tempe-Scottsdale area. It was my first time exploring it. My previous times in Tempe were as stop-overs, or to visit Eric. It has never been a trip destination until this time. I only knew Scottsdale as an upscale town with lighted pal trees at night.
We did most everything together as a "family", but time was limited in all that we could do: walk around, hike, visit skate parks. Ulli and Jasmine only joined us for two meals, Tim stayed at the hotel pool during the day, but most of my time was with Erin and Ethan. I hadn't seen Ethan since 2021. He is now 15 years old and will be a high school sophomore this fall.
We began the family gatherings in Scottsdale Sunday early afternoon, just five miles from Eric's apartment. We ate at a Mexican restaurant, Cien Agaves, then walked around the Civic Center park, a 24-acre open area landscaped with desert cactus, public art, splash pad, outdoor stages. It was clean, well-maintained, and had public restrooms and water fountains. It was the ideal place to walk around.
Walking after a meal was one thing Tim and I did when we were married. I still enjoy walking. The overcast sky and breeze cooled the activity down quite a bit, much to Tim's surprise. He wanted desert heat for his visit. I told him the real heat will come later on Monday.
Our urban walk was 3.2 miles, walking the Scottsdale trail in part along Scottsdale Road going north toward the Arizona Camal. There was a lot more I hadn't seen and wanted to see, but Ethan was on the hunt for a donut shop as he (and Tim) like donuts like I like ice cream. We only stayed in Scottsdale a few hours as we had to get ready for the bigger meal later that evening at Molnati's Pizza at the Tempe Marketplace. That is where Ulli and Jasmine met us.
I did eat a lot during my 2.5 days with the family. The pizza was disappointing Sunday night, but I will always enjoy walking around the Tempe Marketplace, one of the few malls still doing well due to its many family-friendly outdoor plazas. We didn't walk inside the mall, but stayed outside to eat ice cream by the splashpad.
After the meal we stopped for an hour at Eric's apartment, then went our separate ways. I got a room at the nearby Motel 6 for the night. I was expecting hotels to be booked solid for the graduation, but I guess most people prefer the nicer, more expensive hotels. Even Erin said I should splurge more and enjoy some luxury.
Erin, Erin and Tim are late sleepers but I prefer getting up early. Monday morning I walked south on Scottsdale Road from Motel6 to find a coffee shop. There were two just a block from the Motel. The first one didn't have an active walk-up window, but the second one, Bikini Beans Coffee, did. What a surprise that place was!
Bikini Beans was exactly that: young women wearing skimpy bikinis while making and serving coffee to drive-thru and walk-up customers. It's like Hooters for coffee drinkers. I got the "new customer!" bell ring. While the skimpy bikinis were a bit of a sexist display for me, the women were very friendly and the coffee was good. It was also visited by several families during my visit.
I needed that jolt of java before meeting Ethan and Erin at the Tempe skatepark. It was Ethan's goal to try out as many skateparks as possible while in the area. He brought his scooter with him. He's tall and slender and very active. This was his third park. We agreed to meet at 9am.
I got there early to walk the perimeter and get a feel for the park that offered pickleball, baseball, soccer, disk, football and a dog park all within the same complex. I was impressed! The perimeter was just over 1.5 miles. It's mostly a paved path, but parts are crushed gravel. Most of the path is shaded.
We didn't stay long as Ethan complained of the heat.
We even got a small hike up Little Butte in Papago Park, once we figured out the parking. We had originally gone to different parking areas. I didn't realize that Papago Park was that big, or that the southeastern part of it is by Eric's apartment! We got a short 1.5 mile walk through the desert. Neither Erin nor Ethan were dressed for desert hiking, Erin wore a dress with sandals and no hat and Ethan wasn't wearing a hat either.
But at least we got to see a saguaro in bloom! Most saguaros start blooming in late May and the one we saw was just starting to grow blooms.
We departed at 11:30am. That gave me just over hour to try out the new Tempe brewpub, 100 Mile Brewing. It's a spacious indoor-outdoor gastropub with spacious seating and a good selection of beers. It's within walking distance of Eric's place off a multi-use path. I sat at the bar and sampled a flight of five beers
Our next date was meeting at 1pm back at Eric's to then walk the ASU campus and have a meal before the graduation ceremony at 7pm. Ulli joined us for this walk, and Jasmine joined us before the ceremony. This was my first exploration of the campus area, although we stayed in the restaurant area.
The crowds hadn't developed yet. We were able to walk around at ease with no lines or hassle. Our lunch was at Mellow Mushroom, a chain pizzeria that I first discovered in Paducah, KY on my last road trip. Our server, Harry (who reminded me of a very young Kid Rock) was excellent. Eric then took us to a rooftop bar overlooking the campus right before getting ready to enter the ASU arena.
I was worried about any pro-Palestinian protests that had been plaguing other universities like UCLA, Columbia, even Indiana University where Tim and I went. But the protest crowd here was small and contained in a small area outside the Sun Devil arena. There were a lot of campus police keeping busy!
The graduation ceremony finally began at 7:30am. We were seated high up, with full view facing north. Airplanes kept flying over to land at the neaby SkyHarbor airport. The university president gave a good speech and a Hollywood director, Walter Parkes, was honored with a PhD in movie directing but I was bored for the most part. Dorothy Tillman from Chicago at only 17 years old earned a PhD in integrated behavioral health. Now that is impressive.
Ulli and Jasmine left after the ceremony as they had an early flight the next day back to North Carolina.
Getting out of the arena was a challenge. I rode the entire two days with the family in Tim's rental Toyota Camry. Once back at the apartment, we chatted a bit before I opted to explore a late-night beer bar nearby, the Spokes on Southern (Ave), where I sipped two pints of beer in an hour and declined a young man's offer of a shot of whiskey who was sitting near me at the bar. I liked that place and would like to try it out during the day. It was eight miles from Eric's place; I didn't realize that Tempe was that big.
Tuesday morning I was up early to explore more of Scottsdale. My focus this time was the area west of Scottsdale Road. Nothing was open when I got there at 6:30am. Even the homeless were still wrapped in blankets on metal benches around the Civic Center park. What I did notice this time were the many designer dogs out early for walks with their owners.
This was a 4-mile walk focusing on public art and the Arizona Canal. I had good coffee both at the Breakfast Club and Cartel Roasting on 5th Avenue and discovered a brioche donut shop that Ethan would have loved, Chin Up donuts. I got there at 9:30, ordered a half dozen, and was told that the shop closes at 1pm or when they run out of donuts. When I came by the shop was already half out of donuts. Ethan and Tim both said the donuts were good.
I could have stayed in Scottsdale longer as our next date was at 11am for a last meal together at the Tempe Dog Haus, another chain I never heard of before. The place is a short drive from the apartment, but we drove together in the Camry. Now it was hot out, and we sat outside because it was too cold inside.
When we got back to the apartment, Erin learned that their flight was delayed three hours due to tornadoes over Illinois. (They flew Southwest from Chicago Midway to SkyHarbor and back). I stayed with them until 2pm, played with their cats Archer, Tesla and Lana, but then had to leave, as I wanted to get back to Sierra Vista while it was still light. Erin, Tim and Ethan arrived back in Valparaiso at 1:40am Wednesday. I drove into town at 6pm, stopped at Frys and then the house, then came to CC's at 7:30am.
The little family reunion was now over. I had a better time than expected. I got to spend time with Ethan, Erin and Eric, got to know Tempe and Scottsdale, and even was able to still get my five miles of walking every day.
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