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2011

This year I believe all posts are about the USA. This is no wonder since we have lived this year in Phoenix. Last year we were not living together and spent a lot of time travelling just to see each other. This year we have been together and in a completly different environment than we are used to, the desert. 
It has been interesting. We have experienced higher temperatures than ever before and for the first time I have chosen to have dinner indoors because it is too hot outside. I have realized that too hot weather is just as limiting as too cold weather. Lucky for us we got to escape during August to find some cooler air in the Colorado Rockies and now during the winter it is much more comfortable.
Although we live in Phoenix I have actually not written anything about the city. It is time that changed. We will stay here until end of March so I still have some time to make up for lost Phoenix posts.
First though we will enjoy Christmas. The afternoon of Christmas Eve was spent by the pool with freshly baked “mjuk pepparkaka” and lots of glögg (Swedish mulled wine). The sun was warm in the afternoon but when it goes down the temperature here is not much higher than in Stockholm. 
In the evening we had reservations at the Melting Pot which is a Fondue restaurant. Fondue is a Christmas tradition for both our families which made it the perfect choice. The American Fondue is somewhat different from what we are used to. There were no sides like potatoes, rice or chips (weird Swiss side… 🙂 ), the mix of meats was larger and there were more vegetables to dip. Although I missed the sides a bit it was a good call because we would never had made it through the meats if we had sides to eat while waiting for the meat to be cooked. We still got way too full since the Christmas dinner special was four courses featuring cheese fondue, salad, meat fondue and chocolate fondue… It is now noon the day after and I still don’t feel like eating anything. But that how it is supposed to be on Christmas, or?

Favourite spots

Usually my favourite spot anywhere is an elevated point where I can get a good view. In Stockholm it is the top of Västerbron, a bridge where you have a great view of the city center and the surrounding waters. This is unfortunately a very busy place with lots of traffic so I don’t linger there for very long but I do make sure that passing this bridge is part of walks and runs in the area. As it happens, in Phoenix, one of my favourite spots is similar.
Phoenix is a very big and flat city. Usually you do not see anything further than the next block. As I drive to work I have to drive over the I-10 along Chandler Blwd where the bridge is just a few meters higher than the surrounding area. But because the city is so flat you can see all the way to Superstition Mountains at the other end of town at this place. The sunrise and sunset are usually very nice from here and you can easily see sandstorms rolling in from the south. 

Luckily there are two traffic lights on the bridge itself and in this case I do not mind that these particular ones are always red when I come along.

Visiting parents

In September my parents came over from Sweden to visit us in Arizona. The first few days we showed them around the area, looked at the views from Dobbins Lookout on South Mountain, did some shopping at the Chandler Mall, had drinks at the Hyatt in downtown Phoenix and drove the Apache Trail.

Apache Trail

Goldfield Ghost town along the Apache Trail 

As usual the weather was sunny and a bit warmer than we had expected at this time of year. It has been around 40 degrees Celsius in Phoenix during this time. My parents had not ever experienced that kind of heat which required some getting used to.


After the sight seeing in the Phoenix area we did a 5 day tour featuring Prescott / Sedona, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam and Lake Havasu. It was a fair way to go and we had to spend quite a lot of time in the car. But it was a nice trip with a good mix of things to do. We did some hiking, shopping and sight seeing.

Grand Canyon
At the Narrows in Zion National park

My parents at Luxor 

The Elvis fan

When we got back to Phoenix we had a rest day where we slept in and just went shopping in Scottsdale. In the evening we had a barbecue at the pool.

Tombstone down town

The last outing was a day trip down to Tombstone where we walked around the historic little down town, ate at one of the old saloons and watched the Shoot out show at OK Corral, featuring Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday.

At Crystal Palace where we had lunch
Thanks for visiting. We had a great time!

Worn out

This poor pair of shoes have been with me since 2008. I bought them before a hiking holiday in Austria in August 2008. They have been hiking the Austrian Alps, Swiss Alps, Australian Alps, Red Center, Grampians, Kangaroo Island and other places in Australia, Sörmlandsleden in Sweden, Bukhansan in South Korea, desert hikes in Arizona and Utah, a number of 14ers in Colorado and probably a few more places I can not remember. They have even climbed a grade 5 at a couple of occasions.


They have been great and I am very sad to have worn them out. But I think it is now time to go look for a new pair.

The Narrows


The last day before heading back to Phoenix and reality again we hiked The Narrows in Zion National Park. This is a narrow canyon through which the Virgin River runs. It is so narrow that you have to hike in the river most of the time. Since this was going to be our last hiking day we did not care about getting our boots wet and the heat made it feel very tempting to hike in the cool river.

To be on the safe side we rented poles at an outdoor store that would help us keep the balance in the stream. Many hiked without but I was happy to have one so I didn’t have to swim unless it was necessary. In fact we did not have to swim at all, at the deepest place the water reached up to my chest. Unfortunately this was after about 10 min so you had to get wet from the very beginning but then it was mostly knee deep.


It was a different and fun hike in the water but after a couple of hours we decided to turn back because we were getting a bit cold. Luckily at this time the sun was high enough to shine down into the canyon which helped us keep warm. I am not sure I would attempt this hike any other time of the year. In that case you have to rent a dry suite to keep warm.