Day 2 - why does it always rain on me (in Arizona)

Arizona... I love this place. Especially the corner of the world that Louize and Mark have picked to put their boots down in. Warm... mountains all around... the desert reaching right up to the back door with the wildlife all around (yup including creepy crawlies) and no rain..... errr hold off on that last point...

'It hardly ever rains here' protest Louize and Mark...
Uhuh I said... staring out the window at the grey skies and the drizzle which is quickly turning to a downpour of biblical proportions. In fact... last time I was here it rained, ending the drought of many months.... but it never rains... only when I visit apparently.

So the rain didn't kill of our plans because being Brits... we are used to it. Unlike the Arizonans (is that a word?) who seemed to have largely stayed at home today because they aren't used to driving in the rain. It certainly made our shopping trip easier!

I can kinda understand it though... due to the fact that 'it hardly ever rains here' there are no drains at the sides of the roads... and when it does rain, it does rain as downpours, meaning the roads are well flooded within minutes with nowhere to drain away. 

So this morning, having woke up nice and early due to the time zone battle that my body was enduring, it was decided that the hike we were planning on, would have to be postponed until Sunday, which left today to go and do a few errands for the charity and connect myself up with an American mobile number... oh and go buy shorts (more about that later)

1st up was going to collect the T shirts for Rock The Canyons, easily done and then we were scooting off to find a phone store.
Its a pain having to rely on wifi and given that I keep ending up in this fantastic country, I decided that getting a sim card is a great idea. So we trotted into the T mobile shop (empty because of the rain) and within 10 minutes I had my very own US mobile (im sorry ... Cell) number and more importantly... data! Woohoo. Given that I will almost certainly be transiting through the USA on the way to Ecuador as well, this will be very useful. Right then... onwards to one of my fave stores.... Target.

Last year when I pitched up in Scottsdale, I had NO clothes... literally.  I even had no underwear as I had been travelling VERY light. This time however the problem wasn't kit space... it had been packing time.  I had literally booked my flight 4 days before coming out and was on night shifts so packing was done in a mega hurry and I had somehow left my shorts behind!  Last time I had bought my entire yearly clothes supply here and I love their cargo shorts... cheap... good pockets... last the rigours of my life well... so we aimed for the shirts section and loaded up for another year. On the way round the store, I spotted the ubiquitous blue Gatorade which had literally fuelled my last journey... so I grabbed a huge bottle of that... finally suncream (Sainsbury's  had stopped selling suncream) and out, before I spent any more!

I love wondering round shops in different countries... they look ostensibly the same as any shop in the UK but a closer inspection reveals all the little differences. The amount of choice here is unbelievable and all the till staff end the transaction with 'Have a nice day' 😜

We stopped for coffee and a very nice muffin where Louize pointed out the T shirts the staff wear, had the Phoenix on the front.... yup they were for sale.... yup I did buy one (well it matches my tattoo).

Back through the rain for an afternoon chill on the sofa. The downpour had subsided but then returned for a second attempt at drowning everything and the hills around were covered in cloud. So we lazed on the sofa, watching a netflix tv series, The Haunting of Hill House, which was a little spooky (not to be watched at bedtime or on your own) before Ubering over to dinner.

I'm not going to lie, jet lag was hitting fast. It was only 19:00 when we headed back, but it felt like it was 01:00. We sat outside, the rain now stopped, the skies clear, watching the stars sparkle in the sky and listening to the crickets chirrup. It is so peaceful out here. No car noise, the occasional plane droning above but generally free from the sounds of man. A bat flitters past.... the light breeze flutters through the trees and then I hit the wall!

Roll on the warm up hike tomorrow!