Wendy and Jan

January 28, 2025

AFD#4

I cannot believe that somehow I’ve gotten three days behind, even though our days are steadily getting easier to manage as one Adversity Free Day follows another. We’re going to blast several of these out in a burst and get caught up by brute force, at the risk of turning them all into photo dumps.

This one is our lunch/late breakfast meetup at Ren Coffeehouse with Wendy and her friend Jan, the one whom I met up west of the Tucson Mall two days earlier.

The scripts for the day:

Scott: bike to the meetup, after first biking west past the mall again for some birding. In the evening, another slice at Time Market.
Rocky: a walk to the meetup, on a route east through the UofA campus and then north up Mountain Avenue. Dinner at home, finishing off the leftovers from Bacio.

Script errors: None! A perfect day, script wise.

Photos from before lunch, when I biked west of the mall:

On the Rillito Wash Trail, west of the Tucson Mall.

A view across Rillito Wash to the Catalina Range.

His mate, just below him on the same tree.

The four of us all arrived at Ren’s independently. Rachael arrived by foot, as did Wendy who walked over from her nearby Airbnb. They both arrived first and claimed an indoor table. Jan, who is down sharing Wendy’s apartment for a few days, leaves for home up on Qualicum Bay on Vancouver Island shortly and took one of her last riding opportunities before flying home. She and I arrived literally simultaneously, and I should have taken a photo as she biked straight at me as I entered the outdoor seating area.

I didn’t bring a lock with me, anticipating that we’d be eating outside where I could keep an eye on the bike. We aren’t though, and Jan’s short cable lock was just long enough to clamp our bikes together at a spot where they could be seen from our table.

And now, the moment some have been waiting days for: my new shirt from Fair Wheel Bikes! Great, right? But so is Jan’s, from her ride across the Algarve in southern Portugal.

While I’m waiting for my breakfast to arrive I liberate the bacon from Rachael’s massive breakfast salad, a meal big enough that it works for leftovers that carry into the next day: Focaccia, turkey, bacon, two eggs, mixed greens and sweet potatoes. It was half gone when I sat down, but a photo from the website gives the idea:

Rachael’s version of the breakfast salad: hold the avocado, add the turkey and focaccia bread, pass off the bacon to a friend.

My steamer made a nice chaser to my early afternoon breakfast of oatmeal, bacon, annd eggs, and blends well with the color scheme of our table mates.

Weather doing what it will, it was startling after lunch to find out that it was lightly sprinkling with a real menace of rain when we looked to the south. Totally unexpected, and concerning for both Rocky and myself. She started walking briskly home immediately by crossing the Mountain Avenue Bridge; but I stuck with my ride plan and detoured east to cross just past the long mural so I could get a complete view of it with the wide angle lens on the new phone. And then after a few shots at the ominous skies I headed south too, catching up with Rachael about halfway home.

And we both got lucky this time, slipping in just behind the advancing front. Very nice.

We stayed around the apartment keeping warm all afternoon, and then while Rachael attacks her leftovers from Bacio I walk down to Time Market again for seconds; and on the way home I fortify myself with a peanut butter cookie for the long, five block flashlight-assisted walk home.

A passing shot Into Catalina Park on my walk to Time Market. I need to walk over for a closer look at that tree someday.

Know what’s good for U. Not shown is the accompanying Calabrese slice, the same special as I had rhe first time here.

One be good, two B better. Also not shown is the large peanut butter cookie that went out the door with me for the walk home.

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Today's ride: 23 miles (37 km)
Total: 363 miles (584 km)

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