A dilemma...Chicago in January or Tucson in January?

When friends Susan and Kirk Reed told us nearly a year ago that they had booked a trip to Vietnam for this January, something in the back of my mind set off a spark.  But not to go biking in Vietnam, as fascinating as that trip surely is.  So eventually we volunteered to "cat sit" for the Reeds while they're traveling.  It's a thinly veiled reason to escape the winter weather, but...hey, it's good enough for us!

Our back yard just after Christmas

Arizona desert view on January 19th

We'll let the photos speak to the matter!
Both of us are fortunate to have jobs that allow us to plug in remotely and work from our laptops. This made staying for an extended period an easier decision.  We packed up the bikes and shipped them via Fedex to arrive the day after Jeff's flight, which came a week before Mark's due to some other commitments.  Jeff had a chance to ride around town once with Susan, visit with Kirk a bit, then dropped them at the airport early the next morning.

What a year to have had this opportunity!  Back home winter was working on becoming the 2nd or 3rd coldest ever recorded, with temps well below zero on multiple days and nights.  In contrast, Tucson was a little warmer than average, typically 65-75 during the days.  Jeff wasted no time, even while working virtually full time, finding enough daylight to ride 650 miles for the month.  We met up with some other biking friends of Susan, some of whom we had met on previous trips, and others who became new ride connections. Mark jumped into the fray when he arrived as well, biking several hundred miles and swimming outdoors in the YMCA pool.  Ah, the simple joys are really the best, aren't they?