It was 110 degrees and I was headed to AZ for Bachelor party. I knew that AC and water would need to be within reach at all times. I got in on Wednesday and did some exploring in hills outside of Scottsdale. I put the rental car through the paces as the road turned into a windy off-road trail. Honda makes a pretty versatile minivan from what I found out, or least it did for those 3 days.
I picked up the guys on Thursday afternoon as they got in from Colorado. None of them had ever been to AZ before so I wanted to make sure I gave them a heavy dose of desert and cowboys. We headed right for a dusty old bar outside of town called Greasewood Flats. It took us about twice as long as it should to find it as my navigational skills seemed to have a lapse...that was a continuing trend throughout the trip, but the guys did not seem to mind (maybe they just showed great restraint).
We had a few beers and found that there was a rehearsal dinner going on next to us. I forced the groom from our party to get a group shot with the other party
After chowing some beef we headed back to Scottsdale and made a first pass at the bars. It was just a brief pass as we had all weekend to sample the local scenery. Next morning I got the group up early and after raiding the local Target for their lawn furniture, coolers, inter-tubes and food, we headed out to the lake for some swimming and jet skiing.
I reached back into my childhood and taught them how to play "500" and water baseball. After a few hours of lounging, the guys jumped on jet skis for 4 hours of utter chaos. I honestly was surprised that they all made it back in one piece. The jet skis were not as lucky as they had a few battle scars
We headed back to Scottsdale for a little clean-up and were off to our formal dinner. A new restaurant just opened in town and I decided to take the group to sample their Steak and Seafood. It was incredible dining experience but the most amazing thing was that we were some of the only guys in the restaurant. The places was littered with females. I counted 12 in a row seated at the bar. Scottsdale has done a pretty good job of stocking their pond with beautiful fish.
We soaked up everything Scottsdale had to offer before heading back to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow's adventure. I should probably mention at this point that the groom had no idea why he was in AZ, in fact he had no idea he was going to AZ before the rest of the guys showed up at his house to kidnap him Thursday morning. It was tough to keep the secret all weekend, but the wait was almost over. As we got close to our destination Saturday morning, we made the groom put on a makeshift blindfold (child's swim cap).
When we arrived, we made him crawl on all fours into the DZ. It was hilarious as all the other people around had no idea what was taking place, and I think most felt we were forcing this handicapped person to risk his life to satisfy our devilish needs. We quietly explained everything to the 50+ onlookers and at the count of 3 we tore off the mask and everyone yelled, "Skydiving!"
He was in complete surprise as the whole week the guys were dropping hints that he better start training by swimming laps and running. The groom was convinced we were going to enter him in a triathlon. I thought that would have been cruel even by my standards, but have not completely ruled it out for future trips of misfortune.
Everyone signed their life away and before they knew what was happening, they were packed into a tin can and sent off into the stratosphere. As is always the case with these trips, everyone swore after coming down that they were going to do this again and again once they got back home to Denver.
We headed back to Scottsdale for one more night of bars. I crashed about 12, but those guys went strong until 3AM. I dropped them off at the airport the following morning and I think the final picture says it all as to whether they had a good time.
Until next time, live everyday as if it were your last,
Darren
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