Getting ready for the road

The snow and cold we battled through in December 2008 left me thinking two words: Snow . . . and Bird.

So since late last summer, Pamela and I have been actively planning our snowbird escape. For several years we've wanted to check out Arizona, so we scouted out condo rentals in Phoenix and settled on a place in Artisan Village, a relatively new block of units in the downtown.

The immediate neighborhood looks quite lively, though there are a couple of forlorn looking bungalows left across the street that will no doubt disappear in the next wave of building. Lots of places to eat (http://www.mattsbigbreakfast.com/), drink and eat cupcakes (http://www.tammiecoecakes.com/). Art galleries, midcentury modern furniture spots not too far off and the light rail is close.

The condo has tandem parking so I'm U-Hauling the Triumph Sprint and Cannondale down in hopes of doing some riding. Major flea market action in Phoenix during the winter, which is all the more important since it seems the Puget Park drive-in in Everett, home of the flea market here, will be turned into faceless office buildings. This will please the Chamber of Commerce and City of Everett, the same crowd that sanitized the interesting boatyard area down on the waterfront.

Van is ready with transmission cooler, fresh fluid, new tires, new stereo with Bluetooth and USB inputs, new BASS600 subwoofer and 400-watt inverter to keep the laptops fresh. We head out first thing Thursday, with our stop at a B&B in Ashland, Oregon.

For a guy who commuted from Virginia to Oregon through college, there's nothing like a roadtrip!