Thursday, December 21, 2006

Lunch at Carlsbad Tavern

Why write about lunch? I've wanted to go to a place called Carlsbad tavern for a few weeks since I heard about about it from a friend at work so today seemed like a good day to try it. Mom is in town for couple weeks and I was off from work ... so off we went. It's located at 3313 Hayden Road in Scottsdale and true to it's name is a New Mexico themed restaurant.

We had the Tortilla soup and the Roswell Reuben ... and they were outstanding! Right or wrong I often judge a restaurant on whether they can make a good Reuben and these folks really got it right! Now that I've checked it out I'll be back with Fran!

www.carlsbadtavern.com

See reviews: http://phoenix.citysearch.com/review/1683785

Sunday, December 17, 2006

30K ARR Desert Classic - Sunday Dec 17th

Drive as far west as you can on Bell Road ... to the edge of Surprise and that is where the 30K out and back course starts.

I've been preparing for the PF Chang Marathon in January by running in distance races the last few months; a 20K, 10 Mile, 1/2 Marathon and now a 30K. I'm glad that phase is over! My calves have been crampy for the last few weeks and it was no different during the 30K. By the time I hit the 15K turn around point both my calves were pretty tight and by the time I hit 20K I was forced to slow down to a jog. Still ... I finished and that's a good thing. Now I just plan to get healed up, get loose and run shorter distances till race day! Only four weeks to go!

Race Results: http://arizonaroadracers.com/Results/desertclassic30k-2006.html

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Dinner at Trente-Cinq

Our cultural maven Christy brought us together for a wonderful evening of fun, food and conversation on Saturday at "Trente-Cinq" a small restaurant on 7th street. The food was awesome ... even though the much promised Belgian Waffles were no where to be found! Dan & Liz, Fran and I, and Christy and Al had a wonderful meal and lots of fun talking about anything from bicycles, to politics, to kids, to asking ... is life that much different than it was 35 (trente cinq ... hmmm) years ago?

Christy found the place through some reviews in the local papers and after seeing some write ups on line it is easy to see why she suggested we meet there. Liz and Dan had the hallmark muscles dish, Fran, Al and Christy had the lamb, and I had a seafood entree. All awesome dishes!

This is such a fun little group we have here with some shared life experiences related to kids and school, a passion for reaching out to others, and enjoying life!

Trente-Cinq 35 [Map]
2333 N. 7th St.Phoenix, AZ 85006
602-254-0244

From the New Times: Jean-Claude Van Damme, a.k.a. “the Muscles from Brussels,” ain’t got nothing on Lionel Geuskens, the Belgian-born proprietor of Trente-Cinq 35.

From Cenpho Mavens: Trente-Cinq (French for "35") is a Belgian bistro located along a section of 7th Street between Thomas and McDowell Roads that is slowly emerging as a hub of restaurants and shops to service the evolving Coronado Historic Neighborhood. The restaurant's owner and chef, Lionel Gueskens, is a Belgian native who used to be a chef at Coup des Tartes. Apparently Chef Gueskens had a goal of opening his own restaurant by age 35, and Trente-Cinq is the result of that goal.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

December 2006: Feliz Navidad y buenas fiestas a nuestros amigos y familia





Just a quick note for us to wish all our family and friends a Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a wonderful New Year in 2007!

We had a very nice 2006 and there was one special thing that I wanted to be able to say … that 2006 was the year the entire Phoenix Ryan family has Spanish as a second language ... I can’t say that … but at least one person in our family did add Spanish to her skills!

Julie (20) spent this semester in Spain at the University of Alicante studying Spanish, Spanish culture and Spanish history as part of the ASU international studies program. It was a wonderful opportunity for her to experience life and school in a different culture and it turned out pretty well for Fran and me because it gave us a place to visit for our 25th anniversary in November J All things considered … it was a great experience for Julie but homesickness can be a powerful emotion and Julie experienced it strongly. The good news for Fran and I was that it seems like we communicated more with Julie these past three months than we have in several years!

Matt (23) is working for Lockheed and has moved to Gaithersburg, MD as part of his second year of a three year training program. They are also putting him through George Washington University for his MBA. He is doing well at work and school and is a very doting boyfriend to a wonderful young lady “Bri” who is studying to be a theater manager in St Louis. Her studies and internships take her all over the U.S. and Europe and it is fascinating to listen and read about her travels.

Fran and I are doing great and enjoying the western lifestyle going out and about on one thing or another every week. Big treat … we saw the “Rolling Stones” a few weeks ago … I wanted to see them before they or I were dead! We are also enjoying watching our Matt and Julie grow into fine young people as well as watching all our other family and friends progress through their own lives. And while we have been watching everyone progress … 25 years of marriage went by! And the 25th year is one of those special anniversary years so I thought I had better get Fran something better than the cheeseboard and the food processor I bought her during our first year of marriage … Julie bailed me out and gave us a great reason to travel to Spain for our anniversary. We spent a week in Marbella in a time share resort we traded for and then two days in Alicante. Julie’s host family Ana and Luis Sanmillan and their two daughters Ana and Bea invited us over for dinner one night and we were just so pleased to be able to spend time with them and thank them for taking care of Julie for us.

We had a special treat this past summer having Joe and Karen Fortuin give us a call on a Friday evening when they were passing through Phoenix on their way back to Albuquerque. We were able to stay up past our normal 9PM J bed time and actually stayed out until 1AM with Joe and Karen catching up on over 15 years of not seeing each other! It was like we just picked up from where we left off in Utica, NY. Awesome seeing you two!

See my blog http://djrryan.blogspot.com/ for more stories and plenty of pictures. Feel free to leave a message or two on the blog. We would love to hear from you!


Dave and Fran Ryan

Sunday, December 03, 2006

13.1 Mile Fiesta Bowl 1/2 Marathon - Sunday 12/3/2006

I didn't respect the marathon today ... I took it for granted that I would just go run it. My time was OK, 1:36:06 or about a 7:20 pace, but I've been paying for it all day.

http://www.raceplaceevents.com/fbm06res.htm#Male%2045-49

The marathon does funny things to you if you are not prepared ... or if you are not respectful. I had the prepared part pretty well done ... not top shape but good enough for a 7:00 pace. I cruised the 10 mile ARR Thanksgiving day race just a couple weeks ago in a 7:06 pace and felt pretty good during the race and throughout the day. I was overconfident thinking that a few extra miles was not a big deal ... just go run it ... and if there some left over energy I'll stop at LA fitness for a little extra workout. What a dreamer!

The thing about the ARR race on Thanksgiving was I had the previous 12 days off on vacation. I did some running but got lots of rest. It showed on race day as I had no pain and plenty of spring in my step. Today was different altogether ... I had gone to a Christmas party last night and ate and drank nothing that would have been good on a training table. Also, the day before I did a 1 hour swim workout followed by a 1 hour spin class ... and I had done a hard spin class on Friday as well. As a result I had no spring in my step at all and my calves were crampy the last eight miles!

By the time I got home today I was feeling pretty miserable and have felt pretty crappy all day. Next time ... I taper and I watch what I eat!!!