Greetings! Welcome to my Phoenix Blog. This blog will serve two purposes.
First, it will allow my family and friends (aka you) to follow us through Phoenix.
Secondly (and perhaps more importantly) it will provide me with a venue to create a lasting and memorable account of my first trip to Arizona, "The Grand Canyon State."
Final Update: Wednesday, June 17th, At 10:00 PM Eastern / 7:00 PM Pacific
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8
Day 1 - Getting To Phoenix - Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Today started off ordinarily enough, at work, meeting with clients and coworkers.
After picking up a few last minute supplies, it was off to Cleveland to drop off my hamster, Gidget, with my grandparents who were also kind enough to feed me.
My girlfriend Shirah's father dropped her and a somewhat apprehensive me at
the University Circle red line rapid station, where we promptly boarded a train.
I have to admit I was skeptical of the form of transportation we chose to take us
to the airport. However, forty five minutes later I was definitively proven wrong.
We did all the normal airport stuff (checking bags, airport security, etc) and
spent a half hour watching Madagascar 2, Escape To Africa. I only mention this
to point out the irony in the fact that the only part of the movie we had time to watch
at the airport was the portion involving a plane crash. Shirah and I just had to laugh.
The plane ride went smoothly enough with one exception. One over-zealous Southwest flight attendant did her due diligence in recovering my cell phone that had fallen out of my bag. However, as she was instructed to do with all lost items, she promptly returned the item to the baggage claim area... at our lay-over in St. Louis. Needless to say, the last leg of the flight was more stressful for me than I care to write in this blog. The good news was that they did get in touch with my family while I was in flight and at the time of this writing my phone is somewhere on a FedEx truck in route to me. I'll get it Monday.
After securing the Toyota Corolla from the friendly staff at Alamo, and a quick stop at the local supermarket for some basic supplies that weren't TSA approved, we GPS'd ourselves to a beautiful home at the base of a mountain. This home, of course, was the home of Dawn, Shirah's sister. Dawn, and her cat Keiko, welcomed us with open arms (and open paws), bringing to a close the first day of our much anticipated vacation.
* Side Note: Time zones are strange things. Our 6 hour flight only took 3 hours!
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Day 2 - Climbing Conquering Camelback - Thursday, June 11th, 2009
We got an early start today (5AM!) but, thanks to the time difference, it felt to us
as we were getting up at 8AM, the prospects of which were far more amicable.
After a quick breakfast at the house Shirah and I made the short car trip to the beginning of the Camelback Mountain trail. Now, I have climbed Mt. Real twice (in Montreal, Canada), but by comparison to Camelback, well, there is no comparison.
Despite the fact that the initial section of the trail was merely steps on the side of a hill,
I was already having second thoughts. I wasn't sure I was up for it, but I had to try.
After a momentary pause for some pictures, and a brief private reflection on the meaning of life, we began our ascent. The first leg of the journey was relatively easy, stopping every few hundred yards to snap some more pictures and drink some water.
The first actual climbing we did came about a quarter mile into the trail. It was one
of those "What the **** am I doing?" and the first steps were taken with much caution (Experienced rock climbers note: We are NOT experienced rock climbers).
After a couple more passages like the one above, I was ready to call it quits, but one more push up a small dry river bed proved to be a wise decision, for we were treated with perhaps one of the most stunning views I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
After taking many more photos and a a few minutes to rest and recover from the climb, we began making our way down the same rocky trail that we struggled up an hour prior.
(As we found out, it is nearly just as hard to descend a mountain as it is to ascend one!)
A short trip back to Dawn's house, and taking a mid-morning nap, we had lunch out
on the patio. On the menu was a distant childhood memory of mine: Goober Peanut
Butter & Jelly, possibly the second best kids lunch food ever invented. (The first being, of course, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese). We enjoyed our patio PB&J, and then changed for a quick dip in Dawn's private in-ground swimming pool! Very, very relaxing indeed!
At the conclusion of our swim / water raft nap, Shirah took some time to study for her upcoming GRE, which provided me the perfect opportunity to come up with the idea
for, and subsequently create the first segment of the blog you are currently enjoying!
When Dawn returned home, we ate some sandwiches together that Dawn brought home from work. To round out the night, we made a quick trip to CVS for some ice
for our trip and medication for my mildly infected eye. Hey, it can't all be amazing.
While I did not bring the camera to CVS, I will definitely bring it with me tomorrow!
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Day 3 - Grand Canyon Road Trip! - Friday, June 12th, 2009
Today began with a delicious egg frittata and some fresh fruit courtesy of Dawn.
We then commenced our long trek up towards the much anticipated views of
the Grand Canyon! Along the way, we stopped at a place called Montezuma
Castle (which, as it turns out, isn't really a castle at all). After snapping a few
pictures at this ancient dwelling space (see below), we continued our
journey Northward, passing two distant wild fires along the way!
We traveled for a couple more hours, arrived at Grand Canyon National Park, and...
well, there are no words that can accurately depict what we saw, so I will show you.
After eating lunch over looking the canyon, we took the free shuttle over to a trail that went down INTO THE CANYON! I was quite apprehensive, as the path couldn't have been more than 6 feet across, uneven, with no guard rails or safety features to prevent
a swift and catastrophic end to my trip to Phoenix, as well as this blog. After taking
a few deep breaths, we began our decent and the views were just breathtaking.
Camelback may have made one question sanity, but the Canyon makes you
question life itself. Arguably the most profound journey of my life to date. Wow.
We continued our decent for some time, passing several mules and idiots riding them just mere inches from certain death, before coming to the realization that what goes down, must come up. It was at this point that we turned around and ascended the
same mule-crap covered trail that I had stared at cautiously at the start of our journey.
Following a brief layover at the Grand Canyon Gift Shop, the tired trio made the trip back down to Flagstaff, where a hotel called Drury Inn welcomed us with free drinks!
We took full advantage of this "happy hour," as they referred to it, and then made
a short walk to Dawn's favorite stomping grounds, the Beaver Street Brewery.
After consuming a little too much fondue, we returned to our hotel suite to retire and update the blog. Tomorrow brings new adventures including an off road jeep ride!
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Day 4 - Sedona Off Road Adventure And More - Saturday, June 13th, 2009
The three hour difference is proving to be very beneficial during this trip, as today started once again before 7AM, this time with a free, hot breakfast at the hotel (following a brief but effective workout). We checked out of the hotel and drove
into a canyon to reach our next destination: Sedona Off Road Adventures.
Our jeep tour guide, Nate, took us into the back country roads of Sedona, pointing out
various rock formations and plant life along the way to our destination some 5,900 feet above sea level. The view of the red rock of Sedona was nothing short of spectacular.
After a brief tour of the Uptown Mall in Sedona, including various art galleries, and
a wonderful lunch overlooking the canyon, we made a brief unsuccessful attempt
at scoping out a famous church before heading back to Dawn's home in Phoenix.
We took a much needed break from the excitement to unwind, study, and blog before heading out to the much anticipated evening activities: dinner at the all-you-can-eat Sweet Tomatoes restaurant and some old-timey entertainment / action at Rawhide!
Although high in calorie, Sweet Tomatoes was amazing, with lots of vegetarian items! At Rawhide, we got to see what life was like in the Old West (1800s), complete with shootouts and stage coaches. After I (barely) took Shirah down in a head to head shooting competition, we took in a slightly cheesy but overall enjoyable stunt show. Later, we rode an authentic stage coach through a simulated pioneer village and
spent some time snapping some old-timey photos. Finally we tried our hand at axe throwing, but we failed. Overall, the prices were cheap, but the experience wasn't.
Upon returning from Rawhide, we decided to take a walk down the street to a five star resort called the Phoenician. The property was beautiful, and the staff was friendly to us, even though I think they secretly knew we weren't guests. Also, I have never seen
so many swimming pools in one place in my life! It was beautiful. Speaking of pools...
We ended our night with a relaxing night swim in Dawn's pool. I think it's absolutely amazing that we can do this. Tomorrow brings tubing, if the water is warm enough!
Side Note - My cell phone and I are now once again in the same zip code, but I'm
at Dawn's house and my cell phone is at the FedEx processing facility until Monday!
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Day 5 - The Great Inner Tube Ride - Sunday, June 14th, 2009
Today represents the first day of our trip that we didn't have to get up with the sun!
After relaxing around the house and some much needed computer / study time, we
went with Dawn up to the Salt River for some tube riding! After driving out to the
middle of the desert and carrying a cooler choc full of stuff a quarter of a mile, we boarded a modified school bus with our tubes and headed out towards the Salt River.
The party atmosphere we discovered at the shore of the river was unexpected, and there were already several people in the water floating down stream. The water was cold, but not unbearably so. The cooler floated right along side us as we began our journey down the river. We ate our lunch amidst the other (inebriated) tubers on the river, dodging the occasional giant airborne marshmallow launched from regions unknown. Although we hit some choppy water, and a couple of rocks and plants got
in our way, the overall ride was fairly relaxing (and entertaining) and being on the river offered us a unique view of the rock walls of Phoenix which, courtesy of a waterproof camera (and a very accommodating Walgreen's staff), I can share with you already!
After returning home and getting cleaned up, we brought in some famous Phoenix Oregono's pizza while taking in the hit movie "Old School," joined by Dawn and her boyfriend Mark. Perhaps the best part of the evening was the cookie dough ala mode that was presented to us as dessert. Is it time for another hike up the mountain yet? Tomorrow brings two museums and a salmon dinner... this week is going too fast!
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Day 6 - Museum Mania - Monday, June 15th, 2009
Today started with a hike to the library for a free museum pass. This sounded like a great idea, until I realized that the library was 2.5 miles away! However, in the name
of fitness, Shirah and I loaded up on water and embarked on our cross town journey
at 8AM, arriving at the library just minutes before it opened at nine. This proved to
be a wise decision as the passes that we needed were gone within seconds of the doors opening. We secured our passes and made the walk home, stopping at Starbucks for a quick refresher on the way. Upon returning, and collapsing, we got cleaned up and headed for lunch at a popular local sandwich shop called Sack's. The food was quite good and the perfect segue to our next stop: The Heard Museum!
The Heard Museum is a combination art & culture facility dedicated exclusively to Native American heritage. It contains over 32,000 Native American exhibits and artifacts and includes guided tours led by Native American tour guides. We started
off by walking through some of the art galleries, where we were treated with different styles and a wide variety of artistic Native American displays. Here is a small sample:
After learning about Native American heritage, we made a short drive passed the Arizona Diamondbacks home turf en route to the Science Center, which was also free!
This multi-level, interactive center had many of the standard fare exhibits. However, this particular science center included a tight-rope bicycle ride and an extreme weather station that could very well have been the inspiration for Niagara's Fury in Canada (although this attraction was arguably better and free). We explored the many exhibits the museum had to offer, made a quick stop at the Awesome Atoms gift shop and proceeded back to Dawn's house, where a Salmon dinner was waiting for us!
Later in the evening, Dawn drove us around town, showing us some of the more creatively designed houses in the area. This included a chance encounter with a flying grasshopper that ended peacefully for all. Our last stop was for gelato, which was enjoyed by everyone (but the grasshopper, of course). The night capped with a viewing of the movie Next with Nicholas Cage and some much needed night-laundry, which is apparently (due to water conservation) the only time anyone in Phoenix does laundry.
Tomorrow will be our last full day in Phoenix and I am already wishing this vacation would not end. In addition to touring Old-Town Scottsdale and meeting up with an old friend of mine from high school, we will be picking up some world famous Marie Callender pie to take home with us. I can't wait to see airport security's reaction!
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Day 7 - Old Town And World Famous Pie - Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
We started today off innocently enough, deciding on a morning swim (seeing as the temperature had already climbed above 80). So after breakfast we changed and got ready to take a dip in the outdoor pool. What neither of us realized, however, was that Dawn had set the burglar alarm, which we, much to our surprise, subsequently tripped.
Shirah was quick to call the alarm company and everything seemed to be fine, so we headed for the pool. After about 5 minutes of splashing around, I heard a sudden and loud siren blast and realized that there were two of Phoenix's finest waving through the window trying to get our attention, as apparently we in fact had not resolved everything.
After explaining the situation to the bemused officers and being referred to as the "Dumbest burglar in Arizona," we commenced our swim and later made our way to Marie Callender for allegedly the best pie this side of Pluto Neptune (sorry, Pluto, you are not a planet anymore). We ate lunch at MC and, I have to admit - it was good pie, no, make that fantastic pie. So good, in fact, that we bought $80 worth of it to bring back to Cleveland with us... I can just see those TSA agents swarming already!
After returning home with, and re-packaging / freezing, the pies, we made our way down the streets we walked yesterday towards Old Town Scottsdale. This area of
the city offers many unique art galleries and gift shops, all accessible by free trolley!
We picked out some souvenirs for ourselves and others and hopped on a trolley heading for Mickey's Hangover, a bar where one of my friends from high school was meeting to catch up with me and meet Shirah. As it turns out, she lives right down the street from Dawn and is interested in psychology! Needless to say, Shirah and her are now friends. We walked around Old Town some more, stopping into a free museum dedicated to TV & Radio (score!) and finished with dinner at a place called My Big Fat Greek Restaurant. The food was quite delicious (as was most of the food on this trip).
To round out the evening (and our trip), Shirah and I made a stop at a Fun-N-Stuff style park called "Crackerjax," where we participated in many fun activities including video games, go-carts, and miniature golf (Shirah beat me in everything but the mini-golf).
We finished our night by updating the blog and packing up some stuff for the trip home tomorrow. So far there are no promises being made, but I hear that there might be one more stop tomorrow in our tour of Phoenix (and we're not talking the Chicago layover)!
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Day 8 - Reflections And Returning To Cleveland - Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Today is our last day in Phoenix and we are sad that our trip has come to an end.
We may have only been here for 8 days, but we did so much with those days that it feels like much longer. From the tops of mountains to inside some of the biggest gorges on Earth, we made the most out of every minute here, and we can fly away with no regrets.
After a nice breakfast of Banana Nut Cheerios and more MC double blueberry cream pie, we packed up our luggage and made the trip to the airport. On the way, however, we made one final stop at a little place on the way to the airport called Clear Channel. Continuing my streak of touring major market radio stations while on vacation, we had the opportunity to take a short tour of this metropolis of eight radio stations as led by our tour guide / key account manager, Shannon. The office was massive, encompassing two full floors of an office building. After our tour we were on our way to return the rental car (where we ended up getting checked in by a Alamo agent who was, ironically, from Akron), check in, and go through security, where a dutiful TSA agent correctly identified
one of the pies that Shirah had in her carryon bag as a cream pie. I was impressed.
We boarded the plane and made the first leg of our journey to Chicago. This time,
my cell phone did not leave my site. We ate lunch and finished updating the blog at Chicago Midway before boarding another plane and making the second and final leg of our trip back to Cleveland Hopkins where Shirah's father was waiting to take us home.
Overall this trip was an amazing experience and a much needed break from the craziness that is day to day life in Ohio. Both Shirah and I agree that the trip North to the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff And Sedona was the best part of the trip, although there were some pretty strong contenders. I think we were quite fortunate being in Phoenix during an "unseasonably" cool period of time when the high temperatures were only in the upper 90s (Ha!). While Phoenix is a beautiful place to visit and I definitely plan on returning again at some point in my life, if I learned anything on this trip it was that I belong in Northeast Ohio. Just as there are many features and benefits to life in Phoenix, I've come to find that Northeast Ohio has a lot to offer that other parts of the country can't experience, and for that I am grateful that this was simply a vacation.
Final Analysis: An amazing vacation with an amazing girl. Thanks for reading my blog!
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