Phoenix

You actually WANT to rent a large car in this city. Anthing smaller than a Chrysler with make driving a total bitch and the people will ignore you when to try to change lanes… Just a heads up.

The Valley of the Sun—or the Surface of the Sun! The desert is beautiful during the winter time and I dig the monsoon season (maybe I am a bit different that way). The summer for me was barely tollerable. If you love golf, spas, good service all over the city then Phoenix is perfect. The city is easy to navigate ( it’s a basic grid), it is still affordable and I found the people to be very personable. Bank One ballpark which I gather is now called Chase Field is a great place to see a baseball game.

they have these things on light posts that mist water, to cool you down, but its great there its hot but the moment you step in the shade its cool, i loved it wouldn’t mind living there, but not for a family, more for city dwelling.

Oh man… this place really blows.
I was stranded in this place for about a month.
Way too hot.
Too many Meth Heads.

especially bad in monsoon season.

the only cool thing about this place was the huge cactii.
and the highway was pretty cool.

I want to go to Phoenix because I have heard that they are the masters of sprawl, and from a sociological perspective, I am very interested in sprawl. I also hear that they are making a few changes to the infrastructure to reduce the sprawl, but in general, the overwhelming feature of Phoenix is still sprawl. Basically, I want to check it out for myself. I also want to check out Scottsdale, for similar reasons.

On a less “intellectual” note, the desert botanical garden sounds sweet! I have never been to a desert (save the Desert of Maine, which while technically a desert in some respects certainly does not have your typical desert flora.)

Part two of three part Southwestern Road Trip.

I’ve been twice. Both times, disappointed. However, the first trip was the first week in October and it was 106 degrees. We were hoping to take the kids to the water park but they close them on October 1 every year. Lame. It’s 106 degrees outside.

We ventured into Tempe (from Chandler), Mesa, Scottsdale, and downtown Phoenix and all were a bore. We tried to find something for the kids to do and outside of a children’s museum (it was okay) in Scottsdale, there was nothing to do.

If you’re into golf, I’m sure it’s great out there. I couldn’t golf at the time, because of a back injury, but it wasn’t kid friendly anyway.

On my second (2) trip it was even worse. I land at the airport, take a cab to my (loser) hotel (never stay at the San Carlos Hotel). This place should be condemned. It was the only place to stay, last minute, near my convention and the Florida Gators were in town to play OSU for the championship.

I couldn’t find an open restaurant (or business) at 10:30 pm in Phoenix. A major (huge) city and nothing open? I walked for like 2 miles, found some local who gave me a ride to McDonalds (the only thing open). Ridiculous. I bought him dinner and we talked about Phoenix for about an hour. Interesting situation. Never done that before.

I’m going back to Phoenix, but only because I have to for work. I can’t say it’s all bad, which is why I recommended it. However, be aware that you should plan all your activities before you go.

Before even going to Phoenix, I asked a friend of mine what there is to do in Phoenix and she told me nothing within about 2 hours. There was small things to do, but for the most part she was right.

I did not have the opportunity to leave the greater Phoenix area because I was there on family business, but with the rather decent amount of free time we had, there was nothing to do.

If I was there strictly as a tourist, I would have been completely bored to tears. Anything other than business or family, not a city/area that’s worth it.

If you’re looking for something unique to do in Phoenix, Arizona – check out the Arizona roller derby girls.

Not only do they have scantily clad women in full contact roller skating action, but they serve beer too!

Teams from all over the US are coming to compete with Arizona teams such as the Tent City Terrors and the Tucson Saddletramps.

I saw the Tent City Terrors at the Castle Sports Complex in North Central Phoenix. The place was packed (with adults – not a place to bring kids). If I recall correctly, the bout lasts an hour, split into three twenty minute periods. But to be honest, I didn’t pay much attention to the score. I don’t know if anyone in the crowd came for the sport but the entertainment value was well worth the price of admission.

The place was full of interesting characters like the storm troopers pictures above. (I swear they had the same costumes that were in the original Star Wars.)

Check it out!

The desert botanical gardens are amazing. Little humming birds flying around, snakes, lots of cacti… its just so different to what we are used to. Doesn’t cost a lot to get in, well worth it. As for the rest of Phoenix, its clean, seemed safe, and the population probably has an average age of 75. Though Tempe was a bit younger.

It really doesn’t matterhow dry it is—-
@ 120 degrees….it’s just too hot!