You know, even though all I needed to do was spend a few hours overnight in a parking lot, it doesn’t seem like that is an acceptable practice anywhere in the Phoenix area. I called a few of the places that usually let people overnight in their parking lots, and I couldn’t find a place. Cabela’s in Glendale said that they didn’t mind, but it wasn’t allowed in their town. I might get away with it, but then again, I might get woken up in the middle of the night and given a ticket.
Hmm. That was not an attractive alternative, so I booked another night at WestWorld of Scottsdale. In the morning, I packed the truck with all the stuff Cora and I would need while Flo was in the shop, and then headed to Desert Autoplex RV in Mesa.
Flo looked so lonely sitting there as Cora and I drove off. But, she was surrounded by other Airstreams, so I was sure they would treat her well.
I headed to my home away from home for the next week or so, Best Western Sundial in Scottsdale.
It was a reasonably priced hotel, but it was very nicely designed. According to the hotel manager, Jude, it was designed specifically for the site. It is on a rather small lot, but it makes good use of the space. The architect drew on the Arizona Biltmore for inspiration. You can check out my post on the tour I took, if you need to refresh your memory
The rooms were comfortable. They had nice flat screen TVs and small refrigerators and very nice showers. (A little confession – this isn’t my room. By the time I got moved in, there was stuff all over. On the morning I left, I asked one of the housekeepers if I could take a quick photo of one of the rooms that was ready for guests.)
I had a balcony on the cool side of the building, with a nice view of the pool.
Even Cora enjoyed the view!
One thing that gave me a chuckle was the Complementary Guest Towel. There were two paper towels on the vanity when I got there with the invitation to take it with me on my travels and use it however I like.
It didn’t make it out of the hotel. I used it in my room.
They also had a nice little laundry room available for guests. There was only one washer and one dryer, but probably most guests aren’t there long enough to need to do their laundry.
I really enjoyed the cosy feel of this hotel and the wonderful service that everyone provided.
Contrast it with this hotel on the opposite corner – the W.
It was enormous, and the section on the second floor, right behind the palm trees, was their pool area. They played thumpingly LOUD music. It was so loud that I could hear it when I was in my pool. I’ll bet the people there didn’t enjoy their hotel half as much as I enjoyed mine.
When I wasn’t luxuriating in my comfy room, having breakfast down in the lobby or taking a dip in the pool, Konnie and I got together for some more adventures.
One day, we were hiking among the plants in the desert.
If you take the time to look, there is beauty everywhere.
The trees with the yellow flowers are still in bloom.
The barrel cactus was in bloom,
And so were the saguaros.
We also stopped by a consignment shop. I wanted to replace the light blue shirt that I got paint on when I was working on the HistoriCorps project in Sedona. I found a reasonable replacement – not exactly what I had in mind – and a container for Cora’s cat food. I was tired of the looking at the old Folger container on the counter.
It looks fine on my counter!
We also took at drive down to the Salt River.
The mountains were so rugged and beautiful.
We finally got to the river.
I was surprised that the river had such a vigorous flow. It seems like whenever I drive across a bridge over a river in Arizona, there is no water in it. In fact, people even go tubing here. We looked into renting tubes and taking part in the fun. That’s on the list for next time.
We even made a bit of an archeological discovery. An old fashioned pop top!
Another day, we took a trip out to Fountain Hills. Here’s the fountain.
It goes off fifteen times a day, on the hour, depending on the weather. It rises from the center of a 28 acre lake to a height of 560 feet. It is five feet taller than Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It reaches 110 feet higher than the Great Pyramid in Egypt and is more than three times as high as Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone Park.
They have sculptures around the lake. Here is a small selection of them.
This was donated by two high school sweethearts who married in 1947 and after 65 years of marriage they bought their last home in Fountain Hills.
While I was in town, it finally got hot. I mean, it was really hot!
But, as they say, it’s a dry heat. I decided to go for a walk one day. I got about two blocks before I realized that there was no real reason to go for a stroll in the middle of the day when the temperature was hovering around the century mark.
I decided that when I got my hair done for my godson, Paul’s, wedding last summer that I was not going to color my hair anymore.
This is a shot from last summer.
So, I had pretty much been letting it grow. I’d trim my bangs, but other than that, I was definitely going the low maintenance route.
My hair had gotten quite long, but it was time to do something with it. I looked up a Great Clips and presented myself to the stylist. I told him that I wanted to cut away the color processed portions and to turn the remainder into something attractive. I told him that I was thinking a pixie cut, but I wasn’t too worried. After all, hair will grow.
And this is what I got. I thought I would be grayer, but at least it’s all natural.
Konnie and I had one more adventure on tap. We were going to go scorpion hunting! This is an activity that takes place after dark. You use a black light flashlight and look at the base of plants and under rocks.
The first thing we had to do was to arrive at the park before 7:00. The gate closes at that hour, although you can get out of the park until 11:00.
So, we took a walk up a trail and waited for the sun to set. It finally got dark and then the magic happened.
As Konnie shone the light, I could see the scorpions glowing between the cracks in the rocks. They had kind of a day-glo green color to them, although they look a different color in the photos.
Some of the rocks even fluoresce.
And it that’s not freaky enough, take a look at the video!
https://www.facebook.com/reedhopson/videos/10206022885680355/
After that fun, my time in Phoenix was drawing to a close.
The great Airstream folks at Desert Autoplex RV did a marvelous job on getting Flo back in shape. They even washed Bart, so I looked really wonderful when I pulled off the lot. They did a great job of accommodating my schedule and I am happy to put them on my list of dealerships I am happy to recommend.
It’s time to roll north!