Travel Tales: Phoenix, AZ

I made it to Phoenix and back but the way things started out and continued, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it there or home. I went with four of my coworkers/friends for the Parents As Teachers National Conference. They picked me up because I live closest to the airport and the ride up went smoothly. We even caught a bus to the terminal fairly quickly. We boarded in the last group (don’t even get me started on how dumb I think the boarding process is. Who thinks that the middle seats should board last? It makes no sense) so we didn’t have to wait long after being seated to start the take off process. Just when I thought we were all set to go, the captain announced that he had a light on in his dashboard and we had to return to the terminal for a maintenance check 😳. Not exactly what you want to hear but at least he discovered it while we were still on the ground. They let us de-plane and I thought for sure that meant we weren’t getting back on anytime soon but unbelievably, not more than 30 minutes later, they were boarding again. I wasn’t sold on the idea of flying in a plane that just had issues but I buckled my seatbelt and hoped for the best. The flight was fine and we were only delayed by about an hour for the whole ordeal. It was a straight flight to Phoenix so the only pressing matter once we landed was check-in and finding food. When we arrived at the hotel and tried to check in, the front desk clerk said there was a problem and only one of our three rooms was paid for. Since it was after midnight at home by that point, we weren’t able to contact our boss, who they said needed to authorize the charges. So off to Marsha’s room we all went, planning to crash for the night. Since we were starving and didn’t know the area, we decided pizza delivery was our best dinner option. I ordered online and the site told me it would be 27-37 minutes. Okay, cool. Forty-five minutes later and after 11 pm, their closing time, I called to check on our order. The guy on the phone informed me that they only had one driver and the online time was wrong. He said he would be out with ours shortly though. The delivery driving ended up coming about 15 minutes later and we inhaled that pizza. It was delicious. Of course, being overly hungry can make any food taste amazing. Miraculously, in the meantime, the front desk called and said they got our room problem sorted out for the night and they would just need Beth to call and authorize in the morning. Great. Regina and I got the best end of the deal because our room was upgraded for free and it was HUGE. It had a full kitchen, complete with a full-size fridge, stove, and dishwasher. The bathroom was gigantic and Chris estimated that our shower was big enough to fit the five of us while doing yoga poses lol. Although we didn’t try there, we did have a great yoga pose photo on a bridge that crossed the pond. I directed everyone’s moves and we helped Marsha into her signature pose on the bridge wall. I sat up my phone and took the photo from my Apple Watch. It was one take and it was the best photo I’ve ever taken, hands down. We couldn’t have done it better if we tried. When I posted it to facebook, a few people didn’t see Marsha and a couple thought that I was floating. My bottom leg is precisely lined up with Chris’s so I can kind of see how they thought that. I didn’t plan that at all so that was a funny outcome. 

Pottery in the lobby that looks like male anatomy 😳😂

Starving to death while waiting on pizza. 

Best pizza of my life 

Best photo ever. Ever. 

The conference was good, but we didn’t like the “first come, first serve” style of attendance. They had several rooms set up with speakers presenting different topics. You could choose wherever you wanted to go but if the room filled up then you had to choose another topic. It seemed as though the most popular topics were in the smallest room. It was a little frustrating trying to get into something that interested you and then having to quickly make a second  or even a third choice, which sometimes required going to another floor. Our center was recognized for earning Blue Ribbon status in our Quality Endorsement and Improvement Process. This means we met (and totally exceeded!) the Parents As Teacher Essential Requirements. And this means that we are awesome and provide great services to the families that we serve.

Chilling between sessions. 

Leaving about self care. 

They had lots of books for sale at the conference at amazing prices. I bought a book that was for sure written about me, called Princess Kim and Too Much Truth. It’s about a girl named Kim who decides she’s only going to tell the truth. Of course, she learns that sometimes telling the truth hurts people’s feelings and the gist is: if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. I read it to Kate and Link and Kate wanted to keep it but I told her no because it’s my favorite book 😂. I will cherish it forever. I need to write a children’s book. We got lots of books to take back for the families we serve and since I had a big suitcase that wasn’t full on the way in, I volunteered to take them home. My suitcase weighed 62 pounds at check-in and I’m grateful that the attendant was being extra nice and ignoring my overweight bag, sparing me an extra fee. 

After our sessions the first day, Chris, Michelle, and I took an Uber to a consignment shop. It was awesome and I could have stayed there all night. While we were out I got a text from Marsha saying that we had been locked out of our rooms because the authorization didn’t go through and they weren’t paid for. Luckily for us, Marsha and Regina got it all straighten out by the time we got back and we just had to get new keys. We were meeting Marsha’s cousin who lives in AZ for dinner at a restaurant at our resort. She told him we wanted to eat at a really good Mexican restaurant and he said Aunt Chilada’s, located at the Arizona Grand Resort and Spa, was one of the best. The food was great and we enjoyed talking with Chuck, Marsha’s cousin. On our walk back to our room we made a pitstop at the fountain at the front of the resort for another yoga photo shoot. Marsha did her fav pose and I did a couple different ones. The pics were pretty cool. 

Taking a break

The next day after sessions we Uber’d to Camelback Mountain to go hiking. The Uber driver was a total creep who kept leering at me. I had the unfortune of  having to sit up front and I kept wondering why he was looking out my side window, until I realized that he wasn’t. I’ve nicknamed him the “Forty Year Old Virgin” and I hope he gets a bad rating. As soon as we got out of the car Michelle, who was sitting in the third row, asked if I noticed that we kept staring at me, so I wasn’t imagining it. Ugh. 🙄😡

Anyway, Camelback Mountain was one of my favorite excursions on any vacation I’ve been to so far just because it is not commercialized. There’s no gift shop, no one is trying to sell you something, and it’s beautiful. The view from the top is breathtaking. Everyone made it as far as they could and Chris and I got to the top of one part of the mountain but didn’t make it to the very top because of the time restriction. We met another hiker who told us you had to be off the mountain and out of the park by sundown or they will fine you. I imagine that’s because it’s a very dangerous place to be at dark. Before we started hiking there was a park ranger at the foot of the trail giving us advice about when to turn around (when half your water is gone) and warning us not to leave the trail. There was a sign erected several feet up that had a picture of a young man who had died on the mountain just last month from leaving the trail and falling. The trail we hiked was categorized as Extremely Difficult. I would love to do it again with Philip!

That piece behind us is the top, which we didn’t have time to get to. 

Pano

Oh ya know, just feeling a little zen at the top of a mountain. 

This is where things got crazy. Chris and I are to the left. 

Without the rails to the left or the one going up the middle, there’s no way I would’ve made it up or down. 

We had another Uber take us back to our resort and it became a party bus. Chris is crazy (which is why I love her) and got the driver to play all kinds of fun songs. Marsha learned some new terms from the rap music and Chris and I danced in the back seat. That guy was cracking up and that ride was one of the highlights of my trip 😂. We ate dinner at Rustler’s Rooste, another great restaurant at our resort. This is a steakhouse that has a slide parallel to the stairs and the hostess said we were welcome to use the slide. Umm, yes please! There were children waiting in line but that didn’t stop me from wanting to do it. It was super slippery and I learned you should keep your feet up because touching them down will bring you to an abrupt halt. 

The food was great, we got a huge assortment of meats-steak, chicken, salmon, shrimp, and ribs; veggies-salad, corn on the cob, carrots, and potato wedges, and at the end they bring you cotton candy! They have a photo booth, a penny machine, and a live bull who lives outside. Personally, I didn’t care for the bull ring because he seemed sad and I think they drug him to keep him calm. Hopefully I’m wrong about that. 

They reuse big cans for cotton candy holders! 😍


On the last day, the drama from the first day continued when we tried to check into our flight online. It said we were unable to checkin because they couldn’t assign seats at that time. When we got to the airport and checked in, everyone else had a seat but Chris and I didn’t. Marsha asked the woman working if that meant the flight was oversold and she “yes, it was oversold but they’ll ask people to move.” 😳. That did not make me feel better. When we got through security there wasn’t anyone working the gate yet so we got lunch in the meantime. I had a bottle of water and dropped the cap when I went to take a drink. There was a man sitting diagonal from me and he bent down to get it and when he handed it back, I accidentally dropped it again. I apologized and thanked him. A few minutes later I dropped it again but I was trying to pour what was left from the plastic bottle into my reusable one. I told him I didn’t need it and he said, “Good. I wasn’t going to get it again anyway. I’m too fat to keep bending over.” 😂 Alright then. When I went to the gate to check on my seat, they had already printed a boarding pass and I had a window seat, with Chris right beside me 😄. That was good news. I promised to bring cactuses home for my brother’s kids so I went looking for a gift shop. I bought one last month when I had a layover in Phoenix on my way to San Diego. The instructions say to only water it once a month so I planned to water on the first, an easy time to remember. However, I forgot this first time and it almost died. Philip told me I’m less nurturing than the desert 🤷🏻‍♀️. Anyway, the flight went smoothly but we didn’t get back to town until 1 am. Friday was spent sleeping in and cuddling my pups. The last two days were spent ripping up the last of the carpet on the main floor, which was in our bedroom. The rain from this past week caused the yard to be a mess and the girls came running inside with muddy paw prints all over the place, including the carpet. That carpet has been my nemesis for years and this was the final straw. It’s gone and I have a rug being delivered Tuesday. The hardwood underneath is damaged in spots from my previous dogs favoring two spots in particular to pee 😡. I’m going to see what google suggests for cleaning it up. I don’t plan on sanding it any time soon. That’s one project that I never want to do again, honestly. 

This coming week Philip and I are heading to NYC to see Stephen Lynch in concert and Wicked on Broadway. I hope the weather turns back warm for our trip!