It's Time

I start 2015 traveling.  In fact, I'm writing this from a small cafe in the Phoenix, Arizona airport on my way to Deadhorse, Alaska.  You might be wondering...What?!?!?
Lots of things have happened since my last blog post long long ago.  For example, I stopped going to work in Antarctica.  Yes.  It was time.  I worked for six months with the National Park Service as a Visitor Use Assistant at Colorado National Monument.  I loved the job, but it was only a six month seasonal position.  After leaving the NPS, I worked for a while at a small winery in Palisade, Colorado.  I also liked that position a lot.  However, the money was not great.  So what do I do?  After a long time of saying I wouldn't get back into the hotel business, that's what I'm doing.  In Alaska.  On the North Slope.  Almost as far north as one can go in the United States.  It's a good gig.
I get paid well and like my job well enough.  I do have to work 21 straight days, 12+ hours per day.
However, I then get 21 straight days off.  That part, I definitely like.  That's why I'm in the airport in Phoenix on New Years's Day...headed back to work.

So there you go.  I want to start blogging again.  It's time.

Viva España!

For the first time since June 20th, 1993, I raised my voice while watching
a sporting event on television! On that date, Chicago Bulls guard, John
Paxson hit a late three point shot to give the Bulls the NBA championship
over the Phoenix Suns at America West Arena in Phoenix. Me? I was on
my couch in Naperville, Illinois watching the game. It was one of those
moments that makes a sports fan jubuliant and yell out with excitement.
17 years later, I'm not much of a sports fan, but today I let out that same
yell, as Andres Iniesta scored late in extra time of the FIFA World Cup
final to give Spain it's first title. I'm far from a expert of soccer (football),
but it was exciting as the team I was rooting for in the game (my favorites
going into the tournament were the USA and New Zealand) came away with
a win in a game who's outcome was far from certain. Exciting...yes. A major
milestone in my life...no. I reserve that moment for when the Chicago Cubs
win the World Series. Hopefully I'll still be young enough to get off the couch
to yell and be excited!

The East Valley

We've been driving around a bit since we've been in Phoenix
and most of it has been spent in the East Valley since that's
where I used to live and we know the area better. We went to
a yarn store and this was outside of it. I doubt it's the world's
largest chair, but it's probably the world's largest "Pink" chair!


No Cub fan would feel that a trip to Arizona was complete
without driving past HoHoKam Park in Mesa. HoHoKam is
the Spring Training site for the Cubs. I drove around the
entire park and couldn't find anyone that might be able to
open up the gates so that I could look around, but at least
it was interesting to see even if the team is playing badly
back home in Chicago.


There was a pretty good view of the field from past the
outfield fence.


At the entrance to the field there were round batting circles
for each of the players that have had their numbers retired
by the team...including my favorite, Ryne Sandberg.


We drove to Chandler and took a look at the condo I used to
rent. Surprisingly, very little had changed in almost 14 years!


One of my favorite flowers is the Bougainvilla. The state Department
of Transportation has chosen to use it on the sides of many of its
freeways. It brings a lot of color to an otherwise tan landscape.

Swim Time

One of the reasons we came to the Doubletree Resort in
the first place was because of the pool. It's not the biggest
or best in the area, but we like it anyway. There are actually
two pools here but we tend to use the rear pool the most
and since it's mid-summer, we practically have it all to
ourselves. When I lived in Chandler, the condo complex
had to spray the pool down continuously in the summer
to keep it cool. Not so here. I'm not sure if it's because
it's larger or they have some way to cool down the water.
Kind of like an anti-pool-heater. Regardless, it's very
refreshing.

Wide World of Maps

After spending the morning at the pool, we went to one of
my favorite get my geek on places. Wide World of Maps!
I've been going here since the early 90's when I first started
visiting Arizona but I had never been to the Scottsdale store.
This place has everything for a cartography or geography nut!
I could have spend thousands of dollars here, but alas, left
with a new Phoenix highway map.

Staying in Arizona

In Arizona, we're staying at the Doubletree Resort in Paradise
Valley. It's not the most oppulent resort in the Valley, but it's
not a Motel 6 either. We like it though. We've stayed here off
and on since 1995 when Greg won a weekend here but he and
Nancy couldn't use it because they were busy moving from
Phoenix to Oklahoma. They gave it to us and we've been
enjoying it here ever since.


It's been a few years since we've been back and they've changed
the decor a bit, but it's still very nice and comfortable. Especially
since it's about 110 degrees outside. The great thing about
staying in Phoenix during the summer months is that the resorts
are very reasonable. You can stay at the nicest places for a
fraction of the cost during peak season during the winter.
I'll post more photos of the resort in the next few days.


Of course, Bruno moved right in and became very comfortable!

Driving to Arizona

We drove back home to Grand Junction before heading to our
planned stop in Arizona because we had so much stuff in the car,
we wanted to get rid of it and not haul it around for 10 days. It
made for a bit more driving, but was definitely worth it.

I love driving through this part of the country. Miles and miles of
empty lands, with beautiful rock formations, interesting people
and tons of scenery! About 3 hours south of our house is a formation
called Mexican Hat. Yes...an upside down sombrero. Not exactly
politically correct, but apparently the name has stuck


The northern border of the Navajo Nation is the San Juan River. it
eventually flows into Lake Powell, a few miles to the west, but at this
point, it acts as an oasis in a very dry land.


An iconic view and one I never seem to tire of is on the highway just
north of Monument Valley. It was pretty hazy today so it's not tour
guide photo ready, but pretty nonetheless. We skipped visiting
Monument Valley today (the actual park) because we've been there
many times and had lots of other things to see in a short amount of
time.


Just north of the Utah/Arizona border, we came across these folks from
California that were driving the southwest in their homemade choppers.
Very cool.


The other chopper.


On the southwestern edge of the Navajo Nation is the Cameron
trading post. It's very commercial, but always fun to visit.



Traffic through Flagstaff is always miserable. It seems like it
takes forever to drive through, no matter what time of year it is.
I wish they'd come up with a solution to the problem. We took
advantage of being in Flagstaff to visit one of our favorite
bookstore chains...Bookman's. A great used bookstore, we always
seem to leave there, purchasing something. After 90 minutes or
so there, we needed to continue south to the Phoenix area.
The lights had started to come on in Flagstaff and as the first
International Dark Sky city, it's refreshing to see how little light
pollution there is in the city. We continued the two hour drive
to Phoenix and it definitely is NOT a Dark Sky City! It's glow
can be seen from just south of Flagstaff!