Tag / Lower Salt River

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Travelling The 50 States – Arizona

Over my 47 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Working in alphabetical order, we start today with the 48th state to be added to the Union: Arizona.

State: Arizona
Joined the Union: 1912
Visits: 2

Both of my trips to Arizona have occurred within the past seven years, first in 2015 and then again in 2018.  Both visits can also be connected to my job, either directly or indirectly.

In 2015, my first trip to Arizona was for a work recognition trip in March.  Staying at The Phoenician resort for three nights, we enjoyed the facilities (especially the pool), took a rafting trip down the Lower Salt River, and travelled to an offsite ranch for a farewell dinner.  Outside of the work-related activities, I also managed to sneak in a Friday afternoon trip to Sloan Park to see the Cubs battle the White Sox in exciting Cactus League action.   Rather than heading home, I extended my stay for a couple of days.

Saturday, after a trip to the airport to pick up a rental car, we headed to Camelback Ranch in Glendale to watch the White Sox take on the visiting A’s in another installment of the Cactus League.  Looking for some non-baseball activities, Sunday consisted of a lake cruise along Lake Pleasant while Monday started at Heard Museum, which claims to be one of the premier Native American museums in the United States.  When that turned into kind of a bust, we headed to nearby Chase Field for a tour of the home of the Diamondbacks.

I returned to the Phoenix area in 2018, following another work trip.  A conference in Las Vegas led to me stopping in Arizona for the weekend before heading home.  I again took in some Cactus League action, this time at Camelback Ranch and Peoria Sports Complex, seeing the White Sox, Cubs, and Mariners (twice!).  I also enjoyed a trip to the slot canyons and Horseshoe Bend in Page, followed by a quick trip to the Grand Canyon.  I also managed to see my dad for the first time in years (and, to date, the last time I’ve seen him).  He had recently moved to the Tuscon area and drove up for a quick bite to eat before going back home.

Will I return?  I have to assume that yes, I will return to Arizona someday.  Leaving aside any future spring training action, I do need to take in an actual game at Chase Field at some point.  I will also likely need to deal with something related to my dad.  So I’d say the odds are much better than 50/50.

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Vacation Recap – Arizona Part 1

0Z9A0170Three weeks ago, this year’s Reach for the Stars trip started off just as last year’s ended: with a flight delay.  Thankfully, this time the delay was only a little over an hour, so we made it to Arizona early in the afternoon on Wednesday.  Rather than take part of the pool or some other activity at the lovely Phoenician  resort, my travel companion decided a nap was in order, so I got to start an exciting book prior to the evenings activity, dinner on the quad of the resort.

Thursday was the day of the company sponsored activity, and I chose a rafting trip down the Lower Salt River.  After some trepidation followed by reassurances that the rafting was rather low key, a last minute audible was made to attend said trip, and I must say it was the right decision.  To give the day a water theme, we did finally hit the pool once we got back to the resort.  That night was the gala dinner, where we got to shake hands with the big boss man.

sloan

Friday, my own personal plans for the trip started in force.  March in Arizona means spring training, and the Cubs were doing battle against the White Sox this fine day at their newly re-christened facility in Mesa.  There were a few other folks from the resort who were also headed to the game, so we shared the cost of a car and commuted together.  The Cubs managed to get the best of their former teammate Jeff Samardzija on this day.  Following the game, we returned to the resort in time to head out to the night’s farewell dinner, which was held offsite at a ranch of some sort.  A good old fashioned ho-down was on tap.

The conference came to an end on Saturday, but things were just starting for me.  In the morning, we checked out of the resort and caught a shuttle to the airport, where a rental car was waiting with out name on it.  Little did we know that waiting was the key word.  But that we will cover tomorrow, in part 2 of this little adventure.