To be honest I've never thought of Phoenix as a must-see travel destination, but when Shawna's company scheduled her for a conference last month I tagged along and we made a 4-day weekend out of it. As it turns out, there's not much to do in Phoenix proper unless you're a golf enthusiast (I'm not), but the weather sure is amazing and there's plenty of great food. To top it all off, our uncle Ron and aunt Cuc live in the nearby desert oasis of Fountain Hills, so we hooked up with them and it ended up being a great time!

 

Shawna was engaged with business meetings all day Thursday, but I struck out through the 90° midday heat to climb a local mountain in my flip-flops. If that sounds kind of dumb, let me assure you that it was: it ended up being a 7-mile round trip walk between the hotel and the mountain, plus the 2.4-mile hike up and down Piestewa peak. It was an excellent workout and the view was great, but my feet were so blistered that I could barely stand on them by the time it was over. The flip-flops were the only shoes I had brought on the trip, so we had to go out and buy some comfy sneakers so I didn't have to hobble around for the remainder of the weekend.

 

Once Shawna was done with her meetings, we spent the rest of the time sight-seeing with Ron and Cuc. They were gracious tour guides, and drove us around to the unique local sights such as a commune that produces handmade bells in a strange village that looked like it should have housed hobbits instead of artists. Cuc even cooked us some authentic Vietnamese cuisine in their palatial (and at 6,000+ sq. ft., I do mean palatial) home. It was great to spend some time with them, especially since it's been so long.

 

Upon returning to Seattle I do have to say that the fall colors and crisp, clean PNW mornings have been amazing. But if the long gray winter starts to bring us down, I can't say for sure that we won't be keeping our eyes peeled for a cheap flight right back to Phoenix, AZ.

 

- Jas