And, one last Arizona story before we leave the state.......
I have briefly mentioned this story many times.... But I love telling this one. Stop me if I have told ya before.
Back in 2004 we lived in Cleveland. At that time in our life, anytime we had vacation, we would head back to Kentucky to see my family. I wasn't obsessed with travel the way I am now.
Anyway, my wife had been working hard at her job, and they loved her. They decided to send her to Phoenix for a training. They made it very clear that they would be paying for a rental car, and all of her expenses. They even strongly suggested to her that if she wanted to take her husband that would be fine. We would have to buy my plane ticket, but if her food expenses were a little high, they wouldn't mind.
Honestly, at first I was going to pass. I thought I might still head south and see the family while my wife went to Arizona. Who wanted to go to Arizona anyway, isn't that state just a big, dusty desert?
I thought about it though and figured it would be a rare (and affordable) opportunity to see somewhere new that was very foreign to me. I ended up going.
Her work put us up at the Squaw Peak Hilton Resort (since renamed to the more politically correct Hilton Phoenix Resort at the Peak) and it was very nice.
My wife would go to her training each day and I would go to a cute coffee shop down the road about a mile, Plantation Coffee, and read. I would get lunch at the Blimpie's sub shop next door and return to the hotel. They have a great lazy river at the resort, and I would float around the rest of the day.
In the evening my wife and I would explore Phoenix. We would also have enough free time to explore Sedona and the Grand Canyon.
We were driving back to the resort from Sedona one night, and we would see a shooting star (such clear skies in that area) while Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song" was on the radio.
We had an incredible time. My feelings on travel were pushed forward and the whole trip was pure magic. Arizona is still a very special place for us, and I need to get there more.
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