Blogs from Phoenix, Arizona, United States, North America

Having been to Arizona so many times, I tend to repeat the same activities on most visits. Generally, these activities might include: Spring Training, Sedona, Old Town Scottsdale, hiking or cycling in the Valley of the Sun, visiting friends, visiting a few of the museums, and dining at some of my favorite places. But here is something rather unique for Arizona: When many think of Arizona, they think of oppressive heat, miles of sandy desert, and coyotes chasing road runners, so it might come as a surprise to know that Arizona has an ideal climate for growing grapes. It's actually not all desert — there is a great variety of climates and a vast difference in elevations. Arizona also sits at 40 degrees latitude — the ideal growing conditions range from the 30 to 50-degree mark. ... read more

Well, here we are, out of town again. On January 16 we flew to Phoenix with Kevin and Raye Guynn, because we had planned to attend an in-person meeting for Marriage Encounter. When it was changed to a zoom meeting, we decided to vacation anyway. Can you believe we had probably the only empty middle seat on the plane! The “Fell effect”? John? The Guynns provided the rental car and we provided the rooms at the Blue Green in Peoria, just like last summer. But, unlike last summer, it was cool (60ish for a high?) with blue blue skies. Our first day we spent another 4 hours at least at the amazing Musical Instrument Museum. I’ll just include one photo – the homemade instruments made by and for school children in Paraguay. No photos can do ... read more

First signs of a challenge for us adjusting to different time zone with both of us waking up at 3.30am but managed to get back to sleep eventually. Later had breakfast in the amazing atrium which was included in our rates. I had a freshly made to order omelette (yummy). Today is Saturday and we decided to take the short drive to Old Town Scottsdale and it was really hot. We managed to park the Lexus undercover in a free parking garage near 5th Avenue and went for a walk. Surprisingly the visitors centre is closed on weekends ! The first shop we went to I found a cool coffee mug which was only $9.99 plus taxes and we definitely want to buy a few more on this trip as mementos. Kerry found a nice piece ... read more

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Zunächst einmal will ich Lu und Matthias, die ich von meiner Dubai-Reise her kenne, grüßen, falls sie dies wieder lesen. Gestern haben sie ja meinen Post kommentiert. Der Tag begann heute wieder einmal mit einem guten Frühstück. Ich wechsle ja zwischen Pan Cakes, Waffles und Eggs & Bacon durch. Nur im ersten Hotel in L.A. gab es ein rudimentäres und auch im Preis inbegriffenes Buffet. In den anderen Hotel gab es Restaurants bei denen man à la carte bestellen konnte. Nach dem Frühstück bin ich zur Straßenbahn neben dem Hotel und zum empfohlenen Heard Museum gefahren. Dieses beschäftigt sich mit den indianischen Ureinwohnern Nordamerikas und vor allem aus der Region hier. Eine weitere Attraktion wäre der Desert Botanical Garden gewesen, aber der ist mehrere Kilometer entfernt und die Tram hält auch nicht direkt dort, daher habe ... read more