PHOENIX

(… and quickly back)

8-28-2012

J. had to get her Arizona nursing license, so we had to drive to Phoenix and had over all the documents in person (to get temporary license as soon as possible). We figured we would leave early and try to be there around 8 am. We left our place around 5.30 am and got on the road. It is quite easy, as Flagstaff is relatively small. Pretty cool and still dark.

For the most part, we just stayed on freeway all the way down to Phoenix. We were told that current temperatures in mid 100’s are not bad. (Hard to believe.) We were hitting elevation markers (7000 down to 4000) and enjoying ride “down”. The sun was coming up and making the drive more pleasant. Half way to Phoenix, I finally saw big cactus. I pictured Arizona as a desert with tons of those big cactuses (showed on most of Arizona pictures). Yet, I did not see any around Flagstaff. So I was glad (and enjoyed) to see them. And then they got more plentiful and covered whole hills or plains.

We finally started seeing civilization. For the most of the drive, there was almost nothing. Few bigger towns and desert. Not long after we entered Phoenix, we got into traffic. It was getting worse and worse. Luckily, there was commuter lane, which we drove for about 12 miles, while the rest of the freeway was stopped. At the end, we did not really loose any time and got to the board of nursing around 8 am.

It was pretty easy. We saw some boards showing temperature around 97 degrees (8 am!!!!). When we got off the car, it was horrible. Really hot. The process of handing over the documents was pretty quick and easy. We were done much earlier then we thought we would be. Our plan was visit Desert botanical garden, maybe see downtown Phoenix, do some shopping, and go home. The heat crushed our enthusiasm to do anything. Well, we still drove towards the garden.

That part of city was boring and very bland. Nothing special. Well, except heat. We found the garden in about 12 minutes. # Our old GPS device is in glove box in the car, but we do not use it. After J. got her phone, we sometimes use that; otherwise, we have hand drawn maps or atlas. We found it more adventures and normal, then just follow small box telling us where to go. And … obviously, sometimes we get lost. #

We found parking in shade, got off the car, and felt really hot. We put some sunscreen on and walked towards the garden. It was pretty, there were plenty of cactuses before the entrance, and it looked really interesting. J. was complaining about the heat from the moment we got off the car, and she did not stop until we got back in the car.

All the trail of the garden was supposed to be about 1.5 miles. The sun was brutal, but the garden was really beautiful. We saw the turtle (he was pretty fast) and continued enjoying all kinds of cactuses. Finally desert (compare to Flagstaff). Even we were walking pretty slowly, we were sweating a lot. And … we were wondering who the hell wants to live in Phoenix. Very limited amount of trees, hot burning sun, and desert. I mean, it was pretty in the garden, the desert landscape had its charm and beauty, but the heat was really bad.

We still continued and walked through the whole garden. The variety of cactuses was incredible, the size of those big ones was unbelievable, and the heat was almost unbearable. It was still very enjoyable experience.

Obviously, we were both happy, when we were in the car with AC running. We drove towards downtown Phoenix. We both had almost no desire to do sightseeing or walking around, so we wanted to drive by. We got into area designated as downtown Phoenix, we saw some skyscrapers, but we could not find anything really nice or impressive. After few loops in the area, we just gave up. We got back on the freeway and head north. We stopped by Costco store, where we got some groceries and started to hate the heat. The boards along the road were showing about 106 degrees. We were happy to be back on the freeway heading towards Flagstaff.

The drive was uneventful. We stopped trying to find a place to eat, but we did not have luck with that. The sky was amazing. Less then two hours of driving to get back to Flagstaff. We were both looking forward to be back. The rest of the day was quiet and lazy.