Fun in Philly

I recently returned from a work conference in Philadelphia, and let me just say it was pretty amazing! I was bummered because I had to leave Josh home. I went with some ladies from work and we had a good time. The conference was pretty informative, but the sightseeing was really what I will remember from my trip. I knew that Philly was cool but after spending a few days there, I really grew quite attached to the city. We spent most of our time downtown by the Pennsylvania Convention Center and in the historic district. It was super hot and super humid. Because I am thermally challenged I still managed to freeze in air conditioned buildings because it was soooo humid. Some of my favorite sites include seeing Rocky on the steps, Ben Franklin's Grave, the US Mint, the Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall.

We took a guided tour of Independence Hall and I have to say that I was awe struck to be in the same room where The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution were signed. I felt so much gratitude for the fathers of our nation and all the others who sacrificed for our freedom. We really are blessed to live and be free in such a beautiful country.

While I was in Philadelphia I figured I should have a famous Philly cheese steak sandwich. I doubt I could find better! Philly has really given us so much, democracy, the philly cheese steak, and Will Smith.

Philly is the City of Brotherly Love. This was a fountain in Love Park.

The last day we took a tour bus up to New York City. We had six hours to see as much of the big apple as we possibly could, it was a mad dash of sightseeing! We were able to see the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park, the Chrystler building, and ground zero. My roomie Pat and I rode the subway all by ourselves up to Grand Central Station. We walked to the Empire State building and through Time Square; Whoaa and I thought Vegas was sensory overload! I bartered for a knock-off purse, and bought lunch from a street vendor so... I pretty much played the part of a good tourist. We finished our day off at the Top of The Rock, Rockefeller Center to get a good view of this vast and vertical city. I've never seen so many people and so many tall buildings, what an experience. I will definitely be back, next time with Josh in tow.

Monsoon Season

Monsoon season is one of our favorite times of the year. At the end of July and throughout August we get violent thunderstorms and gail force winds. The meteorologist every year argue if this is a true "monsoon season" but everyone else here seems convinced that it is.

The thunderstorms are normally small cells that move through the valley. From our third floor window we can watch these storms zig-zag through the valley as if tracking that Eeyore character from Winnie the Pooh. When these fierce little storms wander over your piece of blue sky find cover! The storms pour down an incredible amount of rain, and put on a brilliant lightning show. We like to go out on the porch to watch them pass. They then leave as quickly as they came. The water left behind is almost instantly vaporized by the standard 110 degree temperatures we have here. The downside of this monsoon season is the increase in humidity!

The other part of Monsoon season is less enjoyable, but no less impressive. We have enormous dust storms that cover the entire valley. The official name for this type of a storm is a "Haboob" which is an Arabic word that is used to describe these storms in the Sahara Desert. They say the sand can go as high as three thousand feet into the air, and I believe it. Think back to the Mummy (the one with Brandon Frazier) remember the sand storm...that’s pretty much it, minus the mummy face.

The Mummy...

Actual picture of Phoenix. Scary huh.

Freedom and Camping

For the 4th of July weekend we decided to beat the heat and head for the pines. We were lucky to grab one of the last campsites in the Upper Tonto Creek campground. This is a beautiful area with lots of pine trees. After we set up camp, we watched the sun set and we listened to the distant rollings of thunder. Unfortunately we were awakened that night at 2:30am by some new neighbors setting up camp. The whole family was yelling and calling to each other, chopping wood and starting a huge bon fire (it was clearly posted everywhere that it was extremely high fire danger and no fires of any kind were permitted!). You know when you have those moments when you think "are these people for real"?! The next morning we overheard other campers grumbling about the new brood next door. I was thinking we could probably round everyone up to vote them off the island, but instead it rained and the newcomers got what they deserved. We on the other hand really enjoyed the rain because it brought even cooler temperatures. On the morning of the 4th we hiked up to Horton Springs, which comes right out of the mountain, so that's cool. We drank from the head water and it was tasty, especially in comparison to Phoenix water! Later we went into Payson to enjoy some small town celebrations and fireworks. That same rain followed us into town and put a damper on the festivities, but the show went on and we watched fireworks from our car. Saturday we packed up camp and made a stop at the fish hatchery (which Josh got a kick out of) before making a the trip home. While we were in the neighborhood we figured we would drive up through Snowflake so we could see the first of the small temples. I don't know what we were expecting, but as it turns out, it's like all the other temples. The grounds were beautiful and there was a wonderful spirit about it. The drive back to Phoenix was scenic and especially GREEN compared to our home in Glendale.