Travel #1: Arizona

August 8-10, 2014.

This month I had the wonderful opportunity to take a weekend trip to visit a close friend of mine who’d recently taken the grown-up move to Phoenix, Arizona. The following is my entry in my newly established Travel Journal. I plan on filling the pages as I travel and explore this beautiful world we often take for granted.

Friday August 8th

Philadelphia International Airport > Dallas/ Fort Worth: Overlay
I met an older gentleman who sat in the seat next to me on the plane. He is a genetic professor in Philadelphia on business. He is from Texas and he wrote a new textbook that he was in Philadelphia finishing up business on. In the seat next to him, a woman from Philadelphia heading to Dallas for one day on business. Both are kind and we enjoy a little friendly “how do you do” chitchat as the plane takes off towards Texas.

Dallas/Ft. Worth > Phoenix Arizona: Final Destination
In the airport terminal, while boarding, a business man approached me in regards to my Penn State jacket. He is an alumni as well. He graduated with a business degree and travels a lot. He currently lives in California. He was a kind guy, we talked about the football team, our degrees, and my future hopes for travel. He wishes me luck as we take our different seats.

Phoenix Arrival 1:30PM
Heading towards the exit, I start wondering what this “dry air” is all about that everyone takes about in comparison to the Northeast.Tim picks me up outside the airport terminal-a warm embrace is shared. The air hits me and I realize, it’s HOT but not crazy humid and not deathly hard to breathe.

We drive around Phoenix- in Tim’s words “a quick car tour.” We pass Camelback Mountain which is closed due to a hiking fatality. Tim explained the road set up of Phoenix and the culture of the area. I people watched as we drove. Literally can’t believe people were in Jeans! It was 98 degrees Fahrenheit! CRAZY!

We pull up to Tim’s apartment complex- a small 2 floor court of apartments. Tim reheated us some of his leftover chicken and rice and we had some beer.

GAME TIME! 6PM
My first official professional baseball game- Arizona Diamondbacks versus Colorado Rockies. We walked to downtown Phoenix. 6:30PM and 97 degrees! We walked through high rise buildings, all Bank corporations. The city was almost empty for Friday night. We got to Chase Field. It was pretty cool, an indoor stadium that is air conditioned. Our seats were between home and first base about 5 rows back. It was awesome. We grabbed a beer and watched America’s favorite pastime. Four beers and chicken fingers later, Arizona ended with a win and we headed out to the streets of Phoenix.

We stopped at an Irish Pub- Seamus McCaffrey’s- to grab a drink before calling it a night. The music was loud, so we decided to sit outside. In the heat, you may ask? Well Arizona businesses have this cool water system set up were water mists over head, it evaporates before hitting you, but it creates cool air. Pretty cool. After drinks, we headed back to Tim’s. I grabbed the couch and passed out.

Saturday, August 9th.

Woke up a little later than intended. Breakfast was bagels and cream cheese. Packed up our gear and prepared for our hike in Sedona. Two hour car ride from low desert to middle-high desert. As we drove to Sedona, the mountains came into view. It was beautiful. Taking it all in requires all your senses. I can’t even describe how magical this world’s natural forms are.

We parked near the trail we decided to start on- near Bear Wallow Canyon. After lathering in sunscreen (a must), Tim and I took our long sleeved, hat cladded selves to the trail. Warnings were posted regarding trail closure due to flooding and potential fires.

We followed the trail for about a mile. A group of two couples were in front of us, honestly not prepared for actual trail hiking- barely any water and no packs. We then veered right into the river bed of Bear Wallow Canyon. No water, just rocks in the canyon dried up by the hot desert sun leaving behind red dust and death to trees.
The natural surroundings were breathtaking. I was in awe the entire time. It was so hard to take in every aspect of Sedona in such a short time. We wandered the river bed taking in the canyon, observing the death of trees and the red rocks that cascade up towards the heavens from the Earth. We took a break from our journey and say amongst the rocks and boulders of the canyon bed. We talked and sipped water- I was breathing heavily and took a puff of my inhaler.

We joked and took in our surroundings. Saw a black widow in between two rocks spinning it’s web. I was touching all the rocks and plants. A tree with pines was so dry that some of the pine leaves fell off. I ended up taking one home with me as it got stuck to my shirt and traveled with me.

My senses were heightened amongst this natural world. I wanted to touch, see, smell, breathe in and hear everything. We ended up veering off our river bed onto a barely touched path. It lead us to a hike with will never forget. We had to climb 3 rock ledges. At first, I was nervous- I had only taken a bouldering class in a rock gym, but my soul wanted the view, the adventure. I conquered the nerves and pulled myself up over the last bit of rock. The second ledge we had to go around- I ended up loosing my footing and took a few scrapes to the shin, cactus needles to the hand, and a bruise to my chest. I shook it off and got back up. When we got to the place were we couldn’t go any further- we took in our view:

BREATH TAKING. ONCE IN A LIFETIME. MAGNIFICENT. LIFE ALTERING.

The list of words to describe the beauty and magic my eyes will forever even can go on and on. Pictures o not do it justice. I, my soul, is forever changed and now yearns for more like an addiction.

On our way back down, I found an awesome rock that caught my attention amongst all the other rocks- my physical souvenir.

Once we got to the trail, Tim stopped. We took out his knife and cut a fruit from the prickly pear cactus. He cut it in half and we tasted it. It tasted like a blackberry with a peach like consistency.

We finished our 5 hour hike and hit the road to return to Phoenix- although we stopped at Wendy’s for a quick fix before dinner.

For dinner we made spaghetti with homemade vodka sauce and sausage. We then visited one of his friends for a beer. On the way home from the visit we stopped at a local hangout called Welcome Diner. A fun local hipster place that serves late night eats and alcohol. It is literally a trailer with mismatched tables and chairs outside. We ordered pulled pork fries- delicious!

Sunday, August 10.

Woke up lazy and decided to go grab a late breakfast. Went to the Phoenix Market and had a scrumptious cinnamon bun. We decided to visit the Desert Botanical Garden.

First off, it was 103 degrees outside, and secondly the botanical garden is like being legit in a desert…even though technically Phoenix is in low desert.

It was awesome to see all the life that grows in different deserts around the world. I was so in awe at the beauty of such life when the heat is all around and barely any water. It was a great experience.

Afterwards, we went to Scottsdale and got sushi for a late lunch. We decided we needed to have dessert and walked over to Sugar Bowl, apparently it’s a famous hotspot. My strawberry milkshake- that the waiter helped me decide on- was kick ass good.

Headed back to Tim’s place post food coma, and vegged out as I waited for my dreaded flight back to PA. Red Eyes SUCK!

Arizona is first of my many adventures. I loved it there. I found a piece of myself on our hike that I cannot explain. It’s awoken something inside me that yearns to just be outside, away from the hustle and bustle and technology, to be amongst the trees and hills and beauty. I can’t wait to see where my feet take me wandering next…