Pete and I wanted to take one last vacation before the baby came and since we had been talking about doing Spring Training in Arizona for about a year or two we thought it was a perfect choice. We thought the weather would be sunny and warm (at least sunnier and warmer than Atlanta). Unfortunately, much like Atlanta, Arizona has been getting more rain than normal this year and our vacation was no exception. When we flew in on Saturday the weather was perfect, low 70s and sunny, but we wouldn't see the sun again until Wednesday.
Oh and I forgot to mention that Pete's Aunt and Uncle have a house in Arizona so we stayed there the first 5 nights of our vacation. Here is Pete in front of the house. The house was so beautiful and Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Joe were great hosts!!
They had several very tall Saguaro cactus on the property.
A fallen cactus - I didn't know but it is solid wood on the inside.
Here are some facts on the cactus:
The saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) is one of the defining plants of the Sonoran Desert. These plants are large, tree-like columnar cacti that develop branches (or arms) as they age, although some never grow arms. These arms generally bend upward and can number over 25. Saguaros are covered with protective spines, white flowers in the late spring, and red fruit in summer.
Saguaros are found exclusively in the Sonoran Desert. The most important factors for growth are water and temperature. If the elevation is too high, the cold weather and frost can kill the saguaro. Although the the Sonoran Desert experiences both winter and summer rains, it is thought that the Saguaro obtains most of its moisture during the summer rainy season.
You find this cactus in southern Arizona and western Sonora, Mexico. At the northern portion of their range they are more plentiful on the warmer south facing slopes. A few stray plants can also be found in southeast California.
The saguaro is not currently listed as threatened or endangered. Arizona has strict regulations about the harvesting, collection or destruction of this species.
With the right growing conditions, it is estimated that saguaros can live to be as much as 150-200 years old.
Saguaro are very slow growing cactus. A 10 year old plant might only be 1.5 inches tall. Saguaro can grow to be between 40-60 feet tall (12-18m). When rain is plentiful and the saguaro is fully hydrated it can weigh between 3200-4800 pounds.
After the saguaro dies its woody ribs can be used to build roofs, fences, and parts of furniture. The holes that birds nested in or "saguaro boots" can be found among the dead saguaros. Native Americans used these as water containers long before the canteen was available.
Me and my little pooch that is starting to form on my belly. I also have put on some weight (more than the obligatory 2 lbs a month) and the vacation definitely didn't help! :)
Sunday we had tickets to the White Sox vs Cubs game but unfortunately it got rained out. We hung out in a Mexican bar/restaurant for a bit and then headed to Cheryl and Joe's friend Pam's house for an amazing dinner and the Oscars.
Monday we decided to go on a bar crawl (well that wasn't so much my idea) and then to a casino (where there were no pictures and I won't talk about all the money we DIDN'T win). We started off at Harold's Corral, located in Cave Creek is was a local bar that was very western in theme. The water was great there!
We then wanted to check out the Boulders Resort in Arizona (http://www.theboulders.com). This is one of Pete's cousin Mike's favorite places so we wanted to see what all the talk was about. It was a very nice. The resort was surrounded by - you guessed it - a bunch of boulders. There was also a real cool looking golf course in the middle of it all. After a few pictures we headed inside for a little snack and a few drinks. The water here was great as well.
Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Joe at the Boulders Resort.
Pete enjoying a drink at Boulders.
Next stop was the Biltmore Resort. Pete was excited about checking out this hotel because Frank Lloyd Wright served as consulting architect. It is also one of Phoenix's first resorts built in 1929. Above is me and Auntie Cheryl.
View from our seat on the Patio of the Biltmore. They had really good food and of course more good water!
Final stop on the pub crawl was the Phoenician Resort. This was my favorite stop. It reminded me a lot of the hotels in Asia. Very beautiful and elegant. I got crazy here and had a mocktail!! Very tasty - much better than water.
After the Phoenician it was off to the casino and then to top the night off we hit the In an Out burger, which I think might have been Pete's favorite dinning spot of the entire vacation!!
Tuesday we were going to try and make it to another Spring Training game but the weather wasn't cooperating. They actually ended up playing the game after a rain delay but we didn't even bother going down there since it was such a crapy day. We ended up just making it a lazy morning. In the afternoon we hung out at a sports bar for a couple hours and then had a great Taco dinner prepared by Auntie Cheryl.
Wednesday the weather actually got better in Phoenix but we had planed to head up to
Sedona where the weather wasn't as great, but the view were spectacular.
Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Joe at our first stop - Bell Rock.
Beautiful red rock around Bell Rock.
In the higher elevation it was even snowing.
View from our lunch stop in the town of Sedona.
Some crazy tourist.
I think this might have been Chimney Rock.
It is kind of heard to see from this far away shot but to the right of the big rock you can see what they call Snoopy Rock (he is laying on his back).
On our way back home to Phoenix we saw Cathedral Rock.
Hard to kind of see but there was a Coyote that appeared in the back yard a couple of the mornings we were there (in the middle right - it is a shot of the back side of the coyote).
Finally on Thursday we made it to a Sox game. They were playing the Indians and it was as we headed out of town for Tucson. It was a perfect day for a game - not a cloud in the sky, tempatures were in the low 70s.
The ladies - Cheryl, Judy, and me.
The men - Pete and Uncle Joe.
We stayed at the Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson. It was a HUGE, beautiful hotel with great views.
I think Gumby was created by someone in Arizona. See the tall cactus with the arms - made me think of Gumby! I checked Wikipedia and that doesn't appear to be the case but to me there is a lot of resemblance.
The resort was surrounded by saguaros.
Pete and the view.
The hotel was actually really close to the Saguaro National Park.
The weather was perfect in Tucson as well so we got to get out and enjoy the weather and do a little hiking.
I believe these are called jumping cholla or teddybear cholla.
These were my favorite plants called ocotillo.
Prickly Pear cactus in the back. Might be a Mojave prickly pear in the back.
Beautiful view from hotel at sunset.
View from front of hotel.
View on the road back to Phoenix.
We made a stop at Casa Grande Ruins on the way to the airport.
The national monument consists of the ruins of multiple structures surrounded by a compound wall constructed by the Hohokam, who farmed the Gila Valley in the early 1200s. "Casa Grande" is Spanish for "big house"; these names refer to the largest structure on the site, which is what remains of a four story structure that may have been abandoned by the mid-1400s. The structure is made of caliche, and has managed to survive the extreme weather conditions for about seven centuries. Graffiti from 19th-century passers-by is scratched into its walls; though this is now illegal. Casa Grande now has a distinctive modern roof covering built in 1932.
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