Saturday, June 9, 2012

Strip Malls & Canyon Walls



This last week Dylan and I took a quick (but actually pretty long for the middle of a school term) trip to Phoenix, AZ.  The main purpose of this trip was to visit two friends from high school, who I haven’t seen since my last trip to Phoenix about a year ago. We were able to stay on their futon for free and also share some experiences with more than just the two of us.

While it isn’t yet summer, Phoenix was hot. Obviously. Luckily, the 6 days we stayed there managed to stay under 100 degrees (it was up to 108 the day before and the day after we left!) Our trip included several fun dinners out at pretty delicious chain type restaurants in strip malls, as well as the requisite drunken fun in the apartment complex pool. Beyond that kind of typical stuff, here a few trip highlights:

1. The Phoenix Zoo: We went to the zoo on one of the hottest days of our trip. The zoo has about 2.5 miles of walking trails (which doesn’t seem that long, but in 98 degree weather, IT IS). That said, it is a perfectly reasonable to try and see the entire zoo in one trip, just take breaks. We had no problem joining the masses of screaming toddlers playing in the sprinklers available for cooling off. Some of the best parts of the zoo:

  • The Arizona trail. This is a long trail that showcases animals you might see in Arizona and similar deserts. The exhibits blended well into the natural environment and included animals like the Mexican Gray Wolf, American Golden Eagle, Great Horned Owl, and an excessively complete collection of rattlesnakes.
  • The African Savanna. This area is a really big enclosure that houses a mixture of giraffes, Watusi cattle, Elands, and various birds. It was a really beautiful area that looked like a scene from a movie.
  • Various primates. There was a super cute orangutan family.  It was fascinating to see how much they act like humans. There was also the Mandrill. We watched the gigantic and hideous male Mandrill in the exhibit chase the much smaller female around the enclosure for several minutes. Cute right? That’s what the group of children watching this thought. But of course he has a very specific goal in mind… I turned the recording off. After the Mandrill was done 15 too-long seconds later, we discussed the possibility of female willingness in this ordeal. The chances seemed slim. I decided to look it up and here is what I found: "'Males come into the group and display their prowess through vocalizations, color and size. They assess female fertility and try to impose themselves on the most fertile females.’ However, females can escape by climbing thin trees inaccessible to the heavier males, so males need female cooperation to mate" (National Wildlife). Sounds not too bad, but there were definitely no thin trees in the Mandrill exhibit.
     


2. The Desert Botanical Gardens:  These gardens are located conveniently close to the Phoenix zoo. However, it is pretty difficult to fully enjoy both in a single day. Especially hot days. We did not visit during the spring, so there weren’t very many flowers and the butterfly exhibit was closed. It was fun though, and we got to see a lot of different birds, including a road runner and a cardinal. I even was the first to see the peach-faced lovebird, a bright green/blue/peach colored parrot that was released from a Phoenix aviary and is now surviving on its own in the desert.

3. The Grand Canyon: Typical, but a must-see when visiting Phoenix. It was a 3.5 hour drive away, but we were able to do it in one day. We hiked 1.5 miles down into the Canyon and back up again to enjoy the sunset. The views were amazing of course, and it was funny (but a bit scary) to see all the painfully exhausted faces of tourists walking up the trail as we headed down. It was of course overly commercialized (Want a Dreyer’s blended shake to sip on your way down the canyon?) but still worth the trip.


Other notable stops:


  • Dinner at Hooters: Notable as in I want to note that returning here is not necessary in the future.
  • A walk through the Phoenix Convention center for the Comicon convention. Disappointing; we didn’t even see one Khaleesi!
  • Nights out at the bar Michelle works in. The amazing rainbow shot!
  • Big Surf waterpark. Fun slides and wave pool. Be prepared for multiple wedgies. And overly trained lifeguards calling in the EMT helicopter if a 10 year old scraps her knee. Also difficult to sneak in liquor.
  • Coco, the neighbor's Maltese puppy.  
    

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