Phoenix Baby

So as if St. George was not hot enough, last week we hit the road headed even farther into the desert! Joe's uncle asked us to go clean one of his rental homes in Phoenix for him. It was so much fun. We piled into Joe's work van, which was actually quite comfortable, and drove nearly 7 hours each way, passing through construction and hours of traffic over the Hoover Dam. It was my first trip to Phoenix and my first time seeing the Hoover Dam. I have to say that the dam was not nearly as impressive as the GIGANTIC bridge they are building to bypass it. This picture does not do it justice. The thing is massive. It feels like your eyes are playing tricks on you when you are up close.

We ended up spending two nights in two very different hotels. The first night we stayed in a Red Roof Inn which was alright but was sorely lacking in the pool department. Jay and I went swimming and I became the pool skimmer. I spent most of the time picking out leaves and bees!

The next night we bid on priceline for a hotel.... only ten dollars more than we had spent on the Red Roof... and we ended up in a Hilton Resort! It was AWESOME! This was the view from our room: It was muggy the entire time we were in Phoenix and I could have sworn we were in Hawaii. This place even had Hibiscus flowers. I have no idea how they keep tropical plants so green in Arizona but they do a great job. Our room was actually a suite with a living room and bathroom/sink area. Here's our room:

The resort had everything... golfing, tennis courts, and even a water park with a giant slide and waterfalls. I'd totally vacation there. Joe says that next time we should probably stay in a Marriott instead. When I asked him why he said, "Would you rather support a good LDS man or Paris Hilton?" Good point Joe.

All in all our trip was a blast. I do have to say though that driving through Arizona is like watching paint dry. Any state that has to have roadside tables (aka a picnic table and an emergency phone) because there is nothing for 100 miles but fire hydrant cactus (not the scientific name) and dirt is a state that should be seen by an airplane... except the whole "Grand Canyon" part of course. And I had to laugh that 99% of Arizona's highways have been adopted by a generous man named "available". Good times.