A well-to-do cousin of my wife's called to say that he and his wife were in town staying at the Four Seasons resort north of Scottsdale, and could we come and visit with them?
Well, it's only a half-hour drive from our house to the site, so yesterday off we went. I left my big Pentax SLR at home, figuring I'd only take some snapshots of them. Now I realize that was a mistake, because the photo ops later that day turned out to be enormous. I thought I'd share these pictures to give you an idea of how the other half lives - suites at the Four Seasons will set you back about $500 per night; but cuz did it on a time share basis. Now, I'm just a simple country boy, and I don't see many places as opulent as this one! At any rate, here are some of the pictures I took while there.
Now lest you think that this part of Arizona is a paradise, let me expose you to the dark side...
When we finished visiting with her cuz, the wife wanted to go by a post office to drop off her "absentee" ballot for the Phoenix City Council election. Turns out this was the last day to do that, and it was after five o'oclock. No sweat, she said. The main post office on Van Buren street (25 miles away) was open after five. Now being the dutiful husband that I am (and reluctant to incur the wrath of the Warrior Queen), I assented, and we took off on a series of freeways in rush hour traffic.
We finally made it to the post office and dropped off the ballot. I was reluctant to navigate through any more traffic jams, so I suggested we stop at the nearby Big Apple restaurant and dine on some barbeque beef sandwiches, their specialty. This we did, and as we exited the restaurant, this is the sight that greeted us:
Now, this is Phoenix's "monsoon season" and we do get summer storms, usually bringing much-needed rain to the Valley of the Sun. But sometimes we get what I used to call "great big dust storms." Today, the bunch of folks who have immigrated here from afar want to call them "haboobs," which is a Middle East term with which I was heretofore unfamiliar. Regardless, one of these thousand-feet-in-the-sky monsters was bearing down on us.
My wife was screaming that we had to get out of there in a hurry, and for heaven's sake, John, put down that G** D*****d CAMERA!
We hopped in the car, but the monster dust storm was upon us. We rode west on Van Buren, and then straight north on 16th Street, engulfed in choking dust. I took a quick pic as we drove along somewhere near McDowell road; this is what it looks like trying to drive in a "haboob."
Finally arriving at home, our companion and fearless protector, the pit bull dog we know as Joe, greeted us with whimpering and joy. Turns out the lights were out in the house, as we hadn't turned them on before we left. Joe was all alone as the storm raged outside, with lightning flashes and huge hammers of thunder. Now some dogs don't like situations like this very much. Poor Joe had pissed twice; once in the hallway and once near the utility room door. I can only imagine his terror. Joe NEVER has made a mistake in the house since he was a puppy, so he must have been really upset. We assured him that all was well, we were now home, and gave him some comforting dog biscuits.
Just another day in Arizona...
John
Well, it's only a half-hour drive from our house to the site, so yesterday off we went. I left my big Pentax SLR at home, figuring I'd only take some snapshots of them. Now I realize that was a mistake, because the photo ops later that day turned out to be enormous. I thought I'd share these pictures to give you an idea of how the other half lives - suites at the Four Seasons will set you back about $500 per night; but cuz did it on a time share basis. Now, I'm just a simple country boy, and I don't see many places as opulent as this one! At any rate, here are some of the pictures I took while there.
Now lest you think that this part of Arizona is a paradise, let me expose you to the dark side...
When we finished visiting with her cuz, the wife wanted to go by a post office to drop off her "absentee" ballot for the Phoenix City Council election. Turns out this was the last day to do that, and it was after five o'oclock. No sweat, she said. The main post office on Van Buren street (25 miles away) was open after five. Now being the dutiful husband that I am (and reluctant to incur the wrath of the Warrior Queen), I assented, and we took off on a series of freeways in rush hour traffic.
We finally made it to the post office and dropped off the ballot. I was reluctant to navigate through any more traffic jams, so I suggested we stop at the nearby Big Apple restaurant and dine on some barbeque beef sandwiches, their specialty. This we did, and as we exited the restaurant, this is the sight that greeted us:
Now, this is Phoenix's "monsoon season" and we do get summer storms, usually bringing much-needed rain to the Valley of the Sun. But sometimes we get what I used to call "great big dust storms." Today, the bunch of folks who have immigrated here from afar want to call them "haboobs," which is a Middle East term with which I was heretofore unfamiliar. Regardless, one of these thousand-feet-in-the-sky monsters was bearing down on us.
My wife was screaming that we had to get out of there in a hurry, and for heaven's sake, John, put down that G** D*****d CAMERA!
We hopped in the car, but the monster dust storm was upon us. We rode west on Van Buren, and then straight north on 16th Street, engulfed in choking dust. I took a quick pic as we drove along somewhere near McDowell road; this is what it looks like trying to drive in a "haboob."
Finally arriving at home, our companion and fearless protector, the pit bull dog we know as Joe, greeted us with whimpering and joy. Turns out the lights were out in the house, as we hadn't turned them on before we left. Joe was all alone as the storm raged outside, with lightning flashes and huge hammers of thunder. Now some dogs don't like situations like this very much. Poor Joe had pissed twice; once in the hallway and once near the utility room door. I can only imagine his terror. Joe NEVER has made a mistake in the house since he was a puppy, so he must have been really upset. We assured him that all was well, we were now home, and gave him some comforting dog biscuits.
Just another day in Arizona...
John
