Went to Phoenix/Scottsdale for a family event; my partner spent a few extra days with family and friends in Vegas; some photos were taken. Enjoy :-)

 

 

I'm usually able to see Key Tower before takeoff, this time I saw the four tallest:

 

PNC (Previously National City) complex near West 150th:

 

Fairview Hospital and the Metroparks:

 

Due to lake effect clouds, not much of a view of downtown this time:

 

In case you needed a better description of lake effect clouds:

 

A peek at Cedar Point:

 

South Bend Fort Wayne, Indiana:

 

Gary, Indiana (sorry if that results in a song stuck in your head):

 

 

We had a brief layover at Midway, so I was happy to at least get some nice Chicago shots:

 

 

 

 

 

Call me kooky, but I love seeing this patch on my trips to Phoenix - 1. from the air, it looks like a modern art piece on a mega scale (check google maps and the area where Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma meet) and 2. means we have less than an hour until Sky Harbor:

 

Speaking of Colorado, we saw some of the wildfires:

 

Not long after, we were in the Valley of the Sun:

 

Who'da thunk, the view of Papago Park and Camelback on the descent into Sky Harbor have become somewhat sentimental over the past few years:

 

We arrive at our hotel, the W Scottsdale:

 

View of the Scottsdale Waterfront complex from our room:

 

Apparently, there was a fashion show sponsored by Ferrari that night (we happily missed it but I knew some of you would like to see the vehicles ;-) )

 

 

Not far from the W are these nifty condos - huge terraces, lots of extensive and well-tended landscaping...

 

 

 

Old school Scottsdale:

 

 

New school "Snotsdale" ;-)

 

One thing Scottsdale *does* get is the fact that funky/sculptural bus shelters can actually provide shelter from the elements.

 

The peak of Camelback Mountain - one of these times, I'll hike to the top - not this time around, though.

 

Saw this hotrod and had to get a pic:

 

Lobby bar of the W:

 

Time to head to the family event in the Troon North area:

 

 

 

So okay, the views of the desert sunsets were alright ;-)

 

 

 

 

And uhh... a crescent "moonset"? The black silhouette is Camelback Mountain. One of many moments in my life where the photo simply does not begin to do justice:

 

Back to reality, Scottsdale-style  :lol:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night in town, view from our room:

 

 

 

Time for me to head out...

 

And pass the baton to my partner who took the rest of the shots in the thread during his trip to Vegas:

 

The Strip:

 

The newly-constructed City Center:

 

 

Paris casino and surroundings:

 

Back to City Center:

 

 

 

 

The Palms, west of the Strip:

 

Rio casino - also west (I think):

 

Back to City Center:

 

 

New York, New York:

 

Veer Towers at City Center:

 

 

And I end this with a welcome ;-) Hope you enjoyed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FYI, that's South Bend, not Fort Wayne.

 

Great shots.

FYI, that's South Bend, not Fort Wayne.

 

Great shots.

 

ColDayMan beat me to it. I puzzled over that for a few minutes trying to orient myself in such a way that it would look like Fort Wayne, but the river was in the wrong place relative to the railroad, the ballpark wasn't right, and the landmark buildings were missing. I came to the same conclusion. The only thing that the two downtowns have in common is towers from Kelley Marshall Architects' cookie cutter. In South Bend it's the City Center ...

 

... and in Fort Wayne it's the Previously National City building:

 

Great photo thread, and once again your partner proves himself very capable with a camera in the urban environment.

Great thread! I was in Scottsdale last year, and thought it was alright.  The mountains and desert can be really beautiful, and Scottsdale offered some good restaurants and shopping.  In April, it felt like a really comfortable place to vist, although I don't think I'd like to live there.  As far as Vegas, eh...after three trips to Vegas in the past 6 months, I'm kind of over the place.  City Center is pretty cool, but everything there costs a million dollars, so other than walking around, you can't actually do much there.

Awesome photos! I had a fun freshman year at ASU before i made the smart decision to transfer home to CSU. I'm going to Phoenix over Thanksgiving to visit family and it will be my first trip to the dessert in 4 years.