Spent some time with the in-laws last weekend out in the Valley of the Sun:

 

Flying out, I see some snow-capped mountains which I think are around New Mexico:

 

Sprrrrrrrrrrrawl once near Phoenix proper:

 

Cardinal Stadium in Glendale- looks like Richfield Coliseum gone Jetsons in my book:

 

The antenna farm on South Mountain (which actually looks really cool at night):

 

Downtown Phoenix from Sky Harbor (their skyline has improved over the years):

 

The Valley Ho hotel - a funky place with a lot of history http://www.hotelvalleyho.com

 

Main entrance (love that font!)

 

 

An interior veranda (looks like someone went to town with a Design Within Reach catalog):

 

We hopped on the Scottsdale Trolley which took us through Old Town Scottsdale:

 

The Scottsdale "Waterfront" district - the water part (the Central Arizona Canal) makes me chuckle, but the mid-rise development around it is admirable. I know some cities that could use some of this:

 

On Thursday nights, Old Town Scottsdale gets lit up for their Art Walk:

 

At one of my favorite galleries, the Rima - these cuties are there to greet visitors:

 

But it was a long day, so we had to cut the art walk short. The next day, it was a day trip up to Sedona. Before you ask - no one in my group (especially me) is into the New-Agey "vortex" crap that Sedona is known for - we just wanted to see some kick ass natural scenery:

 

It's about 2.5 hours from Scottsdale to Sedona - the equivalent of Cleveland to Columbus. It's also about 10 to 15 degrees of temperature difference, so we left 105F in Phoenix for 80ish in Sedona:

 

We aren't off the highway for too long when we see why Sedona is so well known for the red rock formations:

 

 

This elicited a "what in gay hell is that?!?" from me:

 

There's a somewhat chintzy commercial strip between the highway and the heart of the rock formations:

 

And what the heck, what better place to stop for brunch?

 

But soon enough, it gets back to nature - like the Grand Canyon, this is a great place to visit if you need to realize just how insignifcant and temporary a human life is - not trying to be morbid, but these amazing things have been here for thousands of years:

 

 

There's some residential in Sedona - most of it is thankfully tucked away and designed to blend in:

 

Along the roads, there's absolutely no berm to speak of, and when you look up you wonder if those "Falling Rock" signs mean these ginormous formations  :-o

 

We had hoped to check out one area but the parking lot was full, so we ended up at Slide Rock:

 

 

The water carved out this area, and the algae that coats the rock makes it like a natural "Slip N' Slide":

 

 

 

This guy decided to hold still for two seconds:

 

But we were on an itinerary so off we went:

 

 

 

 

One of the few manmade landmarks worth mentioning, Chapel of the Holy Cross http://www.chapeloftheholycross.com/

 

 

But back to Phoenix we went - around rush hour, I was reminded of why I enjoy an occasional visit but could never ever live here:

 

Fortunately we could detour and use an HOV lane:

 

The next day, we attended a graduation ceremony at the University of Phoenix's Cardinal Stadium (aka the Mothership):

 

Note the misters - they're everywhere (in the stadium, at restaurants in Scottsdale) and going full blast from May to September, usually until 10pm when the temps start to dip into the mid 80s:

 

Inside the mothership:

 

After the ceremony, we went to lunch in this odd... well, let me put it this way. Scroll up to the third photo - see the stadium, surrounded by parking lots? Adjacent to that is a Crocker-Park-esque plaza with some townhomes but it's all in the middle of nowhere. Anyhoo, this is the "entertainment district" for Cardinal Stadium - I'll take West 6th and East 4th ANYday!

 

Mothership, I tell ya!

 

Enough of ex-urbia, get me back to semi-dense Scottsdale!

 

And of course - time to get back home - a closer view of downtown Phoenix on the way to Sky Harbor:

 

Camelback Mountain in the background:

 

The very very linear skyline of Downtown and Midtown Phoenix:

 

The very un-linear skyline of downtown Cleveland  :clap:

 

 

 

Pardon the size on this one folks, but you'll need to scroll - Lakewood to Beachwood:

 

 

After that it was North Olmsted and tarmac - hope you enjoyed!

 

 

 

Sedona is gorgeous.  I was there back in 2004 and I want to go back so bad.  My cousin just moved out to Scottsdale a few months ago and he said I should fly out and visit.  Scottsdale seems nice, but those suburbs of Phoenix make me nauseous.

well, the rocks in arizona were nice.

 

but the last few pics were by far the best sights...!

^^Aside from pockets in and around downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale is the closest thing to a walkable neighborhood that Phoenix has to offer. It's nothing compared to dense areas of eastern cities, but compared to the sprawling h#ll of most Phoenix 'burbs, Scottsdale is a pleasant surprise.

Nice! The countryside is beautiful once you escape suburbia, but I remember the air quality as being horrendous in Phoenix when I was there. From South Mountain on a weekday morning, all I could see was the tips of the tallest couple of buildings peeking above a valley full of brown goo.

Excellent photos!  Never been to Phoenix, but maybe Airzona deserves a visit for the natural scenery.  Thanks!!

I've been to Phoenix twice and I loved Sedona the last time I was there. Got to hike partially up Bell Rock and went inside that chapel you had a picture of which was nice. Also drove through the scenic route to some nice little town with shops, restaurants, and a great view of Snoopy Rock!

 

Scottsdale is a really nice area. I remember eating at an ice cream place on the main drag and visiting some of the stores there.

 

The ice cream place was likely the Sugar Bowl - if you've ever read the comic strip "Family Circus", *that's* the place where they always get ice cream (the artist of "Family Circus" is from the area).

The pictures  :-D

 

Phoenix  :roll:

Well done as usual mayday!

Always exciting to see a new MayDay thread posted!  Thanks for sharing!  The drive up Oak Creek Canyon from Sedona to Flagstaff is really nice too.  Flagstaff's not a half bad place to spend a night on the weekend... quite the little party town when school's in session.

 

Fountain Square!

Great photos... Phoenix is a hellhole, but Sedona is an absolutely stunning place.

My aunt and uncle and 3 cousins live in phoenix and i went to arizona state for my freshman year. Its a nice place to visit for a week or a 2, but it gets real old after a while. They live in Peoria, about 3 exits past the cardinals and coyotes stadium and are surrounded by 10 lane roads in every direction.

My aunt and uncle and 3 cousins live in phoenix and i went to arizona state for my freshman year. Its a nice place to visit for a week or a 2, but it gets real old after a while. They live in Peoria, about 3 exits past the cardinals and coyotes stadium and are surrounded by 10 lane roads in every direction.

 

No pun intended, right?  ;)

Haha

My aunt and uncle and 3 cousins live in phoenix and i went to arizona state for my freshman year. Its a nice place to visit for a week or a 2, but it gets real old after a while. They live in Peoria, about 3 exits past the cardinals and coyotes stadium and are surrounded by 10 lane roads in every direction.

 

No pun intended, right? ;)

 

Wayyyy too many snowbirds for me

Haha

My aunt and uncle and 3 cousins live in phoenix and i went to arizona state for my freshman year. Its a nice place to visit for a week or a 2, but it gets real old after a while. They live in Peoria, about 3 exits past the cardinals and coyotes stadium and are surrounded by 10 lane roads in every direction.

 

No pun intended, right?  ;)

 

Wayyyy too many snowbirds for me

 

Well they don't call Phoenix, God's Waiting Room - West for nothin'!

 

I love the pictures of the nature around Sedona.  I'm not into the new age stuff either.  But, I've wanted to take a vacation there for about 5 years now.

Tempe isn't bad for walkability either. 

 

Sedona is beautiful.

Interesting..