Phoenix Weekend day 2

Today is a new day!  Yesterday just seemed to be one issue after another but hopefully today is better!  Of course I was up super early so decided to go for a hike.  The concierge gave me a map and headed out for the short 4 mile hike around Shaw Butte which is right out the back gate of the hotel property.  I was feeling better so thought some fresh air would do me good.  I grabbed a bottle of water and off I went . . .

. . . of course it really isn't smart to hike alone but there were many people out and about.  I took trail 100 to trail 306 for Shaw Butte.

It wasn't a difficult hike and from time to time would stop and take a few photos while enjoying the views . . .

. . . as you can tell there is absolutely zero shade and I found myself staring at a major uphill climb . . . there wasn't suppose to be any major inclines but went with it.  I then realized I was on the wrong trail so go to the top and turned around and went back down.  I started to worry that I had gotten on the wrong trail and wouldn't be able to find my way back to the right trail to lead me back to the hotel.  The desert does crazy things to your mind and everything looks exactly the same.  So I continued to walk keeping my eye on another group.  I had water, and I had my phone but some where in the back of my mind I thought I might become a new Dateline episode in the making . . . Lost in the Desert.  I laugh now but my mind is always thinking worst case scenario.  Would Colin realize something was wrong if I didn't return to the hotel?  I found the sign post for the missed turn off which I swear wasn't there but maybe it was just a mirage?  Or was I sleep hiking?  I was really starting to worry I was turned around and lost.  I continued walking and finally found the sign post for trail 100 which I knew lead back to the hotel.

The question was do I go right or left?  I remembered taking a right as I hiked in so took a left and doubted myself for a long time.  And then I finally saw the parking lot of the visitor's center and was more relaxed.  By this point my 4 mile hike had turned into just over 6 miles!  As soon as I stepped back on the hotel property, I went directly to the pool and jumped in . . . oh did it feel so good!  It was so hot even though it was before 10 am.  

It was an adult only pool and hardly anyone was there which was nice too.  I just floated and relaxed and enjoyed the moment.  The water was cold but felt so good.  I went to the room to check on Colin who was now awake.  He did not care to join me at the pool so back I went to soak up some sunshine.  It was early in the day but the sun was super hot.  I took a little nap before heading back to the room to face the a starving teenage boy!  We made the decision to try and fly back home early so went and got on the standby list to fly home at midnight leaving a day early.  I wasn't feeling grand and honestly we just missed our friends who were not able to join us at the last minute.

Sidenote:  After getting on the stand-by list, I also booked myself a plane ticket for a place that has been on my bucket list for many, many years!  I have a weird habit when I want to go on a trip.  I will put the plane ticket on hold, log in each day and if price goes up then either purchase ticket or cancel.  If price is same then I put it on hold for 24 more hours.  It is a lot of work, but I am weird like that.  I had been tracking this flight for weeks and the price went up so booked the ticket I had on hold for the lower rate.  I had already booked the hotel with points so now I have a flight and place to stay!  I invited Colin to go with me since he has seen photos and requests to go there, but he declined and honestly after our struggles this trip; I am glad!  Life has brought some changes so a solo trip will be good for me . . . my first trip that will be alone the entire time.  I am so very excited about this trip and can't wait for July!

So we packed up the room and headed out for lunch.  It was still early in the day so decided to visit one of the places on my to do list, Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve.

I had read about this online as one of the most missed or overlooked places to visit while in Phoenix.  Of course it is hot outside, but we go anyway as it isn't that hot.  It had a nice introduction museum and then we headed outside to look for some of the petroglyphs . . . it was a easy quarter mile trail so half a mile there and back plus only one other person on the trail so we basically had it to ourselves.

And it is true cactus will grown anywhere in Arizona . . . even through the middle of a rock!

Even though we saw a ton of signs about rattlesnakes, thankfully we did not see any.  Colin thought it was hilarious to point out all the lizards which did not humor me at all.  We were hot, and needed something cool to eat so googled top ice cream places in Phoenix.  I narrowed it down to two and picked to visit, Sweet Republic.  I noticed a ridiculous flavor, Jalapeno Avocado and thought what a  odd flavor but wanted to taste it to see just how gross it tasted.  Oh wow it actually tasted really good.  I sampled a few other flavors but that jalapeno avocado had my attention.  So I got it and the scooper lady (who was one of the owners) said the Strawberry Buttermilk was another flavor to have together so two scoops it was!

. . . I swear never in a million years would I have given it much thought to order something so unusual but it was really good.  I normally order something so normal like chocolate, but I guess sometimes it is good to step outside of your comfort zone.  We headed back to the airport hotel to drop the rental car and get ready to play the stand-by game at the airport.  There were 36 people on the stand-by list and all that were present actually got on the flight!  We landed in Dallas at 4:39am and made the drive home pulling into our driveway before 7:00am.  We were both so tired and headed to bed for a few hours.  I have decided the best time to drive to DFW is at the crack of dawn . . . while I hated driving in the dark it sure was nice for there to be no traffic.  While we cut our trip short by a day, we had fun even though we both had our moments with each other . . .