Shelley got us a hot air balloon ride for Christmas, but we had to go to Phoenix to get it. (It was 2x-3x cheaper than ones here in Utah), and it gave us an excuse for a little trip.
With our $33 airfare, we were on our way in no time! Before you get too excited, that's $33 per person, one way, not round trip. I'm not that good. 😒
Wouldn't you know it, the one time it rained in Phoenix in like 2.5 years, was the day we arrived! We arrived in the morning and hurried to the Japanese Friendship Gardens during a break in the rain. We had enough time to walk around and take it all in before the rain started again.
 |
| The restrooms are "award winning" and built in the traditional Japanese architectural style. It's built with bamboo, stone, naturally curved Ponderosa Pine, and natural stone floors and countertops. Japanese Carpenters used non-powered tools to notch and dowel the beams and built everything by hand |
We then checked in to our first hotel, the Royal Palm Resort and Spa, advertised as a "luxury resort" so why not give it a try? We arrived 5 hours before normal check-in, but it wasn't a problem and they had the room ready.
The hotel used to be a huge mansion and villa for a gazillionaire and was built in 1929 as his winter home and then his retirement home. He had tiles and stones imported from France and Italy and many of the original flooring, walls and doors and tile murals are still there. There are no native palm trees in Phoenix, so the owner also had almost 200 palm trees (14 different varieties) imported from Saudi Arabia.
There are walkways everywhere and it's a maze. When you check in, they have an employee who takes you to your room otherwise, you'd get lost. There are nooks and sitting areas and relaxation areas all over, many hidden to read, relax and nap. We couldn't find a single weed anywhere on the property.
I booked a regular ole room (with a free night certificate), and we got upgraded to one of the "Casita's" which normally would have cost the average person, well, let me just show you because you aren't going to believe it, because I didn't:
 |
| One of the many fountains and pools |
 |
| Our upgraded Casita room VIDEO: |
 |
| Palm trees line the entrance |
 |
| There were two weddings while we were there |
 |
| Notice the top of this palm tree...... |
 |
| Here's the bottom of the tree - growing through the roof |
 |
| And in the dining room, you can see another tree in the middle here..... |
 |
| And another palm tree here next to the back pillar |
 |
| We enjoyed our |
 |
 |
| This is the library that never had anyone in it |
Our balloon ride (sunrise) was supposed to be the next morning, but with all the rain, it was cancelled. They had another ride the next day, that we got moved to, (sunset).
The next day we went hiking at Hole In The Rock and Papago Park and hiked 4-5 miles.
Since we only had 1 free night certificate for the fancy hotel, we switched hotels, to the Tempe Mission Palms, where we could use our regular free nights at. Just about 5 miles away in Tempe, right next door to Arizona State University and a very nice river/lake walk area.
This hotel wasn't as nice, but still would have cost us a decent amount, if it wasn't free:
Tempe seems very new and nice. At least where we were. There is a small hill right behind the hotel that is called "A Mountain" and it has a big A on the hill, for Arizona State.
We hiked the A hill, walked around the lake/river and took it all in.
 |
| Our hotel is the square one with the courtyard in the middle |
VIDEO:
 |
| Among all the new buildings, is an old flour mill, built in the 1860's. You can't go inside, but can look through the gated doors and windows. Everything is still inside |
 |
| We say the "boys in the boat" practicing |
We met up with Marissa and Matt for dinner, as they were just returning from their trip to New Zealand - they were actually on their way home from the airport!
The next day, we went to visit my brother Adam, in Gilbert and had lunch with him and some of his kids, and Marissa and Matt too! It was so fun to see everyone! Of course, I didn't even think to take any pics, so just imagine all of us eating extremely yummy smoked brisket, with homemade bread, roasted potatoes and a very yummy apple cake.
We soon found out our sunset balloon flight was cancelled due to high winds whipping up in the afternoon, so we only had one more day left, so we rescheduled it for the next morning - another sunset one.
We woke up at 4:45am to get to the meeting point in time, and so far so good! No cancellation texts!
up....Up...UP & AWAY we went!
 |
| When we got to the launch site, there were already several balloons going up. There were 14 that launched that day, and that's pretty much the normal every day |
 |
| The basket was huge! Ours was the biggest balloon there, and the basket can fit up to 22 people -we had 14 on our flight |
 |
| This one took off right before we did |
VIDEO:
 |
| The wind caught the balloon and drifted it away from the crew trying to hold it steady, brushing this tree. Oops. The pilot was not happy with the crew |
 |
| Time to get in! |
 |
| The pilot is in the middle of everyone with the propane tanks |
VIDEO:
 |
| The pilot took us over the Sonoran Desert preserve and dropped down pretty low and followed the contour of the hills. We saw several coyotes running around too |
VIDEO:
 |
| After about an hour, it was time to return. See the field in the upper center? It's a construction site for new buildings and the pilot said that's where we were going to land. Major roads on two sides, restaurants and stores on another, and an apartment complex on the other. He was right on - it was pretty amazing. The landing consisted of about 3 small bounces and we were down |
 |
| You can see the stores right across the street! |
 |
| The basket has 4 compartments to keep everything balanced |
 |
| Afterwards, the pilot led a champagne (or sunny delight) toast that everything went well |
Our flight home didn't leave until 8pm so we had the whole day, and since we woke up at 4:45, we went back to the hotel for a little nap.
Then we went to the movies (saw Dune) and we were the only ones there.
We then went for a self guided tour at the State Capital and grounds, then it was time for dinner and head to the airport!
It was a fun trip and we really enjoyed the balloon flight and would recommend it to everyone!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment