The Best Walk

At one point in my career I was required to attend a training class in Phoenix, Arizona. I was to arrive there Sunday and stay until Friday afternoon. Due to the flight schedule and the two hour time change from Boston I was checked into my hotel by one in the afternoon. The hotel was right smack in the middle of the city and the city is quite large. As a matter of fact, I learned that Phoenix is the sixth largest city in the United States. There was something I learned: Phoenix is hot! And I was there in June. The temperature was over a hundred and who knows how much of an effect the city cement the city’s cement had. But I decided on walking anyway. Why? Well a.) I was curious and wanted to see the city and b.) From all I had heard, Phoenix had a dry climate and dry heat was easier to deal with.

So I put left the hotel and started walking. I decided to start by just going around the block and I felt the heat immediately. Up aways I could see traffic light which was probably where I would take a right turn. It took longer to arrive at that corner than I thought, but no problem - I had all afternoon. After turning right I had a pleasant surprise. This street was shaded by the tall buildings. Good deal! But it was still hot and I was beginning to feel like I was in an oven. And, I was starting to appreciate humidity. I kept walking and after what seemed like half in hour I was at the next next corner. I’ll tell you what - Phoenix has some huge blocks! Next I was walking on a parallel street to the hotel, I was feeling the full effect of the hot sun. The sun was reflecting off of the various windows and was blinding. (Did I forget to say that it was hot?) Now I was getting thirsty!

I thought about about what I was doing for a couple of minutes then turned around and headed back to the hotel. I decided to continue my walking plan until after dinner when it should be cooler, maybe in the nineties.

By six that night I had another plan. I wanted to see the desert. I drove to the nearest highway, picked a direction, and started heading away from Phoenix. I didn’t have to go far. In no time at all there was desert on both sides. On my right I could see several roads that went into the desert. I drove for a bit longer then took a rode in. That road was paved but had no traffic. Next I took an unpaved road which went to the left, then pulled over between two cactus plants. I got out and started walking. Here the temperature was comfortable.

In one direction I could see that the unpaved road went towards a hill around which the vegetation was thicker. Around me there was plenty of cactus. Many of the plants seemed to be evenly spaced. Some had branches which reached out and wrapped around another plant. I also noticed that the sand and the rocks has many shades of brown. After walking for a about twenty minutes a jeep went by. Possibly there was either some housed near the hill or whoever was driving the jeep was there for recreation. As I walked along I decided that this was many times more enjoyable than the city walk. Before long I reached the hill and started to ascend. About five minutes later I noticed a couple of houses and that the road I was following went to a garage of one of the houses. This was quite a driveway! And, parked right there was the jeep I saw.

From here I walked back to the car and then drove back to the hotel. During the week I took one more walk in the desert. The scenery on the second walk looked almost the same - but that’s good. The desert scenery is excellent!

Filed under: Phoenix on April 25th, 2007 | No Comments »