I do a fair amount of corporate speaking, and I always like the opportunity to go visit other places, if just for a little while.
On Monday I flew to Phoenix, Arizona, in order to give a speech Tuesday morning. In general my agency doesn’t like me taking the last flight of the day anywhere, so I wound up on a flight that got me to Phoenix around 1 p.m. their time. The upside, though, was that I had a big chunk of the day to explore.
So I met up with Anandi (a past BOBW guest, who sometimes posts here as ARC). My original plan had been to go walk some where, but it turns out that Phoenix in late April is 98 degrees in the middle of the afternoon. So, we went to a local brewery for a few hours to wait for the day to cool down! (And sample some local brews – yum).
Then, at 6 p.m. we went to Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden. This was such a cool experience for me, as a mid-Atlantic, east coast person, as the landscape is completely different. The native species were all beautifully arranged, and some were flowering, but the stars of the show were the giant saguaro cacti surrounding the garden, with the red rock hills in the background. With the sun setting, the whole scene looked otherworldly. I hardly felt like it was 90 degrees, too, with some careful shading of the paths and the evening sun losing some of its intensity.
I love gardens in general, and I am thrilled that in the last month I’ve gotten to see Alhambra in Spain, the orchid show at the New York Botanical Garden, Chanticleer here outside Philly (twice) and then the Desert Botanical Garden. I was feeling a little sad that I didn’t make it to DC for the cherry trees in mid/late March, but I think I’ve made up for it.
Anyway, the speech the next morning went great, the flights all took off on time, and the trip was just generally charmed. So, an excellent way to start the week. But I am having trouble remembering it is Wednesday – I woke a kid up this morning telling him it was Monday. Whoops.
I love your summary of the trip being “charmed.” So much of life, of course, does NOT feel charmed and there is a specific magic to those moments/days that have that little sprinkle of fairy dust – or, in your case, excellent planning and friends all over the world – that make it go so well! Smooth flights! Time with friends! Engaging local experiences! Successful work events!
@Elisabeth – oh yes there are definitely some non-charmed trips in my life. But this one went amazingly well – and I am aware of that charmed-ness!
The Phoenix botanical gardens are great! Blooming cactus and desert wildflowers are lovely. We make a visit there most years since we are in Phoenix for a week pretty much every year.
@Gillian – the desert wildflowers were pretty special – all so different looking.
The Desert Botanical Garden is lovely! Next time you are in Phoenix, check out the Cosanti Bell Foundry in Paradise Valley, and the Musical Instrument Museum. It is a beautiful building with an equally fine collection, wonderfully arranged and displayed.
@Barb – sounds lovely!
What a lovely quick trip and how nice to take advantage of some “time to kill” by meeting up with a friend for such a fun and very Phoenix afternoon! Love it!
@Kat – yep, I love it when it all works out like that.
How fun! I feel like so many people I know have traveled in Arizona this spring. It’s given me the itch to go there!
@Grateful Kae- it really is cool – domestic, so not that far or logistically difficult as a trip, but feels different.