Who Goes To Phoenix Arizona In The Summer? I Do!

Originally I wanted to go to Montreal for their annual Montreal Reggae Festival. I love Montreal. The people, the food, the architecture, all of it. And the vibe around the reggae festival is so fun and lively. But unfortunately, I waited until the last minute to look for accommodations and was not impressed with the prices. Very expensive. Again I'm fancy, I'm not just gonna stay anywhere (I really can be a travel snob..lol)

So I grabbed my laptop and started searching for other destinations. I came across a great price for Phoenix Arizona. I was actually pretty shocked that it was so cheap. I felt like I won the jackpot. I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, and I heard that there were these amazing waterfalls at the bottom of the canyon, so hey why not?!

Remember how I had mentioned that the trip was sooooooo cheap? Well I figured out why. It is hotttttt! OMG....Nobody goes to Phoenix Arizona in the summer! No one but me! As soon as the airport doors opened, I wanted to run back into the safety and comfort of the AC.

Upon checking in at the hotel, they advised me that both their pools stayed open until midnight. Yassss. I've actually never heard of a pool staying open so late, but I guess it's a necessity when temperatures are reaching 43 degrees celsius!!!  I should probably do some more research on weather before I start booking flights willy nilly.

A leisure night swim

It really doesn't take much to get me excited. The fact that I saw a cactus tree for the very first time in my life got me hyped. A cactus!

My hotel overlooked Camelback Mountain. C-A-M-E-L-B-A-C-K.... I was walking around the hotel calling it Cameltoe Mountain! It was a running joke between me and the hotel staff afterwards. I'm sure Cameltoe Mountain is a lovely place as well. Ha!

View of Camelback Mountain from my hotel.

In my shuttle, on my way to Camelback Mountain

My uber driver that picked me up from the airport was the first to tell me about Camelback Mountain, and that I probably shouldn't attempt to climb it. He told me that it's really strenuous based on the complexity of the hike, and the scorching Arizona heat. When I got to the hotel, they told me the same thing. So you know, when people tell me that I can't, I wanna try it! It wasn't until another person told me that search and rescue teams constantly have to rescue people from Camelback  because people have heart attacks and strokes, is when I decided to choose life! However, if I'm gonna be totally transparent, I was gonna lie to you guys and tell you that I did it! My plan was to take a shuttle to the mountain, snap some pics of me at the base, then totally lie and say I did it!!! Hahaha....the plan actually seemed pretty solid, until it totally BACKFIRED!!!! The final day that I was there, I had a few hours to spare until my evening flight, so I decided to go check it out. Mind you, when I went for breakfast at 8am, it was already 32 degrees outside. I had breakfast, and was way too lazy to walk back to my room which was on the other side of the hotel, so I just jumped into the hotel shuttle without even my purse. What's the big deal? The mountain was about a 10 minute drive away and all I was gonna do was take some pics at the base and come right back. When I got into the shuttle, and told the driver where I wanted to go, he immediately said "you should probably grab another bottle of water." Another side note: At the front of the hotel, they have a huge bucket filled with ice and water bottles for guests because it's so damn hot! I had already grabbed one bottle, and now he suggested I grab another. But how much water do I need to take a pic? So I didn't grab the second bottle.

When we got close to the mountain, the shuttle pulled over to let me out. I asked if he could let me off at the base, and he responded that he couldn't since there are mansions on that street, so no cars are allowed up the road leading to the trail unless you live on the street, so I'll have to do a little walking. A little walking????? A. By this time it was about 10am, and it was a lot hotter than 8am when it was 32 degrees. B. I left right after breakfast, so I had no hat, no face towel, cut off jean shorts and sandals on!!!! What do you mean walk??? That walk took me about 20 minutes! Real hikers were passing me with their hiking gear, looking at me like where is this chick going? I was just upset with life at that point. I think God was punishing me for trying to lie to you guys...lol When I finally got to the base of the mountain, I could barely catch my breath and had to use my t-shirt as my face towel. I will never plan to lie again.

Check out my video at the base of Camelback Mountain.

I managed to squeeze in quite a bit on this weekend trip. I checked out Sedona and the Grand Canyon but I'll have to save that for my next post. There is way too much to say, and I'm positive you guys aren't down for a 10 page blog post.

Ready to hit the streets of Phoenix!

But like most of my vacations, I checked out some local eats. I headed into Old Town in Scottsdale which apparently is there downtown. I figured that I was in the Southwest, so why not check out some barbecue. I went to Bootleggers on the recommendation of a few hotel staff.

Firstly, you know that you're in a hot place when outside of the restaurants are mist machines that spray you with cool water.

As soon as I walked into Bootleggers, there was a sign advertising moonshine! I swear only people in western movies drank moonshine. It's really a thing. I tried an apple pie flavoured moonshine. It was actually pretty good. Smooth going down.

Just a girl and her apple pie flavoured moonshine

Have you guys ever gone to a restaurant by yourself and seen so many things that you wanted to try and lie to the waiter so you don't totally look greedy??? Anyone? So I went ahead and ordered a brisket taco (I recently gave up red meat, but made an exemption for this trip. I need to grow a backbone!), honey sriracha wings, mac and cheese and a beef brisket sandwich (Please don't judge me.) I just really wanted a taste of everything.

So when I placed the order, and the waiter was giving me a side eye, I asked 'Is this a lot?' and he responded 'uhmm yeah it's a good amount.' So I said" Perfect! I really wanted some leftovers to bring home for the kids!" (uuuhmmmmmm I have no kids, but I just didn't want him to know it was all for me!!!) hahahahahaha Lucky thing for me, my hotel wasn't all inclusive, so my leftover plate served me well as dinner too. Score!

Well that's it for now....sorry, this was a bit of a long one. Next week I'll talk about my Grand Canyon adventures!

See ya next week!